The Watch

         Gabe estimated it had been two Earth-weeks since he discovered the mysterious watch, though it’s hard to tell exactly how much time had passed in Earth-days from so far away. As he figures, one rotation of exoplanet A-21593b took approximately 15.6 Earth hours and it had been approximately 20 exoplanet days since the discovery. But factoring in time-dilation, the expansion of the universe, and the fact that everyone else seemed to work on different time scales than him made the appropriate math untenable to the humble surveyor. The watch couldn’t be relied upon either, since the battery had died the moment Gabe liberated it from the inside of the geode.

         He didn’t see the battery die, since it had been, at that moment, inside of a rock. But the time on its face matched exactly what Gabe approximated Earth time to be the moment he cracked said rock open. He cursed himself that he was the reason the watch had stopped. He could have gathered much more information if he had been gentler.

         Gabe felt the watch’s siren call for exoplanet-weeks. He brought it with him to bed, observing the reflections off its silver strap, the shining numerals that counted hours and minutes. Its face, plain as the rock it was found in, stared back at him in the dim light of the lab’s sleeping quarters. He felt it observing him as he observed it, mocking him that he could not spend more time considering its facade. If only there were more than 15.6 hours in a day!

         Gabe cut back on his regular duties to study the instrument. No amount of idle consideration during his work had gotten him any closer to answering the core question of the matter: How did the watch end up inside of a rock, on top of a much larger rock, 37 light years away from any factory that might have produced it? The answer to such an unanswerable question was sure to bring him many accolades.

It would be the first high point of his career in geology. He would be in all the major magazines - “15 Minutes of Fame: How this Rock Star Solved Geology’s Greatest Conundrum”. The articles wrote themselves. He wouldn’t need this company, or its connections. Universities would be fighting each other for their chance to hear Gabe talk about his famous watch.



         As darkness fell on Gabe’s habitation pod, he received a video-call. Margaret was a venus flytrap. She wore a frilly pink sweater and matching earrings, which to those who did not know her would indicate that she was a “fun boss”.

         “Gabriel, dear, how are you doing? Keeping busy?” Margaret fingered her cheek, giving her the appearance of dimples.

         Gabe, suddenly aware that the watch was visible under his microscope, sidestepped between it and the camera. “Of course, Maggie,” Gabe smiled sheepishly. “Still searching for that Helium.”

         “Listen Gabriel, my love, I know you don’t want to hear this but we are getting a little worried about your operation over there. We haven’t seen any data from you in weeks. You don’t need any help do you?”

         ‘Help’, in this situation, meant Gabe wouldn’t be getting another assignment after this one. Surveying was and always had been a solitary task, she had told him once.

         “No, no, that won’t be necessary. I’m working through a huge amount of samples right now. Just wanna make sure that I don’t miss anything!”

         “Of course, darling, we wouldn’t want that to happen again.” Margaret craned her neck as if to see past Gabe’s shoulder. “Don’t get distracted with any of your side projects, now. The first surveyor in your star system to find Helium gets a pizza.” She hung up before Gabe could respond.

         The computer screen turned from Margaret-pink to Windows 7-blue. Gabe felt his cheeks become hot. He admitted that he had fallen behind on analysing his geode samples. Margaret wouldn’t understand why that was the case until he figured out the secrets of the watch.

Gabe once again turned his attention to the watch, which had at some point fallen from the microscope stage and onto the workbench due to the shaking of Gabe’s limbs. Helium, pizza, what did any of it matter when a secret of the universe lay on the table in front of him? He wished Margaret would understand. She would probably force him to hand it over to the company scientists, robbing Gabe of his chance at success.

         He turned over his workbench, revealing the drawing board underneath. At its centre, the word watch had been written in chalk and circled. A palimpsest of ideas, madly scrawled and discarded, crowded the rest of the board.

Gabe eyed a section which was populated with his more fringe ideas: Quantum tunnelling, parallel dimensions, and aliens. Gabe laughed at the last one. Everybody knew that aliens didn’t use Roman numerals.

         A thought shot across his mind like a meteorite. Perhaps not aliens, but someone could have put the watch there on purpose. But why?

         Then, the meteorite crashed into him, hot and bright. Gabe fumbled for the nearest nub of chalk, knocking several others to the floor in the process. He swept his sleeve across the surface in an effort to clear several layers of chalk dust. His hand quaked as he wrote what he knew was the answer: Margaret.



         She had always hated him - no one who genuinely enjoyed the presence of another would use so many terms of endearment in one short conversation. She put the watch there to distract Gabe so that he would need help to survey the planet. Then she could fire him!

What’s more, she knew he had troubles with time. That’s why he was assigned a planet with such an odd photoperiod. What cruelty that she had selected a broken watch as her instrument of torture. And if he complained, what HR department would believe he found a watch inside a rock?

         Gabe slammed his fist on the board, sending a cloud of chalk dust into the air. He watched as the residue of his mad scribblings disappeared into the air recycler. He was a man of science, not hyperbolic conspiracy theories! But the evidence was too credible to ignore. Margaret’s flytrap jaws were closing around him. Gabe had to get out, lest he be dissolved in her prison of lies.

         Gabe turned over the workbench again and hauled a box of geodes onto it. If he could find the precious gas trapped in any of these minerals he would be free. With the discovery bonus, he could leave the starsystem. He could become a nurse, like his mother. He may not be able to make it in science, but he could at least live comfortably.



         A week later, Gabe received another call from Margaret.

         “Gabriel, pet, how are you doing?” Margaret crooned. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your associates- goodness me, you look terrible.”

         “I’m on to you,” Gabe seethed. He squinted through painful, sleepless eyes at the fuchsia assault onscreen.

         A glimmer of concern crossed Margaret’s face. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re on about. Do you need help?”

         “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Gabe held up the watch with a cackle. “You’d like that, saboteur! I found your watch. The watch you’ve been using to distract me from finding Helium, so you could fire me.” Gabe’s laughter escalated and became shrill.

         “Oh. Oh my, it appears there’s been a terrible misunderstanding.”

         “I’ll say! There isn’t even any Helium here! I checked all these rocks for it and there’s none. Corporate’s scans were wrong!”

         “Gabriel please, if you’ll just let me speak. We put the watch there as a promotion! Please, return to the mothership with it and you can exchange it for a gift basket.”

         Gabe felt the life drain from his body. No accolades. No helium. He truly had nothing to show for his work except a gift basket.

         “Don’t cry, love, you won!” Margaret’s voice could faintly be heard over the swarm of insects that gathered in Gabe’s consciousness. “There’s some excellent treats there. Chocolates, some cheeses. No wait, you’re lactose intolerant, aren’t you? Well, I’m sure there’s something you’ll enjoy. Anyway, my love, I must be going. Do check those samples again, the scans are never wrong. Ta.”

         “Yes Maggie.”