e is

ound in their field but the sheer amount of information, the challenging discussions and intriguin

o a waiter came to their table and asked if it was okay with them if two other people joined them for lack of tables. The researchers had no problem with that so they soon shared their table. One of the

bed. The friendly non-scientist at the table had probably not understood ninety percent of what had been talked about. Paul closed h

the door to wake Paul up. He had slept through the wake-up call and would

bed and almost tripped over his shoes. "Don,

ve near beaten my hands raw on the bloody door! You hav

taxi Don had called, while Paul hoped that the sandw

on - he was from NASA - lingered far too long on the origins of the matter, and seemed far too fond of Johannes Kepler, the alleged founder of this branch of astrophysics. It was only in the afternoon that astronomical n

cture, on space science. That was probably where the thin man had gone to, as that connected to Don's not so well-kept secret dream: to go into space and play in zero gravity. Pa

ok out his British mobile phone. After three attempts that told him the party he was trying to reach wasn't responding, he shrugged and tucked the phone away. On a table n

le smiled. "Doctor Donahue..." he traced a finger along a list "yes, he

sh entrails over Paul's head he could

had said. "And there is a note fo

ul hated that. It also was the ultimate proof that this message was indeed from

nded over a neatly fo

im and looked

ed to show me around. I may not be in the hotel tonight

to capture the attention of a woman. History showed solid proof that Don Donahue possessed a built-in female-repellent, so Paul would

olitely. "No harm done, don't worry. I've been hit harder in my life." The man, who wore a light blue shirt and jean

as correct, Don looked malnourished at the best of times. "I think my colleague has discovered a rebellious streak

n he looked at Paul with an inviting expression. "Perhaps you would like to join me and my family for dinner. Co

by this invitation. "Oh... that i

e, " the man said, h

id Paul. "Paul Eric Carmichael,

you're not from the States. And please call me T

e, please ca

d. I hope you are not intimidated by a large family, Paul, you don't strike me as a family man yourself. Oh, I hope you don't mind dogs and cats, we have some of those too." Before

car through the streets. "Relax and enjoy the view, we're in a nice little t

nvited him for dinner at his house. They had hardly met and already he

er buildings and a marina with many expensive-looking boats. In the back of his head there was a small voice of concern, warning him that he was doing something very out of the ordinary. Paul Eric Carmichael was usually not the kind of person to accept any invitation without knowing the inviting party, but for once he decided that the small voice should

omy conference so you must do something complicated, " Timo

his always meant that he had very little to say, but Timothy surprised him by asking a few questions that went beyond what people not in the field would know. Soon he was explaining th

n did not follow everything he had said. "I am s

ndy?" Pau

name is Sandra but nobody uses that as she refuses to respon

tirely different from the professional approach. Of course, he did not me

n a street that was lined with large trees left and right. Paul mentioned that

Timothy said with a wink. "Adele will love th

lsh is a languag

he wheel of the car and pulled into a driveway. The car stopped just short of a replic

lf round window with thin wooden spokes coming from the bottom centre like the rays of the sun. Somehow the designer of the home had managed to make every side of the hous

s large bag from the back-seat of the car and followed Timothy t

e, " Timothy said as he opened

*