Ell Donsaii 13: DNA (15 page)

“Not random. That
would
be a disaster. I’m picturing a system for adding various bits of DNA. Presumably, they know what those pieces of DNA do. Other pieces, perhaps they can
guess
what those fragments do—kind of like our sense of smell tells us what something is or was. Maybe they
do
make
some
random bits of DNA, but only actually insert them if their sense of ‘smell’ gives them the impression that that particular sequence might be beneficial. Maybe they even have some organ in their body where they can insert bits of DNA into cells to see what happens?”

“And…” Ell said, a focused look on her face as she tried to grasp what her son was saying, “you think that they then selectively and purposefully generate a genome for their offspring?”

“Well, sure, that too. But, I was thinking more that they might actually modify their own genomes as they see fit. The first thing they’d have to do would be to adjust their growth and repair systems to make themselves a little more like a fetus or a salamander. Then they could add limb buds or start new organs or eyes even in their adult forms. That way, all these different body plans you say you’re seeing could start out fairly similarly,” Zage shrugged, “or maybe not, if the parent designed the child differently to begin with. But then, even as adults, they could become more and more divergent in their body design depending on the desires of that particular individual. So, if someone wants to live by the sea, they might borrow some DNA, and perhaps modify other DNA, to build fins or whatever other aquatic structures they think would give them an advantage.” He tilted his head as if wondering whether his parents grasped the idea, “Intelligent design, of a sort.”

Shan, looking as if he were taken aback, said, “But, surely they’d immediately realize that intelligence has tremendous value. Once you’ve recognized that fact, what’s to keep you from evolving or building yourself a
huge
brain that makes you smarter than everyone else? Once you’ve done that, you could take over the world!”

Zage shrugged, “Big brains are expensive. It requires a lot of energy to power them and just making them larger doesn’t
necessarily
make them more effective.
Einstein’s
brain was smaller than average, which pretty strongly suggests that bigger isn’t necessarily better. One problem is that the neurons in a big brain get to be farther and farther apart so that they can’t communicate as well. You’ve got to remember that even though electrical depolarization is responsible for the way nerves function, they don’t actually send their impulses at the speed of light like many people assume. Even the faster nerves only transmit at a little over a hundred meters per second—about 225 miles an hour. That’s pretty fast, but nothing like electrical speeds, so a really big brain would get kind of slow.” He frowned, “Having a big brain might let you remember more, or do more complex calculations, without necessarily giving you the intuition it takes to figure things out. People with photographic memories aren’t necessarily really smart.”

Shan and Ell glanced at one another, stunned to be getting a lecture from their five-year-old son. Being lectured by a five-year-old seemed like it should be irritating, except for the fact that he’d been telling them so many things they didn’t know. Ell said, “So, you think maybe they use this ability to modify their own DNA… to adjust their own body plan so they can be more successful at whatever… career they take up? That the first one we saw, the one that had the big bundles of vegetation on his back might have decided on a career of transporting stuff from one town to another?”

Zage nodded, “Yeah, he’s working as a truck. It would seem crazy to us, because all our trucks are automated and it’s a boring job, but for them it might be a decent occupation if you like getting out and seeing the country. Same for some of those whale sized aquatic Virgies you were talking about.” He gave them a hopeful look, “I’d sure like to see some of the video you have of them.”

His mother snorted. “I’m sure you would. Let me… check into it,” she said, looking as if she couldn’t decide whether it would be a good idea.

The man put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. He appeared to be just staring up at the ceiling, a behavior that always irritated Jamieson. However, he’d always done this when he was thinking and Jamieson had gotten used to it. Jamieson had used Roger before in some questionable enterprises, though not anything quite as obviously illegal as an out and out kidnapping like this one. In addition to being physically fit and very weapons capable, Roger was very good with tech stuff so Jamieson really wanted him for this mission.

But Jamieson worried that Roger might balk at kidnapping.

He also wondered whether Roger was really the man’s name, though it didn’t really matter. Jamieson was going by Arthur, rather than using his real name so it wasn’t like Roger was the only one. They were meeting in Richmond and Roger had no idea, as yet, who the targets of the kidnapping would be. So if Roger did object, he wouldn’t be able to give the plan away.

Roger’d been thinking about it for a long time though, and it was starting to put Jamieson on edge. He slid his hand surreptitiously into the cargo pocket on his pants to lightly grasp his Taser.

Then Roger tilted his chair back forward and said, “You’ll need a panel van without any windows. We can hang foil over any other openings from the front to the back. That’ll block all the GPS signals. Then if they have any tracking devices on them, they won’t know where they are.”

Jamieson narrowed his eyes, “I was just going to strip ‘em naked and toss their clothes.”

