Ark by K.B. Kofoed Read Free Book Online

screen.
    “That’s what happened at Columbia,” said Gene, shaking his head.
    A few more clicks of the mouse yielded an onscreen analysis of the program.
    COMMAND: < RUN PROGRAM ARK 0001>
    PROGRAM: < RUNNING>
    RUN: < PROGRAM>
    COMMAND: < END PROGRAM>
    COMMAND: < DISK EJECT>
    Then the screen changed the messages in a foreign language. “Swedish,” explained Earl with a devilish grin. “Tomorrow it’s French. Spies everywhere, you know.” He looked up at Gene and shrugged. “It ran your simulation, but it took only a microsecond. Results inconclusive.”
    “That’s nuts,” said Gene. “Russell himself wrote the program. It has to run.”
    Earl’s left eyebrow arched. “I guess you didn’t hear me. I said it ran.”
    “Okay,” said Gene. “Let’s run the program again. Can’t you slow it down so we can see it?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Earl, sucking on his teeth. “There was no display as far as I can tell. Not even a frame.”
    Gene seemed angry. “Why would that happen?”
    “Maybe the Crays couldn’t display the results,” said Earl, scratching his crotch. “It’s like they saw an error.”

    #

    Driving home, Jim thought about what he’d seen. Mr. Megabyte had tried to explain it to them but even Gene, with all his years of technical experience, had trouble understanding. Finally after several reruns Gene had become visibly shaken and decided to leave. “I’ll get a cab, Jim,” he said, then turned and walked to the door, forcing Earl to chase after him to give him back his floppy disk. Gene gave Earl a polite handshake and a thank you. Then he was gone.
    Jim had remained with Earl for a while, mentioning what his friend Dan had said about the microwave properties of the ark. Earl seemed interested but subdued. Obviously the mystery of the Crays was lingering in his mind. Finally Jim and Earl exchanged business cards and parted company.
    That night Jim had a dream about the ark that disturbed him. He awoke in a sweat, but when Kas asked him to describe his dream he drew a blank.
    The next day Dan called Jim and they arranged a meeting with Gene at Jim’s house. Dan arrived early, and Kas kept him company with a cup of tea while they waited for Jim and Gene to arrive from town. Dan said he was being interviewed for a position with the Signet Group in Philadelphia. He confessed that he didn’t know where he wanted to settle but he was tired of Colorado.
    “You’re still with AT&T, aren’t you?” Kas asked.
    “For the last twenty years. Lived all over the place. I spent the last seven years in Spain and Portugal. My folks died about three years ago. I came back to the U.S. then and everything was different. I couldn’t wait to get out of the country — back to Spain.”
    “Well, isn’t Spain a good place to live? Why not stay there?” asked Kas.
    “I don’t know,” said Dan, sipping his tea. “I’d always be called ‘the American’. Besides, this is home.”
    At that moment Jim, Lou and Gene arrived, and before long the group was sitting in Jim’s living room full of small talk.
    It was Kas who brought up the subject of the ark. “So is this a kind of religious gathering?” she said slyly. “Are we going to tell Bible stories?”
    “Maybe we should,” said Gene. “After last night I get the feeling that God just isn’t on my side.”
    Jim explained to Dan what had happened when they’d tried to run the ark simulation at the university.
    “Well, if it didn’t work at Columbia then why try at Penn?” asked Lou.
    “More powerful computers,” Gene offered, “and Earl Copeland is the best hacker at Penn, but he can’t figure out what was wrong with the program either. I called him less than two hours ago and he’s still in the dark. Not a clue.”
    Jim protested. “You know that’s not true. The program ran every time, always the same way, in a nanosecond. It always ended with the same report.”
    Gene smiled. “Yeah. That shook me up a bit, and I think