The Null Prophecy

by Michael Guillen

  “The unexpected way things turned out with Hero is a null result,” she said, “and I get that it looks like the end of the world to you right now. But Calder, maybe, just maybe what happened can do some good—like further open our eyes to the unintended consequences of science and technology, to the dangers we’re naively creating for ourselves in the name of so-called progress. That would be a valuable thing for mankind, wouldn’t it? And I know you don’t want to hear this, but it might even cause our cynical, secular society to stop and at least wonder if perhaps the Bible might be correct about who we are and what will happen to us in the end, both scary and joyful.”

  He threw up his hands and spat out the words. “Oh, please, don’t start with that low-brow mumbo jumbo again. It’s the last thing I want to hear right now.”

  Allie fought to keep her temper. “That in a nutshell is the problem with us, Calder. What I take seriously as a well-educated scientist you consider mumbo jumbo. Believe me, I’m not out to convert you anymore. I admit I was at the start, when you first told me you didn’t believe in God. But now I’m simply explaining my worldview to you. And you keep putting it down.”

  Calder leapt to his feet and began pacing the deck again.

  She continued, “Is it really that impossible for your genius brain to allow for the possibility—even a very, very remote one—that what I’m suggesting is true?”

  “What exactly are you suggesting, Allie?” he growled. “Because that’s where I’m lost.”

  And that’s where you’re right, brother.

  She took a deep breath. “What I’m saying is Hero is just one more example of our brilliant, inventive ignorance. Proof we are manipulating laws and forces still mysterious to us, no matter what we claim. That’s why things go wrong all the time. Very wrong.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it,” Calder hissed, running his hand through his hair. “The story of my life.”

  “It’s not luck, Calder, and it’s not God. It’s us doing it to ourselves. Your well-intentioned research has cracked open a whole new Pandora’s box—one infinitely more dangerous than even nuclear weapons. The quantum vacuum is the ground state of the entire physical universe, you know that. And you’ve discovered a way to toy with it—to toy with what amounts to the foundation of everything we call reality: mass, energy, space, time.

  “It’s riskier than a child playing with a stick of dynamite. Your discovery now gives us a way to destroy the entire physical world—in the blink of an eye. Your discovery now makes possible—science makes credible—the Apocalypse prophesied in the Bible.”

  Calder stopped pacing and with both hands leaned against the railing, staring out at the water and saying nothing.

  She turned in her seat. “Are you hearing me, Calder? We didn’t set out to destroy ourselves; the fact we can now do it is a cruel and completely unexpected consequence of our best, most well-intentioned efforts to improve the world, to create a scientific utopia. But the Bible predicted it all along—that’s the point. For the first time in human history, what you call religious mumbo jumbo is a scientific reality. We literally have the ability to destroy the entire world. The null prophecy is coming true.”

  He pushed off the railing and rounded on her. “Good god, Allie, stop and listen to yourself. You’re mad! It’s ridiculous!”

  Allie looked past Calder at the sea and waited before responding. She chose her words carefully and spoke in a quiet voice. “Calder, I know it sounds crazy—and the thought of us destroying ourselves is grim and scary, for sure.” She looked at him. “But only if you believe it’s how the story ends. I don’t. To me, the Apocalypse is like the mother of all phase transitions, you know? A period of chaos that leads to a new, infinitely more hopeful chapter in human history.” She stood up, ready to leave. “I believe that, hombre, even if you don’t.”

  The research ship rumbled to a swaying stop. Instantly, Sara’s academic advisor and several other marine biologists scrambled to prepare things for Lulu’s release.

  The advisor explained to Allie that instruments and observations showed a pod of pilot whales in the vicinity. The scientists were hoping it’d become Lulu’s new family but had no way of knowing if its members would accept her.

  Sara and Calder were standing next to Lulu, both stroking her gently. Reluctant to intrude on their space—especially given her awkward estrangement from Calder now—Allie kept her distance, opting instead to stay near the bow.