Roger shrugged, “That’d work, if they didn’t have a security team or if their security is actually as bad as you think it is. But if you’re wrong, the security team’ll be tracking you until you dump the woman and the kid’s stuff. If that security team gets a drone up in a hurry, they might have ‘eyes on’ before you get them out of their clothes, purses, backpacks, and other stuff and stop to toss all that crap out. Besides, now you’re going to be driving around with a couple of naked people in a vehicle with windows? And…”

Jamieson waved his hands to stop the litany, “Yeah, yeah, no problem. We’ve got to have a vehicle, no reason for it not to be a panel van. You can be in charge of that part of the prep. You in?”

Roger gave him a predatory look, “Kidnapping’s a capital offense. I’m not getting on board for the offer you’ve made. I’ll need more up front and more on the back end.”

Irritated, Jamieson didn’t say anything for about 20 seconds. But Roger was the best guy he knew of for this job. And he’d already earmarked a million for expenses. He nodded, “I’ll double it.”

Roger grinned, “Triple it.”

Jamieson thought back to how he himself had kept raising the price on Wang. Rather than negotiate further, he just said okay.

***

Shan was pouring his breakfast cereal when his AI said, “You have a call from Agnetha Olssen in Stockholm.”

Not knowing anyone in Sweden, Shan blinked in surprise. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “I’ll take it… Hello, this is Shannon Kinrais.”

A woman’s voice said, “Hello Dr. Kinrais I am Agnetha Olssen, calling for the Nobel selection committee in physics. I am pleased to tell you that the committee has chosen your paper regarding the galactic rotation paradox as the recipient for this year’s Prize.”

Shan grabbed the back of one of their kitchen chairs, pulling it out and dropping unsteadily into it. “Um, really?”

“Yes Dr. Kinrais. We’ll be sending your invitation to the ceremonies by mail as well as electronically. I hope that you don’t have any major conflict for early December?”

“Um, no, I’m… sure I can reschedule any commitments I may have. Um, will my co-author be getting a similar notification?”

“Yes, I’ll be calling her as soon as we’re done.”

A moment later the call had been disconnected. Ell looked up from her eggs, “What’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or like you’ve heard one, I guess.”

Feeling a little lightheaded, Shan choked out a little laugh, “Yeah, Alfred’s ghost.”

Ell frowned curiously, “Alfred?”

Trying to play it off as if it was no big deal, Shan gave a casual wave and said, “Alfred Nobel, you know,
that
guy?”

Ell lifted an eyebrow, “The K-D paper?”

“Don’t you go trying to act all casual on me!”

Ell lifted a finger for a pause as she got her own call from Agnetha Olssen. Once she’d disconnected, she said, “Well, that’s nice.”

Shan rolled his eyes, “‘That’s nice’ she says. Just because she already has a Peace Prize
and
a Prize in physics. No big deal for
her
.” He made another casual wave of his hand, “Hell, she’s practically rolling in them!”

Ell grinned at him and put another forkful of eggs in her mouth. With her other hand she made a “come on” motion as if inviting him to heap more abuse on her.

Shan stepped over to her, pulled her to her feet, threw his arms around her and danced her around the kitchen. In her ear, he whispered, “This may not be a big deal to
you
, but it’s a
big
deal to me! Spit out those eggs… Your Nobel Prize-winning husband is taking you out to breakfast!”

Ell leaned back and frowned up at him, “I’ve got a BC4 meeting this morning.”

Shan shrugged expansively, “And I’ve got a faculty meeting. We’re blowing them off! It’s not every day your husband wins the Nobel Prize.”

A little grin lifted the corner of her mouth, “Okay, we’ll play hooky. Who’s going to take Zage to school?”

“We’ll drop the little beggar off on our way.”

“Are you going to tell him about your Prize?”

“Nah, I’m not a braggart. He’ll find out soon enough and be more impressed if I didn’t beat my own drum.”

Ell snorted, “You’ve been beating your own drum around
me
!”

Shan tried to look haughty, “I
have
to beat my own drum around you, otherwise you’d hardly notice you had a husband…”

Ell pulled him in for another hug, “I do
so
notice you… you’re my Nobel prize-winning piece of eye candy.”

***

When Shan got to work after their breakfast out, he’d missed the faculty meeting as expected. Instead, he went directly to teach his first class. When he arrived, with some trepidation he saw Dr. Benson, the department chairman standing outside the classroom door tapping his foot. As Shan approached, Benson said, “You missed the faculty meeting!”

“Um, yeah, my wife and I…” He trailed off, not wanting to finish by saying, “went out to breakfast instead.”

“Well, you know the saying.” Dr. Benson said opening the door to the classroom and motioning Shan in, “If you can’t bring Mohammed to the mountain, you must bring the mountain to Mohammed.”

As Shan stepped into the classroom, thunderous applause broke out. Shan saw almost the entire math faculty standing in the front of the room applauding with the students. “Oh, I guess you already heard…”

***

Harald Wheat walked out of the BC4 meeting at D5R. At first he’d been terribly disappointed that Ell Donsaii wasn’t there, but then the word had excitedly filtered around the room that she’d won
another
Nobel Prize. He decided that he probably would have skipped the meeting himself.

