The Soul of the Matter (12 page)

Chapter 25

D
an was lying in the hammock near the water when Dr. Alighieri returned from Falmouth Hospital, saying the young patient was doing very well.

After Trish entered the house, Stephen came over to Dan and said, “How was your run?”

“Felt great. I ran on the bike path into Woods Hole, then back along the Falmouth Road Race course to the finish line, and then back here.”

“Twelve miles. Not bad for an old, out-of-shape man.”

“I'm neither, though I could really use some hydration and carbohydrates. Perhaps at the same time.”

“Beer isn't good for you at this time of day,” Stephen said teasingly.

“Then a large glass of iced tea, followed by a beer, would be perfect,” Dan replied.

“Most of the time, I like playing the role of gracious host. Of course, there are always exceptions,” Stephen said.

“I appreciate your hospitality. Some music would be nice, too.”

“That will be later, at Liam's.”

“That's worth waiting for,” Dan said.

“It looks like it is not an either-or situation,” Stephen said as patio speakers began to play music from the Martha's Vineyard radio station, WMVY, and Nancy and Trish walked out carrying several beers. Ava ran out behind them, hurried over to the hammock, and jumped on it opposite Dan.

“Hey, squirt,” Dan said to Ava. Trish handed him a beer then sat down on a deck chair next to Nancy and Stephen.

“You're in my hammock,” Ava said.

“Thank you for sharing it with me.”

To avoid awkwardness and seem friendly, though he still felt uneasy, he glanced over at Trish. “It seems like everyone is having a nice, relaxing day.”

Trish nodded and said, “Not a care in the world.”

“That used to be how I felt until it seemed I'd never feel that way again. I'm glad I was wrong,” Dan found himself shocked to say. He was uncomfortable with what he'd spontaneously revealed with a frankness that was completely uncharacteristic for him. There was definitely something odd about Trish Alighieri, and it brought out something strange in him as well. He wasn't sure what to think about it.

“I love hearing you say you're wrong,” Stephen said, a huge smile crossing his face.

“That's because you have to say it so often to me,” Dan jousted back.

“And here I thought you were getting over your delusions.”

“Have they always spoken to each other like that?” Trish said to Nancy.

“Always,” Nancy said with mock resignation.

“It's amazing they're still friends.”

“Amazing indeed,” Nancy answered.

Trish turned to Dan. “How long have you known each other?”

“Stephen since we were eleven. I met Nancy early in college. After quickly realizing she had better taste in men than me, I introduced her to Stephen, for which they are still insufficiently grateful,” Dan said.

“Trust me, I am extremely grateful, in both regards,” Nancy said, laughing.

“I left out that there was a gap in between when I met Nancy and when I introduced her to Stephen. I liked having my bachelor friend and knew, once they met, that would be it for him,” Dan said.

“You have good insight into people,” Trish said.

“Except himself,” Stephen said.

“That hardly makes me unique. I believe we took a philosophy class that asserted that the one thing we truly couldn't know is ourselves,” Dan said.

Stephen chuckled. “You've made an art form of that.”

“Despite what these guys are saying, Dan was a remarkable guy back then, and not bad now, either,” Nancy said. “A near autodidactic, quick mind, and kind heart. We met at a big-brother and big-sister organization.”

“That's a pretty good thing for a college guy to be doing,” Trish said.

“Someone told me that was the place to met soft-hearted college women with poor judgment in men,” Dan said.

“Fortunately for me, there was a limit to Nancy's soft-heartedness,” Stephen said.

“Actually, she was saving it for those more in need,” Dan said.

“Where are you sleeping tonight?” Stephen said, smiling.

“I meant the child services organizations she still helps run. That takes both a tough and tender heart. Puts us both to shame,” Dan said.

“I'm not sure I like being an observer as you two talk about me,” Nancy joked.

“I'll change the subject then,” Dan said. “Trish, what do you think about scientists' someday being able to engineer life?”

Neither of the women seemed bothered by the abrupt change in topic.

“It's scary but seems unavoidable,” Trish answered reservedly.

“So's death,” Dan replied.

“Maybe not, if I'm really successful,” Stephen said.

