The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)(87)

“Housing prices have come down. We haven’t really looked for a place in a while, and there are those new subdivisions out by the Sunflower facility.”

“It’s not just … My hesitation isn’t just about the space. If the IAC is moving the launch facilities to Brazil, then that might not be a good choice for Aunt Esther.” Nathaniel shrugged. “I mean, I could continue to work at Sunflower doing designs. For a while anyway.”

“Oh.” I gnawed the inside of my lip, thinking. “Well, we aren’t likely to make that move for at least a year while they do construction. Right?”

“More likely two, since we still have to pick the site.” Nathaniel sat forward in his chair and took my hand. “But if you’re accepted as an astronaut, then … I know what their training schedule is like. Is that going to be fair to her?”

“You think I should leave her in a nursing home?” I’d just found my aunt again, and now he expected me to leave her with strangers?

“God, no.” He ran his free hand over his hair. “But if Hershel is willing to take her in, that might be a better choice in the long run. We don’t have to make any decisions now, but it’s worth thinking about.”

*

Two weeks after I spoke with my aunt. Two weeks after I called Hershel to let him know that she was alive. Two weeks later, I was on the phone with my brother again, holding another letter in my shaking hand.

I had taken a Miltown, but that only slowed my heart from a gallop to a trot.

“National Weather Center, Hershel Wexler speaking.”

“Hey, it’s Elma … Have you got a minute?” The black plastic of the phone trapped sweat in my palm.

“What’s wrong?” Through the receiver, I could hear the sound of his office door shutting.

“I was just invited to move into the first round of testing for the astronaut program.” The letter still shook in my hand. I’d somehow thought that they would tell me at work, but I’d gotten a form letter along with … I didn’t know how many other women.

“Mazel tov! Wait until I tell Rachel. She’s going to be … over the moon.”

I groaned at the joke. “You are the worst.”

“Seriously, though, I’m so proud of you. When do you go in?”

“Well, that’s the problem.” I finally sat down on the sofa and put the letter on the coffee table in front of me. “It’s the week we’re scheduled to go visit Aunt Esther. And it’s five full days of testing.”

“Oh.” Hershel shuffled some papers on his desk. He sighed. “Well, let me see if I can change my vacation request.”

“I’m sorry.” I twisted the cord in my hand.

“Or … there’s really no reason for us both to go. You could do the testing and then come out to visit once we’ve got her settled.”

The room seemed to get colder. “I thought—I thought we were going to decide that once we saw her in person. You know. And talked to the nursing staff about what she needed?”

Hershel laughed in my ear. “Yeah. Well … at that point the concern had been your schedule, not whether you were on the planet.”

“We don’t know that I’m going to get in.”

“Please. Elma. They’d be idiots not to hire you, for publicity reasons, if nothing else.”

“That’s not how the space agency works.” Everything about the space program was complex and dangerous. There’s no way they would fly someone unqualified just for publicity reasons—at least not until things were established. “Everyone who goes up now has to be able to work. Who knows what testing will show?”

“Right. Uh-huh. You’ll owe me the newest Blackhawk comic if I’m right. Which I am.” My big brother could sound so cocksure sometimes. “And you also needed time to find a new place, right? That’s why we were waiting until next month.”

“Yes…” The newspaper lay across the room on the kitchen table, still folded in a tidy bundle. Nathaniel and I would have to go through the classified ads tonight.

“Do you really want to be house-shopping and moving while preparing for these tests?”

Why did he have to be right? I leaned forward to rest my elbow on my knee and rubbed my forehead. Parker, after all, had said he’d make sure I never saw space, so maybe I should focus on what I could do for my family. “Maybe that’s not where my priority should be. I mean … shouldn’t I be planning for what I can control, instead of some random thing that might happen?”

“Elma.” I could imagine Hershel glaring over the rim of his glasses at me. He’d confessed once that he actually couldn’t see that way, but it looked fairly intimidating. “You are not going to be happy unless you try for this.”

“But what if I don’t get in?”

He laughed at me. “If you don’t get in, I’ll buy you a subscription to Mystery in Space.”

“Good. I’ll need it to drown my sorrows.”

“Look … The flight will have to do a layover somewhere. Why don’t I see if I can find a route through Kansas City? Aunt Esther will probably need to rest anyway, so we can spend the night, and you can see her. Hm?”

“Gee. You mean it?” His ability to reduce me to a kid again is remarkable. And my hands had stopped shaking, to boot. “Maybe you’ll even be here for a rocket launch.”