The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)(20)
*
After dinner, I retreated to the Lindholms’ study. I had strewn papers all over the desk as I tried to pull the data points together into the order I needed. Opening the drawer, I pulled out the little notepad we were using as a log book and jotted down the time so I could pay them back for the long-distance call. Then I picked up the receiver and dialed my brother’s work number.
“United States Weather Bureau, Hershel Wexler speaking.”
“Hey, it’s Elma. Got a minute for a weather question?”
“That is the literal definition of my job. What’s up?” Paper rustled on the other end of the line. “Planning a picnic?”
“Heh. No.” I pulled the equations I’d been working on closer. “I’m helping Nathaniel figure out how big the meteorite was, and composition and … The Chesapeake was steaming for three days. I could sort it out on my own, but … I thought there might be an existing equation for figuring out what temperature it would take to make a body of water that big steam.”
“Interesting … Give me a sec.” Beyond him, I could hear the Teletype bringing in reports from weather stations around the world. “You’ve got the depth and volume of water, I assume?”
“Average depth twenty-one feet. Eighteen trillion gallons.”
“Okay. So … during March, the Chesapeake Bay is around forty-four degrees. So we’d need a temperature change of 199.4…” A drawer opened, and the timbre of his voice changed. I could picture him with the phone pressed between cheek and shoulder, brows creased as he worked the slide rule. His crutches would be leaning against the edge of his desk. His glasses would be down at the tip of his nose to help him focus better, and he’d have the corner of his lower lip tucked between his teeth, humming between muttered phrases. “… divided by water’s molar mass … and that gives me 1.54E20 J of energy … hm-hmmm … Adding the two energies together … hmmm … 1.84E20 J of energy. You’d need … It would need to be approximately 518 degrees.”
“Thanks.” I swallowed at the number and tried not to betray how much it frightened me. “You could’ve just given me the formula.”
“What? And admit that my kid sister is better at math than I am?” He snorted. “Please. I have an ego.”
I could now plug the temperature into an equation that took the approximate angle of entry into account, and that should tell me generally what sort of composition we were looking at, based on what would heat to 518 degrees during passage through the air. It wouldn’t be precise, but it would be good enough for Nathaniel’s purposes.
“You said you were figuring out what the Meteor was?” The timbre changed again as he brought the receiver closer to his mouth.
“Yeah. Based on the size of the crater—eighteen miles—and the initial water displacement, I have a pretty good estimate of the meteor ite’s size.” I started noodling with the numbers that he’d given me. “At some point, they’ll get divers down to find out its actual composition, but every one is focused on the refugee and recovery efforts…” And that made me think of Eugene and Myrtle.
“Maybe you can answer a question for me.”
“I’m not doing your math homework.”
He snorted. “How’s Nathaniel doing?”
“Oh…” I sighed and checked the door to make sure it was shut. “He’s exhausted and frustrated and a bunch of it is classified, so … I keep thinking it’ll be better when everything is over, but…”
“But it’s not going to be over.”
“No.” I rubbed my forehead. “How is it out there?”
“We’re just starting to see refugees, but mostly it’s business as usual.” He sighed. “That’s going to change when the weather patterns start to shift.”
“Shift how?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but that’s what I’m working on. That much sediment and smoke in the air?” I could imagine him pulling his glasses off as he sighed. “Maybe you can answer another question for me.”
“I’m still not doing your math homework for you.”
“Yes, you are, actually. What was the water displacement?”
“I’ll be able to give you an approximate value once I know how big the thing was. Why?”
“Because you kick that much water up into the air, and it’s going to have an impact on the weather. I want to see if we can predict what the hurricane season is going to be like because of this.”
I smiled at the wall, as if Hershel were sitting opposite me. “Okay. Fine. I’ll do your math homework, but you know the deal.”
“Yes.” He laughed. “You can read my comic books, but that is going to require coming to visit.”
“As soon as we’re finished here.” Once Nathaniel was finished with his meetings, I’d talk to him about maybe moving to California.
*
I shoved the calculations away from me and rested my head on my hands. Crap. It had taken me two evenings to get all the variables lined up. And now? I’d gone through the numbers three times, and if there was a mistake, I wasn’t finding it. I had called Hershel, but it was after work hours, and they were out for the evening. Goodness knows what their babysitter made of my message.