The Learned Astronomer
by Bailey Loveless
His comet speeds past the supernova generated by the exploding core of Star B-15810's. It was lucky he got here just in time. His quadrant of space is relatively new, way beyond the 4% of the universe visible from Earth, and he furiously jots down his observations of the explosion before the comet takes him too far out of range. He notes the new neutron star's temperature before it fades out of sight, measures the number of particles blasting away through space, does his best to preserve this moment in words and numbers.
10 billion years, and it all ends in a glorious moment, he thinks with a shudder, checking his instruments as he flies away from the blast. This is the third supernova he's seen, and he is not sure that he will see another. There's no way around that one day his comet will fail and fall, that his calcium will return to the stars, and he will go on only in the data he has transmitted. But he hopes for one more, always one more, for there is so much more to know.
The comet continues on towards Star B-15811A and B-15811B, two young binary stars in desperate need of further cataloging. Their twin lights come closer into view, and he pulls out his telescope to see how close-knit the two stars are in orbit. B-15811A is the larger of the twins and glows a soft blue, but it is the smaller, pink sister star that grabs his attention.
Because there's a girl doing ballet.
She leaps up and down on the star's squishy surface as if it were a giant pink bouncy ball. Her indigo hair shines bright with constellations. Measuring the elements around her, they read that she is full of starlight and salt. As his comet approaches, her laughter echoes in his ears. She turns to look at him. Still pirouetting on the peak of gravity, she waves, her sapphire eyes wide with surprise but not alarm.
"What are you doing?" she calls.
"Collecting data," he calls back. "About the stars while I can. I need to learn all that I can you see before my comet will fly past."
"I know all about these two. What do you want to know?" she says.
"Age, temperature, orbit, you know that sort of thing," he says with a wave of his hand, glancing at his readings.
"That one would like to see a balloon someday," she says, indicating B-15811A, then pointing down with her toes, "And this one likes it when I dance. It tickles."
"Oh," he says, unsure of what to do with that information.
"Have you traveled far?" she asks.
