They closed us down three days ago – the whole lab. I don’t know where the others are, but they offered me this desk job so long as I said nothing. I’m not breaking that promise – there are so many galaxies out there, you wouldn’t know where to look. But try Draco on the winter horizon if you’ve the right equipment.
We’d been monitoring that sector for a few months and had made some decent images for the media. Then I trained the scope on a region we’d not covered before and left it on overnight.
What came back couldn’t be explained any other way. There was the nebula in the background (I can’t give its name) but that was nothing compared to the shapes weaving in and out of it. Wings, claws, sinuous tails, the works – unmistakable. We sat there in front of the recording, silenced by their beauty.
But then the time came to upload. We knew it was over but relished two hours of tranquillity before the vans arrived with the men in suits. I’ve loved the stars since childhood, and for a few years I lived that dream. It’s over now but I wouldn’t change a thing.
Comments
insertponceyfre... | May 6, 2010 - 05:48
dragons+space=the soup dragon!! I needed some good news today. Thank you Rob!
Silver Spun Sand | May 6, 2010 - 09:06
Well, insert's said it all, I think RJ;-) Roll on next week. This weeks, very much enjoyed. I am a great astronomy fan. Always have been.
Tina
MistakenMagic | May 6, 2010 - 10:15
'Wings, claws, sinuous tails, the works – unmistakable. We sat there in front of the recording, silenced by their beauty.'
- love the way you've described the dragons, Rob! Another great installment on our mythical friends ;)
Magic xxx
Beeme | May 6, 2010 - 16:20
Another beautiful installment. I really enjoyed this and especially loved the lines Magic quoted.
Beeme xx
rjnewlyn | May 7, 2010 - 21:16
Thanks Insert. Yes, I hadn't actually thought of the soup dragon but it must have been there at the back of my mind. Happy memories ...
rjnewlyn | May 7, 2010 - 21:18
Thanks Tina. Yes, space is wonderful - should be more of it!
rjnewlyn | May 7, 2010 - 21:19
Thanks Magic. I felt happy to get those lines down so I'm glad you liked them.
insertponceyfre... | May 7, 2010 - 21:19
didn't mean to trivialise it Rob! Hope you didn't mind
rjnewlyn | May 7, 2010 - 21:20
Thanks very much Beeme. I'm pleased it worked.
rjnewlyn | May 7, 2010 - 21:33
There's nothing trivial about the Soup Dragon and no higher comparison could be made - I'm flattered! Postgate and Firmin are the unrecognised geniuses (genii?) of that era. I think my earliest memories may be watching that programme - might well be where the idea for this post came from, although I wasn't conscious of it at the time.
There is a certain difference in scale however (unless the SD kept growing ...)
Sooz006 | June 19, 2012 - 17:42
I was disappointed with this one, only because I loved the last one so much and hoped that you would continue from it. the writing on this one was just as good, but the story changed.
I'm probably going to look really stupid now, what does WYRM stand for, is it a worm, or an acronym or something else? I feel as though I already know the answer but it won't come out of the fugue.
rjnewlyn | June 19, 2012 - 23:23
None of these were meant to follow on from each other. I think at the time I was taking a break from narratives. 'Wyrm' is just another word for dragon really - beloved of cod fantasy novels and a bit over-used in that genre I think. Probably Tolkein initiated it and it was original back then, but it's become a bit 'ye olde' now.
Yes, I'm not so sure about this one, looking back. I liked the idea at the end but the story doesn't particularly go anywhere.
Rob