Quantum Times

by Bill Diffenderffer

  The Captain regarded Erickson to make sure he understood what he was saying. Erickson’s ability to inflame the passions and ambitions of these terrorists while still chameleon-like operating secretly in plain sight was important to the plan. He was the best of Ragnar’s team of what he called his ‘rabble rousers.’ The others had not yet accomplished anything as dramatic as blowing up the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

  On other worlds, Erickson had proven himself to be very capable, but he worked best when he saw the bigger picture. The Captain was satisfied that Erickson understood, so he went on, “So everyone will be on edge. They will be wary and afraid. We will push them harder. We are also working to take advantage of the historical enmity between China and Japan. Our role there must be more subtle and less apparent – but I have a plan for there too. And India and Pakistan hate each other and both have nuclear weapons. We will spread terrorist actions of increasing magnitude across the globe. Then one of these superpowers will do something stupid. They will attack someone else. This Earth is made of gunpowder. Our reclamation teams will soon be at work here. The spoils of war will be ours without us ever actually firing a single weapon.”

  “As I said, a brilliant plan!” exclaimed Erickson, proud to be voyaging with such a Captain.

  When Erickson left, the Captain watched him go with satisfaction. Erickson was doing what needed to be done, confident that he was in on the plan. The Captain smiled to himself as he thought about how the plan was evolving. Already his financial team had started to take advantage of the capital markets. With the gold they had created through mentalization they had made major investments in the world’s stock markets. As they had anticipated, the destruction of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv had sent the market into a temporary fall. They had bet on the fall and the climb back and now had earned over a hundred million dollars. The capital markets had not yet figured out that when one can change the state of molecules with mentalization, that gold would lose all its value. It was the alchemists dream through the ages – turning ordinary metals into gold and silver. His financial team could literally mint money. But his gold needed to be invested quickly.

  He knew what he wanted to buy. Throughout time and dimensions the best commodity to own was land. And the best time to acquire it was when times were uncertain and economies in depression. He knew now what land he wanted. He had gotten the idea from following the actions of Plato and his crew on Planck’s island. He too wanted an island. But the one he wanted was much more spectacular than the little piece of sand that Planck had.

  He marveled at how different each Earth could be. Where on others he could see no chance to get what he most wanted, here it seemed possible. His destiny had been to travel through light-years and dimensions seeking out the perfect world for him. In this he was just like his Viking ancestors. In their wooden boats they had sailed all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and taken what they wanted through force. They had set his world’s culture – provided the model.

  His task was much the same. They had done it, so could he. All he had to do was to destroy the economic and political integrity of one country. And he believed that country, the United States, could easily break into multiple pieces, the sum of which would be much weaker than the whole of it together.

  The country had never even formed in many Earths; its political unity was too unlikely. And better yet, by disintegrating this one country, the world itself would go into an economic tailspin – perfect for his plan to work. His plan was bold, yes, but not too ambitious he thought. This world was so fragile. Just a few hammer blows at the right points and everything would shatter.

  Then he would grab what he wanted and it wasn’t so much; he just wanted to rule over one of the islands in what was called Hawaii. He thought Kauai would be perfect. It was beautiful with a limited population and could be self-sustaining during the economic shambles that would result. And it was far away from everywhere else. Perfect.

  He had already had one of his lieutenants start buying up property on Kauai. He now owned already a huge beachside estate. Soon more and more of the island of Kauai would be his. Then in the chaos that would come he would split it away from its political ties with the United States.

  He wouldn’t really call himself the King, he thought. That was too blatant and attention getting. But with him and his crew, their technological superiority and their full understanding of how to take advantage of Participatory Physics, they would be able to claim and defend the island. He was delighted with his vision. It was for lesser men to find opportunity in chaos. It was the great man who would first create the chaos from which he would snatch all the opportunities.

  Hank Scarpetti and General Greene walked up the steps into the lobby of Planck’s retreat on Pirate’s Cay. Greene had tried to get Plato to come to Washington to meet with them but Plato had said he would only meet them there on the island. Plato did not say so but Greene and Scarpetti both thought that Plato felt more secure on the island. They didn’t argue the point.

  Plato met them in the lobby and they exchanged greetings as if nothing was particularly new or different since the last time they had met. Plato then directed them to a conference room where the three of them could meet privately. The charade of normalcy ended as soon as they took seats at the conference table.

  “I am sorry about the loss of life at the embassy in Tel Aviv,” Plato began.

  Scarpetti regarded him with a grim resoluteness. “Almost a thousand people died there. And two of our embassies were attacked in Africa soon afterwards. But we think those were just spontaneous – no direct connection to Tel Aviv. The whole region is stirred up.”

  General Greene focused on Plato, “You know me well enough now to expect directness. So I have to ask, what do you know about Tel Aviv and the over-all situation? You had predicted that bad things were coming. Did you know about this specifically?”