“I haven't yet met anyone I think should be immortal, except your wife and daughter,” Dan answered.

“Good answer,” Trish added.

Looking at Stephen, Dan said, “Given what appears to be your renewed religious beliefs, at least as the books in your study and conversation the other night seem to indicate, which include God mixing up speech to keep humans from building a tower that could reach him and expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden to keep them from eating from the Tree of Life, aren't you afraid of what might come of your attempts to read what some would call God's handwriting? God, if he exists, might not like it.”

“This is the second time you've told me this,” Stephen said.

“When was the first?”

“When you told me about what happened with Pavel Sarasov. His words have rung in my ears for years, and the papers of his you gave me helped trigger part of my work,” Stephen answered.

Touching the scar on his arm, a remnant of the tragic night with the Sarasovs, Dan said, “I think I am going to have to learn a lot more, about a lot of things. I've always liked thinking that coincidences are a matter of odds and opportunity. What if there is more to it?”

“Then there might be a plan for you,” Stephen said.

“If so, it would help if whoever did the planning did a better job of it.”

“How do you know what you're experiencing isn't best for you?”

“If that's true, I need a new way of thinking about things.”

“Exactly. I've got books inside that might interest you.”

“Can I take them with me when I go back to Boston? I think I need Liam's first.”

Stephen laughed. “You might need Liam's afterward.”

Chapter 26

D
an and Stephen had started patronizing Liam Maguire's, a restaurant and Irish pub, when it first opened in the early nineties. They had spent many a night there since then, downing pints, listening to music, and occasionally singing along, badly, to traditional Irish tunes.

On this evening, the restaurant was filled with patrons of all ages. The rectangular main dining area occupied most of the space. A bar ran the length of one side, while a small platform, just big enough for three performers, served as a stage on the other side. Irish music memorabilia and framed sayings were scattered along the cream-colored walls. A clock by the bar counted down the days, hours, and minutes to St. Patrick's Day. Banjos and guitars hung at the back of the stage. An autographed picture of Tommy Makem hung nearby, paying homage to the Irish bard, one of the godfathers of Irish music.

Dan and Stephen sat off to the right of the stage and were nearing the end of their first beer. As they had walked the half mile from the house, they weren't about to hold themselves to a strict limit, though their pace and limit these days were, wisely, slower and lower than in their youth.

Dan looked across the small table at Stephen, who was staring off into space with his chin resting on his open hand. “What's up with you? I'm supposed to be the one with the questionable state of mind.”

“I'm just trying to make sense of a few things,” Stephen replied pensively.

“Now you
do
sound like me. Don't forget you promised explana
tions. They'd better be compelling. If I don't like what I hear, my skills could just as easily make your life miserable as help you,” Dan said with a smile.

“You don't need technology to make people miserable,” Stephen answered wryly. “Anyway, I'll tell you soon enough. First I have a question for you. I need you to answer it seriously. As someone who doesn't believe in God, tell me how you, in the role of God, would prevent human suffering. Would you stop all suffering? Only the most severe? Or only what you considered unjustified? And, as a formerly well-educated Catholic school student, explain to me how your answer relates to the meaning of life and happiness. How would you explain to someone that their request for a miracle would not be granted but someone else's would?”

“What's this got to do with your work? I don't think this is the time or place for a discussion of this nature, even if I was willing to have it—which I'm not,” Dan answered, doing his best not to show his annoyance.

“Humor me for a minute. It's relevant. If something had happened to Ava today, maybe a car swerved into her when she was riding her bike, how should we view it? Should God's hidden hand have prevented it? And if so, what does that mean for all the times God does nothing to prevent tragedies?”

“You're asking an atheist to provide a satisfactory theological explanation of a God's powers and actions. If I could do that, I probably wouldn't be an atheist.”

“Fine. But if someone is going to use what he thinks God should have done as an argument against his existence, as you have, don't you think it makes sense to have an idea of how that person thinks things
should
work? Or is finding easy objections enough to satisfy your inquires without trying to provide the hard answers? Your approach provides no answers, no meaning, only excuses.”

“Why are you pushing this?” Dan replied, his irritation starting to show. “I can't answer what is fundamentally a nonsensical question. And I thought we're trying to be on good terms again.”

