The 6th Extinction
Page 42
Hacking the Brain
In my novel, Cutter Elwes has discovered a novel way of altering human intelligence to his own end. Is that possible? If anything, it’s likely conservative. The computer hackers of the eighties and nineties are becoming the biohackers of the new millennia. Even now researchers are studying viruses and bacteria that use chemical signals to control emotions and human thought. With the exponential rate of our ability to manipulate DNA—faster, cheaper, and with more control—anything will soon be possible.
DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office
DARPA has already been working at the cutting edges of robotics, prosthetics, and artificial intelligence. But in 2014, this new office was specifically born to go all in on biotechnology, to “explore the increasingly dynamic intersection of biology and the physical sciences.” Stay tuned!
In this novel, different researchers espoused various pathways around or through this sixth extinction. I’ve attended debates, read extensively, and pored through articles on the multiple sides of this complicated issue, but I thought I’d talk a little about the origin of some of these
Scientific Philosophies
Conservation/Preservation
This encompasses those environmentalists who seek to save species or bolster environments to support the endangered. This camp also includes those who seek to revive the extinct. In some circles, this is viewed as “old-school environmentalism.”
Synthetic Biologists
Right or wrong, this is where the young, excited scientists seek to use genetic manipulation and the creation of synthetic life to reengineer the world. While there certainly is a measure of hubris and danger down this path, it also shows great promise.
New Ecologists
I came upon a fascinating interview of ecologist Craig Thomas in New Scientist, where he espouses a new philosophical way of looking at extinction: basically as an opportunity. That a great extinction could lead to new and exciting life-forms, new pathways for evolution, even creating a New Eden. It’s a fascinating alternate way of looking at this Sixth Extinction.
Dark Mountain
It would be hard to do this movement justice in a small paragraph. So I encourage you to check out their website (http://dark-mountain.net), where you can read Uncivilisation: The Dark Mountain Manifesto by Dougald Hine and Paul Kingsnorth. Again it’s a radical new way of viewing this great Sixth Extinction.
In the character of Cutter Elwes, I tried to create a person who espoused a bastardized version of the last three philosophies, while pitting him against Kendall Hess, who advocates for the first two. And in fact that very philosophical war is being waged in the scientific community right now.
And it wouldn’t be a Sigma novel without a little (or a lot) of
History
Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle
Charles Darwin did visit the Fuegian natives in the Tierra del Fuego region of South America. The people were skilled sailors, and it’s not beyond the realm of possibilities that they had crude maps of their voyages in their possession. One other true detail is that Darwin did in fact not publish his famous treatise until twenty years after that fateful voyage. Which begs the historical question: Why?
Maps, Maps, and More Maps
Within these pages, you’ll find examples of ancient maps that depict what seemingly appears to be the continent of Antarctica—but without ice. While these are real maps, centuries old, the debates about them continue today. But what we do know is that ancient people have been navigating the world’s oceans for much longer than originally suspected. The nautical timeline for humankind keeps getting pushed farther and farther back into history. And with the destruction of the famous Library of Alexandria—that vast storehouse for all ancient knowledge—who knows what great truths vanished in those flames?
Germans in Antarctica
All of the historical details about the Nazi exploration and interest in Antarctica is based on facts, including the cryptic statements by Admiral Karl Dönitz during the Nuremberg trials and his oddly light prison sentence.
Americans in Antarctica
Operation Highjump, led by Admiral Byrd, was a real operation involving over 5,000 men. Yet it still remains shrouded in mystery. Byrd’s snow cruiser is also an actual vehicle and was shipped to that continent, only to eventually vanish into history (or under the ice). And yes, the U.S. government did test atomic bombs down there.
British in Antarctica
The British Antarctic Survey has been going strong down on the southernmost continent almost longer than any other country, changing its name in the process as described in this book. And the Haley VI station is an active British research post (unless it slid into the sea like it did in the pages of this book). It does indeed look like a centipede wearing giant skis.
Most of the “tech” of this book was already covered in the Science section, but there are a couple of additional gadgets worth mentioning.
