"We Are Not Alone"

another as to who fucked who during the weekend and what parties were the best. Some of the male students whispered to one another, wanting to know who got loaded and which guys got their pipes cleaned and by whom.
Michael was not one of them. He usually was as curious as any of his peers as to who was with who and what party he and his friends may be invited to the next weekend, but that was not the case this morning.
Michael Price spent much of his free time staring through the lens of his ten inch mirrored telescope several nights a week. Astronomy was his hobby and he had a passionate interest in space travel and astrophysics. In fact, Michael’s father shared his son’s enthusiasm, so they both spent a few weekly nighttime hours together, peering at the planets and distant galaxies. His telescope was the most awesome present he ever got. He loved the Lexus convertible his pop bought for him, but his first love by far was spending time peering at the heavens.

“Who knows when the Voyager One and Two were launched?” The science teacher asked, though he expected no one would have a clue.
Michael raised his hand. He had straight A’s in science, from junior high school onward. Though his teacher was aware that Michael was doing very well, he had no idea how much he loved learning about this day’s subject matter.
“Michael!”
“Voyager One was launched on September fifth nineteen seventy-seven and Voyager Two went up the prior month . . .uh, I think it was August twentieth, if I’m not mistaken.”