“Here's the thing, and it's relevant: maybe you've never tried because you worry you might not like the answer. I need you to be open
to big possibilities, wherever they lead. In the end, I believe my work will yield insights about God and human destiny. Are you able to accept that God might exist? That is why I am asking you these questions.”

“Only with irrefutable proof.”

“That's quite a presumption.”

“About what?”

“That God has to prove his existence to you according to your criteria. Isn't it possible that there is sufficient indication for those open to him? Where's the scientific proof that God has to provide you with scientific proof?”

“We live in the world governed by science and reason. All I see from religion is irrationality and the harm it inflicts. Asking people to believe, and the ‘right beliefs' at that, absent of proof, would be unfair to us and not worthy of a God,” Dan said with conviction.

“Unless doing so would get in the way of something more important. Or if what you're asking for isn't as necessary as you think it is.”

“Who's being presumptuous now?” Dan replied.

“How about this? Can you put aside emotion and your convictions, as repugnant as you find religion, and just pretend that you're willing to accept the possibility that God might exist?”

“I'll pretend I don't know better. But you need to be open to the idea that you may be fundamentally wrong.”

“I'll do what I can given my numerous limitations,” Stephen said with a bemused expression. “Before this is all over, I'm sure I'll be humbled hugely many times.”

“Now that is something worth sticking around to see,” Dan said with a restrained but friendly smile. “But enough of the abstract and hypothetical. What have you got to say? What insights has your work in biology given you about philosophical questions no one else in human history has been able to solve?”

Stephen placed his elbows on the table, leaned forward, combed his fingers through his hair, then took a deep breath. “I'll get to the point—and it does involve way, way more than biology.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the room.

“You can speak freely as long as you're not too loud and you angle
your face toward the wall. I don't see anyone we need to be worried about,” Dan said, looking at his tablet on the table in front of him.

“I'd feel more confident about that if you could tear your eyes from your tablet and actually seem like you were aware of your surroundings.”

“Relax. I've got everything under control. Take a look.” Dan pushed his tablet over to Stephen. On the screen were eight sections of video displaying different camera views of the interior and exterior of Liam's. “I linked into these before dinner. Since we've arrived, I've toyed around with the idea of hacking into cell phones of people sitting near us to get views from their cameras. Instead, I just ran profiles on them. Run of the mill people, like you and me. Satisfied?”

“You know, you really are a scary guy.”

“You need to keep that in mind from time to time,” Dan said with a slight grin.

“It never leaves my mind,” Stephen said, smiling in return. Turning serious, he continued, “All right then. I hope you're ready for this. Six months ago, I was working with Alex Robertson to decode the human genome. As I said before, this wasn't a simple code in the sense of understanding the basic syntax of a rudimentary language or learning how DNA makes a person. Incorporated into our DNA is a highly encrypted, symbolic code, with
purposeful intent,
that if it wasn't for extraordinarily unlikely chance events, should have never been broken,
could never have been broken
. If you believe only one thing I have or ever will tell you, you must believe this.”

Despite a room full of happy people talking loudly to one another, Dan heard nothing but the reverberations of Stephen's voice. His words were easy to understand, but the statements were near impossible to fathom. Symbolic code with intent had profound implications for human origin. It pointed at the existence of the Being Whom, if he existed, Dan had viewed far more as nemesis than as benevolent and loving Creator.

Continuing, Stephen said, “Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Symbolic coding. You know what that means? Intent of some sort has to be behind its origin. Do you believe me?”

After a deep gulp of Guinness, Dan said, “I'm pretty sure
you
believe what you're telling me. Beyond that, I'll have to see the encrypted code for myself.”

“I figured nothing less would do for you. After Tuesday, you can have access to everything. No secrets. Other than me, you'll be the only one to know everything. You can wait three days, can't you?”

“With mind-blowing claims like yours, it won't be easy. Why not now?

“I figure our conversation will be a lot easier if I have more proof of the nature you say you require. And there is more that I need to know before then.”

“How can what you're saying be true? You know far better than almost anyone else the foundations it would shake,” Dan said.

