Chance Meeting Between Cambodian National Amputee Volleyball Team, Stephen Hawking, and Black Mothers Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, 2006
Lucky Dog Stand, Concourse B, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.—The Cambodians are on their way to Orlando’s Disney World after a few days in Los Angeles and New Orleans, on the U.S. leg of an international goodwill tour following their triumph at the World Disabled Games. Hawking, having completed the first leg of a book promotion tour for his latest bestseller, A Briefer History of Time, awaits a flight to Palm Beach, then home to Cambridge where he will continue work on the basic laws governing the universe. A dozen members of Poor Mothers-New Orleans (POMO-NO)—on their last legs following a whirlwind tour of their flood-ravaged Ninth Ward homes, fruitless meetings with city and federal officials, and a cocktail reception at Antoine’s in the French Quarter—are en route back to Texas, where they were relocated after Hurricane Katrina.
Professor Hawking slouches in his high-tech wheelchair, cloaked in wig and dark glasses, blinking to operate his speech synthesizer. He confides in several POMO-NO ladies about his forthcoming zero-gravity flight for charity, in which he would float weightless at high altitude without his wheelchair.
“The future… of humankind… is in outer space,” he says, grinning obliquely. He tells them he’s been invited to orbit the earth on Sir Richard Branson’s SpaceShipTwo for free. “It won’t cost me… an arm and a leg.”
The women lean closer, drawn by the space stories, silly costume, and strange staccato computer voice.
“You’re not pulling my leg now are you sir?” asks a bespectacled woman sporting a colorful scarf.
Several of the Cambodian volleyball players hop or hobble over in their sponsored athletic gear, leaning on crutches and munching Lucky Dogs. Outside hitter Nagg (lower right leg amputee—landmine) and setter Hang (lower right arm amputee—birth defect; full left leg amputee—landmine) excitedly ask questions through the team interpreter about Hawking’s wheelchair controls. They have no idea who he is.
The interpreter recognizes Hawking through the flimsy disguise. He seizes the opportunity to pose the ultimate question to the ultimate living cosmologist, transforming Nagg’s and Hang’s queries into one about Science and God.
“The universe was… spontaneously created… out of nothing,” Professor Hawking answers. “Without the laws of science… God does not have… a leg to stand on.”
Richard Holeton is the author of the hypertext novel Figurski at Findhorn on Acid, other electronic and multimedia literature, and short fiction. He has been featured in the Indiana Review, Mississippi Review, ZYZZYVA, and many other journals. He is a past NEA, MacDowell, Dora Maar House, and California Arts Council fellow. He lives near Half Moon Bay, California. More info about Richard can be found at richardholeton.org.