Work Text:
Massachusetts, 1957
Introduction to Orbital Mechanics was written at the top of the board.
The professor finished writing and stepped back with the air of a man who believed he had just made things perfectly clear.
“Okay, can someone tell me what our next step should be?”
Silence.
Twenty-five students stared at the equations as if they had been written in an extinct language. Someone in the back squinted. Someone else tilted their head, as though viewing the problem from a different angle might cause it to explain itself out of pity.
Alfred looked from the board, to his notebook, then back to the board again. None of the symbols had the decency to resemble numbers he recognized.
The professor clasped his hands. “Come on, guys. This isn’t music theory.”
“No, cause it’s rocket science.” Alfred muttered to himself.