William Kantagan, professor emeritus in astrophysics, took the time to sip his coffee, while Roxanne, still asthenic, waited to know what this fellow wanted from her.

He put his cup down and looked into the young woman's. His face had changed in a second, swapping its jovial appearance for a much more serious and, to be honest, much less reassuring face.

“It is of the utmost importance that I ask you a few questions about a recent event. To tell the truth, something truly astonishing, even staggering!

Roxanne nearly choked. She felt her heartbeat quicken. His hands became sweaty and his legs began to dance salsa. But the visitor's voice brought her back to reality and the disturbances ceased immediately.

" Your testimony could, I am convinced, enrich my research and perhaps allow me to help you, if you wish, of course! An exchange of good practices, we could say. Indeed, my little finger tells me that you need to understand certain…phenomena. I'm right, aren't I?

And then, it won't be long, five minutes at most, and presto, I'm gone, he said, making his left hand fly.

Roxanne looked at him divided between anguish and curiosity. But, after all, what had she to lose by listening to this stranger? At the point where she, they, to be more fair, were, what did she risk listening to the rantings of a Professor Tournesol?

For five days, his life had turned into a nightmare. She found herself there, all alone, with a problem far too big for her on her hands, waiting for something, anything or anyone to come to the rescue. What if it was him, this guy, the Good Samaritan who came to save them?

She didn't know that her visitor's all-purpose physique hid the brain of a genius in astrophysics, but also a fine expertise in various martial arts. Very useful talents if the need arose.

"Did you like physics when you were a student, dear lady?

“Roxanne. You can call me Roxanne.

"A pretty first name. A modest flower but sure of its fragrance. You are from Toulouse.

"Yes, my family on my mother's side. My father is… was Breton. I no longer have my parents. Besides, I no longer have any family. I had a brother, older than me… He disappeared in the Amazon when I was 14. He was never found.

"Hey, that reminds me of the Maufray affair.

"Oh…

"Am I stupid! A story from the 1950s! You weren't born.

Roxanne looked at the end of her mules, and William felt he had to get back to his sheep.

"But I'm chatting... Forgive me. Physics, then!

"I sucked, you know. I never got it. If you think I'm getting anything out of it, I think it's a losing battle. A total nut in this area. A To be honest, I don't really care.

"But you don't have to be sorry or feel guilty about this lack of interest in my dear science. I know the question quite well and even if I have always taken the same pleasure in devoting myself to it for more than forty years, I I can quite imagine that it is not the same for everyone.

Here, I who speak to you, I only know couic in the kitchen, whereas you are undoubtedly an expert in the kitchen.

"All wrong! It's Lawrence, my husband, the chef in the kitchen. Me, I hate cooking. I tidy up, I sort, I organize, I manage and that's it.

"But it's amazing, this implicit distribution of tasks. Your husband is a lucky guy... He looked at her with a small smile, and Roxanne felt uneasy.

The young woman was beginning to be annoyed by his endless preambles.

William must have sensed his exasperation and he decided to move up a gear.

He resumed his speech.

"I'm going to ask you to listen to me carefully, to overcome your disinterest, and you'll follow me without difficulty, you'll see.

Roxanne replied with a smile that meant: "You're talking!".

"This year marks the end of a solar cycle and as a celebration, our star triggers a real charivari of storms and eruptions, each more impressive than the next. We are fortunate to have many pictures of these turbulences taken near the pole.

"Aurora borealis?

“Absolutely. Braaaaavo! Yes, the northern lights that can be admired in northern countries are the most visible manifestation of this. However, what I want to talk to you about has nothing in common with these shows. These are events of unimaginable, but invisible dimensions.To give you an order of magnitude, it's like comparing the light of a candle and a nuclear explosion the size of Hiroshima!

"Impressive, but I don't see how that would concern me.

" Come on! Come on! Of course you are, concerned. And I would even say, very closely! No doubt you have not yet made the connection between my solar storms and a recent event that would have affected you ?

Roxanne stared at the scholar, flabbergasted.

“I'm sorry, I'm rephrasing more clearly. Has there been a sudden change in your environment recently? Some bizarre, inexplicable event?

Roxanne sat up on her sofa and planted her two blue eyes in William's. What should she do? Provide him with the truth or invent a lie so as not to have to answer him. She hesitated, unaware of where her possible confidences might lead her. Kantagan sensed his procrastination. He wouldn't get any more for now, and he spoke again.

“Ah! I think I got it right… But, relax! Please… Which she did like an obedient little girl. Forget my question for now and let's get back to our dear sunshine. So I was saying that cyclically our solar star has outbursts of anger. A little temperamental, our friend. We know the causes of this quite well, but it would take too long and, to tell the truth, not be very useful for me to tell you about it. We are going to concentrate on the effects of his outbursts of bad temper, but first, I think it is essential to review a few basic concepts with you.

