Just for fun: a little sci-fi TBBT story.
Fictional story about fictional characters.
*****
For months before the actual occurrence, all Penny heard from the "Nerd Four," was talk about the upcoming "convergence." Apparently for one of the only times in recorded history, all of the planets in our solar system would be in alignment; all in a row. She had read that on that date, the ancient Mayan 5126 year calendar would come to an end which, according to some, signaled the end of the world...the Apocalypse...Armageddon. The self proclaimed leader of the four scientists from Cal Tech, two of which were her neighbors, Sheldon Cooper had scoffed at this theory while pointing out that the Mayan calendar did not come to an end, it merely recycled; started over at the beginning. "Not only that," he obnoxiously declared, "but the planets will not truly be in alignment because they are on different planes."
Penny, had very little interest in science, except for Sheldon's roommate Leonard Hofstadter who just happened to be her boyfriend. She had grown up on a farm in Nebraska; always a cheerleader and in the popular crowd and if you had suggested a couple years ago that she would be in love with a bespeckled, nerdy scientist, she would have laughed in your face. Her usually dates were the hunky, muscular jocks; eye candy but mentally deficient types...just the opposite of Leonard. But the truth was, he treated her like a princess, instead of using her and then throwing her away for someone younger and prettier. She was totally contented with her "little nerd" of a boyfriend. He supported her in everything she attempted as she hoped for her big break in the acting business.
Leonard, Sheldon, and Raj Koothrapalli were all Physicists at Cal Tech and the fourth nerd, Howard Wolowitz, was an engineer at the university and had also done design work for NASA, so they were all obsessed with all things related to outer space...even space based science fiction like Star Wars and Star Trek. One evening after Leonard had brought home take-out from Sczheuan Palace and Sheldon had harangued him for not stopping at the Korean deli to purchase the "good" hot mustard, the topic once again swayed to talk of space and Howard wondered, "I wonder if there really is intelligent life in outer space."
Sheldon immediately scolded him, "how can you be so naive and ignorant. The great Stephen Hawking, the only man alive who even approaches my intellectual level, once suggested that we would be incredibly egotistical to think that in the vastness of the universe, we were the only intelligent lifeform."
"I wonder if they would be friendly," Howard suggested.
"Well, from my personal experience," Leonard chuckled, "the quickest way to piss them off is to sit in their spot."
Everyone laughed at one of Sheldon's most recognizable quirks, but defending himself he commented, "oh right, I'm the alien. You (glancing at Leonard) eat one bite of a dairy product and you immediately make the room uninhabitable; and you (nodding at Howard) even sniff a peanut and you blow up like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon."
"Think of it though," Howard continued, "he has the perfect cover. A respected scientist with unlimited access to all of Catechu's labs...he despises and shuns human contact, and is the self-proclaimed most intelligent being on earth."
"And don't forget that abnormally large cranium," Leonard laughed.
Raj whispered in Howard's ear and Howard relayed his message: "he stays at a relatively obscure university and in a crappy apartment so as not to draw attention to himself." Raj could not seem to talk in front of attractive women...like Penny.
"Hey, this is my apartment too," Leonard objected..."and it's not so crappy since we got the most desirable neighbor in California."
"Yeah, and that would explain why he really doesn't show any interest in looking at the stars," Penny added, beaming at Leonard's comment, "because he already knows all about them from personal experience...you know like that time you all camped out in the desert to record the big meteor shower, and he stayed home." She remembered it well: they had pitched a tent in the desert, away from all ambient light, to watch the Leonid meteor shower and she had fallen in the shower, dislocating her shoulder. Sheldon had stayed home, so she had screamed until he came across the hall to her apartment and taken her to the hospital."
"Yeah, that was strange," Leonard agreed, "why did you stay home Sheldon."
"This is ridiculous and I won't dignify the topic with an answer," Sheldon sulked as he ate his mekrob. The truth was, knowing Sheldon as well as they thought they did, the other three nerds just assumed that he had no interest in the stars except where mathematics and calculations were involved. He was always perfectly content when figuring the distance to a celestial body, or the angles involved in bouncing a laser off the moon and back. He just had never shown any interest in the aesthetics of anything. Penny had once asked him if he liked her hair up or down and he had replied, "why would I care?" He was incapable of looking at a star just for it's beauty...he would immediately calculate how long the light took to reach earth.
In the weeks leading up to the "convergence," Howard, Raj and Leonard made plans for a planet-watching party on the roof of their apartment building. Howard was planning on wiring their most powerful telescope through his laptop so that they could watch, what little there actually was to see, on a television screen. Chairs and tables were lugged up to the roof in preparation and they all agreed to bring some refreshments. Howard, of course, invited his girlfriend Bernadette who worked part time at the Cheesecake Factory with Penny. She had a doctorate in microbiology that she financed by working as a waitress.
