2036 The Proof: A Thrilling Science Fiction Novel

by Speiser, Zvi

  In light of the large number of planets discovered using transit photometry, which reveals only about 1 percent of a star’s possible planets, the expectation was to find a deluge of Earth-like planets for which the chances of discovering signs of life were significant. The spectroscopic (Doppler) method was also suitable for only 40 percent of the possible planets per star. Most feasible planets were outside the range of the traditional methods of detection. The space telescope array (STA) was designed to discover any feasible planet, regardless of its orbital plane around its host star, as well as to analyze its atmosphere. Gradually, the dream became reality. All components of the STA had been in orbit for about two years now. The necessary calibration and initialization process was long and exhaustive, due to the almost unimaginable precision required.

  The observation data—analyzed and deciphered since the array was deployed, and even more intensely in recent months—had become a daily news item in many papers throughout the world. The data showed that most sun-like stars had well-developed planetary systems. An analysis of their atmosphere showed that many were gigantic gas stars resembling Jupiter and Saturn and even exceeding them in size. Many others had atmospheres resembling those of the ancient Earth: water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. However, the major surprise was the scarcity of planets with an atmosphere containing significant amounts of oxygen, indicating the presence of biological life processes resembling life on Earth. In fact, in the entire, immense volume of space that had been scanned, only two planets were found with atmospheres resembling that of Earth, with significant amounts of oxygen and not much carbon dioxide. Both were found in the “Goldilocks” or habitable zone, the orbital range in which distance from the sun enabled surface temperatures that allowed the existence of water in a liquid state.

  How disappointing, he thought, two planets exhibiting signs of life orbiting only two out of a hundred thousand suns. Even odder was the fact that the orbits of the two planets as well as the other planets within their solar system were almost circular, a clear contrast to the eccentric orbits in most other planetary systems.

  At the beginning of the era of planetary discovery, only particularly heavy planets, whose distance from their sun was short and whose orbital year was brief, lasting several days or fewer, had been discovered. Initially, this had been attributed to the method of detection, relying on the Doppler Effect, which revealed the oscillation of the sun observed in relation to Earth. The low sensitivity of the equipment available at the time enabled only the discovery of planets that deflected their suns significantly and in a short, rapid cycle. Small planets similar to Earth in size, with an orbital year resembling our own in length, could not be detected by such means.

  The second era was characterized by dedicated telescopes designed to detect planets whose orbits obscured their suns, as seen from Earth. At the forefront of this movement was the Kepler space observatory, which had discovered thousands of planets of this kind, despite the minute probability of detection.

  At the time, astronomers had been surprised by the high prevalence of planetary systems in general, and in particular by the large number of multiplanetary systems. In light of this fact, some astronomers came to the conclusion that life was highly common in the universe, and that soon humanity would join the greater community of cultures in the Milky Way galaxy.

  Only two planets with signs of life other than Earth in such an immense volume of space; so little life in the universe, Ethan thought glumly. And now, try to figure out how many such planets were needed in order for sentient life to develop on one of them. It was indeed highly disappointing. His face tinted with displeasure, he continued to watch the bluish planet.

  As he walked to the large conference room in preparation for the weekly team meeting, he recalled a recent statement from Gerry, a fellow astronomer, who claimed to have come across a discovery that would have a major impact on the human race. I wonder what he’s found that could impact humanity, he reflected. During the past year, since observations of a previously unprecedented quality had begun coming in, Gerry had started to isolate himself, hardly talking to those around him. He had behaved like someone studying a unique topic that he did not wish to share with others until it was verified beyond a doubt. What revolutionary discovery was possible in asteroid research? Ethan thought to himself.

  As usual, the meeting was conducted by Robert Shepard, head of NASA’s Extraterrestrial Life Study Division, or, as it was affectionately known, LGM (short for Little Green Men), a nickname with which the division was saddled in light of the meager results of the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life forms. The research had been going on for decades, entailing an immense investment of resources, and unfortunately, yielding no results.

  There was very little that was new to be found in the reports of the various presenters. Most of the attendees were already familiar with the majority of data, although during the meeting, it was arranged and presented in the appropriate factual order. Only five minutes were allocated to the last item on the agenda. Everyone was already exhausted after two hours of a meeting regurgitating known facts when Bob instructed Gerry to take over. Only then did the attendees notice that Gerry was not present at the meeting.

  “That’s odd,” Bob said. “Gerry was so insistent about speaking to us. It’s strange that he never showed up for the meeting.”

  No one present seemed to bemoan the absence of one more presentation, and everyone was happy to disperse a few minutes early. It is very strange, Ethan thought. Gerry had seemed highly eager to present his findings. He also wasn’t the absentminded type who would forget to show up for the meeting. Perhaps he had uncovered an error in his calculations and changed his mind, or was totally immersed in recalculating his discovery. It makes sense to check his office, he thought, turning toward it. The door to Gerry’s office was locked, which was odd as well. Only unusual circumstances could have caused him not to show up on a day in which he was scheduled to present his work to all of the teams.

