Seven Point Eight Read Online Free

devoted to the church. Identified early as a child prodigy with an aptitude for science, your father guided you accordingly. After graduating with a first class degree in physics, you lost your fiancée in a World War II blitz and immersed yourself in a PhD, studying the quantum world.”
    Paul gripped his briefcase tightly, still cautious.
    “I commend you on your research skills, Mr. Richardson.”
    He pushed on the oak door and exited the lecture theatre, so Max followed.
    “You have a religious background,” Max continued as they walked down a corridor, students milling around them. “Your view of the cosmos is tinged by childhood ideologies of God, and in your lectures, you have expressed a desire to find Him in the cosmological equation. However, you profess the advancement of science is the single most important quest for mankind. How do you reconcile these…antitheses?”
    Paul gave a simple and concise answer. “I don’t.”
    They halted in the corridor, as Max’s words touched a raw nerve and Paul decided to hear him out.
    “Have you ever had the opportunity to discover something deeply spiritual in your research, your work?”
    Paul replied cynically. “Science does everything it can to disprove there is anything beyond the material world.”
    “I have been involved in scientific research that has placed me in a wealthy position, not the sort of work I can discuss freely. War creates the need to experiment, to bring about destruction of the enemy, to defend your country using whatever measures necessary. However, it has also placed me in a position to divert some funding to pose some philosophical and spiritual questions.”
    Paul listened intently, so Max continued.
    “I think you’re the man to undertake this. You have spiritual desire and enthusiasm, but also a scientific, enquiring mind that requires evidence. I’m the businessman, the shrewd investor. You’re the genius, the child prodigy, the anathema to this sterile, reductionist world. I agree, science would like to destroy God, but I believe it’s possible to prove the existence of the human soul, to comprehend consciousness, and to unite quantum reality with the realm of mysticism.”
    Paul stood facing him quietly. Max portrayed himself as some kind of philanthropist, but he wasn’t entirely convinced of his motives even though Max had allied himself with Paul’s frustrations and aspirations. He’d tempted him with the correct bait, and Paul considered allowing Max to reel him in.
    “Would this role be as a research fellow?”
    “Regard yourself as autonomous; you can prioritise the research within the boundaries of my objectives.”
    Paul laughed, without mocking the offer. “This sounds too good to be true.”
    “Maybe it’s your destiny.”
    He paused before firing off the next question.
    “What are the intended applications for this research? Or is it purely philosophical?”
    “In your lecture last year, you talked about electromagnetic fields and quantum particles. Maybe this is the form the soul takes…it could be the energy of existence itself. I want to understand this as much as you do, see how it slots into the bigger picture.”
    It did sound too good to be true. Was it worth quitting his job at the university to chase his research dreams? Max could be offering the chance to pursue something any physics graduate would grovel at his feet for, or he could be leading him astray to follow a pipe dream.
    “This is an outstanding opportunity, but I can’t just abandon my students. I could also spend the rest of my life working on this…there may be no results within your timeframe.”
    “Your work will be of immense importance,” Max insisted.
    He handed Paul a card.
    “I’ll be expecting your acceptance by telephone.”
    Paul clutched the card and watched Max walk away down the corridor, the potential of that opportunity hanging in the air. Glancing down, he saw a telephone number neatly typed on the card. Should