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“Ah, the House of Thunder,” Tully said, his smile back in place. “I’ve heard it’s amazing.”
I don’t know why it surprised me that he knew of it. He was a storm chaser, after all.
“Yes, the lightning display is amazing. It’s an atmospheric phenomenon that really has to be seen to be believed.”
“When did you go there?”
“For my final thesis, I did a study there.”
Tully sighed. “Must be amazing getting to travel the world to see all the different storms.”
“I certainly couldn’t afford to go on my own.” I didn’t know why I was telling him this. “Same with this expedition; I obtained a grant through the bureau. I was very lucky...”
“Still exciting though.”
I gave a nod. “Yes, it is.”
“And your work at the bureau? What do you do there?”
“High impact weather, aviation hazards, radar science and nowcasting, forecast systems, statistical post-processing, forecast verification. Those kinds of things. There is also a cross-data interaction with climate change and variability, with projections and predictions.”
“Sounds... boring.”
I almost smiled. “To some.”
“Ah, come on, you gotta admit field trips are always more fun than theory, right?”
“I never hated the theory lessons.”
“Of course you didn’t.” When I glanced his way, he was smiling at me. I resisted sighing, barely. His annoying grin widened. “Soooo,” he said, “what are you actually hoping to find in this study? Is it just lightning in general? Or is there a specific theory you want to test?”
“I have...” I tried again. “The causation of strikes and the predictability; a study which would increase the ability to predict where lightning will strike, and perhaps the ability to direct the strike to a more favourable location, amongst other things. Not just for preventative measures, but also a better understanding of lightning activity from all around the world enables policy makers, government agencies, and meteorology departments to make more informed decisions related to weather and climate.” That well-rehearsed line sounded flat, even to my ears. “Though mostly they choose to ignore anything climate related.”
His brow creased and confusion crossed in his eyes. “Don’t they do that already? Not the ignoring climate data. We know that. But the predictions, with the metal rods on buildings, like this one.” He pointed to the ceiling. “They don’t offer protection, as such, but channel the strike to a point and divert the current to the ground.”
I should have known I couldn’t fool him.
“Well, yes. That’s correct. But I’m not talking about diverting strikes away from one building. I’m talking about densely populated areas in general.”
“Well, that’s cool. But what do you really want to study lightning for?” He grinned, charming and cute. “Not the spiel you just gave me that probably smoothed over your faculty grant application admin. What are youreallystudying? What drives you to travel the world chasing lightning?”
My gaze shot to his, and the truth just rolled right off my tongue.
“I want to study the effects a lightning strike has on the human body. The causation, the predictability, the reason...” I stopped short and made myself breathe, regroup. “By studying lightning, I can better understand the basic principles of who, what, why, and where of future strikes.”
He stared at me, somewhat bewildered. Then he scoffed and shook his head. “Please tell me you’re not gonna wrap yourself up in foil and go stand out in the middle of the clearing hopin’ to get struck,” he said with a laugh.
“No, of course not,” I mumbled. “I’m not going to wrap myself in foil.”
He chuckled but then his smile slowly died. “But you’re not going to try and get yourself electrocuted, are you? Foil or no foil.”
I shook my head and concentrated on the laptop. “That’s absurd.” I ignored how he was staring at me. “I need to fill in my report.”
“Jeremiah?” His tone was curt with warning. “I didn’t bring you out here on a suicide mission.”
I looked up from the screen and turned to face him. “Good. Because I don’t intend to die.”
“But you do intend to use yourself as an experiment.”
