Quantum Times Read Online Free Page A

Mark paused again. He understood that he probably shouldn’t say anything. But he thought David’s help might be useful. “Sorry David, I can’t tell you anything. There is…nothing, I repeat nothing …I can tell you. You got that.”
         On the other end of the line, David smiled. “Yes Uncle Mark, I got that.
         Mark said again, “You come up with anything, you call me!”
         “I got that too….Say hello to my favorite aunt.”
         “I will. Come see us soon.”
         Jake looked back at Mark when Mark ended the call. “What was that all about?”
         “That was my nephew. He writes science based stories for newspapers, including The Washington Post. He’s been assigned to write about The Object. Normally I wouldn’t have said anything to him, but David is a brilliant kid – I guess he’s not a kid any more, I think he’s about 33. Anyway, although he dropped out of his doctoral program in Physics from Columbia, it wasn’t because he wasn’t smart enough. I think he was just too ADD. He was the kind of kid whose teachers were always writing on his report cards that he should be doing better. He likes bouncing around, chasing whatever he finds interesting at the moment. But he is tightly connected to the physics community including a recent Nobel winner who he co-wrote a book with. David has the ability to not only understand theoretical physics but he can explain it so that ordinary people can understand it.  My guess is before we’re done with The Object we are going to be exploring a whole new world of physics – and I want all the help I can get!”
         Jake just shook his ahead again, “This is not good! This is not good at all!”
     
     
     
     
     
     
         The Alien looked up at the sign that was obviously meant to be a location identifier. “Times Square” it read. It had taken a little while for him to realize that signs like that one were location aids. It was so primitive yet apparently necessary even in this city that he had been briefed was one of the great cities of this world. Once again he was surprised at how greatly the technology at use on this planet varied. Some of the technology here was quite advanced, especially in certain nations; while in other nations people lived as they would have a thousand years earlier.
         Without question he thought that to understand the civilization and culture of any new world one had to commingle with the people, walk the ground they walked, watch their daily habits. In no other way could one truly assess the dangers and recognize the opportunities. It was one thing to observe and study from their low space orbit, quite another to mingle among them. This was why he was now out walking the streets of New York City while others like him were in other major cities around the world.
         Though he had worried that his costume and cosmetic adaptations might be inadequate, now he no longer worried. Just here on this busy corner he observed humans looking far more diverse to each other than his deviation to their norm. As he became more comfortable in his surroundings he found he liked the frenetic busyness of it all. The noise and clamor, the roaring traffic, the frantic racing about of all the yellow vehicles, and the pedestrians hurrying around to fulfill personal missions, all left him with a sense of visiting back in the history of his own home planet. It must have once been like this, he thought.
         As he walked he noticed the sky darken and the city transform to a blaze of lights but there was no loss of energy or dynamism. The mood of the humans he watched had changed slightly from the daytime but whether they were happier or not, he could not tell. He wondered if these “New Yorkers” were any different from the people in smaller American cities or towns. Would people in Beijing or Moscow be the same? There was so much they needed to learn for their mission to be