See You in the Cosmos

On the way to Los Angeles, Terra wants to go swimming. Alex tells Steve by texting on Terra’s phone. Terra knows a lake for swimming she visited before and Alex comments on her driving: “We took the exit for the lake and then the road got really curvy all of a sudden, and Terra was driving SO fast” (152). Once there, Zed meditates, and Terra and Alex go swimming in the lake. Eventually Steve joins them. They join a group of kids playing waterdodgeball, and Steve accidentally hits Terra in the mouth with a ball. She goes to the restroom and Steve feels guilty. Alex finds Zed and asks him to teach him how to meditate. Alex gets sleepy meditating. His thoughts turn to surprising Ronnie and telling him about Terra.

Arriving in Los Angeles, Zed, Steve, Terra, and Alex stop at Zed’s and Steve’s apartment where Alex meets Nathan, their roommate. Alex and Terra drive to Ronnie’s address, but he is not home. Alex reaches him by phone; Ronnie is in Detroit on business. Ronnie is upset at Alex’s unsupervised traveling, but Terra calms Ronnie, saying she will stay with Alex until Ronnie gets home. She does not tell him they are half-siblings. Alex and Terra go to Venice Beach: “Even after the sun was gone the clouds above were still bright red, and the horizon was gold and the water was purple and they should’ve sent a poet” (167). Afterwards, Terra takes Alex to Johnny Rockets. She says she’s not feeling well because she’s having her period, and is surprised when Alex has no clue what she means: “For someone so smart, you sure are clueless about a lot of things” (169). 

Back at the apartment, Steve offers beer to Terra. After Terra, Steve, and Nathan finish the beer, Steve mixes vodka drinks for them, which reminds Alex of a party Ronnie had when their mother was visiting her parents in the Philippines. Ronnie told Alex to stay in their room even when Alex had to use the bathroom; Alex had an accident, prompting Ronnie to ask, “Why didn’t you say something?” (173). Terra starts some music and dances. She and Nathan step outside, upsetting Steve, who is jealous. Bothered by their behavior, Alex documents the last few hours in a recording: “Grown-ups can be so weird sometimes” (174). Terra offers to find Contact on Netflix so they can watch it together. 

The next morning, Alex explains that they did not finish Contact the night before because Terra fell asleep. Steve takes Zed to a meditation seminar. Zed wishes Alex the best in case he doesn’t see Alex again before Alex goes home. Alex finds Terra and Nathan sitting on the floor in Nathan’s room talking. He cleans up the mess from the night before. When Steve returns, he brings a bouquet of daisies for Terra, but finding her in Nathan’s room infuriates him. Terra insists they were just talking, but Steve hits Nathan. When Alex begins to cry and says he wants to go home, Steve says harsh things about Alex’s “deadbeat mom” and the impossibility of launching his rocket: “Maybe it takes an IDIOT like me to tell Alex here how things work in the real world” (182). Steve tries to throw Alex’s iPod out the window and Terra punches him in the face to stop him.

This recording is a lengthy conversation between Alex and Terra. They order food from their hotel room and discuss the “drama” at the guys’ apartment. Terra says she hit Steve because she was afraid that he might hurt Alex. She intends to take Alex back to Rockview. Alex leaves a message for his mother saying he’s on his way home. Alex convinces Terra to call her mother, Donna, and Terra hesitantly agrees, the iPod picking up her half of their conversation. Terra tells her mother she loves her at Alex’s prompting. Alex asks Terra about what Steve said about the impossibility of launching his rocket; Terra admits that it will be extremely hard, but with help and time, Alex can achieve anything he wants. Alex worries that finding what he is looking for is getting more and more difficult, and wonders if this means he will never get Carl Sagan back. Terra says she’s not sure about that, and Alex demonstrates that he has not lost hope: “But there’s a chance, right? It’s not impossible” (192).

Alex lets Ronnie know he is heading home. Terra and Alex drive as far as Santa Fe. Alex has an idea: “[…] I remembered that Ken Russell’s store is Taos, New Mexico!” (194). He calls Ken and relays his adventures since leaving SHARF. Ken at first does not recall who Alex is; Terra takes the phone, explaining that Alex and Ken met at SHARF and asking if she and Alex can camp in his yard in Alex’s tent. Ken says he will ask his wife and call back.

Alex details the ways in which Ken and his wife welcome Terra and him. Ken lives with his wife Diane and baby daughter Hannah. Ken shows Terra and Alex the observatory, a building in his backyard: “It has Ken’s telescope and a rug and floor pillows, and a coffee table with science and yoga magazines on it along with some of Hannah’s toys” (197). Diane arrives home from her job as a physical therapist and goes for a run; Terra spontaneously goes with her. Ken starts dinner and Alex helps by playing with Hannah.

Alex’s next recording details the kindness of the Russells. Besides sharing homemade pizza for dinner, Ken and Diane put Terra and Alex in the observatory for the night on an Aerobed. They listen and comment on Alex’s adventures and mishaps; Diane is sympathetic and understanding about the loss of Carl Sagan, recalling when her own dog went missing.

Alex and Terra prepare to sleep in the observatory. They discuss the relationship history of the Russells, which brings them to a more general discussion of love between people. Terra mentions that even Ken and Diane had to work through disagreements: “Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you never get into fights” (204). They discuss whether their father was really in love with either or both of their mothers, but it is difficult to say anything definitively because neither Alex nor Terra remember him well. Alex is excited to show Terra his house in Rockview and his “stuff,” like his model tesseract, but Terra is hesitant to stay very long, feeling drawn to responsibilities like her job back in Las Vegas. Alex tells a long joke about a person named Nick launching a potato into space with a punchline that plays on a pun on the Russian satellite Sputnik—“That’s not a meteor, it's a spud, Nick!” (210).