“Have you had time to consider my proposal?” Professor Jackson asked.
Meredna Abercromby headed the department, and her approval would be the only way he could amend the course. She sighed and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Arbutus—” Meredna said, and Professor Jackson winced at the mispronunciation. They always said ‘byew-tus’ or ‘but-us’.
“Boot-is,” he interrupted.
Meredna raised an eyebrow, but conceded.
“Right, my mistake. I’m sorry, but you know how that my hands are tied. The paper you want to base this new curriculum on hasn’t even been peer reviewed. You haven’t gotten it published in any significant journal—”
“—because they’re all blind,” Professor Jackson interrupted again. He winced, this time at himself. It was a bad habit, but he couldn’t help it.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
They were blind. They couldn’t see the obvious. And once he’d connected it all, it was obvious. He’d be lying if he didn’t say that it wasn’t vanity that pushed him to so fervently demand that his work be recognized, but it could change everything they thought they knew about ancient history. The Asutnahem KNEW!
“Be that as it may” Meredna said, gesturing for him to calm down, “there’s nothing I can do. You’ve been hired to teach the syllabus as it is, which you agreed to when you accepted the job offer. I’m sure your research has fascinating implications—
Professor Jackson stopped listening. He’d heard all he needed to. Besides, she’s practically just admitted to not having read the paper in question. If she had, she’d be singing a very different tune.
He’d tried to convince her for months. If she hadn’t read it yet, she wouldn’t.
“I see,” Professor Jackson said, his mind already many thousand years away, “Thank you for taking the time to see me. I’ll leave you to it.”
He exited Meredna’s office, and decided he’d enjoy a walk through the soul. Some fresh air would clear his mind. Classes didn’t start for another day, and he was as prepared as he needed to be, so he’d spend the rest of the day focusing on expanding his work.
If he was right, and he was right, then history was about to change. And by all that is good, he swore that he would be leading the charge into a new era of understanding the peoples that came before them.