Authors: Christopher Forrest
Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #Historical, #Science Fiction, #Genetic Engineering, #General
The Genesis Code (11 page)
Dr. Joshua Ambergris’ Residence
Uptown Manhattan, New York
Shafts of sunlight thrust through the windows of the dining room, leaving distorted squares of light on the wood floor as Arakai crept across the dining room to the kitchen. Ambergris’ housekeeper was blissfully ignorant of Arakai’s presence. Her back was turned as she merrily scrubbed the kitchen sink with a sponge, softly whistling the theme music from
Jeopardy
. The scent of lemons filled the air.
Arakai crept up behind the middle-aged woman, moving silently, until he was close enough to see the individual gray hairs on the back of her head. He now brandished a Taser, having placed the knife back in its hidden scabbard.
The impact of the Taser bolt against the housekeeper’s back came just a fraction of a second before the first surge of electricity traveled down the thin wires connecting the bolt to the Taser. She cried out in surprise and her back arched involuntarily.
The pink sponge fell from her numb fingers and bounced once on the kitchen floor.
“You simply must stop that whistling,” said Arakai.
The air crackled and popped with ozone as Arakai held down the trigger on the Taser. Arakai calmly began counting.
“One, two, three…”
When he reached five, Arakai released the trigger, terminating the flow of electricity, and took a step to one side.
The woman’s stiff body swayed forward, then back, before crashing to the tile floor, collapsing in a heap of rubbery limbs as her muscles unlocked. The fingers on her left hand twitched twice, and then were still.
Arakai stepped over the pile of housekeeper on the floor and turned off the warm water running in the kitchen sink. He inhaled deeply, fond of the fresh scent of lemons.
Now that we’ve finished that untidy bit of business, Dr. Ambergris, let’s see where you keep your private things.
Quiz’s Office
Subbasement, Millennium Tower
Manhattan, New York
Quiz cracked the knuckles on his left hand. He rubbed the fatigue from his eyes and popped open another Diet Coke.
“Can I have one of those?” asked Grace.
Reluctantly, Quiz plucked another can from the mini-fridge beneath his desk and handed it to Grace.
“Keep going,” said Madison, gesturing at the computer screen. The next entry in Dr. Ambergris’ journal was dated March 10.
10 March—
As I continue my journey through the mind of my father, reflected and preserved in the treasured volumes of his private library, I am struck now by the vivid recollection of words he often spoke to me when I was a boy, words of simple yet enduring wisdom that, perhaps as a consequence of my limited perspective, failed to make a proper impact on the world of my youth.
My father often said: “A written word is the choicest of relics, something at once more intimate with us and more universal than any work of art. It is the work of art nearest to life itself. It may be translated into every language, and not only be read but actually breathed from all human lips; not be represented on canvas or in marble only, but be carved out of the breath of life itself.”
I find these words of my father to be of particular importance as I contemplate the writings of the
Book of Enoch,
an ancient, fragile copy of which was preserved in a thin folio in the heart of my father’s library.
The
Book of Enoch
is a ancient Hebrew religious text, banned from inclusion in the Christian Bible by those early leaders of the Christian church who took control of Christianity’s doctrinal reins at the Council of Nicea. Why, you may wonder, was it banned? Enoch is a biblical figure, mentioned more than once in the Book of Genesis, one of two men taken up bodily into the presence of God, ascending into Heaven without dying. Because Enoch was enraptured, or translated bodily, into Heaven, he became the center of an apocalyptic tradition among Hebrew cabalists and early Christians.
As I have written before, I believe that there are, hidden in the ancient writings and myths of man, many cryptic references to scientific concepts far beyond the understanding of their authors, references repeated without comprehension, preserved from their original source now lost in the mists of antiquity. The
Book of Enoch
contains such references.
According to the
Book of Enoch,
the Archangel Gabriel imparted to Enoch knowledge of the secrets of creation and the cycles of events on the earth. Enoch was instructed by God to inscribe this knowledge and give the inscriptions, written in the handwriting of God, to his children so that they would be handed down from generation to generation.