  Plato’s look was as grim as that of the two men before him. “No, I did not know specifically what was going to happen. And I will tell you what you did not ask. Neither I nor anyone from The Bucephalus had anything to do with these terrorist activities. I believe the Captain of The Freya is responsible. I have seen how he and his people have operated on other worlds.”

  Scarpetti interrupted, “So you are saying that The Freya destroyed our embassy?”

  “No I do not believe that. What I believe is that they furnished the weapon; that is not the same as saying that they fired it.”

  “So who fired it?” Greene asked.

  “A Palestinian who goes by the name of Khalil Mohammed Azzis.”

  Scarpetti and Greene exchanged surprised looks. Neither had expected such a specific answer. “If you weren’t involved, how do you know that?” Scarpetti asked.

  Plato regarded them silently as he considered how much he should say. He had been considering multiple approaches but now opted for the most direct and complete.

  “We have the capability to monitor with extreme exactitude all that occurs on this planet. What you can do with your AWACS, we can do on a much broader and more precise basis. When we saw the explosion of the embassy, we backtracked our data file and saw where the missile was fired from – a hotel room a couple of blocks away. We saw someone going into the building carrying what looked like it could be the weapon and then saw him leave immediately afterwards without what he had carried in. We then used facial recognition software against files that we have. As I said, a Palestinian named Khalil Azzis.”

  Scarpetti and Greene exchanged surprised looks again, but this time their looks contained shock and a bit of awe. They had never imagined the degree of global surveillance that Plato’s words suggested. Scarpetti asked, “You have the whole world covered under your … your …cameras?”

  Almost simultaneously with Scarpetti, General Greene asked, “Can we have access to all that?”

  Plato did not respond to Scarpetti’s question but to Greene he agreed, “To all that is relevant, yes.”

  “W
hat was the weapon?” Greene wanted to know. “It didn’t originate here, did it?”

  “No, the technology is more advanced. But not by very much. You will develop something similar within twenty years.”

  “Could you have developed such a weapon if you had wanted?” Greene wanted to know.

  Plato’s smile was soft and fleeting, “From a technological standpoint, my Earth – and the technology just aboard the Bucephalus – is more than two hundred years ahead of yours at your present pace of development.”

  General Greene and Scarpetti looked over at each other; they shared the same blank look. Until that moment they had not clearly appreciated the vast gulf of knowledge that separated them from Plato.

  General Greene’s mind was spinning with the ramifications of what Plato was revealing, but he knew he needed to get answers to critical questions. “And what about the level of technology of The Freya? And The Lucky Dragon?”

  “It is not as simple as putting a date on it. Technology develops unevenly. The Freya’s war technology is perhaps thirty years ahead of yours but your engineering capability may be the same as theirs. However, they learned about the New Physics – Participatory Physics -- over thirty years ago. So they are ahead of you on that. And they have been crossing dimensions to other Earths for at least twenty years that I know of.”

  “And The Lucky Dragon?” Greene asked.

  “More advanced than The Freya, but not by much. Their culture is less aggressive in the short run – though quite aggressive over time. Their goal is to empire build not plunder. Their danger to you will be in how they work with the Japan of this Earth. You can be sure Japan here will become more powerful.”

  “Are there Earths out there more advanced than yours?” Scarpetti asked.

  Plato nodded, “Yes…a few.”

  “Will they come here too? Will they be dangerous?”

  “I cannot say – I don’t know. What I do know is that the more advanced the culture, the safer the universe becomes – once the culture survives the stage you are just beginning.”

  “And what stage is that?” Scarpetti asked.

  “The stage where you first develop the technology to destroy yourself.”

  It was then that General Greene thought he understood the answer to the question that had been troubling him. “That’s why you are here, isn’t it? You’re here to help us get past this stage. You are a missionary.”

  Plato nodded, “Not a term I would use. And no I do not regard you as ignorant savages in need of salvation.”

  “And what about The Freya?”

  “Perhaps they are the savages,” Plato responded.

  General Greene considered what he was hearing, then said, “I’m guessing that you and The Bucephalus could destroy The Freya, if you wanted to. Your technology is way ahead of theirs. I do believe you want to help us. And I believe The Freya is a profound threat to us. So can you protect us from them? Can you destroy The Freya?”

  “No General, that we will not do. The laws of my Earth are very pacifist. Our leaders do not like the idea of interfering with other Earths. My actions and those of my crew are scrutinized to ensure we do not actively engage unless directly provoked. Perhaps we might do something if The Freya were to attack you directly, but they will not. They are like Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello. They will stir up trouble but not take direct action. The troubled environment was here before they arrived. They had nothing to do with the exchange of nuclear weapons in Korea. The hatred in the Middle East is not their doing. The Freya is a scavenger, that is all.”

  Scarpetti wasn’t sure what he should believe, if anything. But he hoped Plato was telling the truth. “So have you done this before? Do you have a playbook for this?”

  “There are things we can do. But under the new circumstances, I’m afraid we will need to employ a more aggressive approach.”

  “That doesn’t sound good somehow,” said Scarpetti.

