"Her name is Maria Green. She's interested in the weird result that Georgy got from your rock sample. Just tell her how you collected the sample and she'll be on her way. Oh, and check your email."
I put away my phone and turned back to Maria. She was holding her own phone up and asked, "Can I take your picture?"
I shrugged and allowed her to photograph me. "What's going on? They can't have even dated the new rock sample yet."
Maria took my picture and said, "I don't think anyone is going to care exactly how old the sample is. Somewhere around 2 billion years. What intrigues me is the artifact."
"Artifact?" I checked my email. Dad had sent me a preliminary report on what Georgy had found inside the large rock sample when she sawed it open.
Maria explained, "There is something artificial inside that chunk of rock that you collected. The best chemical match is some sort of synthetic polymer, like a chemical derivative of nylon. Mrs. White is still analyzing more thin sections.... mapping out its macro-structure within the stone."
I asked, "Artificial? Maybe what Georgy found is just an ancient form of life. I've seen it suggested that life could be built around different polymers, with chemical structures different from DNA and proteins."
Maria nodded, "Mrs. White suggested that she may be detecting chemicals from a third branch of the tree of life that had its own unique cell membranes. It is too early for her to reach any firm conclusions. What I'd like to hear from you is how you found the rock sample that Mrs. White is analyzing."
I gave Maria a quick account of how that particular boulder had caught my eye with its red and black striations, then I showed her my blog page with my descriptions of the photographs that I had taken on Sunday.
Maria said, "This is great. Can you give me the URL for this webpage?"
My father came in through the front door. We waved to each other. I told Maria, "This blog is behind my school's firewall, on our LMS. You can't reach it without a school account."
Dad came over and looked at the image that was displayed on my phone. added, "And some of those photos might end up being published, so it is best to not let them out at this time."
Maria said, "I understand. I just don't want to take up Verella's time if I can read her account of the discovery instead."
Dad put his arm around me and explained to Maria, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to do that anyhow. The results we are getting in the lab are baffling." He looked me in the eye and asked, "Can you walk me through this blog page this evening? Ge- Mrs. White and a group of us from the department are going out to the site tomorrow."
I have to prepare for a geometry test that I'm taking tomorrow."
Dad made a proposal, "You go to your room and study now. I'll cook dinner and then you can give me a detailed account of how you collected the sample."
I agreed. "Fine, but let me grab a snack. I'm starving." I raided the refrigerator for some leftovers and went to my room. About an hour later, I felt like I could not fit anymore geometry into my brain and I could smell something baking. I abandoned my studying and went back down to the kitchen. Dad and Maria were chatting and cooking. I had a flashback of my mother. I said to Maria, "You're still here?"
"Your father offered to let me attend your briefing this evening. In return, I offered to make desert; my special caramel slice."
"So that's what I smell. When do we eat?"
Maria shut off the oven and replied, "You two get started. I'll be there in a minute."
While we ate I learned that Maria and dad had known each other for years. As a science reporter, Maria had visited dad's lab twice previously and they had met at scientific meetings. I was amazed to see my father relaxed and talkative with a woman. When Maria went to the kitchen for the caramel slice I asked dad, "Is she married?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea. Don't start playing matchmaker."
Maria came back with her fancy caramel slice. She looked at me and asked, "Matchmaker?"
Dad explained, "Vee thinks I need a girlfriend. Which is not true."
Maria served us each a piece of the caramel slice and then she sat down. "I've been married twice, but it never worked out. I'm always on the road traveling."
I took a bite of the slice. "Hey, this is good. Is there fruit in this?"
Maria replied, "That's the special secret. It should be fresh berries, but your dad had some canned blueberries on hand. It came out pretty good for a rush job."
The three of us made quick work of the dishes and then I projected my blog page on the big display screen in the living room. Both Maria and Dad had a hundred questions, so it took hours to get through all of the photographs and for me to describe the details of the sample collection.
Finally dad went to the kitchen and brought me back another serving of the slice and a bottle of wine. I ate the slice, said good night and went up to bed. For a while I could hear dad and Maria downstairs talking. I started imagining that maybe my father could fall for a woman who understood science and who was seldom in town, then I fell asleep.
The next day, another storm front arrived and the thunder storms began during my geometry test. I had to walk home in the rain and it was then that I got a text message from my father: I'm going to be late. Order dinner to be delivered.
When I got home, I tried calling him, but he did not pick up. I had dinner delivered and I tried to wait, but I was too hungry. Finally, shortly after 8:00 dad pulled into the driveway. I met him at the front door and asked, "Busy with..."
The words caught in my mouth. He was filthy and looked all a shambles. He said, "Sorry. Let me take a quick shower and I'll explain everything."
I couldn't wait to find out what had happened so while he was in the shower I asked, "What happened?"
He replied. "A big thunderstorm sat on the upper Helena all day. About 2:00 it started raining at the slide site where we were collecting and photographing. The river was rising and we decided to call it a day. Georgy and Pete were going to stay at the campsite and do more work tomorrow. The rest of us left the site, foolishly following the trail along the river through the canyon because we all had heavy loads of rock. Suddenly there was a horrible roar."
Stunned, I went and looked online at the local news. The story was already out: three university students from the Geology Department were lost and presumed dead in a second land slide on the Helena river.
Dad came from his room in a robe and we hugged. He said, "We almost got washed away, but we made it out of the canyon, except for Ben. There are search teams still up there, in the dark. Those of us who were not injured in the flash flood went back to the site. Another part of the canyon wall had collapsed. We dug until dark, but it was useless. We heard nothing from under the boulders."
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Next: Three Domains
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A Search Beyond is copyright John Schmidt, but the text of the story is licensed for sharing under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) license.
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