“Okay. So what’s it about?”
“How’s your physics?”
“Try me.”
“It has something to do with using the collider to make small black holes.”
“Black holes?”
“Small ones. Micros. Apparently they’ve been doing it all along. For years, according to Gaspard. Blueprint will be an extension of the effort. But he says there’s no danger to the facility. The holes dissipate quickly. Almost right away. I think he said within microseconds.”
“Why are they doing it? What’s the point?”
“It helps them figure out the parameters of the other dimensions. He said there are eight or nine of them. Other dimensions.”
“Nine,” she said.
“The point is that they’re trying to push back past the Big Bang. To find out how it happened. What’s on the other side. And how we arrived at the settings for our universe.”
“That’s why they call it Blueprint.”
“I guess. I’m not sure what it means.”
“But they haven’t started it yet?”
“Not Blueprint, no.”
“When are they going to begin?”
“Gaspard didn’t know. He’s not sure they’ve set a date yet.”
“Okay, thanks, Eric. I’ll take it from here.”
GASPARD WAS IN New York. She jotted down his code and asked George to connect with him.
He was a physicist acting as liaison between Manhattan Labs and a consortium based in Marseilles. She was surprised by his appearance. He looked not much older than a high school kid. He had a bright smile and a lot of energy. Cinnamon-colored hair, matching eyes, and a long nose. She immediately thought of a young Sherlock Holmes. But he dispelled that quickly with a decided French accent. “Yes,” he said, after she’d introduced herself, “I spoke with your Mr. Samuels.”
“We’re fascinated by what you’re doing, Professor.” It seemed an odd title for one so young. “Do you really expect to be able to penetrate beyond the Big Bang?”
He lit up. His favorite subject. “Yes,” he said. “There is no doubt.”
“Can you explain it to me? Tell me what you plan to do?”
It would be his pleasure, madame. He launched into a description of particles, equations, evaporating holes, collider capabilities. She tried to follow but quickly got lost. It didn’t matter. She asked innocuous questions: How long do you think it will take to get that result? How much energy is employed? And, eventually, one that intrigued her: “What kind of results do you expect? What will you find?”
“That’s impossible to answer, Madame Hutchins. We are only at the beginning of transuniversal physics. At the moment, we know almost nothing.”
She wondered why anyone would want to destroy the effort. It seemed harmless enough. “Do you foresee the possibility that we will acquire weapons capabilities from this?”
“Weapons?” He let her see the question was absurd. “I can’t imagine how. But who knows? Why do you ask?”
“Idle curiosity, Professor. I’m impressed that you can manipulate black holes. I would have thought that would entail a level of risk.”
“At no time,” he said. “It was never an issue. The black holes we have always worked with. They are quite small. Microscopic. They are by nature unstable.” He shrugged and smiled. Voilà.
“You told Eric you weren’t sure when they would run Blueprint?”
“That is correct. They haven’t set a date yet, but I suspect it’s imminent. Most of their support personnel left last week.”
“You’re not going?”
“Oh, yes. I’m leaving Tuesday. But I’ll be there purely as an observer.”
“I see.”
“If everything goes according to plan, it will be an historic occasion.”
“That makes it sound as if they’re going to be working with a more massive hole.”
“Ah,” he said, “holes do not have mass. But for practical purposes, that’s true. We need more energy than we’ve been able to produce previously. Blueprint will be bigger than anything we’ve done before. That is the advantage of having the hypercollider. And this is only the beginning. We are entering a whole new era, madame. I would very much like to be here when the project is finished.”
“You’re referring to the construction of Origins.”
“Yes. When it is finally done, I think everything will lie open to us.”
“Is the larger hole safe?”
“Oh, yes. There’s no question about that. We wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t safe.”
“It’ll dissipate on its own.”
“Absolutely.”
“You look doubtful, Professor.” Actually, he looked supremely confident.
Gaspard waggled his head back and forth. Grinned. “Well, of course, when you’re dealing with a completely new area of research, you can never be one hundred percent certain. Of anything.”
“What could go wrong?”
“Nothing, really.”
She smiled at him. Come on, Gaspard, we’re all friends here. “Worst-case scenario.”
He considered it. “There’s a remote chance, extremely remote, the experiment could cause a tear.”
“In —?”
“The time-space fabric. But the chance of that happening is so slight that it is essentially zero.”
“If that did occur, Professor, a tear in the time-space fabric, what would be the result?”
He looked uncomfortable. Tried to wave it away. “It would disrupt things.”
“What things?”
“Pretty much everything.”
“Are we talking about losing the facility?”
“Well, yes. Along with — ”
“Everything else.”
“Yes. But it’s not going to happen.”
“It would proceed how? Instantaneous lights out for all of us?”
“Oh, no. It would be limited to cee.”
“Light speed.”
“Yes.”
“We’re talking about the possibility of destroying, what, the entire cosmos?”
“I keep trying to explain, that is not really a consideration — ”
“Maybe it should be.”
