"Jerry Oltion - Salvation" - читать интересную книгу автора (Oltion Jerry)

intermediate forms?”

“Probably in your lungs,” said William.

That caught Billy off guard. “What?”

“There are intermediate forms of viruses and bacteria all around us.
They’re constantly evolving. Why do you think you need a new flu shot
every year?”

“I don’t get flu shots,” said Billy. “Vaccination is an evil plot to destroy
the minds of our children through mercury poisoning.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” said William. “You’ve caught the A.M.A. red
handed. How remarkable. But we were talking about your belief that there
were no intermediate forms to prove the validity of evolution. So if you were
to catch tuberculosis, may I assume that you would ask your doctor to treat
it as if the bacillus hadn’t evolved?”

Billy hesitated. That was a trick question. It was like asking a man if he
had stopped beating his wife; there was no good answer to it. He
considered how he should respond, but Roland Matson was already
stepping in to cover his back.

“You didn’t come here to lecture us on evolution,” Roland said in the
thin, reedy voice that had kept him from developing his own television
ministry. “You’ve asked us to buy science rather than scientists. Why don’t
you explain that statement instead? What kind of science would you have
us purchase?”

“Physics,” said William. “Specifically M-theory, which posits ten
spatial dimensions and one time dimension, any of which are accessible
with the proper equipment. I’m asking you to fund the construction of that
equipment.”

Billy found his voice again. “What for?”

“To save humanity.” William let that statement hang for a second
before he went on. “The energy level in these extra dimensions is wildly
different from the three that we see. And any time you have an energy
gradient, you can generate power from it. In this case, enough power to fuel
all of human society a million times over, without pollution and without
strife.”

“An admirable goal,” said Billy, “if it were to succeed. But the fact that
you’re coming to us instead of the federal government tells me that your
chances of success are slim. What makes you think that we would be
interested in funding this when the Department of Energy would not?”

“The Department of Energy won’t touch it because the people who