Analog Science Fiction and Fact - June 2013

Jeff Sanford and several colleagues had
been sitting in the conference room
when the news came. The door
opened and Linda Wilson stuck her
head in. “Hey, guys.” she said, “the Crab Pulsar
has gone missing.”
Myra snickered. “Maybe we need to wipe
the lens.”
“We got an alert from the Navy,” said Linda,
referring to the U.S. Naval Observatory, also
located in Flagstaff. “They can’t find it. Neither
can I.”
Jeff checked his watch. His son Brian was a
sophomore at Northern Arizona. “He
promised a surprise this evening,” he said, getting
up, “but removing the Crab Pulsar’s a bit
much.”
It was well past visiting hours and the Lowell
Observatory was quiet. One of the interns
looked up from the Clark scope. “It’s still not
visible,” she said, backing away as they approached.
“The pulsar’s not there. I can see
the nebula, but nothing’s happening.”
The Crab Pulsar was seven thousand lightyears
away, in the constellation Taurus. It rotated
thirty times a second, providing a
flashing light that was impossible to miss.
Jeff checked the control console. “Radio
waves and x-rays are normal,” he said. “Must
be a dust cloud.”
Myra frowned. “A dust cloud couldn’t block
that thing off overnight.”
Glitch
Jack McDevitt
Linda was listening to her cell phone. She
nodded. Told them to wait. “Mauna Kea says
visibility was normal three hours ago.”
“Not possible,” said Myra.
Live and learn, thought Jeff. It was obviously
possible. He checked his watch. There’d be
an explanation in the morning, and Brian was
waiting for him. The surprise, he suspected,
would be a young woman. And probably talk
of an impending marriage. Kids, like pulsars,
tended to spring surprises.
But it was only an electronic gadget. A
game station of some kind, he guessed. “It’s a
Y-Box,” said Brian. He was taller than his father,
big, with wide shoulders and an easy-going
personality that sometimes seemed too
casual. Though when his mother ran off with
a supermarket clerk three years ago, he’d
blamed Jeff.
“What’s a Y-Box?”
“Come on, Dad. They’ve been advertising
them for two months.”
Jeff shrugged. “So what is it?”
“It creates artificial realities.”
Jeff smiled. “Okay.”
“Dad, you need to stop trying to hang onto
the twentieth century.”
“If you say so, Brian.”
“Good. Just give this a chance. You’ll like
it.” He produced a pair of helmets and held
one out for his father. “Have a seat and put
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