Written by Charles Hightower
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Bordon selected a large beaker from a nearby counter and strode to where the ball was now at chest height. He upended the beaker and trapped the ball, feeling no resistance from the object. Then he carried beaker and ball back to his desk. There, he rummaged through a drawer until he found a magnifying glass. Upon examining the magnified ball inside the beaker, he saw the surface was pitted and irregular. What was this thing?

Lucky barked again, drawing Bordon's attention.

Over the dog, another ball now drifted upward. Glancing overhead, Bordon saw two more hovering underneath the ceiling.

Lucky leaped and caught the latest ball.

Frowning, Bordon had a thought. He positioned the beaker over his nose, careful to keep the slow-moving ball entrapped. Then he sniffed and made a face. But then his eyes widened in understanding.

Unable to contain his excitement, he looked up the phone number of a former colleague. What good was success if you couldn't gloat? Heedless of the early hour, he punched in the number for Dr. Hal Johnson, a specialist in the field of gravity.

Awakened from an especially good dream, Alice Johnson reached outside her cocoon of covers to stop the ringing telephone. She drew the receiver inside the sheets. "Hello?" She listened to some man's excited voice and caught enough technical words to understand the call wasn't for her. "Hang on. You want to speak with Hal."

She shook Hal awake and passed him the phone. Somewhat alert now, she watched her husband, listening to his end of the conversation. She knew she'd never get back to sleep till he hung up.

Hal said, "Slow down. You've done what?" He sat up in bed. "Are we talking at the molecular level? & How large, exactly?" It was clear from Hal's tone of voice that he was growing excited by whatever the news was. "I'll come over right now. I can help you establish test cases, reproduce the results, whatever you need. I'll take a few days off work." Hal frowned, then shouted, "Well, I'm coming over anyway. Just try and keep me out."

Hal sprang from bed and began pulling on clothes.

Alice said, "Honey, where are you going at ..." She glanced at the clock. "...at four a.m.?"

"Tom Bordon's house. He's solved anti-gravity. If he's right, his discovery changes everything! Everything!"

"He's done what?"

Hal called over his shoulder as he disappeared out the bedroom door. "Tom made poop that floats!"

Alice grimaced, then spoke to the empty room. "I did that Wednesday when we ate Mexican." Then she pulled the covers over her head and dropped off to sleep.