I can only conclude that the “handwriting of God, inscribed for Enoch’s children to be handed down from generation to generation” is a cryptic reference to the inscription of a message in the human genome, to be passed down through successive generations.
The
Book of Enoch
also describes a “chart” that God put on earth and ordered that “it be preserved, and that the handwriting of thy fathers be preserved, and that it not perish in the Deluge which I shall bring upon thy race.”
If I accept that the term “handwriting of God” is a primitive reference to the human genetic code, then the “handwriting of thy fathers” must refer to the genes of our ancestors.
Madison’s thoughts raced uncontrollably. His sharp intellect considered the possibilities and ramifications of Ambergris’ rambling journal entries and staggering assertions.
“So what does Ambergris mean?” asked Quiz.
“He’s saying that a message to humanity from God is hidden in our DNA.”
Quiz’s Office
Subbasement, Millennium Tower
Manhattan, New York
The trio continued reading.
12 March—
There are other considerations. The human genome is packaged in twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. The number twenty-three does not appear to have any special significance. It is actually a bit surprising that humans don’t have twenty-four chromosomes. Chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas all have twenty-four.
Geneticists have determined that the reason humans only have twenty-three chromosomes is that two ape chromosomes are fused together in humans. The second biggest human chromosome, chromosome two, is actually a fusion of two medium-sized ape chromosomes.
Pope John Paul II has argued that between ancestral apes and modern humans, there was an ontological discontinuity, a point at which God injected a human soul into animal evolution. Maybe this divine jump forward was manifested by the fusion of two ape chromosomes.
Can we see a reflection of the human soul in our DNA?
If we look with fresh eyes, will we find a gene for the human soul hidden in our genome, perhaps hiding in the winding proteins of chromosome two?
An alarm on Quiz’s computer chimed and text scrolled up the screen.
<< SECURITY ALERT >>
<< Priority: Alpha >>
<< All security personnel are directed to immediately >>
<< conduct a level-one search of all facilities. >>
<< Lockdown in effect until further notice. >>
“We’d better go,” said Madison, trying to keep his voice calm. “Quiz, can you keep reading these journal entries? I’ll check in with you as soon as I can.”
“No problem,” said Quiz. “You better get back to your floor. Don’t want to get Crowe mad at you.”
“Yeah,” said Grace. “No kidding.”
Dr. Joshua Ambergris’ Residence
Uptown Manhattan, New York
Arakai located Dr. Ambergris’ study on the second floor of the brownstone. It was large, running the entire width of the residence, and lavishly furnished.
In one corner stood a large marble sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. In one hand, Gabriel brandished a sword, raised high above his head. In the other, he held a small, delicate flower. Rembrandt’s
The Angel and the Prophet Balaam
hung in a gilded frame on a mahogany-paneled wall. Next to the Rembrandt, a boyish angel smiled at Arakai from a Caravaggio painting,
Amor Victorious.
Ambergris’ enormous desk occupied a large portion of the far end of the study. Two large windows allowed sunlight to filter into the otherwise darkened room. The contents of the room reflected Ambergris’ eccentric nature.
And his father’s,
thought Arakai.
Books lined the shelves of floor-to-ceiling bookcases along two walls of the study in sufficient numbers to seed a small library. Arakai paused to scan the titles of several leather-bound tomes.
THE BOOK OF ENOCH.
SEFER YETZIRAH.
TABULA SMARAGDINA, The Emerald Tablet
.
KITAB SIRR AL-KHALIQA WA SAN’AT AL-TABIÀ, The Book of the Secret of Creation and the Art of Nature.
Arakai’s eyes were drawn to the oak-paneled wall behind the mahogany desk that once belonged to Ambergris’ grandfather.
There’s more to this study than meets the eye, isn’t there, Dr. Ambergris?
