4.4 light years away from Earth.”
“What’s a light year?”
“A light year is 5.88 trillion miles.”
“How long is a parsec?” Zelda’s questions came faster as Doogie answered with increasing firmness. I checked to see if he was in a trance, or a transcendental state of recall, but he wasn’t. He was Doogie, snapping out the answers as if he’d worked with them all his life.
“A parsec is 3.26 light years.”
Zelda took in a deep breath and looked at the stack of cards that she herself had made. She reached for them, then stopped. She decided to wait, and went on with questions off the top of her head.
“Doogie, can you tell me what the 10 brightest stars in the sky are as seen from Earth? Say them in order, if you can.”
“There’s no way he can know this,” I spat. “In order?!”
“Sirius, Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Arcturus, Vega, Capella, Rigel, Procyon, Achernar and Betelgeuse. The closest star to Earth is Proxima Centauri V645, 4.2 light years away.”
“JESUS CHRIST!” I looked at Ivana whose mouth hung open. Zelda only stared at Doogie in stunned silence. I didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or scream. She pulled out one of the blank cards, and began scribbling words on it while Doogie began looking around the room in oblivious curiosity again. She flashed the card to us, then held it in front of herself so Doogie could only see the blank side.
“Okay, Doogie.” His head snapped back to her instantly.
“I will read you some names and you tell me what they mean to you. Ready? Meissa, Bellatrix, Saiph, Alni-”
“Alnitak!” he completed and continued. “Mintaka, Alnilam, Betelgeuse, Algiebba and Rigel. They are the stars in the Orion constellation. The closest is Bellatrix, 243 light years away; the farthest is Alnilam, 1,360 light years away.”
Zelda stared dumbstruck at Doogie again. In the silence, I could feel her discomfort and her awe. I wondered what she must have been feeling, and what conclusions she was making in response to Doogie’s performance. Not once had she corrected him about the questions of space. She glanced at us, then back to him. She pulled out one of the cards she had made. “What’s this, Doogie?” She showed us the card.
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“What in God’s name is that!?” I asked out loud. Doogie looked at the card then up to Zelda.
“It’s part of a calculation of Maxwell’s Induced Spacetime Curvature,” he answered. “Would you like me to complete the equation?”
Zelda shook her head, swallowing deeply. She showed another card to us.
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“And what is this, Doogie?” she asked timidly, her voice lowered measurably. She looked away briefly, and bit her lip as if she could tell by the immediate look in his eyes that he knew. Doogie didn’t disappoint.
“That is one of Einstein’s field equations on the interaction of gravitation and how matter and energy curves spacetime.”
“And what are these?”
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“These are the London Theories for Superconductivity. It concerns the minimization of the electromagnetic free energy-”
“I know what they are, Doogie, thank you!” Zelda said abruptly and irritated. She brought up both hands and rubbed her eyes in frustration, blowing out a long breath in exasperation. Doogie looked at her curiously. It was then that I thought he’d go back into his stutter. He did not.
“Doogie, can you tell me how you know the answers to all my questions?”
“They’re inside me.”
“Who, or what put them inside of you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid because you know these answers?”
“No. I’m happy to know.”
“If someone else asked you these questions, or other questions, could you answer them?”
“Yes.” Zelda nodded and forced a smile. She pushed her chair away from the desk, and stood up.
“We’re going to take a break now, but can you answer one more question?” He nodded. She took another blank card and quickly wrote on it. She didn’t show it to us as she placed it flat on the table in front of him, but we saw a string of numbers.
Zelda stood back and folded her arms across her chest.
“What do you see, Doogie?”
“Those are the coordinates for the Great Pyramid of Giza,” he replied without hesitation. “North by East.” She took the original stack of photos and flipped through them. She pulled out the photo of the pyramids of Giza.
“Tell me, Doogie, in one word, what do you see when you look at this picture?” She furrowed her eyebrows as Doogie looked up and smiled.
“FRIENDS!” Zelda looked at us and nodded. I could tell by her expression, both satisfied and bewildered, that she was done. Ivana and I went around the corner to the room. Zelda had opened the door for us and we came in.
“H-H-H-H-HAAA-VVVVVVV!” Doogie bellowed in excitement at seeing me. I couldn’t help but smile like a proud parent. Ivana was also smiling as she approached, flicking her eyes at Zelda, as well.
“Doogie, we’re going to take a break now. We will take you back to one of Ellen’s rooms so you can rest. Okay?”
“O-O-O-O-OKAAAAYYYYY!” He got up from his chair as Zelda gathered the cards in silence. Ellen suddenly appeared at the door, and greeted us all. She offered her hand to Doogie and together they left the room, but not before Zelda eyed the little man intently as he walked by. She was stunned, and I couldn’t help feel that in this freakish case, the teacher had become the student.
“So, did he pass?” I asked.
“We’ve got to talk,” Zelda snapped.
“My office,” Ivana confirmed. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Ivana poured the Šlivovica quickly into our shot glasses, and we slammed them down even quicker than before. The sweet burn somehow barely registered as it singed down our throats.
“We’ve got to find out if there are others walking around out there,” I said. “Other than Patricia, do you have any others who are candidates?” Ivana nodded her head.
“I’ve got a whole ward of Catatonia and Lethargica patients on the third floor, but they’ve not moved at all. After Patricia’s first recovery day, I put papers and pencils next to all their beds, 10 of them. I’ve checked every day, but nothing.” Suddenly, her cell phone rang.
“Orinda State, Dr. Livancic speaking.” I saw her face suddenly plunge into concentration. She quickly sat at her desk and pulled out a pad of paper. Yes, Dr. Sturnage, hello! How are you? I’m fine, thank you. Yes? You do? My God! How many?” She glanced at me. “Yes! Okay, Doctor! Would you mind if my team came down to view them and test them? Yes. I’ll let you know when, but I’m doing a field study on this phenomena. Yes. We have two ourselves.” She nodded frequently, scribbling on the notepad. I looked at Zelda, but she was on the other side of the office talking on her cell phone.
“I understand, and yes, we should not contact the media. In fact, once I find out if there are other similar cases, I plan to call a conference with all their primary care therapists to discuss my theory. Yes. Very good,