“I can only think of three possibilities for the existence of the symbolic coding, though that doesn't mean there aren't more. First, of course, is the obvious one: God created it and us. Second is Francis Crick's: An alien race created DNA and, by extension, us. Third is natural teleology: something in nature leads to a tendency for the universe to produce certain outcomes though no specific being or intelligence is behind it. Any of these would be profound. The first two require a source for their own existence. But whatever the code's origin, it exists.”

In his mind, Dan searched through all possibilities, including the thought that Stephen might be misleading him for purposes still unknown. Speaking with forced confidence, he said, “I hope you're not trying to pull a fast one on me, creating confusion while you get what you want, then blowing me off later. After all, I now control your security.”

“There are some things you can't fake, and after you've seen what I have, you'll know this is one of them. It feels like looking into the heart of creation. I bet it rocks your world just as much as mine, doesn't it?”

“You're asking me to absorb and accept a lot. Surely you know it's an extraordinary thing to ask of anyone, especially me. Isn't there
anything
else you can share now?”

After a long pause, Stephen smiled slyly then said, “A bit more should be fine. As I said before, there are two, maybe three, sets of
coded information—but they are very different. The first is related to human biology. Think of it as both a blueprint for life and a description of human design. The second, well, that indicates information on the physical universe,” Stephen said, pausing for full effect. “Beyond indications of how things operate in the physical world, there appears to be a relationship between quantum physics, which explains how everything works at the subatomic level, and cell function regulation. In a way, that makes lots of sense because there is too much going on that needs to be well coordinated, without other means to do so. Purely biochemical means may not be enough. Oddest of all is what should be an inherent contradiction, that each person consists of a ‘quantum unity' and that this helped shape evolution. We're both a large collection of parts and a whole, simultaneously. Have you ever wondered how a multitude of separate atoms, consisting only of objective states, such as the direction of the spin of an electron, could produce whole subjective experiences such as you looking at, and hearing, me, all of me, at the same time?”

No, Dan had in fact never thought about the basis of human consciousness. It was shocking to think that his very self, at any moment, might be more than physical matter. Determined to retain his poise, he asked, “How did you find a relationship between DNA and physics? That's an incredible connection.”

“It is. Alex found it after I saw symmetry in the DNA patterns once they were converted into symbolic code. He saw something very similar to the symmetry in the equations that physicists use to explain the behavior of the material world. It seems like the fabric of the universe is set up to guide the formation of life.”

“I really do need to see this.”

“You will.”

“And the third set?” Dan asked.

“I'm not sure, but if you can believe it, the little I saw was more startling than what was in the first two sets. Maybe there is no more to it. But if so, it could relate to the origin of the universe, our ultimate destiny, and how I should use the other information. Everything is all so bizarre. It's as though I specifically was meant to find it; that I'm being trusted to use the knowledge for great good. And yet, I've
learned things that I feel I have no right to know and shouldn't play around with. I don't know which is true and need your help finding out. I am keeping everything as secret as I can because I don't know if there is a third set and what could be in it.”

Once again, Dan couldn't help but question Stephen's extraordinary claims. But with nothing to go on until Stephen showed him more, all he could say was, “I don't understand. I thought you had already broken the codes.”

“I had. As I said, it was through extraordinary circumstances. I had been working late at night with Alex for a long time. One day, things just came to me. I don't know if you heard this before, but Dr. Charles Townes, the Nobel Prize–winning inventor of the maser, which led to the laser, has described his scientific breakthroughs as being like religious revelations. Well, it was like a revelation for me, too. I was incredulous and overjoyed as I viewed parts of the first two sets of decoded information. Before the processing completed to produce what could have been a third set of information, it timed out. Alex had set a ‘time to live' on the security keys used to encrypt our work. That restricted how long it could run until he renewed the keys. Unfortunately, he had gone home and crashed on the way. There was nothing further I could do. I need you to look at what he had done and figure out how to get it going again. I only saw the smallest bit of what could be a third set. What I think I saw indicated that if there is anything there, it is critical for knowing how I should use what I already have. I'm hoping you can find something on the laptop I used that night to help figure out how to set up what's needed to resume processing.”