The Sothis Radiant

"The Sothis Radiant"  is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Will Murray which originally appeared in the anthology Miskatonic University (DAW Books, 1996). Part of Murray's Cryptic Events Evaluation Section series, it's the first story in which Murray refers to the organization as a "Section" rather than a "Taskforce."
== Synopsis==
A long-sealed observatory at Miskatonic University holds the key to detecting a cosmic threat.
==Characters==
*David Webb: Acting dean of astronomy at Miskatonic University.
*Randall Vincent: An agent with the Cryptic Events Evaluation Section of the National Reconnaissance Office. He is described as "thirtyish, black eyes, black hair, his wiry body encased in a dark gray Brooks Brothers suit accented by a subdued charcoal tie. There was an edgy sharpness about him." (Vincent appears briefly in Murray's 1995 story "Rude Awakening.")
*Azor Sparhawk: A 19th century astronomy professor at Miskatonic, the first director of the Sparhawk Observatory, which he opened in 1891. "He developed an apochromatic lens which compensated for chromatic aberration in a way we still don’t understand. He discovered the universe was riddled with what he called tendrils," originating from a point he called the Sothis Radiant. Born c. 1847, he was committed to Arkham Sanitarium in 1897, and died in 1903. In a photograph, he appears as "a stern-eyed man with the pointed mustaches of the Gay Nineties."
* Pickman: A former CEES operative who had responsibility for monitoring the Sothis Radiant until his death in Antarctica. (Pickman's Antarctic death is featured in Murray's 1994 story "To Clear the Earth.")
*Francis Parkman: Miskatonic's dean of astronomy until he suffered a devastating stroke, which prevented him from explaining to his successor the Sparhawk Observatory's relationship to the CEES.
==Setting==
Sparkhawk Observatory is located in "the southernmost corner of the sprawling Miskatonic Campus." A "jewel of a Victorian observatory," it's an "old brick structure" with a "verdigrised dome," covered with ivy that stops short of the dome. Opened in 1891 by astronomer Azor Sparhawk, it was seized by the U.S. Secret Service and padlocked in 1897. The National Reconnaissance Office took responsibility for it in 1965. 
==Publication History==
The story was reprinted in Murray's collection The Wild Adventures of Cthulhu: Volume One.
Murray wrote three sequels to "The Sothis Radiant": “What Brings the Void” (2010), “The Hour of Our Triumph” (2011), and "Dark Redeemer" (2015). Together, according to Murray, there stories "form an overarching narrative in which the world that we know it is annihilated and the Great Old Ones come down from the dark stars beyond our reality to take possession." The Wild Adventures of Cthulhu: Volume One, "Introduction," by Will Murray (Odyssey Publications, 2022).
==References==
Category:Expanded Mythos Works
Category:Will Murray works