Humans by Robert J. Sawyer Read Free Book Online Page A

to come up and see her mother and friends. And she had to admit that nothing interested her more right now than studying Ponter’s DNA; her class load would just be an inconvenience.
    “What, ah, terms did you have in mind?”
    “I can offer you a one-year consulting contract at $150,000 U.S., starting immediately, with full medical benefits.” He smiled. “I know that’s a key point with you Canadians.”
    Mary frowned. She’d more or less prepared herself for returning to York University, to the site of the rape, but…
    But no. No, that wasn’t true. She’d hoped she could stand being here, but, if this morning had been any indication, she was still jumpy as hell.
    “I have an apartment here,” said Mary. “Acondo.”
    “We’ll take care of the mortgage payments, taxes, and maintenance fees for you while you’re away; your home will be waiting for you when this job is done.”
    “Really?”
    Krieger nodded. “Yes. This is the biggest thing that’s happened to this planet since—well,
ever
. What we’re looking at here, Professor Vaughan, is the end of the Cenozoic, and the beginning of the next era. There haven’t been two versions of humanity on this planet for thirty-five thousand years or so—but, if that portal reopens, there
are
going to be two versions again, and we want to make sure it goes right this time.”
    “You make it sound very tempting, Dr. Krieger.”
    “Jock. Call me Jock.” A pause. “Look, I used to be with the RAND Corporation. I’m a mathematician; back when I graduated from Princeton, seventy percent of all math grads from major universities applied for jobs at RAND. That was where you got the money and resources to do pure research. In fact, the joke was that RAND actually stood for ‘Research And No Development’—it’s a think tank in the purest sense.”
    “What
does
it stand for?”
    “Just ‘Research and Development,’ supposedly. But the fact is its funding came from the U.S. Air Force, and it existed for a fundamentally unpleasant reason: to study nuclear conflict. I’m a game theorist; that’s my specialty, and that’s why I was there—doing simulations of nuclear brinksmanship.” He paused. “You ever see
Dr. Strangelove
?”
    Mary nodded. “Years ago.”
    “Old George C. Scott, he’s clutching a ‘BLAND’ corporation study there in the War Room. Freeze-frame it next time you’re watching the DVD. The study is labeled
World Targets in Megadeaths
. That’s about right for what we had to do. But the Cold War is over, Professor Vaughan, and now we’re looking at something incredibly positive.” He paused. “You know, despite its military roots, RAND did lots of far-out thinking. One of our studies was called
Habitable Planets for Man,
and it was all about the likelihood of finding earthlike planets elsewhere in the galaxy. Stephen Dole put that one together in 1964, just when I started at RAND. But, even then, back in the glory days of the space program, very few of us seriously thought we’d have access to another earthlike world in our lifetime. But if that portal reopens, we will. And we want contact to go as positively as possible. When the first Neanderthal embassy opens up—”
    “A Neanderthal embassy!” exclaimed Mary.
    “We’re thinking ahead, Professor Vaughan. That’s what Synergy is all about—not just the best of both worlds, but making something that’s
more
than the sum of its parts. It’s going to be
wild
. And we want you along for the ride.”

Chapter Five
    Ponter and Daklar walked through the square, chatting. Lots of children were about, playing games, chasing each other, having fun.
    “I’ve always wanted to ask a man,” said Daklar. “Do you miss your children when Two are separate?”
    A little boy—a 148—ran right in front of them, catching a flying triangle. Ponter never regretted having two daughters, but sometimes he did wish he had a son, as well. “Of course,” he said. “I think about them