by Waiting for the Machines to Fall Asleep- The Best New Science Fiction from Sweden (retail) (epub)
She nodded and followed him inside. She looked timid and defenseless. He ordered food for them both and discovered that he liked to have her beside him at the table.
After the meal Barrow fired the vehicle up again and they climbed into it. He tried to concentrate on the driving, but got distracted by his passenger. Every time he cast a glance at her, he noticed that she was studying him with her peculiar green eyes. He moved uneasily in his seat.
A thunderstorm was threatening on the horizon when they reached Cambridge. Barrow parked his vehicle at Trinity College and led Leibniz across the Great Court to Master's Lodge. It was already raining. Well inside, he placed her in front of the fireplace which was lit by a servant. She took off her wet sandals. Barrow settled in a chair halfway in front of her. He wanted to look at her. She was the most attractive woman he had ever met.
"I have invited Dr. Newton for tea in Master's Lodge this afternoon," he said.
Leibniz nodded.
Just then the servant showed in the young mathematician. Suddenly it felt as if the electricity of the thunderstorm filled the room. Barrow could literally feel the connection between the two youngsters. It was almost supernatural. The servant brought tea and scones. Newton put butter on a scone and devoured it. Barrow thought the young man had probably forgotten to eat the whole day. Only the slurping of tea and the thunderbolts outside could be heard. Nobody wished to start a conversation. The air was electrical. The silence became unbearable. If nobody talks, this tenseness will cause an explosion, Barrow thought. It was up to him to start the conversation. He began talking about Sir Robert's funeral and mentioned the pieces of the Philosopher's Stone the three of them had inherited. "I hope you won't try to make any gold with it," he finally said.
They just nodded silently.
It struck Barrow that their adversity against each other had ceased the moment they met.
Leibniz looked uneasy when Newton left. She clasped her hands in her lap, shuddered and moved closer to the fireplace. Barrow put his arm around her and felt it was too intimate for her comfort. "You're shivering. Is it too cold in here?" He let go of her. "The servants have made up a good room for you upstairs during your stay in Cambridge."
Barrow noticed that the students, at first, were uncomfortable with a female teacher. Soon they accepted her, especially when her method of calculus turned out to be easier to use than Newton's. The young man didn't mind. He had moved on to another subject, the study of light and colors. Barrow had decided that Leibniz was to take her meals in the Great Hall together with the other tutors. Some of the old fashioned clergy expressed their dislike. However, Barrow was Master of Trinity College and had the final decision.
Soon after Newton's experiments on light and color began to leak out, Barrow got a letter from Huygens that he wanted to visit Trinity College. Barrow suspected Leibniz was the true attraction. He consented. A discussion between Newton and Huygens might be good for the scientific climate at the university. Barrow was tired of the old clergy working against the younger scientists. He comprehended their dislike really originated in Leibniz living in his house. However, everything was correct between them. He hadn't tried touching her since that first attempt, although he admitted that he wanted to. Besides, he needed to talk to an outsider about certain suspicions having popped up in his mind lately.
Huygens arrived before dinner on a crisp autumn day. Barrow had offered to fetch him in London, but Huygens declined. Since he came in a carriage behind two horses, Barrow suspected that Huygens didn't like the noisy ride in a horseless vehicle.
They all ate in the Great Hall. Afterwards Barrow invited Hyugens, Newton and Leibniz to his home for a nightcap.
Hyugens enquired about the latest results obtained in optics in England.
"I admit that I wasn't very lucky with my hypothesis of colors when I tried to explain, for example, yellow as a different degree of red and white intermingled." Barrow looked at Newton. He was pleased that Huygens himself brought forward the subject.
"I am more interested in Dr. Newton's peculiar theory," Huygens said.
"Why is it peculiar?" Leibniz asked.
"Although he obviously believes in corpuscles, he doesn't seem to be able to make a final choice between the two theories."
"I prefer to speak of light in general terms," Newton remarked. "And I consider your theory geometrical rather than mechanical. It contradicts physical principles, because of lack of periodicity. There's no use in producing a beautiful mathematical theory if it isn't confirmed by experiments."
"I didn't say that light waves don't have periodicity. I believe that light is longitudinal waves crossing each other without in any way interfering with one another."
"Such waves can't account for colors," Newton said. "If I were to believe in light waves at all, they must be transverse rather than longitudinal."
"Do you suggest transverse light waves when using those rather obscure phrases fits and sides?" Barrow interpreted.
"Really, I haven't investigated the problem thoroughly yet," Newton said. "I'm sorry certain undigested parts of my theory have leaked out."
The party broke up. Leibniz withdrew to her own room, and Newton went home. Huygens was lodged in a guestroom at Trinity College.
"What about a walk around the quadrangle before we go to bed?" Barrow suggested.
They walked the quadrangle twice before talking.
"I would like to talk more with Dr. Newton about his curious theory of light, but that'll wait until his book is published," Hyugens finally said. "I understand he's rather sore as regards undigested material."
Barrow nodded absentmindedly. "Have you ever thought upon the possibility of producing death rays?" he suddenly asked. "Just think of the trumpets of Jericho. The walls were destroyed by sound waves. When you were working on your theory of light waves, didn't the similarity of the two in your own theory occur to you?"