Even if you were not a very diligent student in class, you probably know that the matter that makes up life on earth, and probably the universe, including us, is based on one element, the atom. Remember, in class, atoms, these building blocks of matter, are traditionally represented with colored balls and assemblies with sticks. If we look at the structure of the atom, we can see that it is composed of a nucleus around which electrons revolve. This nucleus, which represents more than 99% of the atom, is made up of protons and neutrons. Does that tell you anything?

Roxanne, attentive, nodded affirmatively.

"Well, let's take an interest, if you don't mind, in the "agitated" part of the atom, the electrons. They are elementary particles, that is to say without subsets and their role is to ensure the bonds inside the molecules. Basically, without them, no molecules, therefore no matter, therefore we would not exist. Now let's come back to our angry star. During its storms the sun sends into the void interstellar and towards the earth, among other things, flows of protons, but above all of rather special electrons. They are called "killer electrons". Fortunately, the magnetosphere, our magnetic shield generated by the core of our planet, protects us from them. almost completely.

" Almost ?

" And yes, almost. Indeed, part of these flows manages to pass through the magnetic poles. They can thus reach the surface of the earth and affect all the networks. In fact everything that works with waves. A real situation catastrophic if these fluxes were not minute most of the time. But that's not all, we believe that these particles could also affect matter, including that of which we are made. To varying degrees, of course.

“Is it relevant? She was pale.

"You tell me. He added with a slight smile.

"You seem to be happy.

“Don't believe it. Just a silly grin. Forgive me. the authorities of the richest countries took measures to protect all the networks and everything went unnoticed.” And the others?

“Other countries, you mean? Well, like with every natural disaster, they got by. And you want top secret? I will not give you the details of the process, but know that the stockpile of bombs stored in a barracks on the outskirts of Damascus was activated by an attack of these killer electrons on the warhead management computer system. And boom!

Everyone within a five kilometer radius suddenly ran out of air to the point of thousands dying. Incidentally, you understand the Russians' position a little better. They had just forgotten to warn their fellow psychopath that the junk they had delivered to him was susceptible to sunburn.

" How awful !

The man ignored her remark, growling, seemingly pleased with its effect.

Roxanne remained speechless, amazed at what she had just heard and by the casualness of this curious scientist.

"But I digress, I digress. Where you come in, well, not you directly, is that very recently, military satellites from a friendly country detected three kinds of magnetic flashes coming undoubtedly from the flow of killer electrons on our ground. How could they have pierced the magnetosphere to touch our ground without passing through the poles? Mystery and ball of gum as we used to say when I was a kid. Or else maybe they were of another nature, but I have no data to confirm it, for the moment.

He seemed to have suddenly lost his speech. His eyes fixed on a shelf in the library, he no longer moved and his face split into a half-smile was of wax.

The wait only lasted a few seconds, but when he resumed his monologue, Roxanne felt shivers run through her.

"We have geolocated the impact points and bingo! You're right on it!

Roxanne squealed with a start.

“Damn, you scared me! And then with all your stuff, killer electrons and whatever…

"Hard reality, but reality all the same. I had absolutely no desire, nor any reason to frighten you, quite the contrary. However, I wanted you to be aware, if I may say so. A matter of trust, I will say.

Kantagan's eyes widened. He observed the young woman who was now staring out the half-open window.

“Do you now understand the reason for this visit?

She didn't answer. In his head a small hand played heads or tails. Heads I say everything and heads I kick it out. She hesitated for the form, because in her heart, the decision was made. If she wanted to satisfy her curiosity, and perhaps understand what had happened to her Lawrence, she had to take every opportunity, and this guy was definitely one of them. It was right.

For nearly half an hour, she told him her werewolf story. He had taken out a small notebook and was taking notes without interrupting her. She thought he was saving her questions for the finale, but he didn't. When she had finished her story, the only question he asked her was: "Is that all?". Which left her somewhat taken aback. Then after putting the elastic of the little black notebook back in place, he meticulously put it away in his briefcase, which was still calmly placed next to him.

She was disappointed. She had hoped that he would give her a diagnosis of the situation and that everything would become clear. Instead, it felt like a one-sided exchange.

"You have my business card," he said, pointing to the little rectangle of cardboard on the coffee table. "To get my kit together. It's not around the corner," he added with a wink.

He got up, grabbed his briefcase, and Roxanne escorted him to the door which he opened himself, then without really knowing why she accompanied him to his car.

“Thank you again for receiving me. You can call me at any time. to talk about my visit. You can never be too careful.

And with a grunt of laughter, he got into his car and drove off, leaving her planted on the sidewalk, her head buzzing with conflicting thoughts.

Yet, despite all the mysteries surrounding this professor, a small ray of hope had just been born, but all this would certainly not help him to find sleep.

To be continued....