  Sara began weeping and buried herself in Calder’s large embrace.

  Seeing it, Allie began twisting her hair. “Oh, sweetie,” she said under her breath, “it’s the hardest thing in life to say good-bye to someone you truly love.”

  “Okay, it’s time!” one of the biologists called out loudly.

  Sara disengaged from Calder. Then leaning into Lulu, she kissed her on the cheek. A moment later the winch came to life and began lifting the chubby little creature up and over the side.

  Sara returned to Calder’s arms.

  Allie watched with an anxious heart as Lulu was lowered into the water and released from the sling. An underwater microphone amplified the splashing sounds and broadcast them over the ship’s loudspeakers.

  A few moments hence they heard Lulu’s amplified voice calling out plaintively. According to the biologists, she was saying, “Is anyone around? Can anyone hear me?”

  The uncertain seconds that followed were agonizing for Allie and, she knew, for everyone else. She overheard Sara saying, “Please, God, please, please, please.”

  Then everyone heard it clearly. A chorus of clicks and whistles from the pod that, according to Sara’s advisor, meant: “Here we are! Come join us! Welcome to your new family!”

  “Oh, Daddy!” Sara bawled, burying herself once again in his embrace.

  Allie stared at the water and a moment later saw whales big and small, Lulu included, breaching the surface all around the ship, leaping into the air like happy children.

  “Sara, look!” Allie shouted, forgetting herself.

  Sara tore away from Calder’s embrace and, wiping away tears, stared wide-eyed at the exciting celebration. She jumped up and down like a giddy schoolgirl.

  “Sara!” Allie shouted. “It’s Lulu saying ‘Thank you! Thank you for saving me! Thank you for giving me a second chance!’”

  CHAPTER 54

  THE STUDY OF LIGHTNING

  WEDNESDAY, MAY 17 (8:59 P.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME)

  IGLESIA BUEN SAMARITANO; EAST LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

  Allie felt her left hand being patted, just as the end credits of her special began rolling on the sanctuary’s giant, rented screen. She turned and beamed at her dad, who was sitting next to her in the front row, patting his hand in return.

  The hermanos and hermanas cheered loudly—something she’d never heard them do in church. Turning to her right, she leaned over and gave her mom, who was applauding energetically, a soft kiss on the temple.

  “Muy bien, mija, muy bien,” her mother said. “I’m proud of you.”

  Allie inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled. She felt as good as her mother looked—as if they’d both been granted a fresh start in life. Or as Carlos put it, a new season.

  Her mind flashed back to the research ship in Australia, to her telling Calder she wanted things between them to cool down for a while, maybe for good. She would never forget the look of pain and confusion on his face, or her own feelings of crushing sadness at the thought of not seeing him or Sara much anymore.

  Ever?

  But she also realized that despite its seeming failure, her relationship with Calder wasn’t a total loss. For one thing, she was feeling hopeful again about her personal life—for the first time since her devastating breakup with Phil.

  Maybe lightning can strike twice.

  Her spiritual life was invigorated as well. Calder’s arrogant, aggressive, joyless atheism made her value more than ever the company of these humble, hospitable, genuinely happy Christians. And best of all,
his constant testing and trashing of her fledgling faith made it grow stronger—the way a steady wind naturally strengthened the fibrous cells of a newly planted sapling.

  When the credits were done rolling and a commercial started playing, the feed stopped and the sanctuary lights came on. Carlos got up, mounted the dais, and stood in front of the screen.

  “Wow, Allie, that was something. I think you’ve given me enough material for a month’s worth of sermons—more than that.”

  Chuckles bubbled up from the standing-room-only congregation.

  “I’m sure everyone here thanks you for all the work you put into making the special. Let’s hope you get great ratings.” He paused and grinned. “You should, because everyone I know told all their tias y tios y primos y primas to watch tonight!”

  The room resounded with laughter.

