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"I'm sorry, you employed who?" Dr. Shapiro asks, baffled.
She had just arrived on the ship, brought there by a jet. Stratt had mentioned a Dr. Grace; She's praying that it isn't the Dr. Grace that comes to mind.
Stratt just blinks at her, unfazed by Shapiro's revelation. "Dr. Ryland Grace. He is our most knowledgeable Astrophage expert."
"That- Where did you even find him?! He- He went dark for three years! No one in the microbiology- No, scratch that, no one in any scientific field has seen him in those three years, how did you-"
Stratt cuts her off. "Because I have no time to waste, and I employ the best people for the job. He was the best person for the job. Now, seeing as I have a meeting to be at that I am ten minutes late to, I will be on my way. Please allow the guards to show you to your room."
With that, Stratt simply walks away, leaving Annie to stand there, unable to process what had just happened.
"So... Stratt brought Dr. Grace onto the ship." Annie breathes out, sitting with the main volunteers for the mission, eating her lunch.
"Really? Dr. Ryland Grace?" DuBois asks, setting down his fork. Annie nods.
Yáo raises an eyebrow at the two scientists. "Who is Dr. Grace?"
Annie and DuBois turn to Yáo, confused. "You don't know of Dr. Grace?" Annie questions.
Yáo shakes his head lightly. "I do not have a clue."
"Oh. You're not a scientist, actually, I forgot. Dr. Grace was a renowned microbiologist. He started on extremophiles before moving on to speculative astrobiology. He was good at what he did, too, like- Changing the way the field was done, kind of good."
She moves her hair out of her way and continues. "He was amazing at what he did, but then he started talking about how water wasn't required for life and how the Goldilocks Zone was wrong. People disagreed with him so much that he completely lashed out at a conference. After that, he vanished."
"No one knew what happened to him," DuBois cuts in, "until he showed up here, that is."
"I would like to know where he went off to," Ilyukhina wonders aloud. "It seems interesting."
"Yes, it does," Yáo nods. "Where is his lab? Can we visit him?"
"I have never, in all my years of teaching, had a lab as chaotic as this. If my middle schoolers can act like they have some common sense in a lab, a group of fully grown adults should be completely capable of doing so. This is a simple concept!" Dr. Grace's booming voice can be heard, muffled by the walls of his lab.
The group stares at the door.
"He does not seem so bad... We should say hello." Ilyukhina hums, smiling as she walks into the lab.