"Really, Dr. Barrow, I don't believe in the trumpets of Jericho, I mean, that it happened exactly that way, literally."
"I don't intend to scorn your brainchild, but suppose the corpuscular theory of light turns out to be the right one?"
"That can't be. I've performed a lot of experiments proving that light is propagated in waves. Therefore some of Dr. Newton's experimental results baffle me. They indicate light to be of both natures, and that's impossible. Plain logic shows that one thing can't be of two such fundamentally different origins."
"If it really turns out to be so?"
"Then such a discovery is abnormal for our age and lies in the future, because the conceiving of a totally dualistic nature requires a logic wholly different from the one we are used to."
"I want to show you something." Barrow turned and went across the quadrangle to his home. He removed a thick Bible from its place on the shelf. There he kept his piece of the Philosopher's Stone. It was glowing in the dark. Huygens reached eagerly for it. "Be careful," Barrow said. "It killed Sir Robert Boyle and his assistant. I think it emits death rays." He might as well tell Huygens of the meeting in London. If the man was into the science of light and color, maybe he could explain how an element could shed out light by itself. "Captain Halley was frightened of it."
"Captain Halley," Huygens said. "He was mixed up in an unpleasant story lately. Grave robbing in Egypt."
"Pharao Sesostris the third's grave, perhaps?"
"How did you know?"
"He was interested in the real Philosopher's Stone. I don't think he believed the glowing element in Sir Robert's laboratory was the true Philosopher's Stone. I have been suspecting Captain Halley all the time. You see, when I went to Oxford to visit a friend some years ago, I met the real Edmond Halley. As a child, he had red hair and freckles. A grownup man can't change that completely. I was puzzled when I met him at Boyle's. I know his father was murdered. He didn't walk himself into the river Thames when drunk. His heart was penetrated by some kind of ray, very hot and very fast."
"And who is the presen
t Captain Halley?"
"I suspect he might come from Venus or Mars. You remember all those lights in the air last summer? They may be their vehicles."
"Why should they be interested in pharao Sesostris?"
"Maybe they believe a precious item is buried in his grave."
Huygens shook his head. "It seems too farfetched to me. A pity I have to leave for London tomorrow. I had hoped to discuss more on light and colors with Dr. Newton."
"I don't think he will talk about it anymore. He feels that his theory isn't ripe yet."
The day after Barrow didn't meet Leibniz before she came back from her lecture. He and Huygens had been sitting up the previous evening talking about Barrow's travels and consuming a lot of wine. Barrow had slept in and didn't come down to breakfast with her.
The autumn afternoon was chilly. Newton didn't show up. Perhaps he was afraid of being embroiled in another discussion with Huygens. Barrow was alone with Leibniz. They were silently regarding each other. He sat in a chair before the fireplace, she on a pillow below him. Physically he was attracted to her. He had never before wanted a woman that much. At the same time she repelled him, as if his instincts told him she wasn't quite human. This was a new situation. He had learnt to rely on his innermost feelings and warnings of danger during his stay in the East.
"Who are you?" he finally said. "What's really going on?"
"It's about the future of the Earth and our own civilization. It begins with the presentation of the true son of God. Firstly, he signs his secret alchemical writings Isaacus Neuutonus, which can be transcribed into Jeova sanctus unus. As the only son of God he thinks that he alone has access to the true knowledge. His method of describing the system of the world will, in a few generations, be regarded as the only method, even in fields where it doesn't fit. The true God of our beliefs will be crushed in mechanistic philosophies, based upon artificial mathematical systems. The sciences based upon mathematics will eventually replace religion. The mathematicians and scientists will be looked upon as mystics and high priests by the common people not learned in the art. Civilization will reach a point where the sum of its advances in different fields will supersede the ability of perception of a single human being."
"Are Dr. Newton and Captain Halley too mixed up in this?"
"Captain Halley is captain of a fleet of spaceships coming from a civilization which has been trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone. He revealed himself by breaking into pharao Sesostris the third's grave. Now that we know his identity, he will be properly taken care of." She laughed. "For a while I thought you were that interstellar spy."
"Where do you come from? Venus? Mars?"
"Venus – Mars! You know nothing of the universe. I might tell you secrets which would make your mind twist itself into insanity forever. Captain Halley flies around in his impressive spaceships, but my people don't need such primitive vehicles. Unfortunately, he spotted us at Sir Robert's when we fled out of the laboratory. He was, however, distracted by Newton's writings about pharao Sesostris and thought we had hidden the Stone in his grave."
Barrow listened attentively. He could feel the cold from outer space settling in the room. He suddenly conceived there might exist other solar systems outside the path of Saturn. And yet, he would be able to hold this attractive female being in a firm grip because she had chosen such a weak shell to hide in on Earth. "So, where do you come from?"
She rose and beckoned him over to the table.
"Sit down. I'll show you." Leibniz took a paper and drew a square on it, then some figures indicating openings. Barrow recognized an architectural drawing when shown it, and comprehended it was the room they were sitting in. She also drew two circles, one inside the room and one outside. "They are two-dimensional beings. If the being inside wants the one outside to come in, he must open the door. Agreed?"