Nonetheless, the extraterrestrial biology they were seeing at BC4 was quite exciting, especially in its implications for understanding Earth’s dinosaur age. The gravity on BC4 was a little lower than Earth’s, and that, in combination with its extremely dense air seemed to be what made BC4’s enormous animals possible. At a hundred and eighty-eight atmospheres of pressure, the density of the air on BC4 was almost ¼ the density of water so that the huge animals’ weight was somewhat supported like it would be if they were wading or swimming.

Earth’s dinosaurs were so huge that it was extremely difficult to reconcile their size with the possibility that they might ambulate. This had been such a problem that for a long time it had been proposed that the big land dinosaurs actually were swamp waders. After all, the biggest animal of all time, the blue whale, supported its weight in water. The pterodactyloid flyers of the dinosaur age were also far too big to fly in Earth’s current gravity and atmospheric density. But all this, in combination with what they’d seen on BC4, really made it appear to be more likely that Earth’s atmospheric density had been much higher back in the time of the dinosaurs.

Wheat couldn’t help thinking about the possibility of writing papers not only on the biology of BC4, but also on the implications it had for paleontology. He’d been dying to tell Ell about these exciting ideas, but had enjoyed discussing them with the rest of the BC4 team.

He’d also been hoping to talk to Ell about 61 Virginis, so when she came around the corner as he was leaving, his emotions surged with some hope. “Ell!” Then, remembering what he’d heard this morning, he said, “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” she said. “It’s pretty exciting. Sorry I missed the meeting.”

Wheat thought about what it must be like to win a
third
Nobel.
Well, it must be pretty crazy to win a first one.
“I’ve been hoping to talk to you…” He broke off, thinking that if she’d been too busy to attend the meeting, she might not want to talk to him one on one right now either.

Instead, she smiled at him, “I was hoping to talk to you too. About,” her eyes glanced at someone coming down the hall behind him, “our other issue.”

Assuming she wanted to talk about 61 Virginis, but didn’t want to say it where anyone else could hear, Wheat said, “That’d be great.”

A few minutes later, they were in one of D5R’s little conference rooms. Ell said, “So, have you had any other ideas about the Virgies?”

Wheat shrugged, “I’ve had kind of a crazy idea based on some old science fiction stories I read by David Brin. They were based on the idea of ‘uplift,’ wherein intelligent species purposefully modified less intelligent species to make them intelligent. So, you could imagine that if one species on 61 Virginis had developed intelligence naturally, it might have uplifted other species to intelligence as well.” He waved his hands as if fending off Ell’s incoming objections, “I know, I know. It would be hard to believe that the original intelligent species would uplift
so many
others, rather than just a few. Also, I have no explanation for how they could have uplifted others when they apparently haven’t developed the technology to do so. You could propose that they
had
such technology and lost it, but then I don’t see how to deal with the objection that many of those intelligent sub species should have devolved or been outcompeted since they lost that know-how.”

Ell frowned in intense concentration, then said, “What if… they had a way to ‘uplift’ other species that didn’t require technological sophistication?”

“What?!” Wheat asked, flabbergasted by the proposition.

Ell shrugged, “Supposing, that they had some
biological
ability to do so. Something innate or inborn. Picture them… able to suck out a sample of blood from the other species, modify some of its DNA in an organ they’d evolved, then reinject it with some new genes that increase intelligence.”

Wheat blinked, “That doesn’t make any sense! Why would they have evolved such an organ in the first place?!”

“Okay,” Ell said. “How about this idea?” She proceeded to outline the possibility that a species might have evolved the ability to modify its own DNA. This involved crazy ideas like being able to have a sense that allowed them to “taste” DNA molecules and innately
know
what those molecules would do. Then they would insert snippets of DNA into their own or their offspring’s genomes that would modify their own physical shapes or abilities.

Wheat’s initial impression that the idea was ridiculous beyond belief foundered on the problem that he certainly had no more plausible explanation. Thinking about Arthur Conan Doyle’s saying that “when you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,” Harald lifted his hands palm up in a helpless gesture. “Maybe? To tell the truth, it sounds
crazy
. However, I just don’t have a better explanation.”

Ell got an expression on her face that Wheat found difficult to interpret. She looked a little bit happy, like you might expect if he’d just supported a favorite hypothesis, and at the same time a little bit irritated, as if he’d supported a hypothesis she didn’t like. He didn’t get to quiz her about it though, she ushered him out promising to tell him when she had any more data. He made a final plea, “If you could get us some samples of DNA from some of those different… looking aliens, we could sequence it to figure out how closely related they actually
are
.”

Ell stopped to look at him with some surprise for a moment, then said, “We’re
not
importing DNA from another world!”