  Chapter 9

  Gerry

  Chicago, Friday, July 18, 2036

  Gerry woke up and tried to open his eyes. The effort produced a sharp pain in his right eye. He tried again, unsuccessfully. He was engulfed by darkness. Gradually, recent events surfaced in his memory, as he tried to process what had happened to him. The last thing he remembered clearly was stopping briefly in front of the bakery whose delicacies he was so fond of, although he usually tended to avoid them. At that moment, he had felt as if he deserved a treat.

  This was the day on which he was going to make history. This was the day when he would unveil the discovery on which he had been working over the last few years at the team meeting. The work had intensified during the last year, since amazingly precise images of objects in Earth’s solar system had begun to be generated by the STA. Humanity would never look the same again. His presentation, which included the observation data saved online, was his invitation to the annals of the human race.

  At that point, he remembered the vehicle that had hit him as he’d exited his car. True, he hadn’t exactly been focused on his surroundings, but he was always careful. Caution was an autonomous function within him. He didn’t have to focus on leaving his vehicle carefully.

  It had been a light delivery van, of the kind often seen on the streets. Apparently, its driver had also been trying to stop parallel to the cars parked at the side of the road, and therefore had driven too close to Gerry’s vehicle and ended up hitting him.

  He cautiously moved his right hand, brushing it across his face. His entire head appeared to be bandaged. Bandages also covered his chest and his left thigh. His hand could not reach any further. Any attempt to touch his feet was unsuccessful. He couldn’t bend forward. Vaguely, he heard indistinct sounds of speech around him. He focused his full attention on trying to understand what was being said, but could not manage to do so; the sounds resembled a jumble of words in
a foreign language. He tried to call out to the speakers, but a sharp stab of pain in his left ribs made it clear to him that he’d be better off keeping his silence. In his distress, Gerry moved his hand up and down, wiggling his fingers in the hope that someone would approach him.

  The sounds of mumbling stopped briefly, replaced by voices that grew louder and more distinct. “He’s awake,” he managed to make out, hearing a familiar female voice. A soft hand gripped his own, and the voice of his daughter, now clear again, whispered next to his right ear.

  “How are you, Dad? What happened?”

  He touched his bandaged mouth with the finger of his right hand, signaling that he couldn’t talk.

  “You were injured, Dad. We still can’t remove the bandage on your head. I’ll get hold of some paper and a pen right now, so you can write it down for me.”

  Within seconds, he felt a pen being thrust into his hand, as the hand was elevated and placed on a surface apparently containing a piece of paper. With considerable effort, he managed to steady his hand and write.

  Condition my is?

  “A car hit you while going full speed, and threw you about fifteen feet forward. Luckily for you, there wasn’t too much traffic at the time,” Elaine said. “You have a head injury that caused a brain hemorrhage. You were unconscious for half a day; the doctors couldn’t estimate the extent of brain damage. They said that if you woke up and communicated, that would prove your brain had overcome the pressure that had affected it. That’s also why your ears aren’t bandaged. I think you’ll survive the accident. Other than the head injury, you also have cuts on your face and lips, a crack in your left thighbone, and four cracked ribs. Other than that, you’re just fine,” she added sarcastically.

  When talk? he wrote.

  “The bandages will be taken off your head in a day,” she replied. “Your general condition is stable. You won’t have to be hospitalized for too long.”

  Suddenly, he experienced a wave of alertness and mental clarity that felt unprecedented. The white van that had been following him since the moment he left his home. The vehicle he could see in his rearview mirror every time he looked, but to which he paid no attention. The vehicle that had slowed down when he had slowed down, stopping to buy a pastry. It was the same van that had apparently sped up when he exited his car, and hit him.

  The vividness of the memory was amazing. The images were etched into his mind, as if he were watching a movie, or more accurately, as if he were experiencing them again precisely at any moment he wanted to do so. He could focus on any detail of the event. He could clearly see the scratches in the paint on the front of the van, and the dusty windshield, through which he could see the silhouette of the dark-skinned driver. He could even read the license plate from any direction, as if it were literally in front of his eyes!

  It hadn’t been an accident at all. He had been hit deliberately! This immediately reminded him of the strange assistant call from last week, which he had tried to repress. The seemingly polite call, insinuating a threat not to distribute the results of his research. His shock when he realized that although he had maintained strict secrecy in regard to the details of his work and certainly about his findings, someone had found out about it. Someone was willing to go very far, including physical injury or even murder, to silence him.

  Who had been following his work, and why? True, he hadn’t gone overboard in maintaining confidentiality about his research. The material was saved on the computer, guarded by its general protections. And other than the single encoded copy he had carefully concealed, he had made no additional copies. He had not discussed the details of his work with anyone beyond the bare minimum required by NASA.

  Who had access to NASA’s general database? He was well acquainted with Jim and Larry, the maintenance engineers for the main server farm. Due to the workload that had expanded beyond their capacity to handle it, a third engineer, Robert, had recently been hired. Gerry hadn’t had the chance to get to know him due to the many hours he’d been dedicating to his work during the last year. In fact, some gossip had surrounded Robert’s hiring. The details floated in front of his eyes. More than twenty highly experienced candidates, both internal and external, had applied for the bid. The appointment of Robert, an inexperienced external candidate, had been met with much astonishment. Two experienced NASA employees who had applied for the job protested the odd choice, but he couldn’t recall any reaction to their grievance. The entire story simply faded away, and had not been mentioned since. Strange indeed.

