2036 The Proof: A Thrilling Science Fiction Novel

by Speiser, Zvi

  At the funeral, Tom had met Eddie, Oleg’s brother, of whose existence he hadn’t even been aware. Eddie’s image now surfaced in front of his glazed eyes: Eddie eulogizing his brother in fluent English; the family members crying in a quiet, restrained manner; other mourners giving speeches in memory of the deceased, some of them in Russian, which most of the attendees spoke; and the dean promising scholarships for Oleg’s children. Tom, too, had spoken and promised to provide any help the family might need. Meanwhile, Eddie’s form had been in the background the entire time. Tom couldn’t break free of it. He was shaking Eddie’s hand. Glad to meet him. Eddie had said something important, something that might help him. How was Eddie connected to a shopping list, a list written in unfamiliar handwriting? What had Eddie said? What had he said that might help?

  Then it came to him. Eddie was a linguist! His work involved developing ways of communicating with foreign cultures, deciphering and understanding extraterrestrial forms of communication, including, certainly, unfamiliar forms of writing. That was it. Eddie could help. Eddie would be happy to help.

  For a moment, he considered sharing the idea with Lise, but immediately decided against it. All Lise needed to know for the time being was that she was not the only one who had discovered the structures, that others were investigating them as well, and that perhaps an explanation would soon be found. He would deal with Eddie on his own.

  Out loud, Tom said, “I think we’ve exhausted the topic for today. We have a lot of work to do investigating the direction you suggested. I suggest you start with the preparations.”

  As she was getting up, she began to gather the printed images when Tom reached out for them, as if requesting to take them. She nearly tossed them into his hands, as if she were disposing of disgusting trash she was glad to be rid of.

  Tom waited until she left the room before exiting in the direction of his car. He preferred to conduct this conversation outside the lab. The assistant located Eddie in less than a minute at his office at Loyola University.

  ***

  “Yes, of course, I’d be happy to help,” he replied with no hesitation. “What time works for you?” he asked.

  “I don’t want to inconvenience you. What if I pop over to see you now? I can be at your office in less than… an hour.” The assistant supplied the timeframe.

  “Excellent. We can talk at a nice little café not far from my office.”

  “No, I ate not that long ago, and I don’t want to waste your time. I also prefer to talk without having other people around me.”

  “No problem. I’ll be waiting for you.” Eddie signed off.

  The assistant notified Tom that it had instructed the autonomous driver to choose the quickest route, allowing him to lean back comfortably in his seat.

  His thoughts kept returning to the strange structures. Although in his youth he had enjoyed reading science fiction and had also seen quite a few movies in that genre, in his working life he preferred replicable scientific facts, rather than unsubstantiated tales of people who had seen flying saucers or aliens but for some reason could not supply any conclusive proof. For a moment, he thought the structures might serve as a good opening for a science fiction story whose next portions he couldn’t predict. He simply could not conceive of a natural process leading to such results. This implied that the phenomenon went beyond nature as it had been perceived up to this point.

  He wondered what Eddie’s reaction to the structures would be. Tom had to come up with a cover story regarding their origins. He definitely did not want to tell Eddie about the actual circumstances under which the structures had been discovered. What could he tell him? He needed the sort of cover story that would not raise any unnecessary questions. To an untrained eye, the structures didn’t look biological in nature, but they also did not resemble, to any extent, any familiar structures from everyday life. They did not even look like ancient structures. On the contrary, they were immaculate and shiny.

  Perhaps an image from Mars or Venus, which had finally been visited by a roving vehicle capable of dealing with the incredibly high temperatures and pressure. Venus actually seemed like an appropriate idea. The story of the soft landing and the roving vehicle had dominated the news for a week. The view on Venus looked like it had been taken from Dante’s vision of Hell. It could definitely work. However, since he worked for NASA, Eddie had much better access to images of the planet than Tom did. No, that wouldn’t fly. Back to square one.

  What should he tell Eddie? It would be better if the cover story was close to the truth. Perhaps he should say that after several labs had managed to produce simple geometrical structures from proteins, the researchers had decided to have some fun, and had sent him and a competing lab an image of the series of structures they had created, accompanied by a question mark. He was very interested in being the first one to respond intelligently to their prompt. Not a brilliant story, but it should do the trick.

  In any case, he was now approaching the university, and this was the best idea he had come up with. Therefore, it would have to do.

  Life with fourth-gen personal assistants and autonomous vehicles is so convenient, he thought. He didn’t even need to take part in the communication between assistants, which resulted in his assistant being loaded with instructions for reaching the nearest parking lot, and, of course, for exiting the lot and finding his way to Eddie’s office within the giant building. All of it had taken place immediately after his conversation with Eddie.

  Once he drew near the parking lot, the lot’s automated system directed his car to a free parking spot, in which the car parked itself without his intervention. The various assistants spared people so much hassle and precious time. They made everyday life infinitely easier.

  Eddie was warm and pleasant, just as Tom remembered him from the funeral. After a brief exchange about Oleg and his family, Tom gave him a short summary of the latest developments in creating a wild variety of new proteins. He added that, at the tail end of this process, a kind of jocular competition had emerged between the different labs, with each of them developing proteins possessing strange three-dimensional structures.

  Eddie listened politely; however, Tom sensed that he wasn’t buying the story. In any case, it was too late to retreat now. Staring intently at Eddie’s expression and relying on his social instincts to interpret his reaction, he slid over an image showing several clusters of structures arranged in short rows of sorts. Eddie’s eyebrow raised in wonderment and the shadow of a smile on his lips said it all. Tom didn’t need any further proof. He had come to the right place.

  Tom maintained his silence. Continuing to smile, Eddie swiveled the prints and then separated them into two piles, one containing the images portraying the collection of structures that did, indeed, look like a shopping list, and the other with the rest of the images, which he shifted aside. He slowly spread out the images in the shopping-list stack all over the desk, occasionally hesitating as well as swapping around the various images to create an order that seemed thought out, rather than random. Tom watched him, trying to discern any logic in the order of the images. Eddie appeared to have clear intentions regarding this order. He was sequencing the prints in accordance with a logic that was obvious only to him.

  Linguistics had never been Tom’s strong suit, nor his favorite topic. Was there some linguistic logic behind the arrangement of the images, or perhaps an aesthetic principle? Perhaps Eddie viewed the prints merely as images with a certain visual beauty. As he continued to speculate, he noticed that Eddie had finished arranging the images, and was examining them with a focused gaze.

  Slowly, his inquisitive, probing expression turned relaxed and satisfied, finally transforming into a kind of victorious smile. For Eddie, the collection of strange images was a coherent statement. Something was entirely obvious to him. Something that Tom had not even noticed.

  “Very interesting,” Eddie said, hi
s expression conveying achievement and gratification. “I don’t know how your colleagues created this arrangement of molecules, since I’m not a biologist, but at least one of them works with, or is interested in, some of the more basic aspects of computers.”

  “I have no idea what you mean,” Tom responded. “What kind of logic do you see in these images?”

  “I don’t want to rush. I do have a certain direction in approaching this that originates, of course, in my profession. I do see a certain order here, but let me work on it for a while. I also need to consult a certain professional expert.”

  “I don’t want to expose the images to anyone,” Tom blurted out urgently.

  “Don’t worry,” Eddie replied. “Your secret and the images won’t be exposed. I need some specific information from the field of computing. If my assessment is correct, I can provide you with an elegant solution to this series of images, or at least to some of them.”

  “When do you estimate you can complete it?”

  “Before the end of the week, so long as my current speculation is correct. All I need is confirmation of that, and some details I’m not fluent in. I’ll also need to keep just one print, if you agree.”

  Tom was surprised. He had not for a moment considered that he might have to part with one of the prints. What to do? There was no choice but to keep going.

  “Please use it as little as possible. Don’t show it to more than one person, and make sure that person is someone you trust completely.”

  The image Eddie selected, with no hesitation, was no different than the others. Tom wondered what its distinction was.

  On his way home, Tom mentally surveyed the meeting with Eddie. There was no doubt that Eddie had seen something in the prints that Tom and Lise had not. Had Professor Goldon seen something in them as well? Had Goldon and Eddie seen the same thing? This was an excellent, essential question. If they had, what had they seen in the strange series of structures in the images? He felt as if he had hit a dead end, and did not think further consideration would contribute to his understanding. He would wait for Eddie’s verdict, hoping he would come up with a compelling solution. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to disengage from the images in general, and move on to other topics. His subconscious might end up providing a solution.

  It was time to deal with bringing Kate and the girls home. The kids had already missed two days of school, and the school’s administrative office had contacted him asking about their whereabouts. He had ignored the call, not knowing how to reply. Kate probably hadn’t responded, either.

  It was true that they had access to all the material, including classroom presentations, but socializing with other students and the educational implications of this process were just as important. It was a good idea not to miss too many days of school. Even if they decided to come home, it would happen tomorrow at the earliest, resulting in three days of absence from school. The main question he had to answer was whether they were still in danger.

  The implied threat Gaya had conveyed had been enclosed in a rustling cellophane wrapping—the promise of a wage increase, the kind he had never even dreamed of. As of now, he had no conclusive proof of any connection between Goldon’s people and the lab break-in that had culminated in the murder of the security guard, other than the temporal proximity of the events. However, Goldon was tracking the developments in his lab. He had sent Gaya, and was probably complicit in the threat she had delivered. And the murder? Had Goldon sent the intruder who had copied files from Tom’s work computer and killed Oleg? Too much circumstantial evidence linked Goldon to the murder. Who knows what else he’s capable of?

  Or perhaps there was no actual connection between Goldon and the executors of the break-in and the murder, and the proximity of the events was merely a coincidence? Who knows?

  However, if he started working at BL like Goldon wanted, would that appease him and remove the threat from Tom and his family? There was still too much uncertainty to instruct his family to return home, potentially exposing them to dangers he couldn’t even conceive of. There was no other choice; he would have to wait. In the meantime, it would be a good idea to consult with Melissa.

  When contacted, her assistant replied that she was at a lecture and inquired whether the matter was urgent and she should be interrupted; otherwise, it would connect them once the lecture ended at eight p.m.

  Tom replied that he would wait for her at her home, requesting that he be allowed to do so until she returned. Once he had settled down comfortably in her apartment, he found himself debating what to tell her. Should he mention the strange structures he had seen twice now? Or the connection between Professor Goldon and Gaya?

  They had only been lovers for a year. They had happened to sit next to each other at one of the routine conferences in their field. The ice-breaker between them took place the moment the saltshaker she had asked him to pass her slipped between his fingers, straight into her soup bowl. Nothing works to create intimacy quite like uninhibited laughter.

  By the end of the meal, they were on a first-name basis, and their assistants had exchanged addresses. Only when they were the last two people left in the cafeteria did they emerge from their conversation and start laughing again.

  The connection between them was perfect. He could not remember ever having such a pleasant, fascinating conversation with anyone. Quickly, they transitioned into a secret relationship. They talked about everything, yet he still knew very little about her past. The truth was that he wasn’t really interested. He enjoyed their situation the way it was. For the first time since they had met, he wondered to what extent he could trust her.

  Despite the late hour, she was alert and energetic, and as usual, immediately discerned his distress.

  “You seem really troubled. Sit down, talk,” she half-said, half-commanded, sitting down in the armchair across from him.

  Choosing his words carefully, he updated her on everything that had happened to him since the beginning of the week. It was unbelievable how much had transpired in the two days since he’d last seen her. He told her everything, without omitting a thing, feeling that he trusted her completely. He described the strange, precise geometrical structures that had developed in the lab as a result of enzyme activation. He told her that Professor Goldon had invited him for a meeting and in fact offered him the position that Gaya, who had threatened his family, had first brought up. He revealed that Goldon had shown him the same structures, and even knew that Tom had seen them in his own lab. He described Lise’s fears and the disappearance of Kyra, who was apparently Mike’s first-ever girlfriend. He told her about Eddie, the linguist, and his mysterious smile when he saw the images of the structures. Finally, he mentioned that he had not spoken to Kate since she had left, and was debating whether to ask her to return with their daughters, as well as whether to accept Goldon’s job offer.

  Melissa didn’t say a word. She let him express himself as long as he saw fit. She didn’t ask any questions, merely encouraging him to go on, with her curious eyes. The two of them were silent for a long time.

  Chapter 25

  Melissa is a Suspect

  Chicago, Tuesday, July 22, 2036

  The monotonous ride provided by the autonomous car, along with his cumulative exhaustion, put Rick to sleep. Apparently, the assistant in the vehicle rang quite a few times before he woke up.

  Lily had grown concerned. “Melissa’s looking for you.”

  “Okay, put her through,” he said, half-asleep. “Hi, Melissa.”

  “Hi, Rick. I just got another delivery of material to be researched from Jack. What should I do with it? He already knows about my connection with Will, and might know that I met you, too. I’m really worried and scared.”

  “Let’s think about it together,” he replied. What Melissa had just told him woke him up completely. Things were growing complicated. It appeared that, just like in a gam
e of chess, he had to think several moves ahead and consider the implications before every step he took.

  “You know, Will and I have been friends for years and we’ve traded quite a few stories. Let’s meet where you and Will met on your first date. Do you remember?”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, barely suppressing her laughter.

  “Meet you there in half an hour,” he said. “And don’t forget to bring the material you received.”

  “Of course, I’ll bring everything. See you there.”

  Rick glanced at the car’s clock. He would have time to buy some refreshments and get to Will’s aunt’s house in time. It was the last place anyone listening in on their conversation would think to monitor.

  Will had told him that he had really wanted to see Melissa, but his aunt had been ill, and his mother had asked him to move in and take care of her. Melissa hadn’t hesitated at all, and agreed immediately to the oddest site for a meeting that she could imagine. In retrospect, it turned out to be an ideal location. The aunt slept through most of their meeting, and no one else bothered them. Rick asked Lily to inform Yoni to be hypervigilant about verifying whether anyone else was following Melissa, as well as to inform the aunt of their visit.

  The aunt turned out to be a handsome, modern woman. She directed them to the living room while she herself retired to the bedroom. Melissa showed Rick the material she had received from Jack.

  “We have to consider the possibility that Jack is baiting you to test your loyalty,” Rick said. “How well do you know Dr. Tom Lester?”

  Melissa’s brief hesitation registered immediately with the experienced detective. She knows something that hasn’t been brought up yet. Rick’s suspicion that Melissa was in collusion with whoever had hurt Will surged once more, and his focus on her every word and gesture increased.