EXOSKELETON II: Tympanum (49 page)

4

Saturday, 20 June (3:29 a.m. CST)

Will followed Thackett into a room that looked like the penthouse suite of an ultramodern hotel.

“The kitchen is stocked with some basics in case you’re hungry,” Thackett said. “I’ll let you figure out where everything is. Please, don’t leave this room tonight. It will trigger some security responses that we really don’t want to deal with right now.”

Will agreed and Thackett left.

The room was magnificent. It took up the entire southeastern corner of the floor, about thirty stories up. The two outside walls were floor to ceiling windows, and he admired the moonlight beaming in from the southwest, and the stars in the east.

He adjusted the brightness of the recessed ceiling lights, illuminating a large couch facing the south windows. He needed a shower and sleep, but instead he sat down and leaned back, spreading his arms to either side along the back of the couch. The stretch felt good, and he yawned deeply, staring blankly into the night.

Looking back, he realized that he’d spent most of his life looking for purpose. Once one eliminated all of the distractions, responsibilities, desires, and fears, all that was left was a question:
Why do we exist? What is our purpose?
Where does it all lead?

The answers to those questions were just over the horizon, as they’d been from the beginning, and as they might always be.

Will found the bed, closed his eyes, and dreamt.

About the Author:

Shane Stadler grew up in southern Wisconsin. After graduating from Beloit College (WI) in 1992, he earned a Ph.D. in experimental physics at Tulane University in 1998. He has since worked at numerous government research and defense laboratories, and is currently a professor of physics at Louisiana State University.