“To what denomination do you belong?”
“We’re unaffiliated. Evangelical.”
“But you are—what? Protestant? Catholic? Mormon?”
“None of the above. We’re born-again, fundamentalist Christians.”
“What does that mean?”
“That we’ve accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, and we’ve been born again through water and the spirit, the only true way to salvation. We believe every word of the Scriptures is the divine, unerring word of God.”
“So you think Protestants and Catholics aren’t real Christians and God will send them to hell—am I correct?”
Eddy felt uneasy at this detour into fundamentalist dogma. But if that’s what the smartest man in the world wanted to talk about—it was fine with Eddy.
“If they haven’t been born again—then, yes.”
“Jews? Muslims? Buddhists? Hindus? The uncertain, the seekers, the lost? All damned?”
“Yes.”
“So most people on this little mud-ball out here in the outer arm of a minor galaxy are going to hell—except for you and a select few like-minded individuals?”
“You have to understand—”
“That’s why I’m asking you these questions, Russ—to
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you know this for a fact?”
“Yes. The Scriptures repeatedly confirm it. ‘
Hazelius turned to the group. “Ladies and gentlemen: I give you an insect—no, a
Eddy’s face flushed. His brain boiled with the effort to come up with a reply.
The ugly man named Ford spoke to Hazelius. “Gregory, please, don’t ask for trouble.”
“I’m merely asking questions, Wyman.”
“What you’re doing is creating a problem.” The man turned again to the security officer. “Mr. Wardlaw? Once again I will ask you to escort Mr. Eddy from the premises.”
The security officer said evenly, “Dr. Hazelius is in charge and I take my orders from him.” He turned. “Sir?”
Hazelius did not speak.
Eddy wasn’t finished with the speech he had prepared in his head on the drive up. He had mastered his anger, and he spoke with cold, cold certainty, facing those blue eyes squarely. “You think you’re the smartest man in the world. But how smart are you, really? You’re so smart, you think the world started in some accidental explosion, a Big Bang, and all the atoms just happened to come together to create life, with no help from God. How smart is that? I’ll tell you how smart it is: it’s so smart, it’ll send you to straight to hell. You’re part of the War on Faith, you and your godless theories. You people want to abandon the Christian nation built up by our Founding Fathers and turn the country into a temple to feel-good secular humanism, where anything goes—homosexuality, abortion, drugs, premarital sex, pornography. But now you’re reaping what you’ve sown. Already there’s been a suicide. That’s where blasphemy and hatred of God lead you.
Eddy halted, breathing hard. The scientist gazed at him strangely, his eyes glittering like a pair of frozen steel bearings.
In a curiously strangled voice, Hazelius said, “It’s now time for you to leave.”
Eddy didn’t answer. The beefy security guard stepped forward. “Come this way, pal.”
“That’s not necessary, Tony. Russ here has recited his little speech. He knows it’s time to go.”
The security guard took another step toward him anyway.
“Don’t worry about me,” Eddy said hastily. “I can’t wait to get out of this godless place.”
As the screen door shut behind him, Eddy heard the calm voice say, “The germ extends its flagellum to depart.”
He turned, pressed his face against the wire mesh, and called, “‘
He spun around and walked stiffly to his truck, the left side of his face twitching from humiliation and boundless, fulminating anger.
24
FORD WATCHED THE SKINNY FIGURE OF the pastor striding across the parking area toward an old beater of a pickup truck. A man like that, if he had a following, could do a lot of damage to the Isabella project. He was very sorry Hazelius had provoked him, and he felt that they hadn’t heard the end of this—not by a long shot.
When he turned back, Hazelius was checking his watch as if nothing had happened.
“We’re late,” the scientist said briskly, plucking his white lab coat from the hook. He glanced around. “Let’s go.” His eye fell on Ford. “I’m afraid you’ll be on your own for the next twelve hours.”
“Actually,” said Ford, “I’d like to see a run.”
Hazelius pulled on his coat and picked up his briefcase. “I’m so sorry, Wyman, that just won’t be possible. When we’re down in the Bunker on a run, everyone has his or her assigned role and it’s very tight. We just can’t have any extra people around. I hope you understand.”
“I’m sorry, too, Gregory, because I feel that in order to do my job, I have to be present at a run.”
“All right, then, but I’m afraid it can’t be this particular run. We’re having a lot of problems, we’re all under stress, and until we solve these technical issues, we can’t have extraneous people on the Bridge.”
Ford said quietly, “I’m afraid I have to insist.”
Hazelius paused. An awkward silence fell. “Why do you need to see a run in order to do your job?”
“I’ve been hired to assure the local people that Isabella is safe. I’m not going to assure anyone of anything until I’m sure of it myself.”
“Do you actually
“I’m not going to take someone else’s word for it.”
Hazelius shook his head slowly.
“I have to be able to tell the Navajos that I’m part of every aspect of the project, that nothing’s being kept from me.”
“As the senior intelligence officer,” said Wardlaw suddenly, “I would like to inform Mr. Ford that, for security purposes, he is denied access to the Bunker. End of discussion.”
Ford turned to Wardlaw. “I don’t think you want to take us down that particular road, Mr. Wardlaw.”
Hazelius shook his head. “Wyman, I understand what you’re saying. I really do. The problem is—”
Kate Mercer interrupted. “If you’re worried about him finding out about the malware in the system, don’t bother. He already knows about it.”
Everyone stared at her. A shocked silence settled over the group.
“I told him everything,” said Mercer. “I felt he should know.”
“Oh, now that’s just great,” said Corcoran, looking up at the ceiling.
Kate turned on her. “He’s a member of the team. He’s got a right to know. I can vouch for him one hundred percent. He won’t reveal our secret.”
Corcoran’s face flushed. “I think we can all read between the lines of
“It’s not what you think,” said Mercer coldly.
Corcoran smirked. “And what is it that I think?”
Hazelius cleared his throat. “Well, well.” He turned to Ford and laid a not-unkindly hand on his shoulder. “So Kate explained everything.”
“She did.”