Technology
Captive Air Amphibious Transport (CAAT)
While these vehicles are still in the prototype stage, they have built scaled-down versions of this vehicle that are fully operational. In fact, I chose to base the smaller CAATs featured in this book upon those prototypes (and I had to greatly refrain myself from not calling those mini-CAATs . . . “Kittens”).
Sonic Weapons
Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) are employed across the world by police and military forces and operate basically as described in the book.
The more portable directed stick radiators (DSRs) are a patented design by American Technology Corporation. As far as I know they’re not being actively produced, but they function pretty much as described in the story, including the ability to broadcast speech or to be used as a directional microphone for eavesdropping.
So if you’re going into a dark cavern under Antarctica you might want to buy stock in that company.
Just a couple of words about
Locations
Tepui
These strange otherworldly plateaus stretch through Guyana, Venezuela, and Brazil. Many have never been walked by man, and the strange, isolated ecosystems up there are pristine and untouched. The mythologies described in this book are also accurate, as are those strange sinkholes, caverns, and tunnels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set his novel The Lost World atop one of these tepui, so I figured surely that’s where Cutter Elwes would set up shop, far from prying eyes.
Mountain Warfare Training Center
I was able to visit this facility outside Bridgeport, California, and while most of the details are accurate, I did take a few liberties on minor issues (sorry, guys, I owe you some ribs from Bodie Mike’s Barbecue). But the base does indeed have a V/STOL airfield used for training, including working with the tiltrotor Ospreys. And the “Son of Osprey,” the Bell V-280 Valor featured in this book, is currently in development.
Mono Lake and Ghost Towns
Likewise, I visited Mono Lake several times and I hope I did the place and its people justice. Also if you’re ever up there, do check out the local ghost towns. Just watch out for helicopters full of commandos.
ONE LAST HISTORICAL NOTE
I hope you enjoyed this book. It’s the tenth novel in the Sigma series, debuting on the tenth anniversary of the first (Sandstorm, 2004). Knowing that milestone was upon us, I thought I’d use this opportunity to tease a bit to the past. Like seeing the return of Ashley Carter and Ben Brust, those stalwart Antarctic explorers, who along with Jason, found themselves in much trouble in my very first novel, Subterranean. Additionally, in this new book, I also wanted to acknowledge what’s to come, with some big changes hinted at in these same pages—because Sigma’s greatest and boldest adventures are still on the horizon.
So I hope to see you out there!
Jim Rollins
PS: Bring sunscreen (and extra ammunition).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JAMES ROLLINS is the New York Times bestselling author of international th
rillers that have been translated into more than forty languages. In each novel, acclaimed for its originality, Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs, and historical secrets— and he does it all at breakneck speed and with stunning insight. He lives in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
www.jamesrollins.com
www.facebook.com/sigmaforce
@jamesrollins
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ALSO BY JAMES ROLLINS
The Eye of God
Bloodline
The Devil Colony
Altar of Eden
The Doomsday Key
The Last Oracle
The Judas Strain
Black Order
Map of Bones
Sandstorm
Ice Hunt
Amazonia
Deep Fathom
Excavation
Subterranean
ALSO BY JAMES ROLLINS AND REBECCA CANTRELL
The Blood Gospel
Innocent Blood
ALSO BY JAMES ROLLINS AND GRANT BLACKWOOD
The Kill Switch
CREDITS
Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover photograph © by Digital Globe/Getty Images
Author Photograph by David Sylvian
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE 6TH EXTINCTION. Copyright © 2014 by James Czajkowski. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Map of Antarctica provided and drawn by Steve Prey. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Steve Prey.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rollins, James, 1961–
The 6th Extinction : a Sigma Force novel / James Rollins.—First edition.
pages cm
1. Special operations (Military science)—Fiction. 2. Suspense fiction. I. Title. II. Title: Sixth edition.
PS3568.O5398A614 2014
813'.54—dc23 2014022286
ISBN 978-0-06-178481-1 (hardcover)
EPUB Edition August 2014 ISBN 9780062194923
14 15 16 17 18 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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