"Kyle? Is that you?" he called, just to be sure. There was no answer. Douglas let a breath, opened his desk drawer, and unearthed his Jeffrey Chaser: Gentleman Explorer novel once again.

"That was a close one, Mr. Chaser." Douglas chuckled to himself, finding his page. He leaned back in his handsome wooden desk chair, and swiftly became engrossed in the page-turner once again.

Jeffrey locked eyes with the mountain lion as the beast bared its teeth. A low growl rose from the depths of his frothing maw, as the deadly feline approached with a baleful stride. Jeffrey spoke softly.

"This feud is not with you, my friend - but with the calibre of lioness you chose to fraternize with."

Augustina Von Brigham emerged from the jungle foliage.

"Are you referring to me, you cad?"

Jeffrey took a step back. She bore no resemblance to the girl he'd once known: his first love. No. She was no longer a girl. She was a woman.

"Douglas?"

Jolted from his literary fantasy, Douglas flipped the book into the trash and leapt to his feet.

"YES! Yes. Pax, hello. I was just consulting these historic star maps! Checking to see if there's anything I might have missed..."

Pax glanced at Douglas's desk. There did not appear to be any star maps in sight. Taking note, Douglas reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a stack of them, spreading them across his desk. He pointed down at them.

"Right there… star maps…"

Pax nodded.

"I'm almost finished the blueprint for the Galileo III. The flight plan's coming along well, too. Would you like to see them? We could cross-reference with your star maps, make sure there aren't any unfortunate collisions?"

Douglas glanced down at the garbage pail. He did want to see the blueprints, but he also really wanted to learn more about the sassy jungle cat Augustina Van Brigham.

"Why don't you just show me when you're done? We're embarking on quite the adventure, aren't we?"

Pax enthusiastically agreed, and hurried back to his work-cabin to finish.

Douglas leaned over and pulled his book out of the trash, dusted it off and placed it back on his desk. He looked down at the paperback and smiled, amused and slightly embarrassed by his reaction to almost being caught with it. He reminded himself that he needn't be ashamed of his less-than-scholarly interests anymore. He had pushed them aside for so many years, but since officially retiring from his position as Chair of Science at the prestigious Chester University, he found himself increasingly enjoying the things that he'd never had time for during all those years of academics: like trashy novels. And researching his family tree. And planning fantastical endeavours into the cosmos.

He shook off any residual guilt, and focused on the task at hand. He had work to do if they were ever going to get the Galileo III off the ground, and the universe certainly wasn't going to map itself. Douglas lifted himself slowly from his desk chair and wandered over to his telescope, which held court in front of the large bay window.

"Let's see what's happening up there, Old Faithful," he said as he gave the telescope an affectionate pat. He peered through the eyepiece, and noted that the cosmos seemed a little blurrier than usual. He adjusted the focus. Nothing happened. He gave it a little tap, and the eyepiece fell inelegantly to the floor. Douglas sighed and took a step back from Old Faithful.

"Maybe it's time you retired too, old friend…" he muttered.

Douglas sat down at his desk once more, and began twirling in his chair. As he spun faster and faster, all the objects in his study blurred together into one as he twirled: the paintings of his ancestors that hung on the wall, his university diploma, his telescope.

Douglas continued to turn. He imagined himself spinning so fast that smoke would begin to rise in great plumes from beneath him. And soon after that, the roof of his study would part in anticipation of his launch. Holding on to his seat, he would close his eyes and await lift-off, not opening them again until he was sure that he was in orbit, slowly drifting through the cosmos, surrounded by nothing but stars.

He stopped spinning and chuckled softly to himself.

He'd get there one day. And when he did, what an adventure it would be.