“I admire your optimism, I really do.” He paused for several seconds. “But what you’re trying to do almost exactly mimics the tragic story of Adam and Eve. And I see it ending the same way.”
Kira tilted her head in confusion. “I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” she said.
“Look,” explained van Hutten. “I believe in God, but I don’t believe in organized religion. Even so, the classic story of Adam and Eve is fascinating to think about in the context of what you’re attempting. In this context, you’re Eve.”
“I’m Eve?” repeated Kira in disbelief. “Now you’ve really lost me.”
“According to the story, there were two trees in Eden that were noteworthy. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge represented omniscience. And the Tree of Life represented immortality. Many scholars think these were really two aspects of the same tree. Mankind was allowed to strive and make progress, but was forbidden from taking a one-apple leap to omniscience and immortality. You’re reaching for the same apple that Eve ate.”
Kira was intrigued despite herself. She had never thought of it in quite this way before.
“I don’t believe in the accuracy of the bible,” admitted van Hutten. “But I do believe that all efforts to reach immortality and godhood, made by Adam and Eve or by Icarus, are misguided and doomed to failure.” He adjusted his glasses and added, “The story of Adam and Eve has nothing to do with my final reasoning, by the way. I just find it fascinating.”
“It is interesting. But nothing you’ve said can possibly justify what you’re doing right now.”
“I agree. But I’m not done. Along with being disturbed by your vision of immortality and the sociopathic pull of your therapy, your superenhanced alter ego had a second, even more troubling vision. That all life should be merged into a universe-spanning intellect. Analogous to trillions of single celled organisms giving up their independence and identities to merge to form a human being. To form something far greater than themselves. Have I got that right?”
“Essentially.”
“Are you familiar with the Borg from Star Trek?”
Kira frowned. She had streamed the entire seven seasons of the Next Generation when she was a little girl, and had watched every last one. Borg was short for cyborg, half organic, half machine beings, organized into a massive collective. Far more technologically advanced than the humanity of this fictional future age, and ruthlessly dedicated to absorbing all intelligent life in the universe into itself. Their defining phrase being, resistance is futile.
Kira’s lip curled up in disgust. Her vision of immortality, in which people would become almost entirely machine—despite having neuronal circuitry that was an exact duplicate of their organic brains—combined with her vision of a collective intellect, could be construed as being Borg-like.
“I can see from the look on your face you can tell where I’m going with this,” said van Hutten.
“Yes. And I agree that the Borg were horrific. The idea of giving up your identity in this way seems horrible beyond imagining. But maybe there is a way to be part of a collective while also maintaining individuality. And the Borg were purposely portrayed badly. They were the show’s greatest villains.” She shook her head. “My vision couldn’t be more different. Unlike the Borg, I would never force this on anyone. Each individual would be free to pursue their own vision of happiness and fulfillment. No one would be coerced.”
“Really?” said van Hutten, almost in amusement. “Did you ever think you would coerce anyone to become enhanced? Like you did with me?”
Kira frowned deeply—her expression giving van Hutten his answer.
The physicist pressed forward. “What if you knew being part of this collective consciousness—on its way to godhead—was the best thing for everyone? You know, like giving penicillin to a dying primitive. Think about individual single celled organisms. Would they choose to band together to form a human? Maybe not. They might want to cling to their identities. But once human, they would understand, right? You’d be justified in forcing that understanding on them, right?”
Kira felt herself reeling, as though his words and concepts were physical blows. “You’re a brilliant debater, and you make some good points. Maybe the difference between us is that you believe in God, but don’t have faith. Not in what Icarus is trying to accomplish. I may not be sure about God, but I have faith. Faith that we’ll come to the point where we’ll know the right path. And whatever it is, even if it’s the opposite of my vision, it will be obvious at the time.”
This gave van Hutten pause. “You may be right,” he allowed. “But I have to go with my gut on this one.” He sighed. “But just for the sake of argument, let’s take away my misgivings. Let’s pretend you are right. Now imagine what would happen if you came out of the closet tomorrow. You announce everything you’ve done, everything you’re aiming for. Some will see this as a dream. Religious people will see trying to become God or usurp God as the ultimate blasphemy. Others will see what you’re doing as blasphemy of a different sort; a secular blasphemy. Tampering with the human mind. Tampering with what it means to be human. And people want their children to be like them. If a father is circumcised he wants his son to be, regardless of the religious or health issues involved.”
He paused to let Kira digest what he had said.
“So suppose you could make the increase in intelligence permanent,” he continued. “Suppose even without the negative effects on personality. Yes, people want the best for their children, but would they want children who are by every measure a different species? Children who would be to their parents what a human is to a block of wood?”
Kira stared at him intently, but chose not to respond.
“And people will see a universe-spanning intellect as too foreign,” continued van Hutten. “As a threat. They’ll do anything within their power to stop you.”
Kira drew in a deep breath. “As I’ve said, I don’t have all the answers. And the questions are mind-bogglingly complex. But does that mean we just give up? Posing these questions to me is like asking an amoeba to explain relativity. When the amoeba becomes Einstein, then this question can be answered. I’m counting on humanity to make the best decisions we can given everything we know. Hopefully a transcendent intellect will bring with it the wisdom to grapple with these issues, and make correct choices. And I continue to maintain that those who don’t want to go forward can choose to stay behind.” She shook her head in disbelief. “But I still don’t understand. You chose to torch the Icarus building and kidnap me because of wild fantasies I have about the future of humanity? Fantasies that won’t be realized until far in the future, if ever?”
“Your goals are not wild, far future fantasies,” insisted van Hutten. “And you know it. If you could attain star travel, you would double the span of human life right now. This generation could well stay alive long enough for enhanced minds to create the sort of immortality you envision. This very generation could live to see you implement your grandiose scheme, even if it takes millions of years.”
Kira remained silent. She had hoped that this argument would sway him, but she wasn’t surprised he had seen through it as easily as he had. He was absolutely right. That was one reason the stakes were as high as they were.
“But I’m not finished,” explained van Hutten. “There was something else that drove me to this point. That gave me the deciding push.” He paused, as though considering where to begin.
“Go on,” said Kira.
“Have you considered this alien object—this ship?”
“Of course,” replied Kira. Wow, she thought. This was out of left field. “What about it?” she asked warily.
“Have you considered that it might be coming this way because of you? That the enhanced minds you’ve made possible are attracting it here like moths to a flame?”
35
Kolke handed the colonel a color eight-by-ten glossy, fresh from the printer. “His
name is Anton van Hutten. He’s a physicist at Stanford.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Any military training in his background?”
Kolke laughed. “He was never even in the Boy Scouts. Chess team, debate team. Record is clean as a whistle. No traffic violations. Not even a record of old parking tickets. Single. Gives far higher than average to charity. Volunteers five hours a week teaching the illiterate to read.”
“What a monster,” said Jake, rolling his eyes. He stared at the photo in his hand. Van Hutten looked like a kindly man who might soon be a grandfather. “Well, he’s got balls, I’ll give him that. We can’t as much as scratch Icarus and he burns it to the ground. Go figure.” He dropped the photo on the desk in front of him. “So what kind of reputation does this guy have?”
“You won’t believe it,” said Kolke. “Rosenblatt’s reputation is top flight, but this guy’s is even better. I’ve only begun researching him, but the rumor is that he’ll win a Noble Prize in a few years.”
Jake grinned. This was getting more and more surreal. What would he win his Nobel for, his fine work with fire accelerants? “Nice work, Major,” he said. “We need to have a talk with this Anton van Hutten. Any idea where he might be?”
Kolke nodded, and a sly smile appeared on his face. “As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I do.”
36
Kira stared at van Hutten as if he were mad—which he probably was, despite his ability to sound rational up until this point. Of all the ideas van Hutten had just floated, the idea that the alien craft was earthbound because of her discovery was the most absurd. “What are you talking about?” she said, unable to keep the disdain out of her voice.
Van Hutten was as calm, unperturbed, and apparently rational as ever. “What if there’s a galactic civilization,” he replied, “but you have to be able to sit at the grown up table to join. Maybe these ships, or probes, or whatever they turn out to be, are all over the galaxy, cruising along at very limited speed, and monitoring the stellar neighborhood. Maybe they have an intelligence cut-off. When they detect intelligence above a certain level, they change course, pick up speed, and head for it.”
“How could they possibly detect what is going on inside my head from several light years away?”
“I assume you’re familiar with quantum entanglement. Everything in the universe is connected in some way with every other thing. Drove Einstein crazy. And quantum physics suggests that the universe is shaped by consciousness rather than the other way around. Another point that can make even the most rational physicist spiritual. The state of the universe only comes into being when it’s observed. Einstein himself tried for decades to poke holes in this interpretation of experimental data and couldn’t do it, although his efforts were brilliant and helped strengthen the field. There are those who theorize consciousness makes use of these quantum effects. So who’s to say that your intelligence enhancement doesn’t stand out like a neon sign against the quantum background of the cosmos—for those who know how to look for it?”
Kira was speechless. She had been sure he would have no answer, but she knew enough quantum theory to know that what he said was not beyond the realm of possibility. Van Hutten had been uncannily accurate over his career as a scientist, even when making predictions most thought ridiculous.
“It’s something worth considering, isn’t it?” he said knowingly. “No inhabitant of this planet has ever had an IQ above about two hundred and fifty—until you and your therapy came along to make this number look pitiful. And we’ve never had a visitation by aliens. At least not one the world can be absolutely certain of. So what are the odds of both events happening within a few years of each other? Could be a total coincidence. But maybe not.”
“And if it isn’t a coincidence?”
“Then they’ll want to meet a representative of the group responsible for the high IQ signal. And we’ll make a bad first impression. The increased bandwidth your therapy creates brings out the ugliest side of our nature. And given human nature, that’s pretty damn ugly. It’s bound to make the galactics nervous.”
“So this is what got you so spooked?”
“Yes. Added to my other misgivings, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Plus, there’s another interpretation to this.” He paused. “Are you familiar with the story of the righteous man and the flood?”
Kira tilted her head in thought. She had read voraciously on every subject under the sun, and retained most of it, even when she was normal, but this wasn’t ringing any bells. “If it isn’t about Noah, then no.”
“Not about Noah. Here’s how it goes. A righteous man who has been pious all of his life is on the roof of his house during the mother of all floods. The water just keeps rising. A motorboat drives by and stops in front of his house. “Hop in,” says the man in the boat. The righteous man shakes his head and says, ‘Don’t worry about me. God will save me.’ A few hours later, with the water now just a few feet from his level on the roof, another boat passes. ‘Quick, jump in,’ a woman on the boat says. The righteous man smiles serenely. ‘Thanks, but the Lord will save me. I’m sure of it.’ Finally the water has reached his waist and a helicopter overhead lowers a rope ladder down to him. He ignores it and says a prayer to the Lord, whom he knows will reward a true believer.” Van Hutten paused for effect. “Five minutes later he drowns.”
The physicist seemed delighted by the confused expression on Kira’s face. “So the spirit of this righteous man floats to the pearly gates,” continued van Hutten, “and he sees God. ‘Lord,’ he says. ‘I’ve been a righteous, pious man my entire life. I’m just curious as to why you didn’t save me from the flood. I thought surely you would.’” In reply, God shakes his mighty head and says, ‘Are you kidding? I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What more do you want from me?’”
Kira smiled broadly. “A great tale,” she admitted. Her expression turned thoughtful. “So you’re turning this story around one hundred and eighty degrees, aren’t you? You’re suggesting God sent this alien ship as an extension of his ill will. Just as surely as he sent your righteous man two boats as an extension of his good will.”
Van Hutten’s eyes lit up. “It really is a pleasure speaking to someone who can connect the dots as fast as you,” he said in admiration. “I can’t tell you how much I wish we weren’t at odds on this.”
“Yeah, me too,” mumbled Kira under her breath.
“You’re right, of course. This is another alternative, unlikely though it may be. There’s always the slight possibility that we’re reaching for the forbidden fruit and God wants to slap our hand. Well, maybe by stopping you and destroying your entire supply of gellcaps, I’ll deflect some of this ill will we’ve invoked.”
“So do I become an offering to God?” asked Kira. “To appease the almighty.” After she said this a smile came over her face.
“What’s amusing about that?” asked van Hutten.
“You know I’m not a virgin, right?”
Van Hutten laughed. “No, you’re not an offering. Virginal or otherwise. And just to be clear, I believe that my first theory about your IQ enhancement attracting the aliens here is more likely to be the correct one. But maybe if no one on earth enhances themselves again, the alien ship will change course. Whether it was sent by God or not.”
Kira stared at van Hutten intently. Part of her desperately wanted to write him off as a crackpot, but part of her knew his speculations could not be dismissed out of hand.
“I think the world of you,” added van Hutten. “We just have two different views of the future of humanity, and the wisdom of your ultimate vision. I’ve brought up God throughout because I find these conjectures fascinating, but I’d take the same course even if I weren’t the least bit spiritual. And none of these misgivings, by themselves, would trouble me enough to take this step. Even all of them combined were barely enough to tip the scale.” He gazed at her earnestly. “I really am sorry about this, and I wouldn’t think of ever hurting you
.”
“Just of destroying all my gellcaps and keeping me from making more.”
Van Hutten nodded. “I know there’s a good chance I’m wrong,” he admitted. “But the consequences if I’m right are too great. After we find out what the alien object is all about, this will be another data point, and I’ll have to perform another analysis.”
“And if the alien ship does veer off? Will this convince you that preventing Icarus from eating sociopathy-laced apples from the Tree of Knowledge was the right decision?”
“I don’t know. Let’s just see what happens. In the meanwhile, I’ll keep you in this cabin for a few days in as much comfort as I can while I try to figure out longer term accommodations. I know I’m the last person anyone from Icarus will suspect is involved in this. But David and Jim are very good, and I’m sure they’d find you here if we overstayed our welcome.”
“Any ideas about these longer term accommodations?”
“No good ones yet. But I’m working on it. I’ll try to find the most comfortable imprisonment possible while we wait for the alien ship to arrive.” He frowned. “I’m sure you’re uncomfortable, and I’m sorry about that. It doesn’t take much to get your friends on the core council to start talking about you. Your courage and resourcefulness are legendary, which is why that straightjacket is a precaution I felt I had to take.”
Kira sighed. “Look, Anton, you’ve made some compelling points here,” she acknowledged. “But all of it is conjecture. You of all people should know we can’t turn our backs on progress, regardless of the issues it might create. Industrialization led to a horrible air pollution problem in our major cities. But we found ways to clear up the air while keeping the rewards of industrialization. The progress of a species and a civilization aren’t linear.” She paused. “And what if you’re dead wrong. What if God not only applauds our attempts to improve ourselves, but helped me achieve my breakthrough? The fact that our brains are such that they allow for this kind of massive leap in intelligence is astonishing. The fact that I found a way to bring this out without killing myself, dodging countless landmines that I now know were there, is even more so. I see the hand of God in my therapy, not in an unknown alien object.”
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