Chapter 9

13

Julia sagged back against the door, overwhelmed. She was unsure of what she believed anymore, of whether any of it really made any sense at all. Shaking her head from side to side, as if to clear it, she mumbled, "Connected. You were connected to my brother."

The professor again sagged against the countertop, looking exhausted. "Yes, Julia, we were connected. Not physically, but linked by the mechanism which allows us offer a glimpse into the future." Sarah appeared by his side, carrying one of the chairs from the table. The professor collapsed into it gratefully, seemingly unable to stand anymore. "Perhaps one day, if you wish, I might detail the process by which it happens. But, for this moment, let's simplify things."

The professor wiped his brow, as Sarah stood behind him, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. "Julia, what would you normally call someone who could claim to see the future?"

Considering for a minute, Julia finally answered, "In modern terms? A psychic, most likely. Or, if we were speaking of someone like Nostradamus, then perhaps a prophet."

The professor nodded, pleased. "And what about someone who could read minds?"

Julia responded, "Again, psychic might be used, though telepath would more accurate, depending on how well the ability is developed and measured."

The professor laughed, nodding. "Your mind is indeed a delight, Julia! I imagine that if I could sit here and read your mind, I would indeed qualify as a telepath! However, since I cannot, and yet I have shown that I can, in some cases, receive the thoughts and emotions of others and retain them, the term 'psychic' could indeed be applied!

"However, the point I was leading to is thus: given all that we have talked about to this point, and even using your own definition of psychic... can you infer a relationship between seeing the future and reading someone else's thoughts?"

Julia's brows furrowed as she considered the professor's question. Then suddenly, her eyes widened in surprise, as if she had just remembered something long forgotten. "Particles," she murmured, her eyes slowly returning their focus to the professor. "Particles... and receptors."

The professor clapped his hands together once, sharply, and beamed at her like a prize student. "Again, you've cut right to the heart of the matter, Julia! Well done!" The professor paused a moment, whispering to Sarah, who moved over to the breakfast table and poured a glass of juice, then brought it back to him.

That was the first time that Julia noticed that Sarah was no longer standing in a place that would impede her escape. If she chose to, she could be around the island section of the kitchen and out the swinging door before either the professor or his wife could stop her.

And yet, she didn't move. The professor had engaged her intellect again, had used his questions to force her to examine all the information he had been sharing... and suddenly, she had seen something that might explain why the professor and his wife knew so much about her... and why the professor knew her brother's memories.

The professor sipped at his juice, giving Julia time to organize her thoughts further. When he finally set the glass down, he cleared his throat, then fixed Julia with a cold stare.

"You might be interested to know that, as an undergraduate, my major was Physics, but my minor was an interdisciplinary study of science, literature, and religion, specifically focusing on the relation between prophecy and its relation to scientific principle. You see, as a youngster, I became convinced that, in cases where prophecy actually came close to predicting actual events, there must be a correlation of scientific principle to explain it." The professor paused for a moment, tilting his head as if considering something. "I've already told you so much, that I might as well add this tidbit as well. I truly believe my mother was psychic, at least minimally. She could often predict things such as the weather, or downturns in fortune for members of the family that would happen with complete regularity. Some of our family thought she was placing a curse on them, but I always felt that she was seeing something the rest of us could not.

"If you take that assumption - that she could see or feel something that we could not - and use it as the basis for a theoretical model, you come to the question of how such a thing could occur. Obviously, if you ascribe a supernatural element to it, then people like my mother fall outside the realm of science, and their abilities are likely not to be replicated under scientific scrutiny in controlled conditions.

"However, my theory of how such things worked was always a bit different. Instead of supernatural origins, what if psychic ability was the result of a natural, biological phenomenon... something that could be studied and replicated over and over? What if the power to see the future was simply an ability to gather and interpret small subatomic 'kernels' of data that exist outside the normal time stream? What if the power to read minds is not an ability to actually reach into another's mind, but more of an ability to pull the constant stream of particles being expelled from someone else's brain into your brain? What if, in fact, those people who can accurately foretell the future or see other people's thoughts are actually just born with a gift... a part of their brain that is a naturally attuned receptor for the right kind of subatomic particles? It could explain why the ability is strong in some, but weak in others. It could explain how Nostradamus was able to see, however vaguely, into the far distant future and make predictions that some still see as being incredibly precognitive. It would put a subject that many believe belongs in the same category as UFOs and the Loch Ness Monster into a place of respect and research in the scientific community."