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.”