The Miraculous Plot of Leiter & Lott by Jonathan Lowe

Kitt Peak on a private tour. They also toured the LBT on Mount Graham and the MMT atop Mount Hopkins. Scuttlebutt has it the LBT is getting some of its private funding from Aazad , to cover their secondary mirror accident, although Nasheed didn't say how much because I don't think he knows. Nasheed did tell me, though, that the scope in Aazad's observatory out there is a fourteen inch Meade LX two hundred."
    "Pretty modest, for a man of his wealth."
    "Yeah, well, I think he knows it's just a hobby. He isn't convinced he can make any amateur contribution to science here at sea level, with water vapor problems and all."
    "Still," David said, "how unusual is it for a Muslim to be so interested in cosmology or astronomy?"
    "How do we know he's a Muslim?" Doug asked. " Nasheed isn't."
    "He told you that?"
    Doug shook his head. "No, but I've never seen him observing salat , bowing to Mecca, either. Nasheed does wear traditional garb to most social functions, though."
    Curious, David went to the nearest cubical, adjusted the chair, and attempted to access the internet after waking its recessed Mac screen from sleep. "I wonder. . ." he began, expecting to be asked for a password, "if we can even. . ." He broke off when the familiar and simple Google screen appeared. He typed the name Aazad Baloum , and clicked on the button marked I'm Feeling Lucky .
    There were over three hundred hits. Most seemed related to Aazad's shipping business. The few that referenced his personal life seemed scant on details. The most often used words connected to his name were mogul, tycoon, reclusive, and heir , while the dozens of photos taken of him seemed to be official in nature, at state sponsored events. But there were others taken at charity functions, too, or getting in and out of limousines. In those he seemed to be taken by surprise, or attempting to hide his face with an upraised hand or by turning away. Photos of his wife, however, numbered in the hundreds, and included appearances in New York, in Hollywood, and on BBC sets in London. Jamila was movie-star beautiful, a petite and delicate creature with an exquisite complexion. She seemed the Arab counterpart of actress Grace Kelly, and her bio even stated that she had done some acting and commercial cosmetics modeling before being wed to 'reclusive shipping billionaire' Aazad Baloum . Reputedly pregnant at the time of the wedding, Jamila had disappeared from public view for over a year as the couple sailed the world abroad a yacht named. . .
    David stared at the screen in surprise. At the name indicated.
    Ozymandias .
    Was that the original name for Big Dipper? He was about to see when Etherton pointed a finger down toward another name--that of their son. Bakir . David clicked twice on the name, copied it, then returned to Google's main screen, and inserted it, plus Baloum . There were over fifty hits for Bakir Baloum . But David immediately zeroed in on the one Bakir himself had created: his YouTube identity. Clicking on it, David was taken to a channel named PB33AllTime. The profile photo on the channel's main page revealed Bakir as a mahogany-toned young man in his early twenties, with close cropped hair and lifeless eyes. The profile description read:

    hey vidos and freeks , i'm 23, and 33 in the wolrd
    all time playboys an players............enjoy succka

    David clicked on the most recent video, dated six weeks prior, but which nonetheless had over sixty thousand hits. It clocked in at seven minutes in length. The video had been taken by a hand held camera, with no attempt at stability. The self-shot clips were strewn together haphazardly, and gyrated wildly at Bakir's whim.
    The first sequence was taken inside an Airbus first class privacy cubicle. Bakir was drinking a diet soda with one hand while he shot the video with his other. Repeated sweeps over his array of drinks, snacks, his telephone, and his television monitor playing Family Guy interspersed with raised glimpses into other