  To their surprise a few minutes later Scarpetti and General Greene were joined in the room by David Randall and Gabriela, by Dr. Wheeling and by Planck. Hank Scarpetti was introduced to Gabriela and Planck, whom he had not met before. Everyone sat down around the table.

  “With due respect to the others, I had thought this would be a private meeting,” Scarpetti said to Plato.

  Plato turned back to him, “The only person in this room that I don’t know that I can trust is you, Mr. Scarpetti. Your planet is at risk and there is much that has to be done to save it. And time is precious. When you and your President were first confronted with the appearance of The Bucephalus and the advent of Participatory Physics, your instinctive response was to imprison David and Dr. Wheeling. You sought to control what you didn’t understand. You and your government’s leaders fancy yourselves, to use your phrase, the ‘best and the brightest.’ In fact you are neither. Your country chooses its leaders by default, for the best and the brightest have no interest in pursuing political careers. Your country was blessed early in its history with truly exceptional leaders and except for a few rare exceptions like Lincoln and the Roosevelts, you have been squandering their political capital ever since.

  “Now Mr. Scarpetti,” Plato continued, “I am about to suggest a course of action that will profoundly change the future of this planet. It has its risks and rewards. These changes are going to occur whether you and your President…your government wants them to or not. But I assure you, these changes will not be subject to your control. Your assistance, however, could be very valuable.”

  Hank Scarpetti could not remember when anyone had dared to talk to him the way Plato just had. He wanted to attack back, every part of him wanted to threaten Plato and put him in his place. Didn’t Plato know the power he wielded as Chief of Staff to the President of the United States! And Plato had insulted the President too! He looked over at his friend and three star general to see that Greene would support him. Greene returned his glance calmly and just shook his head, no.

  Then Scarpetti remembered back to a few weeks ago sitting in his office alone and scared that the situation was becoming bigger than he was. He remembered thinking he didn’t know anyone in the government who he would trust with making decisions that would affect the future of the planet. And he had known that he wasn’t prepared for it either. His anger at Plato for telling what Scarpetti had to admit was the truth began to subside. Too much was at stake for politicians like him to be allowed ego tantrums.

  Hank Scarpetti looked back at Plato and held his hands out in surrender, “All right, I’m listening.”

  “Good,” Plato replied. Then he looked around the room at the others. “We are here together somewhat haphazardly… I went looking for Benjamin Planck because of his work on Participatory Physics. Then David you went looking for him and ultimately brought Dr. Wheeling and Gabriela with you. Each of you has important skills and connections that can be very useful in succeeding with the challenges we face.

  “This Earth now is at the beginning of what will be three separate but interrelated revolutions. The first is a scientific revolution based on the combination of Participatory Physics with its mind over matter foundation and the introduction of new advanced technologies which will be brought to this Earth from other Earths, for both good intentions and bad. The second revolution will be political based on changing bases for power through the new scientific discoveries plus the new potential Earth/other Earth alliances. For example, The Lucky Dragon will build an alliance with Japan. The third revolution will be philosophical. The people of this Earth will have to re-orient themselves to a different universe with different laws of physics and different Earths with different histories. This will cause a fundamental psychological readjustment.”

  “What a thrilling moment in time to be alive,” said Dr. Wheeling, not at all overwhelmed.

  Plato smiled at the professor, “I wish everyone could face it with the confidence that you do.”

  Hank Scarpetti did not share Wheeling’s excitement. “What you a
re saying Plato, is that we face decades of social and political turbulence while at the same time new and more dangerous technologies will be available to terrorists and rogue nations. That is a nightmare scenario that your coming here has brought to us.”

  “Yes it is a potentially nightmare scenario but it is not one that I brought to you. Participatory Physics was already discovered before I arrived – and not just by Planck here. The Chinese had also discovered its potential. So that Pandora’s Box was already opened. But even without it, the pace of technological change here was already accelerating. Technological change drives societal change; there is no holding it back. The technology your world will have 30 years from now just based on the path you are on will overwhelm your current political structure.” He looked at the faces around him and could see that though they wanted to understand, they did not.

  “Let me give you a couple of examples,” Plato said. “What happens to your economy when the average person has a lifespan of 120 years? What happens to your societal structure when the affluent can genetically improve their children – higher IQ’s, healthier bodies, but the other half of the population cannot? Similarly terrorism is steadily increasing. And the threat of nuclear destruction was here already as well and it gets worse as more countries have nuclear arsenals. The threats to this Earth are of your own making.”

  “We thought we were handling it,” Scarpetti said.

  Plato rejected that. “You were self-satisfied in your ignorance with a false sense of security.”

  David had been listening but had not understood why he was there. What role could he play, he wondered? So he thought he would ask. “Plato, I think you have a plan. What do you want from us?’

  “Yes, David, there is a plan. One should always remember that during revolutions you must gain control of the times and you must be able to influence the people to act productively not destructively. Your American Revolution is a great example of leadership producing a positive result. On the other hand, the French Revolution just a few years later led to destruction of the social order and guillotining thousands of people in the streets of Paris.”