THE TRUTH WAS, Hutch didn’t want to believe Amy’s experience had actually happened. Not only because the prospect of a shoot-out with a species that appeared to have advanced technology was not a happy thought, but also because the whole idea of an apparition in a lonely museum just begged to be written off as someone’s imagination.
She had to decide whether she believed the story or not. If she did, she was going to need the commissioner’s support. There could be no cautious statements with him, no observation that we have reason to believe. Either it was so, or it wasn’t.
She found him in a downtown restaurant. He had company and wasn’t happy about being disturbed. “Yes, Hutch,” he said wearily. “What is it?” She could hear the murmur of conversation in the background and the occasional clink of dishes or silverware.
“Sorry to bother you, Michael. I thought you should know what’s happening.” They were audio only, but there was no mistaking the resignation in his voice. “There was a direct encounter, a conversation, with the moonriders.”
“We talked to them?” His voice became simultaneously hushed and high-pitched. “Wait a minute.” She heard his chair scrape the floor. He assured someone he’d be right back. Then: “We talked to them by radio? Are you sure?”
“Not radio. At the museum.”
“They stopped by the museum?”
“Yes. In a manner of speaking.”
“Hutch, what are you talking about?”
She described the incident, holding back only that the moonrider had resembled her. “If she’s right, they’re all in danger out there.”
“Amy?” He sounded despondent.
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s just great. Does the senator know?”
“I don’t think so.”
<
br /> “I’ll have to tell him.” He sounded like a man in pain. “Why on Earth are they doing these things?”
She hated to mention her suspicions about Blueprint. He’d want to dismiss it. And might use it to dismiss everything. But it would come out eventually. So she told him everything. To her surprise, he listened quietly. When she had finished, she could hear him breathing. Then: “God help us. You really think there’s something to it?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Let me talk to Taylor. Then — ”
“Michael, don’t say anything to him until tomorrow. Give me a chance to get back to Amy. Warn her, so she can tell him herself.”
“You say they’re going to run this Blueprint soon?”
“It sounds as if they’ll do it within a week or two.”
These things don’t happen. “It’s a kid with an overactive imagination,” he said. “It has to be.”
“She told the others about Blueprint right after it happened. It’s too much of a coincidence, Michael. How much clout do we have with the Europeans?”
“Not much. Look, even if I pass this along, I can’t swear to it. Nobody’s going to believe it.” He was talking to himself under his breath. “Okay. I’ll head home. Keep a channel open. We’ll talk to Allard from there.”
We?
SHE ALERTED AMY, who got annoyed. “I wish he wouldn’t involve my father.”
“We don’t really have a choice.”
She was silent for a time. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”
“Something else you should be aware of. We’ll try to keep your name out of it, but I doubt we’ll be able to. You’ll probably have to deal with the media again. This time they might be a bit more aggressive.”
ASQUITH WAS IN a dinner jacket when he appeared in Hutch’s home office. He was also in a foul mood. Maybe it didn’t help that it was raining, and he looked wet. “Why didn’t you tell me about this when it first happened?” he demanded.
“I didn’t think there was anything to the story. That’s beside the point now. We need to call the Europeans. Warn them.”
He dropped into a chair, looked away, played with his cuffs. “How?” he said. “How do I tell them to evacuate two hundred people, but the only evidence we have is a kid’s dream? How are we going to look?”
“You’ll also want to tell them to cancel Blueprint.”
“Hutch, this is crazy. My career is on the line here. So is yours.”
“There’s a lot more on the line than our careers, Michael.”
“That’s easy to say. You know, this probably is nothing more than the kid’s imagination.”
Hutch was tired. It had been a horribly long day. “Let’s grant that. So we give them a warning, nothing happens, and you and I look dumb. But suppose it’s the other way round and we sit on this and two hundred people die?”
“I know. It’s not an easy call.”
Don’t say what you’re thinking, Babe. “We have no choice, Michael. If you want, you can disappear, and I’ll make the call. If it goes wrong, you can deny all knowledge.”
“No.” He climbed gallantly out of his chair. Squared his shoulders. “It’s my job.” It was right out of a vid. You go ahead, get clear, I’ll take the heat on this one. He told the AI to get Dr. Allard. Then he turned back to Hutch. “Make yourself comfortable. This might take a while.”
It took only seconds. Allard’s official title was Director of the European Deep Space Commission. Hutch had met him at a formal dinner several years earlier, but had never really had a chance to talk with him. It was four or five A.M. in Paris, but he nevertheless seemed to be in his office. “Hello, Michael,” he said cheerfully. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Hutch was safely out of Allard’s view, apparently there for the sole purpose of lending moral support.
Asquith led off by describing the Salvator’s visit to the Origins Project. Marvelous concept, and all that. Very good.
“Thank you.” A modest bow. “But I know you didn’t call me at this hour to extol the virtues of the initiative.” Allard was in his sixties, with sharp features softened by a sense of absolute calm. This was not a guy who got excited. He had intelligent eyes, a wide brow, a goatee. “Isn’t the Salvator the same ship that performed the rescue at the Galactic?”
