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that made him easy to talk to. On meeting Teller before the press conference began, he'd joked about the strands of gray hair growing out of his ears, noting that they'd migrated there from his shiny bald head. As an executive director, he was constantly being rebuffed by the NASA board for getting too deep into the details of the various decisions being submitted for review, but he couldn't help it. He was a scientist at heart.
    Next to Dr Anderson sat Dr Bates.
    “Dr Jonathan Bates, Director of SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and founder of the American Astronautical Engineering Society. Adjunct Professor of High-Energy Physics at Princeton.”
    Bates was fastidious in everything he did. Although he wasn't wearing a tie, his shirt was neatly starched and creased. His mustache was trimmed daily to keep it looking crisp. When lost in thought, he had the habit of constantly cleaning his glasses with a soft cloth. Teller figured it was therapeutic, polishing the glass must have allowed his mind the freedom to settle on concepts in greater detail.
    Mason was next.
    Although the Press already knew exactly who he was, there was a point to be made and Mason didn't miss the opportunity to make it as vivid as possible.
    “Dr James Mason, Director of National Security and Intelligence, Presidential Adviser on Scientific Strategies. My Ph.D. is from MIT where I specialized in aeronautics.”
    Teller felt stupid. It was his turn.
    “David Teller, Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Development. Elementary school teacher at the East Side Village Community School.”
    There was silence.
    “Ah,” he offered in addition, “specializing in chemistry, physics and mathematics.”
    He could have crawled away into a hole and died of embarrassment.
    “Cathy Jones, reporter for Channel Four out of the Village, New York. Bachelors Degree in Journalism.”
    Cathy glanced back at Mason, trying to visually hand the camera's attention back to him. Teller could see she was embarrassed. Their eyes met, and he could see she was ashamed to have dragged him into this. In that instant, he felt he could read her mind. Here he was, a school teacher trying to find a lost student and she'd propelled him and his ad-hoc, off-the-cuff thinking onto the international stage.
    “Firstly, I'd like to clarify a few points from the unauthorized transmission of a private conversation between myself and Mr Teller earlier today.”
    Cathy sunk in her seat.
    “There is no verifiable evidence that the anomaly is alien in origin. At this point, that is a speculative idea being investigated by NASA. Bill? Do you have anything you want to say on that?”
    “Sure,” said Dr Anderson. “Although the anomaly appears to be moving to us, rotating and flipping over in the air, it is actually stationary in its orientation to the stars, always pointing at a single point in the sky as the Earth rotates and turns around it.”
    Anderson held out his hand, rotating his palm in an attempt to provide a visual example as he spoke.
    “Now, that might seem a little confusing at first, but think of the old steam trains you see in a Western movie. Picture the big, old cast-iron wheels that drive the train forward. There's a steel rod connected to the wheel, driving it around. But as the wheel turns, the rod always points in the same direction, it's always pointing back at the piston. That's essentially what the anomaly is doing. As the Earth rotates, it is always pointing along the same line out into deep space.”
    A flurry of questions broke from the floor. Anderson picked the closest reporter.
    “So is it pointing at Vega?”
    “Well, no,” said Mason. “And this highlights the importance of thorough research over speculation and rumors. Vega is visible in the early evening at this time of the year but the anomaly is aligning with something that is roughly fifteen degrees north of the Sun.”
    He looked down at a sheet of paper to make sure he had the facts