Chapter 12 : Mysterious Powers

This chapter will be short, but it is the catalyst for much of what happens to both our couples in this story.

Meanwhile, back at the coffee shop:

"A penny for your thoughts, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon looked up sheepishly from his cup and tea and replied to Dr. Powers' inquiry, "I was just wondering how things were going back home. I sometimes get a bit homesick."

Heather Powers saw an opening for a more intimate sort of conversation and ran with it, "That's understandable. We're both a long way from home."

Sheldon's curiosity got the better of him and he inquired, "Where is home for you, if I may ask?"

"Chicago."

Heather's prey took the bait and asked, 'Yet you heard me discuss our paper on the east coast. How did that happen?"

"I happened to be in the area visiting a friend, so I made sure I attended your panel topic.", she explained hastily.

Sheldon leaned forward on the table and decided to feed his ego, "Fascinating. It was that intriguing to you?"

Dr. Powers saw that he was hooked and volleyed back with, "Yes. I had been following your work for some time and when the opportunity presented itself to hear you in person, well, I took full advantage of it."

"What part impressed you the most?" he asked, his self-esteem inflating by the second.

Her eyes twinkled with excitement as she, too, leaned forward and responded to his question with, "Your theory on gravity nullification, of course. That was quite an eye-opening idea, to use electromagnets and ceramic disks to eradicate or greatly reduce gravitational forces. Fascinating!"

Sheldon's penchant for avoiding lies took over and he confessed to her, "I must admit, that discovery was, for the most part, Dr. Horner's. I merely helped with the proofs. Raj and Niki came up with the experimental test, a small prototype rocket was made that proved our thesis, and the rest, as they say, is history."

His pursuer would not be convinced and she laid one of her hands on his left arm, which was laying on the table top, "Again, I must accuse you of being far too humble, Dr. Cooper. I'm sure most of that thesis came from you."

"You would be wrong with that thinking. It was a joint project and all three of us contributed to the research on that project. Dr. Horner is a quite capable physicist, believe me. As is Dr. Koothrappali."

Heather withdrew her hand and feigned an amused disappointment, "If you insist, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon made the decision to lessen the formalities between them when he replied, "Please, you can call me Sheldon."

"Very well, Sheldon. And you may call me Heather. Now, how long are you here for?"

"We have a little more than twp weeks left on our contract, so I believe we will be here until shortly after the middle of February."

Heather Powers knew she had won a small battle, but she fired one of her big guns in hopes of winning the war, "Sheldon, I have a friend who works at Cambridge. Perhaps I can talk to her and arrange a meeting for you with Dr. Hawking."

Sheldon's mouth fell open and he gasped, "You can do that?"

A cat-like smile graced her lips as she continued to set her trap, "Sheldon, I said 'perhaps', but this friend knows Dr. Hawking very well. If you are interested in meeting Hawking, I will do all I can to arrange it. I would love to see the two greatest minds in modern physics meeting to 'talk shop'."

Sheldon's previous plans to take a trip with Leonard to purchase some souvenirs for their wives flew out of his head as he excitedly told his new friend, "I have some free time this coming weekend. I was going to go with Dr. Hofstadter to visit Paris, but Paris will always be there and Dr. Hawking will most likely not."

"Let me call my friend and see what I can do. Now, shall we order something to eat? I purposefully brought you here to taste what may be the best strudel in the world."

Sheldon nodded and glanced at his menu. He was too excited to eat much, but he didn't want to disappoint the woman across from him. So, he made a quick decision and closed his menu, "I don't suppose I can argue with that. I believe I will have a traditional apple strudel."

Heather nodded in agreement and gave him a warm smile, "Good choice, Sheldon, though the milk-cream strudel is one of the oldest known varieties. I believe I will try that one."

Sheldon completely forgot his worries about his relationship with his wife as he pondered actually meeting Dr. Hawking in person. He looked at Dr. Powers and smiled back at her, "Apple will be fine for me. Now, tell me more about Cambridge and how your friend knows Dr. Hawking…"

This doesn't look good, does it?