Barrow nodded. He had many questions, but understood he wouldn't have to ask.
"However, we are sitting up here in the third dimension looking down into the room of the drawing. We can enter it from above without opening the door. If you let a globe pass through the room, the two-dimensional beings would comprehend it as several different circles passing through their world. It is not just the room which is open to us. Even the inside of the bodies of the two beings would be open. Now, try and comprehend a being of four dimensions. A three-dimensional house cannot keep him out. He can even enter a three-dimensional body without doing any damage to it. And that's what we intend to do." She produced a beautiful item looking like a sparkling blue delicate egg. "This is what we really look like. However, to function in this crude world, we need a human body. We are not individuals like you are, we are all one. But we can put parts of ourselves into different human beings and yet stay undivided."
"Where did you hide that thing?"
"I didn't hide it. I can produce it out of my being and take it back whenever I want." She made a small gesture, then showed her empty hand.
"Why are you showing me this egg or whatever it is?
"We will put it behind your forehead, between your brain halves. It will make you omniscient."
"Why me?"
"We need a person like you. You are one of the greatest scientists of your time. You have done important work both in mathematics and language. You are looked upon as the most learned man in England. You are well traveled. Besides, you are Master of Trinity College and an influential man people look up to."
This was the same situation as Jesus Christ experienced when he was tempted by the Devil in the desert, Barrow thought.
She rose to go upstairs and change for dinner. "Think it over until tomorrow."
Sunday morning.
Barrow was going to preach in Trinity College Chapel. He had hardly slept. He was reminded of a philosophical saying: "If God was standing before you holding the truth of everything in his left hand and the yearning for knowing the truth in his right hand, which hand would you choose?" He realized that he himself would choose God's right hand. Barrow didn't wish to become omniscient.
He was standing before the shelf putting on his gown, and then took his personal Bible to bring to the chapel. The test tube containing Sir Robert's stone was revealed. Suddenly it was in his hand. Barrow felt its warmth towards his skin. "It will certainly bring me luck in my last sermon of my Judgment day," he thought and put the hot little thing into his breast pocket, near the heart. In a glimpse in the corner of his eye he noticed Leibniz coming down the stairs behind him.
They walked across the Great Court, the short way from Mastern's Lodge to Trinity College Chapel. He already felt the deadly rays from the stone in his pocket penetrating him. Sweat began running down his body. He wondered whether he would be able to reach the Chapel before he collapsed. Barrow more felt than saw Newton coming up on his other side. They wouldn't let him chose. He already knew too much about them.
Barrow entered the pulpit. His sermons usually lasted for three hours. He intended to keep on talking until the stone had done its work, even if he had to collapse before the crowd. His eyes ran across the front row. Leibniz and Newton sat alone together.
Barrow knew the end was coming fast now. He laid his hand to his heart, uttered some well chosen words from the gospel, then stumbled and fell. Professors and students screamed. Some of the elder teachers and proctor rose, but Newton and Leibniz came first to the spot. Leibniz flung herself across the dying Barrow's body searching his pockets. How he had wished to have her that close all the time he had known her. She smelled of lavender and something he remembered from his mother when he was a child.
Then he lost consciousness.
"A Sense of Foul Play" – Andrew Coulthard
"Life dull? Need to spice things up? Join the Norsborg Players – you might even be good enough to go pro!
The Vellu-Beetles are almost through the door, their breath a combination of flame and oxygen. Their cutters fizz and hiss as they lance into the virtual foam-stone of the atrium, carving their way towar
d you. Glancing over your shoulder you reappraise your surroundings one final time: sheer walls, tiny armor-glass window, solid floor. Definitely no other way out. What do you do?
... she ran a hasty opportunity search through her internal tool forms inventory. No good. She'd already used every charge for every tool other than the most basic and they'd be no use against Vellu-Beetles. Worse, after three hours of solid combat the only alternative form she could still acquire was of a limbless aquatic creature, even that in need of major repairs. No. There was only one chance left, an all or nothing gamble.
She cracked open the steel cone in the center of the room to reveal the chamber command console and with a grunt plugged the interface links into her eye sockets. At once her in-tournament integrated visual sense-set collapsed.
She could no longer experience the game environment like the other players; conventional sight was out for the rest of the tournament. But games exist on more than one cognitive level and she was searching for a latent equipment cache or, better still, a local sector dashboard that would give her control over the whole sector.
A landscape of colored stacks and geometric forms opened out before her, leaving physical traces in her mind. She switched awareness from one to the other, attempting to intuit the patterns she knew must be there.
Distant popping echoes and a trace-odor of burning concrete warned her the Vellu-Beetles were almost through. Then it bloomed before her, beautiful, complex and intricately linked. Reaching into the array she modified the shapes, accentuating the core pattern. A shiver of excitement passed through her, the gamble had paid off better than she could have hoped. She'd found the god-console!
The entire tournament world emerged before her and she enveloped it, becoming one with the system. A single figurative blink sent the Vellu-Beetles packing. Then it was the turn of the other players:
Voices crackled over the message channel:
