Chapter 68: History Revealed

Mid-April

As the warmer weather of Maryland’s spring brought the dogwoods and magnolias into blossom, Tamara’s main projects continued to be the G-force and its applications, and also her collaborations with all of the groups at Hopkins who had been working on brain structure and function based on her MRI-coil design. Most of those collaborations had resulted in research grant applications, and a number of these grants had begun to be funded. Much of her time was spent in weekly meetings with many of those groups as their experimental designs were turned into plans. Several of her collaborators had a number of journal articles in preparation and she was involved with writing up those papers as well.

Several times during the month, Emma and Montern had filled her in on information coming from the unofficial physics “grapevine”—Tamara’s initial experiments on the G-force coils had been replicated by a half-dozen other groups who had confirmed that the G-force effect was real and reproducible and her work was now spawning other research projects using the effect that she had discovered. She had also heard from Emma’s European contacts that, despite the warnings in the patent documents about the instability of a high-efficiency electron-storage circuit device if not assembled under ultra-clean conditions, some accidents had occurred in parts of Europe involving people who had tried to copy the energy-storage device.

“Apparently those people were using your patents and tried to build a version of the device, maybe to try to sidestep your patents,” Emma told Tamara.

“Sorry if people got hurt,” Tamara said. “There’s actually a strong warning about the need to avoid dielectric contamination in the patent description.”

“And relative to that matter,” Emma went on, “EEC Energy had a visit from the military; they sent a bunch of reps and brass to the company to discuss how to use the technology as an explosive. Apparently someone had read about those European accidents.”

“Huh. I don’t see how...” Tamara began.

“Oh, no worries,” Emma chuckled. “When they were told about the basic circuit cost for just the polymer sheets, they got hesitant. Then Dr Stafford, our CEO, you’ll recall, told them that the device is totally stable unless impurities somehow get into the polymer sheets during assembly. When he told them that impurities in the circuit matrix make it inherently unstable and the assembly could blow up at any random time, just by being handled, they began to lose interest. One of the brass asked if the device could be made stable and Stafford told them it could and that’s the version used in our device. When it’s stable, it can’t be made to explode.”

“There could be ways, but I won’t go there. The world doesn’t need more weapons. So our security precautions are working?” Tamara asked. “No sign that anyone’s able to reverse-engineer it?”

“Looks that way. And the Cambridge energy farm is about to go on line at the end of the month. I won’t be there—don’t really need to be. Besides, that’s when we have your orals scheduled.”

Tamara’s last formal physics class was ending this month and her oral exam for her doctorate would be on the last Monday. The oral exam was a free-form question-and-answer session that’s typically intended for the candidate to demonstrate their ability to conduct the research necessary for the doctoral degree. Ordinarily, the candidate would present their proposed dissertation research plan to their faculty committee and demonstrate their knowledge; typically the questioning ranged widely across the academic field. In Tamara’s case, however, she was already working on her dissertation research; this was her dark matter and energy theory. Her committee had already given her their approval for that topic, so the part of the oral exam related to her ability to do the research was moot. In her orals, the examiners would be exploring her knowledge of other aspects of physics that were less closely related to her research project.

She still had about a half-dozen experiments to do; some of those had been suggested by the guest physicists at the beginning of the year, so she would be spending some time during the coming months on those details. But she had other summer plans in the works too; ones involving the commercialization of her inventions.

Greta was overjoyed with her new empathic sense and she was learning how to affect others’ emotions too.

As she told Tamara in a mid-April phone conversation, “I’m getting more sensitive every day. But it troubles me also, because I can now sense how bad it must have been for Peter to have that ability unfiltered. And as an adolescent too, when all those new emotions are so intense. How he kept his sanity is amazing.”

“Yes it is, but you can see how that reveals his internal strength,” Tamara told her. “How about projecting your emotions? Has that come yet?”

“Yes, but it’s scary in a way. I don’t want to go overboard and get on a power trip. I really see what you mean about being careful not to influence people just because you can.”

“There certainly are people who use their emotional power to influence or even control others,” Tamara observed. “Some did it in good ways but many more did it for personal gain of some kind. Those are the people in the history books, and most of those people weren’t the good ones, either. Say, Mom and I plan to have a meeting with the president soon about our Haiti project and we’re both concerned about the criminal violence there lately.”

“Yes, I heard and we’ve spoken with each other about that,” Greta remarked. “She said that she told you something about your African ancestors and about an idea she came up with.”

“She told me a lot. How much did she share with you?”

“Not very much. Just about her Ghana contact and setting up a possible African peacekeeping group,” Greta told her.

“Okay. So here’s what I know. When I was in London at the knighthood ceremony, one of the kids I met, her grandparents work for the African Union and are stationed in Accra, Ghana. Through that contact, Mom got in touch with them and they’re collaborating.”

“Right. That part I know.”

“So as part of their work, the Hadads, that’s their name, Malik and Saja, traveled to Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. They learned a lot about the Vodou religion as it’s practiced in a lot of that area.”

“That area is its origin as I recall, right?” Greta asked.