  Had the purpose of injuring him been to murder him under the pretense of a car accident, or had it been another warning? Perhaps it was the last warning before he was truly eliminated? If it had been a murder attempt, the perpetrator surely knew of his condition, and that he had survived. The obvious conclusion was that his life was in danger now that he had awakened from his coma. Could he hide his recovery from this person?

  On the other hand, if the assailant had wanted to finish him off, it seemed safe to assume he could have done so. Apparently, therefore, his attacker wasn’t eager to commit murder. Perhaps he would assume that Gerry had been sufficiently warned, and would heed the unsubtle hint given to him, and avoid publishing his work. He wondered if the work was still saved in its entirety. Was the presentation he had prepared for the staff meeting still stored on the server? It was hard to know, although it made sense to assume that anyone who had uncovered the contents of his work could also delete it.

  His lips curved in a brief smile. This was the epitome of irony. The person who had injured him in an attempt to prevent his work from being published had probably deleted it as well. But his assailant hadn’t foreseen the change in his brain which, among other things, had granted him a perfect eidetic memory. He could now easily reconstruct his work. The entire project hovered in front of his eyes as if he were watching it page by page, slide by slide. All he’d been missing was the images from the telescopes, but he remembered their archival references with utter precision, and so others could easily attach them.

  The most important, urgent question was whether the incident had been a warning or an unsuccessful attempt at murder. What should he do if it had been attempted murder? How could he protect himself? Perhaps he should pretend to be a brain-damaged amnesiac? And perhaps he should add on a significant reduction of his mental capacities, as well. Would an announcement that he couldn’t continue his research due to his head injury satisfy the assassin? Even if the man had tried to murder him, it seemed reasonable to assume that under such circumstances, he would now leave him alone. Perhaps he would continue to follow Gerry for a while until he came to the conclusion that he no longer posed a threat? Yes, that would be the path he would choose. No one had to know what his capacities were. He would behave toward everyone as if he had become brain damaged, his abilities diminished. He didn’t consider abandoning his research even for a moment. He would find a way to publish his findings.

  He wondered who was interested in suppressing such a groundbreaking discovery. Perhaps it wasn’t a single individual? Could it be an organized group that would be harmed in some way by his revelation? He couldn’t think of anyone that could be harmed by the discovery to an extent that would justify such investment and such risk. Who would be bothered by something taking place millions of miles away from Earth? Any attempt to delve further into this question only brought him to a dead end.

  He found himself in a very odd position. On the one hand, his life was in danger, he was recuperating from a major accident, covered in bandages, including his eyes, and barely able to move his hands. On the other hand, he had been endowed with a major sense of illumination, cognitive sharpness and mnemonic capabilities at a level he had never possessed before. If he had been blessed with such abilities when he was a student, he could have finished his PhD thesis in one year instead of the four years he had ended up dedicating to it.

  Perhaps this was ho
w humanity’s prominent geniuses—Newton, Einstein, and others—saw their environment. He didn’t need the pages of his work in order to see its contents, the observations and orbital calculations that had led him to his oh-so-strange conclusion. He tried to mentally survey the calculations again, but other than slight inaccuracies in negligible terms, he could find no fault in them. The conclusion was unequivocal. This might be how Stephen Hawking had felt while working for years on the theoretical discovery of black hole radiation, all while being unable to move any part of his body other than his eyes and lips.

  It was odd not to need an implement for writing such as a blackboard, paper, or computer. As he neared the end of his computations, he dedicated some time to assessing the latest astronomical discoveries, hoping to find further corroboration for his conclusions in previously unexplained astronomical phenomena. Unfortunately, he had been unable to dedicate sufficient time to such studies due to his intensive work. Now that he had the time, what he yearned for most was a computer terminal that would allow him to peruse astronomical websites and seek similar phenomena. If he did it at the hospital, he could not pretend to be brain damaged. He had to get out of there as soon as possible, and find anonymous access to the Web.

  Chapter 10

  The Funeral

  Chicago, Friday, July 18, 2036

  On his way to the university, Tom debated how to discuss the murder with his team. Should he gather them all for one meeting, or see each of them separately, one-on-one? Start today, or try to re-establish a routine, and deal with the murder occasionally during the week? He decided to talk to each of them personally in order to minimize the disruption to their work.

  Fridays were usually his favorite days: the weekly summary meeting, everyone talking and snacking on offerings each of them had prepared, joking around and laughing a lot, and even going home early. It seemed unlikely that any of the team members had brought any treats today, which was a shame. Tom was very fond of the communal gathering, which also often yielded good pragmatic results. It wasn’t a waste of time in the slightest. Too bad it won’t be like that today, he thought. The meeting would probably run until the time of Oleg’s funeral. When you choose to embark on an academic career, the last thing you think about is being involved in a murder.