Chapter Text
“Who can tell me the speed of light?” I ask, pointing around my class.
Nobody raises their hand this time.
“Okay.. tough crowd. You, Ollie.” I toss the stopwatch to my youngest. It ticks off its 30 second limit.
“Umm.. okay… two hundred ninety nine million, seven— seven…” Ollie sat there for a moment blankly. “Pass?”
“You can’t pass. It’s the rules.” I say with a smirk. I know he’s got this, he’s a bright kid.
Ollie began tapping a memorization rhythm on his leg. “Two hundred ninety nine million… seven.. hundred.. ninety two thousand, five hundred and forty eight metres per second?”
The stop watch chimed to the end. “Ahh so close, Ollie! It’s four hundred fifty eight. Great job though, man!” Ollie tossed the stop watch back to me. “Alright.. who can tell me the molecular weight of water?”
This time the new kid, Cassidy, raised her hand. She looked eager, so I tossed the watch to her.
“Eighteen point zero one five three.”
“Right on!” I point finger guns at her.
“Mr. James? Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“What’s Black Matter?”
I felt a pang in my chest. “Ah, you must mean dark matter—“
“No. I mean Black Matter. They mentioned it on tv.”
Well shit.
“I’m sorry Cassidy, I just can’t answer that. Maybe you should ask your mom..”
Cassidy tossed back the stop watch. I look down at it.
Twenty eight, twenty seven, twenty six—
“Can’t pass. It’s in the rules.” She says. Damn middle schoolers.
Okay. We’re doing this. Try not to get fired, Chip!
“Well.. Black Matter was discovered around ten years ago by the crew of a ship known as The Black Rose, which is where it gets its name—“ I feel a lump grow in my throat. I try to swallow it down. Not the time. “And recently a few small dots of it were found to be.. I guess growing? On or around the sun.. which seems to have dimmed the sun just a tiny, little bit. we don’t really know much about it. Does that answer your question?”
The stop watch beeps.
“Is the sun dying?” I hear Ollie whisper.
Oh boy.
“Like I said, we don’t know much—“
“Answer the question! I want to know too!” Jade from the back of the class shouts.
“By 20-30 years the sun may dim by about— 5-10 percent. But that’s a rough estimate— that’s just assuming it continues growing at the same rate it is right now. It could stop in maybe a year or two and turn out to be nothing at all! We just don’t know.”
The kids seemed to settle down, and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I would answer any question they had happily! Any question but that.
“If you have any more questions besides Black Matter feel free to ask. If not, please open your books to page 72.”
I was relieved when it came time for the bell to ring. My students jumped up from their seats, all beginning their trudge towards the door.
“See you tomorrow Mr. James!” Ollie called.
I nodded, throwing up a wave. “See you!”
A few of my other kids waved at me too, but most had their head down and their feet dragging. That’s just how it was in a public middle school sometimes. Most of them were exhausted from their day, but some of these kids didn’t want to be here, and honestly? That was okay. You don’t need to be the smartest in class, or the most successful person ever in your career. A simpler job, at least for me, means a happier life. Screw colleges and uptight programs. What do they know.
I’m glad I left my days of shooting for the stars behind me. I’m perfectly happy right where I am with my students, and would be more than delighted to see whatever paths each of my students choose. They’re all brilliant in their own way, even if they don’t know it yet.
I turn to my desk to sort some files away. Straightening some decorations that had been knocked askew. My classroom is a whole assortment of different things I’ve picked up over the years. Nothing expensive— for sure, but just— little gifts and knickknacks I’d found. One of my favorites was a model of the world one of my more artistic students made out of clay. A prodigy, that one.
“Excuse me, is this Mr. Chip James’s room?”
I shot my head towards the doorway, my thoughts interrupted by the strange voice. I quickly straightened my back and swept my hair to the side for the newcomer. “That would be me, yes.”
“Good—“ it was a young woman, about my age. She had bright fiery red hair that was pinned back neatly, blue eyes and a freckled face. She was pretty, not my type though. She looked like she could command a room, and judging by the white and gold RAFT uniform she wore, I supposed she probably could.
Wait— what was a member of the Navy doing in my classroom?
I cleared my throat, all of a sudden wishing I’d chosen to wear a nicer shirt.
“I am Jay Ferin. I am a member of the science department at RAFT and I would like to have a word with you.”
I leaned back a bit, my curiosity piqued. “Yeah? What’s up?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the substance known as Black Matter?”
This again— two times in one day was not a good amount. Zero times in one day would be preferable. Can’t always get what you want, though. “I’ve heard of it.”
“Good, I thought you would looking at who your father was. I understand you are the son of Arlin James?”
“The one and only.” I sighed. “Look, lady, I don’t know what you want from me, but I have papers to grade. I hope you will excuse me but I’m still on the clock—“
“Well then, you’re taking off today.”
“I’d need to call in.”
“I can have you be excused. Please listen to what I have to say.”
I relented, leaning against the wall impatiently. “Fine.”
“I need you to come with me to a RAFT lab and ask you a few questions about Black Matter.”
“Why? I wasn’t there.”
“But he was. Out of everyone on that crew you are the only living relative.”
“I’m not looking to be an astronaut anymore.”
“You don’t have to be. You just have to give me honest answers. You’re sure to remember some of the things he told you. You weren’t there for that mission, but you saw what he was working on, no? You saw the inside of the ship, and the crew—“
“I was nine.”
“Memories can be retained from your childhood, especially when surrounding a traumatic event.”
I pinched my brow frustratingly. “Please, ma’am, I don’t have the time or the energy for this. You can find someone else for whatever you need—“
“Chip, this is a matter of life and death for the entire world as we know it.”
I look up. “Says who?”
“Says the math. You don’t think that the sun dimming ten percent over the next thirty years won’t have any adverse effects on our ecosystem? Ten percent? We would be looking at an ice age across the globe. Crops would die, livestock would plummet. We would starve.”
“Not if it stops growing.”
“We’ve received recent data on Black Matter that might convince you out of that idea. It’s not going to stop. Not unless we do something about it.”
“Show me?”
“I’ll show you once we question you about some things.”
Damn it.
That was really enticing, I have to say, but— I couldn’t do it. I can’t. Even if there was a chance to find out what happened to Arlin out of this, there’s no way he’d be alive. Even if he was, time dilation might’ve done him out already. He wasn’t young when he got lost. A little chirp in my brain told me that time dilation doesn’t really work like that, but what does it know. I’m looking for anything I can get to talk me out of it.
“It’s a great offer, really—“ I turn back to my papers, flipping through a few idly. “But I’m going to have to pass. I’m just not the right person.”
Ms. Ferin sighed, looking down at the ground. “I don’t want to do this, but you need to comply with me. I will give you until the end of the school day. After that, you will come with me to the facility. If you resist, you will be forced. This is not optional.”
I could feel my heart rate pick up at the threat. “What’ll you do, drag me?” This was ridiculous.
“That is exactly what I’ll do. I will be waiting outside.”
Then she turned on her heel, and exited out of the door, leaving me alone to wonder what the fuck just happened.
It was hard to focus on my students the rest of the day. For the entire next period I had to let them study on their own just to collect my thoughts.
I was being kidnapped by the government to be asked questions about my late dad’s relationship with a mysterious black substance that is apparently slowly swallowing the sun.
Just the average Tuesday for a middle school science teacher.