“Yep. It’s called Vodoun locally in Benin and it goes back at least hundreds of years, even before the Dahomey kingdom was formed in the 1700s. It’s a common, completely normal religion in Benin, Ghana, Togo, and western Nigeria, and is practiced locally along with Islam and Christianity. In many cases, some of the practices of all those religions have become merged. In Benin, Vodoun’s recognized as an official religion and forms of it are observed by about 40 percent of the people. As it is in Haiti, it’s a religion where natural spirits are venerated and ancestors are revered.”

“I know somewhat about the cultures of western Africa—their cultural anthropology, that is,” Greta told her. “Not the religions per se. The indigenous people in that region are the Fon, Edo, and Yoruba. There is some limited evidence that at least a portion of the Edo people have roots which go back to migrants from the Nile River valley. Those migrants settled the region from Togo to Nigeria and in the eighth century, the Edo established the Kingdom of Benin. But there are many Edo people who believe that they have lived in their current location for at least two thousand years and there are many historical artifacts which tend to support this claim.

“The migrant claim is also supported by historical evidence; some of which can be linked to the kingdom’s rulers. Dahomey was supposedly first ruled by the Ogisos, or the ‘gods of the sky,’and that monarchy shared many similarities both religiously and politically with dynastic Egypt. I recall reading that the Benin Empire, located in southwestern Nigeria, existed as early as 1440 and was populated by the Edo people.

“What is very interesting, however, is a cultural commonality that spans the whole north African continent and more. Somehow the idea of a hermaphrodite creator god appears in Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, and it’s even suggested in the Bible. Egypt’s Tatenen; Agdistis of ancient Greece, Rome, and Anatolia; and the Sumerian Ninsianna, are typically viewed as androgynous or hermaphrodite beings who were somehow involved with creation or sustaining the world. And in chapter one of the Bible, where one version of the creation of mankind is described, the wording can be interpreted to say, ah, I need to think of exactly how the Hebrew is translated. It goes, basically, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.’ Many scholars point to that wording as meaning that Adam and Eve were created as a hermaphrodite, an idea that was very popular around that time, as shown by Plato’s dialogue, the Symposium, which was written about two hundred years after scholars believe chapter one of the Bible was written.

“And the same kind of hermaphrodite god appears in western Africa’s mythologies; for example, your mom mentioned that the creator god-goddess in Dahomean Vodou is a hermaphrodite. Could that idea have come from the Nile valley migrants? It’s possible. But the hermaphrodite idea may actually be universal, since it also appears in Norse mythology. My point is that there appear to be many ancient cultural ties which link the Middle East with western Africa.”

“Hmm. That gives me something to think about, so thanks. That may tie in with some thoughts I’ve been considering.”

Later, Tamara spoke to Nadine. She mentioned her conversation with Greta.

Nadine replied, “That’s a good background about our ancestral homeland, dear. So I spoke to Saja Hadad about their experiences in Benin and she told me that they’ve gotten in touch with a really strong community in southern Benin. It turns out that many residents there are descendants of some of the nobility, as it were, in the Kingdom of Dahomey. Those groups live in villages around Abomey, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and they have a very strong community.

“When she told her contacts there that she was working with a priestess from Haiti, they got very excited; it appears that they view the Haitians as their long-lost cousins, which I suppose we actually are. You know that they have an annual Vodou holiday celebration? It’s actually a national holiday.”

“Do they still follow the same rituals there, do you know?” Tamara asked.

“I’m not sure; some of the lwa that Saja mentioned have different names, but some names are closer. Our Haitian version is heavily influenced by Catholicism so there was some evolution, particularly in many of the Petwo rites, which are entirely Haitian.”

“Has she visited there?”

“She has. She told me about visiting two restored palaces; they’re now historical museums. There were about twelve palaces in the city but the other ten are in ruins now. I think the area would feel very much like Haiti now; French is the official language and Fon, Yom, and Yoruba have national-language status. Actually, she said that Fon is the one most widely spoken.”

“So she could still communicate okay?”

“Oh yes. She’s fluent in French and almost everyone in the cities speaks it—a little, at least. So she tells me that among the people she’s spoken to, they are all very interested in Haiti, particularly after the earthquake ten years ago. In fact, the Benin government sent a large contingent of aid workers back then. So I asked her, given the social problems now, if she thought that their government could help now somehow, like the peacekeepers the African Union arranged with the U.N. to send. She thought that it could be a possibility. So I’ll ask Gerston about that when we meet.”

They went on to discuss the Haiti project that Nadine was working on and how her collaborators and their students were coping with the social problems there.

Mid-May

In mid-May, Tamara heard from Denise that she and Kevin had accepted their Westphalia offers.

She told Tamara, “Gerston wants Kevin to be part of his institute; he’s offered Kevin a fellowship to study for his doctorate, and Kevin can use his connection with the Coris Foundation as part of his program. And I’ve been offered a full-ride for Westphalia’s MD-PhD program. I plan to do a psychiatry specialty plus do neuroscience research and they have a good neuroscience department there.”

“That’s great; then you’ll be our neighbors here. Westphalia’s only about ten miles from where my parents live. Are you gonna live on campus?”

“No, we’ll look for a house to rent; we don’t care for apartments and wouldn’t ever consider campus housing—don’t want to live with other students, actually. Not that we’re snobs or anti-social; we don’t want the distractions of carousing students. Here in Atlanta, we live in my mom’s house. Even when we lived in London, we had a row-house flat, nowhere near the universities we were attending. So what are your plans this summer? We’re planning to move up there in July so if you’re around, we can see each other.”

“Wow, nice. Mom and I plan to go to Haiti in June. It’s part of her research project for the Columbia Institute, and my own part is economic development there. We’re meeting with President Gerston—remember the agreement we made at the knighthood ceremony? We’re gonna get some details settled with him and the State Department.”

“You go, girl! So you’ll be back in July then.”

“That’s the plan. I’m involved in setting up two companies to handle the development of my inventions and the lawyers are busy with real estate people for good locations for them ... say, Peter’s grandfather is in real estate and his outfit found my parents’ home. He really ‘knows people.’ as they say—he has good connections. I’ll give you his contact info, unless you already know of someone.”

“We don’t, so that would be nice. Kevin was going to ask his North Carolina lawyer friend for suggestions, but checking with Peter’s grandfather sounds good to me.”

“And in August,” Tamara continued, “for most of the month, Peter’s whole family vacations at their family’s resort. It’s usually a big group that gets together and they’re totally fun.”

“Nudist resort, right?”

“Yep. Peter’s family are part owners and have a house and some cabins in the resort. The house is nice, it’s a four-bedroom with a huge great room. You mentioned that you guys went to a resort with Cindy, right?”

“Oh yeah. We sure did. And a lot of the ideas for the Avery Program came from those nudist resort visits.”

Tamara chuckled. “Now that’s a story I’d like to hear. Peter and Barbara would want to hear it too, in fact. I hope you can come to the resort for at least part of the time in August. Maybe even have Cindy and Tom visit too. We give special rates for close friends of the co-owners.”

“Yeah, I’m sure we can do that. Listen, I need to run, but Kevin and I’ll be in touch and let you know the details of when we’re moving.”

“Sounds good; congrats on your acceptances to Westphalia and I can’t wait till we can get together again.”

The following week was Tamara’s and Nadine’s meeting with Gerston. He had been amused when they had contacted him back in April to set up the meeting. His appointments secretary had come to him with Tamara’s request, so he had called her.

When she answered, he greeted her and asked, “I’ll bet you want to start collecting on our London agreement; am I right?”

“Yes, sir. And Mom will be putting in place the social and cultural piece of her Columbia Institute project and I’m doing my own economic part. We want you to do the political part, and Haiti’s a tough country, given its political past and current problems. That’s what we want to discuss. It might be good to include some State Department specialists on the area and maybe our OAS rep too.”

“That’s about what I figured; my sources tell me that you’re close to developing some commercial applications of your discoveries,” Gerston replied.

“True,” Tamara responded. “And the companies involved will be based in the good old U.S.A., just as you asked.”

He laughed. “Okay then. Payback time for me. I’ll get a group together for the third week in May, then. And you’re planning your Haiti visit in June, my note says.”

“That’s the plan. Later in the summer, when it’s hottest there, it’s not easy to get important work started and that time avoids the hurricane season.”

“Sounds good, Tamara. My staff will keep you and Nadine informed of the exact date and time and also of who’s coming. Is that it, then? I gotta go, my next appointment is here.”

“Sure, Mr Gerston, and thanks.”

She disconnected and continued to work on her presentation to the president and on the economic plan she was visualizing for Haiti.

When Tamara and Nadine arrived at the White House for their meeting, there were a number of familiar people and several people whom they hadn’t met. Evan Masters was there with a deputy, a person whom Nadine had met on other occasions. Tamara and Nadine had heard that a CIA representative would be there and Nadine wasn’t surprised to see that it was Wilbur Zane. As he told her when they greeted each other, he was now an assistant director in the Directorate of Analysis.

“You two are planning to go to Haiti and we’ve had reports of problems involving U.S. visitors there lately. State can fill you in,” he told her.

Commerce had sent a representative and the U.S. permanent representative to the OAS, Ambassador Jose Estrada, was present. The current U.S. ambassador to Haiti would attend by video. Nadine opened the meeting with a cultural presentation. She wanted to extend the work of her dissertation research, mothers teaching daughters about the mix of their culture’s social topics, into including ideas about entrepreneurship. She, together with a focus group from the Columbia Institute, had developed an initiative for sponsoring micro-loans and her primary mission on this trip was to plan methods to recruit manbos to serve as grant resource people. They would provide the information to their congregations on what the micro-loan program was all about and who to contact to apply for the loan.

She had also developed plans for a grass-roots educational initiative using Columbia Institute grant funds to support ten recent Haitian education graduates to recruit people in the countryside to develop a cadre of lay teachers to work in the outlying villages. These lay teachers would receive a small stipend and would teach children in the lower elementary grades about basic life skills. Most of those plans had been finalized; she had developed them together with collaborators from two Haitian universities and they had presented their plans during video consultations with the relevant Haitian ministries. This visit would mark the start of her field work with the faculty at the two universities which were collaborating in the project.