by Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep- The Best New Science Fiction from Sweden (retail) (epub)
He didn't reveal that she had to live in his flat during her stay, due to lack of housing regarding female visitors.
After dinner they continued discussing alchemy. Barrow yawned in secret behind his hand. He comprehended that Sir Robert tried to tell them something important, but he used a very long time to come to the point. Sir Robert raised his brows. "Am I exhausting you, my friends?"
"Not at all, your theories are very interesting," the always polite John Locke assured and put away his pipe.
"As you certainly know, my friends, we can't divide or change a basic element into another," Sir Robert continued. "Therefor it is my firm conviction that we can't make gold out of mercury the chemical way. We must find the Philosopher's Stone. I have been scrutinizing Arabian manuscripts lately to try and find a hint."
"It's an old rumor I won't trust," Locke remarked.
"It's the only solution I can see. While I was trying to make gold out of mercury the ordinary way, I found the secret of the basic elements. There are not only four, but many, which can't be divided or changed into others, and both gold and mercury are among them."
"I read your theory last year." Locke nodded.
"Then we might perhaps give up trying to make gold out of mercury?" Barrow snarled with the pipe between his teeth.
"It is possible to transform mercury into gold," Newton suddenly exclaimed. He hadn't said a word the whole afternoon, so they all turned and stared at him. There was a glimpse of determination in his eyes.
"Since you seem to know so much, why aren't you rich?" Hooke said.
"I don't practice alchemy to become wealthy. I see alchemy as a way of living, a kind of philosophy. A true alchemist must resolve himself up wholly to it, and the prosecution of the same, next to the service of God. He must join prayer to God, with serious meditation, and diligent industry, this is the way to attain true knowledge."
Barrow was amazed by Newton talking so much. The man must have used a lot of time contemplating the subject to have reached such a conclusion, he thought. Newton was secretive, but Barrow still hadn't expected him to delve so deeply into alchemy. "True knowledge, is that another word for the Philosopher's Stone?" he said.
"They who search after the Philosopher's Stone by their own rules are obliged to a strict and religious life. They may be granted the discovery of the Stone as a gift from God, and must solemnly engage not to use the knowledge revealed to them for selfish ends or betray the secret to the wicked."
"This sounds more like an immaterial Stone than an actual physical one," Locke said.
"If you by accident reveal the secret to the wicked, of course unintentionally, what happens?" Barrow said.
"Then the Stone will revenge itself," Newton said.
"Nonsense, a dead stone can't perform any actions," Hooke said.
"The Philosopher's Stone isn't an ordinary stone. It's a living thing, it leads its own life, independent of all other forms of life in the universe. It is, you may say, the true spirit of God."
Newton had never before been that informative. Barrow decided to take care of the rare situation. Religion was his area of knowledge. "You are talking about God. What kind of a God do you worship? What kind of being is He, according to your opinion?"
"The true God is a living, intelligent and powerful Being, and, from His other perfections, He is supreme, or most perfect. He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient, that is, His duration reaches from eternity to eternity, His presence from infinity to infinity, He governs all things, and knows all things that are or can be done. He is not eternity and infinity, but eternal and infinite, He is not duration or space, but endures and is present. He endures forever, and is everywhere present, and, by existing always and everywhere, He constitutes duration and space."
Locke nodded. "Much knowledge disappeared during the centuries. But we've still got some clues. The Rosicrucians claim to have their knowledge from such ancient societies."
"I'm a skeptic," Barrow said. "I fear that most of it has been drowned in mysteries and rites based upon several religions during the millennia. You can't be sure of what is pure religion and what was true science."
"The base was always science," Newton said. "The ancients believed in only one omnipotent and omniscient God, and therefore the other gods had only a symbolic meaning."
"How can you be so sure?" Barrow was amazed. Was Newton's mind completely screwed up? The poor fellow had been working hard for such a long time, and in addition had probably read some unhealthy literature.
