Blink of an Eye by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page A

said. “But for whatever reason, you most definitely do get under his skin.”
    â€œI engaged him with famous quotations—”
    â€œI know what you did. You could have been a little more selective, don’t you think?” Harland couldn’t hide the glint of humor in his eyes.
    Seth shook his head. “I don’t know how I get myself in these crazy situations.”
    â€œI think you do. You’re a blatant challenge to his theories of order.”
    â€œFor what it’s worth, I did speak the truth,” Seth said. “Isn’t that what you’ve always told me? To doggedly pursue the truth?”
    â€œPursuing the truth and presenting it are two different disciplines. How do you suppose I would fare around here if I walked around blasting my peers into the next county? This is becoming a habit for you.”
    Seth rubbed his hands together and placed them on his knees. “You’re right.”
    Baaron was brilliant, deserving of his lofty status at the university. But put him in a room with Seth, and half his chips seemed to go on the blink. He was an easy target, one that Seth couldn’t resist shooting at now and then. It didn’t help that Baaron reminded Seth of his father.
    The tension had set in a year earlier, when Seth wrote a paper on the Strong Force that questioned prevailing thought. The paper was picked up by several scientific journals and published to some acclaim. It was hardly Seth’s fault that the prevailing theory, which Seth trashed, was authored by none other than Gregory Baaron, PhD. The world of physics was a small one.
    â€œYou’re going to have to learn more tact, yes? You have to learn how to blend in a little.”
    Seth’s trust in Harland was in large part due to the man’s humble form of brilliance. If Seth’s formal education had taught him anything, it was that celebrated intelligence had nothing to do with intellectual honesty, with being genuine. People who appreciated both brilliance and frank honesty were in short supply. The system preferred the kind of brilliance that lined up with the flavor of the day.
    Samuel Harland was anything but the flavor of the day. He had no interest in kissing the elitists’ beliefs so he could smoke his pipe in the Faculty Club. He simply and methodically pursued every thought to its logical conclusion and put his faith there, in what he saw at the end of the trail.
    The smile faded from Seth’s face. “Well, you’ll have to forgive me, but I’m not built for a system like this one. I can’t seem to fit in.”
    Harland nodded. “Baaron’s got some of the faculty on his side. They’re talking about official reprimands.”
    Seth looked out the window. “I’m thinking about dumping the program. Heading back down to San Diego.”
    â€œYou’ve said that before.”
    â€œMaybe I should have done it before. I talked to my mom last night. She lost her job.”
    Harland hesitated. “The best thing you can do for your mother is finish your doctorate. What are you going to do for a living—pump gas?”
    â€œWe both know of a dozen corporations that would offer me decent money right now.” Seth stared at the window and sighed. “Did you hear about the calculation I drew on the board?”
    â€œI heard something about the Lagrangian field equation.”
    â€œThat was part of it. But I came up with an equation that limits possible futures to one.” Seth smiled. “That should be music to your ears.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œIt supports the existence of an all-knowing higher being.”
    â€œAh, yes, the higher-being theory. You’ve decided to swing that way, is that it?”
    â€œNo. I’ll remain comfortably blank on the subject for now, despite my proof to the contrary.”
    Harland chuckled. “You’ve actually proven God’s existence now?”
    â€œI