Jérôme Lalande surveys his apartment.
There is a layer of dust on the table.
He opens a cupboard and takes out his feather duster.
But..... perhaps he should bake them a cake.
He goes to the pantry to look for some basic ingredients.
Once the cake is in the oven, he gets on with the dusting.
Flick flick.
Ding! It's the doorbell!
He opens the door.
Vello! cries Jérôme Lalande.
Jérôme! Is it you? says Vello.
Of course it's me, says Jérôme. More face, less hair, same sharp intellect. And this must be Mr Hume.
Call me David, says David. Pleased to meet you Jérôme! Mmm. Do I smell a cake baking ?
Yes, says Jérôme. Just a little something. But who is this polka dotted champion?
Me. King of the Mountain, says Terence.
Terence, says Vello. He is travelling with us to Ferney.
Sit down Terence. Would you like to look at my charts until the cake is ready? asks Jérôme.
He takes down a wrinkly old folder.
Terence sits at the table and opens the folder.
These must be the fish. This one is called Neptune. It has a big red ring round it.
He shows it to his pussy cat grommets. Cats like fish, don't they?
Humf, says the left one. Tiddlers!
Prtt! says the right one. Sprats!
It's a NEPTUNE, says Terence. It says so. Don't you cats know ANYTHING?
Neptune! says Vello. Oh yes, I remember!
What's this? says David.
Go ahead. Tell him, says Jérôme.
Jérôme here very nearly discovered Neptune, in 1795, says Vello.
I did discover it, says Jérôme. I just didn't know what it was. I observed and recorded a star with an uncertain position. In 1847 the Americans confirmed it was Neptune. But I was the first to record it.
Well done, says David. How's the cake doing? It smells delightful.
Jérôme opens the oven. A delicious aroma of citrus and almonds fills the room.
Terence has given up on Neptune ( not enough fishy features) and picked up the feather duster.
It looks like his kingfisher parrot.
He makes it fly. Dust motes rise, with the warm currents, and fall on the cake.
But no one is bothered.
Dust motes are barely observable.
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