One Day the Wind Changed Read Online Free Page A

not.”
    â€œNot everyone agrees with that conclusion.”
    â€œThe boys at the Rose Center say it’s a rotten little—”
    â€œIce ball, I know. But the International Astronomical Union—”
    â€œAs you’re aware, Adam, the Rose Center is the country’s premier planetarium. Absolutely state-of-the-art. From now on, it’s the standard by which we measure ourselves.”
    â€œFrank, with all due respect, there’s no way we can compete with the Rose, or anywhere else, on the budget of pretzels you give me. Since when is science the board’s business? You’re supposed to watch the purse strings. That’s all.”
    He folds his arms and speaks to me as if to a child. “Adam, we’ve been mandated, by the Dallman family, to oversee the health of this operation. And in the board’s estimation, we need to be perceived as a crack educational facility. If the nation’s state-of-the-art planetarium says Pluto’s a bit of space trash, a snotty little rag God blew his nose on—”
    â€œMore like the ice in his scotch.”
    â€œâ€”then that’s the way it’s going to be.”
    I understand that this is just a minor annoyance for Frank. But I know my audiences. Like children with their bedtime stories, planetarium visitors insist on familiarity and repetition. They need to believe that their universe is steady.
    â€œFrank, correct me if I’m wrong,” I say. “Last week you told me our priority was entertaining folks, even if it meant cutting back on the hard science. Keeping them happy—”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œBelieve me, then, what’ll keep them happy is the comfort of knowing that their parents and teachers told them the truth.”
    â€œWe need to be taken seriously, Adam. Our profits depend on it.” In its oak frame, the Andromeda Galaxy swirls behind his left shoulder. Dear Andromeda, chained to the rock of economic forecasts. “We’re going to try one last Sunday ad in the Morning News this year, quarter page, trumpeting our cutting-edge vision—and our special half-price midweek shows.”
    â€œI see. So, on the one hand, we’re supposed to be a circus, and on the other, the National Science Foundation.”
    â€œYou got it.”
    â€œYou’re asking the impossible.”
    â€œAnd you’re just the man to do it!” He pats my arm. He wasn’t on the board when I was hired. I’m not the person he would have tapped for the job. Before leaving, Bowers heard rumors, which he happily passed on to me: Frank has confided to his colleagues that he finds me an “odd duck,” a “damn loner.”
    â€œI’ve got kids in there,” I say. “I shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer.”
    â€œAnyway, what’s the problem, Adam? Just change your show a little. It’s not the end of the world.”
    â€œI’m fond of Pluto.”
    â€œForget it. It’s an outcast.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œTell me.” He grasps me by the elbow and pulls me close: a stiff, fatherly gesture. A curious mix of intimacy and power. I know what’s coming. He likes to be the wise old sage, and often gives me advice in the name of professional solidarity. This forced bonhomie must be a ritual lawyers practice to keep from killing each other. “Wouldn’t you be less … exercised by these matters if you had a family at home?” Frank says. “Someone to spend time with, take your mind off work? I mean, I love work. I put in twelve, sometimes thirteen hours a day, but when I’m done, I’m done , you get me? Shoes off, stiff drink. Wife purring beside me. See what I mean?”
    â€œThanks for your concern, Frank. It’s much appreciated. But I manage.” I think, How does God do it? All alone; bedeviled by petty demons; all those burned-out suns to replace.
    â€œAll right. It’s just that