The Plan, Revisited · The Quiet Exam · Pulse Beat
At the end of December he sat with his father and made a list. "You said you'd tell me what you've been doing," said Mr Malhotra. They were in the study, a small, tidy room lined with engineering…
At the end of December he sat with his father and made a list.
"You said you'd tell me what you've been doing," said Mr Malhotra. They were in the study, a small, tidy room lined with engineering manuals. He had a notepad and a pen.
"I've been reading. Astronomy, mostly. And physics, not for the exam. For itself." Dev took a breath. "I've been using the telescope. I've logged forty-one nights. I measured the orbital period of Io."
His father looked up. "You measured it?"
"Over two weeks. I timed its transit across Jupiter's disc and worked out the period. It's off by about two percent." He handed over a notebook. "I want to do that for a living, Papa. Not engineering. Astrophysics. It's a long road. I'd have to do a science degree and a PhD. I know it isn't what you wanted."
Mr Malhotra turned the pages for a long time. They were covered in careful hand-drawn tables, small diagrams, margins full of corrections. At last he put down the notebook.
"This is very good," he said. His voice was strange. "This is the work of someone who is interested."