  “Anyway, I hope and pray you do more of these kinds of shows to help people wake up to what’s happening in the world—that science is a double-edged sword and the Bible is anything but obsolete.”

  A short while later everyone was out on the brightly lit parking lot eating and socializing. The church kitchen was not yet fully repaired, so the tertulia was being catered by a locally-run taco truck. Still, many of the hermanos and hermanas were pitching in to help serve the large, hungry crowd.

  The warm evening was topped by a clear, starry sky. The kids were either running around—ignoring pleas from moms to stop and have something to eat—or lined up at the raspa machine, where her dad was serving up snow cones spilling over with fresh fruit syrups.

  Allie emerged from the bathroom and ran her gaze over the celebration with feelings of enormous pleasure and nostalgia.

  Some things never change.

  The only thing missing—that would’ve made the night perfect—was Lolo. She was still recuperating in the Jerusalem hospital.

  Allie wended her way to Carlos, gladly accepting congratulations from people along the way. When she reached him, she said, “Hey, can I steal you away for a few minutes?”

  “Sure, Sis, lead the way.”

  She guided him to the far edge of the parking lot, by the old sycamore.

  “Hijo!” he said when they arrived, waving the remaining half of his street taco al Pastor at the crowd. “I’ve never seen so many people here. What a blessing. Thanks again. The show was amazing.”

  “Thanks, Carlos.” She hesitated. “You know, this night makes me realize how much I really miss all this.” She gestured toward the lively scene.

  “Yeah, it’s hard to beat, isn’t it?” he said, still eating.

  She took in a lungful of the balmy, spring air. “This place is so full of love. I’d really like to spend more time here . . .”

  Carlos brightened. “That would be awesome, Sis, really awesome.”

  “If only I could figure out how to do it. My job—I love it, but—” She gave out a little growl. “it’s so demanding.”

  He swallowed the last of his taco. “Just come as often as you can, Sis.” He pulled a white handkerchief from his back pocket. “Everyone here understands how busy you are.” He quickly wiped his mouth and fingers and stuffed the handkerchief back in its place.

  She grinned. Carrying around a white handkerchief was a custom Carlos picked up from their father.

  Her grin promptly changed to a frown. “But that’s the problem, Carlos. Sometimes I wish they weren’t so understanding. It just makes me feel more—I don’t know—guilty.”

  “Whoa, whoa! Guilty? Where’s that coming from?”

  She didn’t want to ruin the festive mood; but she needed to get certain things off her chest, which was greatly burdened with revelations from the past two weeks. “Oh, Carlos . . .”

  “Look, Sis, let me take a stab at it. You feel guilty por que—why? Because you’re super-successful and we’re not?”

  She reared. “No! God, no! I feel guilty because—”

  “Because you’re not there for us?”

  She wavered, looking down at her feet.

  “Okay, yes, yes,” she said finally, looking up. “I’m always cancelling on you guys or flying off somewhere, like with the CME. I so wanted to be here with you guys. What if—?”

  Carlos stepped backward and held up an index finger. “Allie, mira, I’m older than you, so listen up. You don’t need to earn our love, okay? Te amamos because of you, because of who you are, which is a smart, beautiful woman who’s doing God’s will. Quit and you’d be quitting more than a job or a career, you’d be quitting your calling, your purpose. You’d be quitting on God.”

  “But Carlos, you don’t know the sacrifices I’ve made.”

  “Sí, sí, I know about Phil. We all—”

  “Not just Phil, everything. I’ve sacrificed family, my personal life, todo.”

  She felt a surge of regret and shame, as she always did when thinking about Phil.

  “Allie, por favor, doing God’s will doesn’t mean being happy all the time. Look at Mother Teresa; mira a Jesús mismo. Don’t you think I don’t feel guilty about not being able to give Alicia nice things in life? I’ve sacrificed tambien because of my calling. But let me tell you something.” His eyes shimmered. “When I’m at the pulpit or counseling someone, I know I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing in life, and it makes all the sacrifices more than worth it.”

  She remained still.