"The Roman king Numa Pompilius erected a round temple in honor of Vesta, and ordained perpetual fire to be kept in the middle of it, as a symbol of the figure of the world with the sun in the center," Newton said. "In the Vestal ceremonies we may yet trace the ancient spirit of the Egyptians, for it was their way to deliver their mysteries, that is, their philosophy of things above the common way of thinking, under the veil of religious rites and hieroglyphic symbols."
"Are you being serious?" Locke said. "Do you mean to tell us that the mysteries of the ancient Egyptian religion were nothing more than a display of their natural philosophy? What about their many gods? Are they literally celestial bodies moving according to mathematical laws?"
"Since you are talking of the Vesta temple, do you believe the one omniscient God is a female?" Barrow said.
Locke chuckled, but Newton didn't seem offended. "The word God usually signifies Lord, but every Lord is not a god," he said. "I am convinced that the ancient gods of Egypt were divinized kings. In the case of Osiris, he is in reality the divinized Sesostris. Just look at the resemblance of the names."
"We all know that Egyptian kings were named after gods," Barrow said. "A slight resemblance in names doesn't prove anything. And where does Jesus Christ fit into this system? Is he crushed between the gravitating bodies of your mathematically treated system? Do you mean God is a mathematician?"
"As a blind man has no idea of colors, so have we no idea of the manner by which the all-wise God perceives and understands all things," Newton replied. "He is in a manner not at all human, in a manner not at all corporeal, in a manner utterly unknown to us."
"I thought the human being was made in His image. We must resemble him in at least one way," Barrow said. He knew he was regarded as the most learned clergyman of his time. He had been beneficent enough to free Newton from his duty to hold sermons, since he knew the young man felt awkward about it. "After all you have said, that resemblance must be grounded in our ability as mathematicians, is that what you mean?"
"Then the conclusion should be that the most powerful prophets are those who have the greatest understanding in mathematics," Locke concluded. Barrow glanced at him. Newton had no sense of humor so the point was wasted upon him, he thought.
"What if it really is so?" Leibniz broke in. "What if God only reveals Himself through mathematical coincidences in the universe as a whole, coincidences which can't be mistaken and not discovered before a civilization reaches the technology necessary to detect them?"
"Where does the Philosopher's Stone fit into this?" Halley said. "I mean, you said you started out as an alchemist."
"Honestly, I don't believe in that Stone," Barrow remarked. "I will classify it in the same category as the unidentified flying objects people have claimed seeing lately. After the ingenious Dr. Newton here introduced his theory of gravity and wrote that famous article in Time Magazine about artificial satellites, combined with the appearance of Halley's comet, people have been seeing things flying in the air. We haven't got one proof of the existence of the Stone yet."
"Would you believe in it if you saw it?" Sir Robert suddenly said.
"Many persons have claimed that they found it. They all showed a remarkable ability in hiding it from others under the pretext of secrecy," Barrow said.
"Then I suggest we go to my laboratory." Sir Robert rose and turned in the opened door.
They went through some dark damp corridors to a secret room below th
e rest of the house. Sir Robert went ahead of the group with a torch, and Leibniz followed next to him. When they reached the innermost door Sir Robert gave the torch to his assistant Hooke, put an old ornamented iron key into the lock and turned it round.
"Please enter, my friends." Sir Robert let Hooke wait outside until they all had gone in.
The laboratory lay in darkness. However, at the far end of it, they discovered four sparkling spots. This was a secret Sir Robert hadn't revealed to anyone, not even to his assistant Hooke.
"The Philosopher's Stone," Sir Robert announced proudly.
"But there are four," Locke exclaimed.
Sir Robert's assistant came in and hung the torch on the wall. Then they noticed that the laboratory was almost completely filled with a red rock.
"What purpose serves this rock?" Barrow enquired. "I suppose it isn't the Philosopher's Stone smashed to pieces because it was too big to get into the room?"
"It was during my experiments with mercury and grains of dust from this red rock I discovered the Philosopher's Stone. It hides in small portions within it, my friends."
