He wondered how much time had passed on Earth.  He could imagine the confusion that had no doubt erupted on the beach the moment Lyra and he were spirited away.  Maybe their spaceship had glided out of orbit slowly—or maybe it was around one of the other planets, or even hidden behind the moon—but if they left in a hurry, NASA might have just gotten a whole bunch of readings they couldn’t understand.  If it was behind the moon, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter could be zipping along right below the pony spaceship, its many cameras never glancing skyward.  Perhaps, in time, NASA would spot a shadow on the moon’s surface they couldn’t explain, but that might take years.  