Chapter Eighty Seven

The silence in Sarah's apartment was a living thing, a suffocating entity that pressed down on them with every tick of the clock. Their eyes darted between their laptops and each other, a silent plea for a notification, a response from Dr. Thorne. Hours stretched into an eternity, punctuated only by the nervous clearing of throats and the rustle of shifting bodies.

"Think she got it?" Jason finally broke the tense silence, his voice barely a whisper.

Sarah forced a smile, though it felt hollow on her lips. "She has to have," she replied, more to herself than to him. "That connection with the astronomical event, it's too strong to ignore."

Alex, ever the voice of reason, chimed in, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Dr. Thorne might be intrigued, but that doesn't mean she's convinced. We need to be patient."

His words offered little comfort. The weight of their decision hung heavy in the air. Their email, a carefully crafted message outlining the link between the journal's description