As Dr. Corwin had ascended, so to speak, his rival had fallen. To Dr. Corwin’s knowledge, Hans, nor anyone else, had discovered the true fate of Ettore Majorana. In the eyes of the Ascendants, Hans had failed in his mission, and according to Ana, now a deeply embedded spy, the German had dropped off the face of the Earth a year ago, presumably to escape the firing squad.
Ana, oh Ana.
Outside of a rare night spent with a bottle of fine Scotch and his memories, Dr. Corwin did his best not to dwell on his beloved, as that was the path to madness. At least he was no longer in New York, where her absence haunted him at every turn.
The small class quieted. Dr. Corwin straightened the cuffs of his dress shirt, clasped his hands behind his back, and began to pace with his cane. “Imagine, if you will,” he said, jumping into the same speech with which he always began Quantum Mechanics I, “that you lived in an early society—Egyptian, Greek, Vedic, Aztecan, take your pick—and that today was the day you learned that all the gods in which you believe were not in fact real. Now, this is not some red-faced prophet telling you this is what he believes. You have seen proof. Incontrovertible, unambiguous, rock-solid evidence of the demise of your belief system. Imagine how difficult that would be! Imagine how your outlook would change! Imagine further, if you will, the decision of whether to disclose this knowledge to your friends and family. Do you tell them the terrible truth, or keep it secret and let them enjoy their remaining years?”
He paused for a drink of water, noting that most of the shuffling of papers and backpacks had stopped. “Now imagine,” he continued, “and perhaps this is not such a stretch, that your god is science, and that you live in the early twentieth century. Imagine you have just read Max Born’s Zur Quantenmechanik and discovered the principles of quantum mechanics. Yes, those principles were formed over time, but imagine this is your first exposure, as it was for many.” His gaze roamed over the eager faces. “What modern humans discovered about the fundamental nature of reality during this time period was no less startling to their worldview than if a cleric of the ancient world had been shown proof his gods were false. Even Einstein could never fully accept the truth of the theories he helped establish.”
Every single student was now watching him with an intense, and sometimes uneasy, expression. As he let his words sink in, Dr. Corwin opened a palm. “By now, you all might have a cursory understanding of quantum principles. But I can guarantee you that during the course of this class, your scientific milieu, what you think you know about reality, will be upended. Just as importantly, you will begin to learn that not only is knowledge power, but that it’s also a burden, and a grave responsibility. You might even choose to walk out the door right now and preserve your innocence, because the path to higher knowledge, once traversed, can never be forgotten.”
A young woman with sharp cheekbones raised her hand in the front row. Her honey-blond hair fell to her waist, and she did not seem as wide-eyed as the other students.
“And what if you’re wrong?” she said, when Dr. Corwin called on her. “What if incontrovertible evidence manifests that disproves your new gods, your new theory?”
Dr. Corwin chuckled. “An astute comment, Ms. . . . ?”
“Zephyr,” she said, regarding him with a calm, intelligent stare. “Mrs. Samantha Zephyr.”
He opened a palm. “Well, Mrs. Zephyr, that’s even more reason to cultivate the right approach to knowledge.”
“But given what we know about quantum mechanics,” she pressed, “why should we believe anything at all about the nature of reality? No matter the approach.”
He allowed himself a small smile. Maybe you shouldn’t.
“My dear,” he said as he stepped to the lectern, “science does not ask you to believe. Only that you seek to understand.”
Coming Soon – ASCENSION, the thrilling conclusion to the Genesis Trilogy!
Be sure to visit unknown9.com to stay up to date on both the Genesis Trilogy and all of the other stories set within the Unknown 9 universe.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks again to the amazing team at Reflector who have brought this Storyworld to life. The studio has grown so much that it would take a few pages to list everyone involved, but a special shout to Alexandre Amancio, Andrea, Lexi, Tomas, Christopher, Noémie and Noémie, André, Francois, John, Iléana, Pascal, Simon, Jérémy and Jeremy, Elena, and I sincerely hope I haven’t left anyone out. I sincerely appreciate the hard work and dedication to craft of each and every one of you.
I also owe a huge debt to my wonderful agent Ayesha Pande, publicists extraordinaire Emi Bataglia and Rosanne Romanello, and my crackling good editors: David Downing, Elizabeth Johnson, and Varsana Tikovsky.
To my beta readers (and dear friends) Rusty Dalferes, John Strout, Debbie Jean, Aaron Hervey, Bill Burdick, and Dan Ozdowski: I can’t thank you enough for giving so selflessly of your time. I simply couldn’t do it without you (or if I tried, and survived the ordeal, it would be a much inferior product). And finally, as always, this book