  “Allie, when I see you in your element, reporting on a big story or doing a show like tonight—oh, man, Sis, you shine, girl. Brillas como una estrella. It’s beautiful to see.”

  She began tearing up.

  He took her gently by the arms. “It’s okay, Sis, just listen. Ever since we were kids I knew you were different—todos nosotros sabimos. We all knew you were going to leave us and go places, and it was sad but also exciting. That’s how we feel right now: triste pero emocionados. Excited for you and for us. Your success makes us all feel important, you know? Proud to be related to you, de ser Latinos. And besides, whenever we watch you on TV, which these days is always”—he chuckled—“we know you’re safe, y es todo que importa.”

  She was weeping now, leaning on Carlos’s broad shoulder—his arms around her.

  “You’re where you’re supposed to be, Allie, nunca lo olvides,” He gently patted her back. “The dream you had as a girl? Fue de Dios. None of the family doubts it and you shouldn’t either.”

  For the next minute Allie cried and cried some more. When she was done she straightened up and, wiping her eyes, said, “Gracias, Bro, you always did know how to speak the truth.” Then she smiled ironically. “Anyone tell you, you’d make a good pastor?”

  They hugged again in loving silence.

  “There you are!

  Allie’s teary eyes swiveled in the direction of the voice.

  “Beto!”

  He was holding a taco stuffed with the works.

  Of course.

  He stopped short and hesitated. “I’m sorry—I’m not breaking anything up, am I?”

  “No, no,” she lied, pulling away from Carlos and swiping at her eyes. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to say how much I really liked your TV special. Man, it was something really—well, special.” He chortled. “I also wanted to catch you up on that new dealership I talked to you about a couple weeks ago. I’m still hoping you’ll go in with me.”

  His sweet smile and handsome face, his indefatigable pushiness, that ridiculously overloaded taco—it all suddenly struck her as utterly charming—and irresistibly hilarious.

  She began to laugh.

  “What?” he said, looking confused. “What’s so funny?”

  His innocent reaction made her laugh even harder.

  “What?” He wiped at his face, clearly thinking that maybe there was something on it that was busting her up.

  She couldn’t control herself, but waved a dismissive hand and barely managed to say between laughs, “No, nothing, Beto, nothing. You’re fine.”

  Beto and Carlo
s glanced at each other and they began to laugh as well.

  She watched them—pictured herself with them—and her heart took flight. After two weeks of unrelenting stress and misery—oh, how good it felt to laugh like this again.

  At last she gained enough control to speak. Taking in the spirited scene out on the parking lot, she said breathlessly, “Hombre, it’s great to be home again, that’s all I have to say. ¡Se siente bien estar en casa!”

  RECOMMENDED READING

  “A Carrington-level, extreme geomagnetic storm is almost inevitable in the future.”

  Solar Storm Risk to the North American Electric Grid

  “The consequences of such an event could be very high . . . would likely include, for example, disruption of the transportation, communication, banking, and finance systems, and government services; the breakdown of the distribution of potable water owing to pump failure; and the loss of perishable foods and medications because of lack of refrigeration. The resulting loss of services for a significant period of time in even one region of the country could affect the entire nation and have international impacts as well.”

  National Academy of Sciences

  •Bamford, James. “NSA Snooping Was Only the Beginning. Meet the Spy Chief Leading Us into Cyberwar.” Wired. 2013. https://www.wired.com/2013/06/general-keith-alex-ander-cyberwar/all/.

  •Committee on the Societal and Economic Impacts of Severe Space Weather Events, National Research Council. Severe Space Weather Events: Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2008.

  •Davis, E. W., et al. “Review of Experimental Concepts for Studying the Quantum Vacuum Field.” In AIP Conference Proceedings. American Institute of Physics, 2006.

  •Haisch, Bernhard, Alfonso Rueda, and Harold Puthoff. “Inertia as a Zero-point-field Lorentz force.” Physical Review A 49 (2), 1994.