Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (most popular novels of all time .txt) 📗

passionate mode. “But, what I cannot figure out, is why it would be done in secret. There’s nothing illegal about it. Mars isn’t owned by anyone or any country.”

De Cremonese took a deep breath. “I can think of two reasons. First, there’s public opinion. Nuking a planet might not fare well with everyone on this planet. So, when you do it in secret and it doesn’t work out, you simply deny involvement. On the other hand, when it was successful, you can still go public and take the credit for it.”

“And the second reason?”

“Well, you said there’s nothing illegal about bombing a faraway planet, and you’re probably right. But what about the nuclear materials? We talked about it before. About a dozen agencies—private and government—work on projects related to Mars. Now, if this is true, then who’s to say the party involved is legally using nuclear materials? If we’re talking about any of the major government institutions, why would they keep it a secret?”

“You think it’s a private initiative?” Gavino asked.

De Cremonese shrugged. “I think it’s a nice theory, but I still think it’s a whole lot of speculation.”

“But it would make for a great story, wouldn’t it?” Gavino gave a bright smile, and took another big sip from his beer.

De Cremonese looked at his watch, then took out his cellphone and looked at the screen. Three bars.

“They put up an extra cell tower last month,” Gavino said.

“Great, I need to make a quick phone call.”

“Go ahead, but be quick because I can smell the burgers heading this way.”

De Cremonese got up and moved to the far corner of the café, where he punched in a number on his phone and waited while it rang.

After a few seconds, a voice sounded from the other side. “You’ve reached the voicemail of Amie Coleman. I’m not available at the moment, but you can leave a message at the end of the tone. If you want to be connected to a real person, please press one.”

De Cremonese pressed one.

A female voice sounded almost immediately. “I’m sorry, sir, but the number you’re trying to reach is currently unavailable.”

“Yes, I know, thank you. But I think you can help me anyway. Can you please put me through to Mr. Eldin Mulder’s secretary?”

“One moment, please, sir.”

“Lamberto.” De Cremonese heard Gavino call out his name across the café. As he turned and looked at the table, he saw Meredith put two plates on the table, each with a huge white bun covered by an even larger beef patty, layered in cheese, topped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and, of course, rings of green chili. On the side a large stack of fries was served.

“I’ll be right there.”

Chapter 14 – The Monument

Trinil, The Present

The Indonesian sun burned down on the terrace’s parasols at the Trinil Museum. Bishop tilted his head to the sun, which blinded him despite the sunglasses. “What does that mean?” he asked, upset.

Lindsey frowned and pouted her lips. “That is the million-dollar question. The only thing we know for sure is that Jennifer and the Peruvian family have the same aberration in their blood. Something that no one else in the world has.”

“That we know of,” Ignatowski added.

“Sure, that we know of,” Lindsey admitted.

“Is there any chance this is all just a big coincidence?” Bishop asked.

Both Lindsey and Ignatowski shook their heads. “I don’t think so.” Ignatowski tapped his fingers on the table. “They assured me that the chance of this happening in nature is one in the ten billion.”

Lindsey took another sip of her coffee before addressing Bishop. “Do you have any idea what the relation between the two could be? I mean, between the Peruvians and Jennifer?” she asked.

“Not really,” Bishop answered. “Given the facts, there’s the two as you referred to, and there’s the link to Haeckel and Dubois, doing their research in the late nineteenth century. Their only commonality I can think of is um... evolution.”

“What do you mean, evolution?” Lindsey asked.

“You said it yourself. Haeckel’s drawing of the ‘Tree of Life’ from ‘Stammbaum der Primaten,’ my paper ‘Evolution, the Mathematical Probabilities and Philosophical Implications of Proof’ and Trinil itself. The location of the first fossilized proof of our ancestors. And let’s not forget it’s Jennifer herself who is um... well, I don’t want to call it obsessed, but she’s quite busy with her theory about the evolution of AI.”

“Can I get you another cup of coffee?” Mansoer shouted from behind the bar.

Bishop looked around the table.

Lindsey and Ignatowski shook their heads.

“No, thank you,” Bishop called over his shoulder, then turned to the table again. “Everything we came across this far is about evolution, even the isolated tribe.”

“How?” Ignatowski asked.

“We, in our modern, western civilization, like to think of ourselves as standing on the top of the food chain. And perhaps that’s even true, but that also means there’s little incentive to grow. You see what I mean?”

“No.” Ignatowski leaned back into his chair.

“Not a clue,” Lindsey added. “What the frack are you talking about?”

“All right, back to the original question.” Bishop waved both arms over the table. “How does an isolated tribe fit into the evolution theme? The proven fact is that evolution works faster on secluded people. For tens of thousands of years, maybe even millions, humankind and evolution kept up with each other. First, we lived in caves without proper clothing, and our bodies adapted to the weather. When we started farming, our minds grew, developing ways to work the land, and our bodies began standing straighter to handle the tools needed. That’s why we developed upper body muscles, etcetera, etcetera. Now, in the past two hundred years or so, we went from tools to technology, causing our bodies to come to a kind of standstill. If anything, the theory is that through evolution, we will lose things like upper body strength, and when computers can think for us, we will lose the ability to think for ourselves. I know it sounds farfetched, but our bodies over the years