Vishal Hemrajani - Solving Mysteries Beyond the Stars

I t was a day like any other. The sun had stirred Kevin from his slumber, as usual. His mother had made him breakfast, as usual. He had gone to school, as usual. To the casual observer nothing appeared out of the ordinary. However, this day was set to be an extraordinary day, indeed, as today a perfectly ordinary set of circumstances was destined to ignite a question in Kevins naturally curious mind.

A simple exchange later with his best friend, Nelson, was about to become the first of four phases of questioning in Kevins life (this would take decades to come full circle, reach a conclusion and finally furnish him with some real answers and actual solid proof).

Little could either boy have known the journey their lives would take as one was destined to travel the world professionally tasked with unravelling some of lifes deepest mysteries, while the other would go through life almost anonymously, and yet inextricably linked to his friend until death did them part. Neither could have known how their destinies were intertwined, nor the unprecedented turn of events that would ultimately unfold offering them proof from the most unexpected of sources. However, there were many decades yet to unravel before that closing of the circle could occur.

As he dressed for school, Kevin felt a slight chill in the air, so rather that donning only his lightweight shirt he pulled on his schools sweater, noticing how soft and soothing the knit was against his skin. If only every trouble and doubt could be so easily soothed, he mused, considering a conversation hed held with Nelson the day before.

Nelson was a bit of a brainiac who loved his sciencefiction and was considered by many of the children at school as a bit of a nerd. Kevin was no star student, star athlete, or in any way going to win the classs most popular vote, rather he generally meandered through life with passing his grades, not ruffling feathers, and staying out of trouble. He liked having Nelson as a friend because he was very logical and grounded, notwithstanding his penchant for sci-fi. As Nelson would often point out, science-fiction was only fiction until someone developed the technology or discovered the truths that transcended it into science fact. Nelson loved to demonstrate examples of his theory to Kevin, for example, one of the most popular sci-fi shows of all time was the immortal Star Trek series, where the universe was explored in the starship Enterprise. As a result of this, one of the spacecrafts designed by the US government had been named Enterprise. Aside from naming inspirations, more than once leading edge discoveries had taken their lead from the creative fantasy minds of science-fiction writers. The transporter beam and the medical tricorder were in Research and Development phases at that very moment. Kevin could listen to Nelson for hours; he was simply fascinating, not to mention extremely knowledgeable, when he started out on one of his favourite subjects.

The first class of the day was science, and Kevin was excited because they were about to start learning about the subject of astronomy. For a class of eleven-year-olds, the details were not going to be too in-depth, but it only took the slightest spark to ignite an inferno. There was no question about itthe fuel for the fire was already present in Kevins natural curiosity. Kevin sat wide-eyed through most of the class, a fact that didnt escape Nelsons attention. The geeky nerd grinned to himself at his friends expense, thinking most of what the teacher said was elementary knowledge and nothing to look all that astonished about. For Kevin, however, he couldnt wait for the class to end to talk about it all with Nelson.

Not being one to be noticed or ruffle feathers, Kevin hesitated to ask the teacher any of his questions. The teachers job was just to explain the facts about planets in the solar system and how each differed from the other. Having been raised to believe firmly in his religion, Kevin dared not ask publicly what was on his mind. His religion taught that mankind was the only intelligent life in the universe, and that this planet we live on was created by Gods hand a mere six thousand years ago. It would seem blasphemous or heretical to dispute such assertions, even in a science class where a completely different story was told about the age of our planet.

When the end of session bell rang, Kevin nearly leapt out of his skin.

Meet me by the playground? he whispered to Nelson.

The playground was their special place, a place where they had whiled away many an hour discussing the logic of this and the mysteries of that.

Be there in five minutes, Nelson assured his friend.

With the sun higher in the sky, Kevin was beginning to debate his earlier wisdom of pulling on a sweater. It felt uncomfortably hot or, maybe, he considered, his rise in body temperature was at least partly fuelled by his burning desire for answers.

He paced for a moment, glancing up when he saw Nelson ambling in his direction.

So, whats on your mind? Nelson asked in a tone that might suggest he was many moons older and wiser than a tender eleven years.

I dont know where to start, Kevin gushed.

Well, just say the first thing that pops into your mind, Nelson very reasonably suggested.

In Bible studies they tell us the world is only six thousand years old, but how can that be true when in science class we learn about the age of stars and planets?

Ah, the age old battle of theology and faith versus the rationale of research and deduction.