Newton took up a piece of rock and examined it carefully before he threw it back.
"I have extracted everything of importance, this is only the leftovers."
Barrow stood behind Leibniz and divided his interest between her warm body, smelling of roses, close to him and the Philosopher's Stone.
"Feel how odd the Stone is to touch," Sir Robert suggested. "It's necessary to store it in four parts, its powers are so great."
The others progressed carefully. Newton was the first to stretch out his hand to get the smallest of the four pieces. He held it in his hand for a while, then slipped it back into the test tube. The scientists stumbled over each other in eagerness. Newton was standing in the corner washing his hands carefully. Leibniz withdrew and refused to touch the Stone.
The Philosopher's Stone was very remarkable, Barrow thought. It was warm and heavy, and yet it shone with a cool alien light, like an evil eye.
"Have you ever tried to make gold with the Philosopher's Stone?" Newton enquired from his corner.
"No, I will investigate it further before I try its powers. It is an element, but it seems unstable."
Locke held one of the pieces up to the light, carefully, between two fingers. "It is really glowing with its own light."
Barrow took two pieces and tried to bring them together. Leibniz had turned her back to him. When she noticed Newton staring, agitated, in that direction, she turned and peeped over the shoulder of Barrow. He felt her breath on his neck. Both pieces of the Stone were glowing more intensely. "They are getting hotter," Barrow remarked.
Suddenly Newton did something unexpected. He grasped the hand of Leibniz and ran out of the room. Captain Halley followed.
Barrow laughed. "I've always challenged the Devil, but I've never lost yet." He threw the two pieces back into the test tubes. "As a matter of fact, the Devil and I are very good companions, although I deny him the many victims Calvin offers him." Barrow went to the basin in the corner and washed his hands. "I must get rid of this devilish stuff. Are you never afraid when you experiment on it?"
"Now and then, perhaps," Sir Robert said.
"Alchemy is the science of the demon and of sorcerers and witches.
Therefore no alchemist can be careful enough." Barrow went to the door. "Was I seeing Drs. Leibniz and Newton fleeing upstairs hand in hand?"
"Captain Halley went after them. They won't have a chance of being alone and causing embarrassment," Locke said.
The three others were still standing in the living room when the rest of the party came up. They turned their pale faces towards Barrow.
"Did you feel the cold touch of the Devil?" he enquired.
"No, rather the heat of Hell," Newton replied.
Barrow laid a hand on one shoulder of each of Newton and Leibniz. "I'm glad you two are becoming friends." His grip hardened. "I suggest both of you come with me back to Cambridge."
"I will stay in London over the summer," Leibniz said and brushed off his hand. "But I promise to visit your university this autumn."
Halley's dark eyes flashed. "Keep away from her. She is not what she pretends," he wheezed.
Barrow looked astonished. "I'm a grownup man. I don't need any advice from youngsters like you, Captain Halley."
"This is not advice. It's a warning." The handsome face before him twitched.
A terrible temper, Barrow thought. Terrible enough to commit murder? He shuddered. He felt the warning was seriously meant. Did old Halley too get one before he walked himself down into the river? Barrow began to comprehend that he was being mixed up in something he didn't quite understand.
The summer became very hot.
Barrow went to the Continent to visit John Locke in Paris. There he met a lot of other scientists, among them Dr. Christiaan Hyugens. The usually popular Barrow found that the other behaved rather suspiciously towards him. Barrow wondered if he had heard something unfavorable about him. He invited Hyugens to a coffee shop to become better acquainted.
Perhaps Hyugens too wanted to settle any misunderstanding between them. "Mr. Locke told me that you met Dr. von Leibniz in London."
So, that was the problem. "Quite briefly at Sir Robert Boyle's. She's doing some work in chemistry at Gresham College this summer. Do you know her well?"
