[TR] For Sam C

[mother_confessor]

While Kahlan was still in the general section of astronomy, sometimes she did like to sit in on the advanced class to see what she'd be doing next term and while some of the concepts were too complex to follow, she had faith that eventually it would all come together. She'd always been bright and loved to study, whether that was the magic and lore of Aydindril or these newer, more difficult concepts on the island.

As she was packing up to leave, she saw a flash of blonde hair and recognized Sam, struggling with an armful of infant and books and Kahlan simply had to stop to aid her. She'd liked her a good bit the last time they met and the idea of a woman in the military was intriguing; women in those sorts of roles in the Midlands were not looked upon highly but it seemed it was very different in Sam's world. It was certainly something Kahlan looked to talk about more at length but at the moment, there were other concerns.

"Is there something I could do to help? I could carry the books and you could carry the baby?"

Comments

[gate_expert]

"Astrophysics," Sam says. "Which is related to astronomy, yes, but different, too. My speciality is theoretical astrophysics, which studies things like stellar dynamics and evolution, large-scale structure of matter in the universe, general relativity and physical cosmology, gravitational waves, wormholes... that sort of thing." As usual when Sam's talking about anything related to the work she loves, she gets excited and tends to babble, even if she's been lecturing for the last hour and a half already.

[mother_confessor]

"I've never thought about the stars as something other than to navigate by," Kahlan said, pondering that. Most of the words that Sam used made no sense to her but she hoped, if she kept taking classes, that someday they might. It was knowledge that she'd never have access to in the Midlands and Kahlan was a little greedy about taking advantage of learning all she could.

"Our world is a lot simpler and has magic, though, and I'm finding these modern worlds use science instead. Is that common? You said you'd traveled to other worlds before coming here, right?"

[gate_expert]

Sam nods, shifting Janet in her arms. "I think it's pretty common," she says. "Some worlds use science, some worlds use science but don't understand it and think it's magic because they don't have a better name for it, and some use magic." Not that Sam's personally seen any worlds that actually use magic; any sufficiently advanced science seems like magic to those that don't understand it. But just because she hasn't seen it doesn't mean she's counting it out, especially after coming here. "Different things work better for the needs of different worlds, I think."

[mother_confessor]

"I think I like science better. It seems less likely to have me killed for being different," Kahlan admitted quietly. "So there's something to be said for that. So, theoretically, if I wanted to study what you studied, what classes should I take here? I don't want to be behind or anything and I am a quick study for the most part."

And the idea of using the stars for travel was more than fascinating to Kahlan, who had never done anything but travel by foot or small boat.

[gate_expert]

"Well," Sam says, thinking for a minute. She's not really sure where to starts, because she's not sure what Kahlan already knows--what she's learned at home, what she's learned here, and Sam's not entirely sure of all the courses available at the school. "All of the science courses at the island are probably good, even if they don't seem related at first. Astrophysics relies on a wide set of skills. Lots of math, too. What are you taking at the school right now?"

She also wants to know what Kahlan means by 'less likely to have me killed for being different,' but it's a question she'll hold onto for a bit.

[mother_confessor]

"I'm taking Dr. Jackson's classes and astronomy. I'm also taking a course on earth history and a course on computers." Kahlan didn't imagine that mentioning embroidery was important, since it didn't seem to have anything to do with what Sam taught.

"I should take more science and math next term, though. We do not have much of that in the Midlands, I'm afraid."