The commissioner nodded, yes, and took his opening. “Hans, your organization is involved with a project called Blueprint.”
“That is so. We’ll be running it in a few days.”
“We had a curious experience while our people were at the Surveyor museum. We think we may have made contact with aliens.”
Allard’s eyes widened slightly. “Aliens?”
“Yes. We’re pretty sure.”
Hutch shook her head no. You have to be absolute about this. It happened. We don’t think it did. But he waved her off.
“If I may ask, in what way was this contact made?”
“The details aren’t important, Hans — ”
“The details aren’t important? How can you say that, Michael?”
Asquith pressed ahead. “The aliens are concerned about Blueprint. They’ve indicated they are going to destroy Origins.”
“My God, Michael. That’s the wildest story I’ve ever heard.”
“Nevertheless, it’s so.” He kept his voice firm, and she was proud of him.
“How did it happen?”
“It happened at the museum…” He described the visitation. Mentioned the warning that moonriders were in the area. That they’d specifically mentioned Blueprint. That Amy’d had no idea what Blueprint was.
Allard resisted for a while. Rolled his eyes. Clamped jaw muscles. “When?” he said. “When are they going to do this?”
The two men stared at each other. “We don’t know when. But it seems logical they will not permit you to initiate the experiment.”
“So they are going to destroy the project within the next week or so.”
“Yes.”
“What did these aliens look like? Did they have faces?”
“There was only one of them. She looked like a young woman.”
“And this young woman said they are going to destroy Origins? No question about it?”
“Yes.”
“I take it no one else witnessed any of this?”
“No.”
“Is there any independent evidence it happened?”
“None other than what I’ve mentioned.”
“Michael, you’re aware Blueprint is not exactly a secret. It’s been in the media. This person might easily have seen it and forgotten about it. And you’ve nothing else?”
“Not at the moment, no.”
“Very good. Thank you for warning me. I shall certainly take it under advisement.”
When he was gone, Asquith sat looking dejected. “I told you.”
“Maybe,” said Hutch, “we can get him the evidence he wants.”
“You’re suggesting we send a ship out there ourselves to, what, look for rocks?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what we need to do.”
“Hutch, I really hate all this.”
“Doesn’t matter. We can’t just stand by and hope we’ve misread things.”
“Do we have a ship?”
“Not really. The Salvator is scheduled for the Moscow Affiliates Group.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. What the hell. “Cancel them.”
“This’ll be the second time, Michael. They won’t be happy.”
“Then don’t. Let it go.”
“I’ll make the calls.”
“Do it. And, Hutch? Let’s try to keep a lid on this, okay?”
SHE CALLED VALYA at home and explained.
“You need a volunteer?”
“Yes. You’re the obvious person for the assignment.”
“You want me to go to Origins and do a sweep and make sure there are no incoming.”
“Yes.”
She was in a blue robe, sipping a drink. “Okay.”
“No. I’ll do it. It’s just that it seems like a waste of effort.”
“You don’t believe Amy’s story?”
She was seated behind a coffee table, on which a book lay open. “No,” she said. “Not really. I think she got hysterical. But what do I know? I wasn’t there. I’m pretty sure Eric believes her.”
“What about Mac?”
“Mac didn’t want to talk about it. I think he was afraid of hurting the kid’s feelings. Which tells me the answer to your question.” She put the glass down and leaned back. “When do I leave?”
“Can you be ready to go by Thursday?”
“You’re giving me a day off?”
“Maintenance needs time with the ship.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“One other thing, Valya. I’m trying to raid Union’s supply of air tanks. I’m going to put as many of them on board as I can get my hands on.”
“Why?”
“Worst-case scenario. In case there’s a rock inbound, and it’s too close to mount a rescue. You won’t have enough to save everybody, but you’ll be able to get a few.”
“Hutch, aren’t you overreacting a little bit?”
“Sure. And I won’t mind listening to the jokes if they’re not needed.”
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
The Blueprint experiment holds out hope that we may for the first time be able to start piecing together the events that led to the Big Bang. Until the construction of the Origins Project, scientists had been unable to accelerate sufficiently massive particles to achieve the desired results. Now, however, we can create black holes of an adequate size to produce, as they dissipate, sufficient levels of energy to reveal the character of the dimensions that our senses do not perceive, but which account for quantum action. In plain English, we may finally break through the ultimate singularity and discover how it all happened.
— Tuesday, May 5
VATICAN ISSUES STATEMENT REAFFIRMING
REALITY OF HELL
Pope: “Forewarned Is Forearmed”
— Los Angeles Times, May 5
chapter 34
People tend to think well of their fellow humans. We see them as, for the most part, generous, noble, brave. We admire their tenacity in desperate times, their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the common good, their kindness to those in need. These perceptions generally result from another human trait: our failure to pay attention.
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