"I was one of her father's students. I was around twenty the first time we met. She was six, a lovely child, very intelligent. Her father said she had a slow development in the beginning. As a four year old he was afraid she was retarded."
"May I ask a personal question: Are you in love with her?"
Hyugens concentrated on his chocolate. He got a mustache of crème on his upper lip when he sipped on the warm liquid. "Yes, you're right. We better settle this. I love her. But I promised her father to protect her. She lived in my house while she was a student. I taught her mathematics for two years. But I never touched her in any indecent way. I kept my promise. God knows I wanted her. I even proposed to her. But she's not the marrying kind. She's only interested in science."
They changed the subject. Now that they had settled the problem, the conversation ran more freely. They began discussing the solar system and the latest versions of telescopes. Barrow mentioned the unidentified flying objects seen over England the previous spring. He admitted that he hadn't seen them himself.
"We watched some over Paris, too. I actually saw them myself," Hyugens said. "I wonder if they are space ships from Venus or Mars or even from the other planets. Swedenborg mentions inhabitants from other planets in his book. Our Earth too is a planet, and it is inhabited. Why shouldn't the others be? And if we can conceive of artificial satellites and spaceships, why shouldn't the others?"
"The idea seems farfetched to me. It is one thing to speculate about space ships. It is another to build them. I guess the sightings are the result of a hysterical concept after Dr. Newton's theory of gravitation and its interpretations were published. However, is it of any concern to us?"
"Of course, if the others come as conquerors to Earth, it is the concern of all mankind. I remember Dr. von Leibniz was attracted to the problem even before Dr. Newton's theory was published."
"So? I find the speculations a bit naive. Mr. Locke always says that new ideas are more disastrous to a fixed society than are advanced weapons. If the others want to destroy us, it is sufficient to plant a couple of their own philosophers in our society to alter its structure to their benefit."
"So that we will destroy ourselves in due time? Honestly, Dr. Barrow, isn't that a rather slow method?"
"Well, the question of time may be different to people from other planets. Besides, it will save them from using any heavy artillery in a direct confrontation of which the outcome is uncertain." Barrow rose. "You are welcome to visit me at Cambridge if you wish. Dr. von Leibniz will be holding lectures in combinatorial analysis for us this autumn."
Middle of
August.
Sir Robert Boyle and his assistant Robert Hooke died within a few weeks interval. Barrow came too late to Hooke's funeral, but he reached Sir Robert's.
The large family Boyle was present, and a rather pale and timid looking Leibniz. After the funeral Barrow ate lunch with Sir Robert's eldest brother, John. He grieved the sudden death of a brother and good friend. "He didn't die a natural death," John Boyle said. "He just dwindled away, lost his hair and bled from many small bruises. I guess his experiments with the Philosopher's Stone took his life. There ought to be a law against alchemists. As a matter of fact, I will pose that in the Parliament."
The following day Barrow fetched Leibniz and her belongings in Sir Robert's house. He used his biggest horseless vehicle with a roof, having learned from smoggy London last time. They went to Sir Robert's lawyer, another one of the numerous Boyle brothers, to listen to the will being read aloud. It turned out that Sir Robert had given the four pieces of the Philosopher's Stone to Locke, Barrow, Newton and Leibniz. In addition, Locke got his scientific writings.
The weather was still warm when Barrow and his female companion set out for Cambridge. Leibniz sat silently looking at the English landscape passing. The vehicle got very warm inside. Barrow opened a window.
"Were they killed by the Philosopher's Stone?" Barrow finally asked.
"I think so."
"Dr. Newton often talked about the Stone. He, in fact, foresaw how it would affect those who came into too close a connection with it. He tried to warn Sir Robert."
"I read those letters." She sniffed. "I'm sorry I didn't do more to make him stop doing those experiments. But I was occupied with my lectures at Gresham's."
"You couldn't have stopped him. He was obsessed." Barrow laid his hand over hers.
Barrow parked the vehicle outside a countryside inn. "Come on, let's have some food. We have been busy the whole morning."