A large framed rendering of Mayan bar-and-dot numeric hieroglyphs hung on the wall.
Ah, yes.
Arakai focused his attention on the Mayan rendering and removed Ambergris’ electronic key card from his pocket. He ran a finger along the top of the picture frame.
Here we are.
The frame pivoted away from the wall, hinged along its left side. Behind it was a metal plate with a small slot, just the right size for an electronic key card.
Americans and their electronic toys.
Arakai inserted Ambergris’ electronic key card into the card reader recessed into the wall. There was a faint click. A small panel above the card slot slid open to reveal a numerical keypad.
Quiz’s Office
Subbasement, Millennium Tower
Manhattan, New York
Quiz ripped the plastic wrapper off another Twinkie and continued reading. The next entry in Dr. Ambergris’ research journal was dated March 25.
25 March—
A man much smarter than I once said that God does not play dice with the universe. After considerable reflection, I cannot accept the idea that a Supreme Being placed a hidden code within our DNA to convey a message to humanity. Appealing as the notion may be to those seeking solace or comfort in evidence of direct communication from our Creator, my rational mind must ultimately reject such a theory.
But there is no doubt that the Genesis Code does exist. I have as of yet been unsuccessful in my attempts to decipher the encrypted text built into the chemical structure of our genome. The question remains, who put it there and for what purpose?
The cryptic references to DNA and genetics in ancient Hebrew texts remain. I believe that Hebrew scholars of old were simply reciting fragments of advanced scientific knowledge that were beyond their ability to understand during the age in which they lived. I am expanding my review of ancient literature to include studies of writings of other ancient cultures. I have already found references in Mayan mythology and Egyptian texts similar to those in the
Sefer Yetzirah
.
I predict that the encoding of advanced scientific concepts in primitive ancient narratives will be a common theme among many of our oldest civilizations.
But if God was not responsible for the Genesis Code, who was? There is another hypothesis that warrants consideration.
Several decades ago, mathematician Johann von Neumann proposed the idea of a self-reproducing machine that would scour the universe for the existence of life.
What did von Neumann mean when he said self-reproducing? Imagine an apparatus that takes off from earth and heads for the nearest sun, Proxima Centauri. The apparatus has computers and sensors to detect the existence of planets orbiting around any stars it encounters. It finds a planet and lands, looking for signs of life. Finding none, robotic devices on board the apparatus scavenge metals and chemicals from the planet’s surface.
It may take centuries, but the von Neumann apparatus builds a complete copy of itself and repairs or replaces any parts damaged during its landing on the planet. Now there are two von Neumann machines. They both take off and search for other planets. Over tens of thousands of years, the machines multiply and spread across the galaxy, searching for life.
Von Neumann was well ahead of his time, but his ideas are not inconceivable. In the future, nanotechnology could produce a machine capable of performing the functions von Neumann proposed. But why send machines into space when there is a much simpler way of accomplishing the same goal?
DNA is an organic, self-reproducing apparatus that already exists in nature. There is no need to build a von Neumann machine. The mechanism necessary to accomplish his goal already exists in the form of DNA.
Each cell in an organism contains the complete DNA necessary for reproducing the entire organism. So why use complex machine technology when microscopic DNA can do the same thing? Strands of engineered DNA could spread throughout the universe in the same fashion as a von Neumann machine. We could sow the galaxy with DNA in the same way a farmer sows his fields with seeds. Some of the DNA would find planets with chemical compounds suitable to allow the DNA to replicate itself.
Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick proposed that an alien civilization might have launched microorganisms into space hundreds of millions of years ago, spreading them throughout the universe and sowing the cosmos with life. Within the engineered DNA of these organisms, our hypothetical alien civilization could have encoded messages, or even an entire universal language, to pass on their knowledge to other civilizations.
When these genetic messengers encountered life, they could insert the Genesis Code into its DNA, much in the same way that gene therapy inserts new sequences of genes into the DNA of living patients. The messages hidden in the Genesis Code would be preserved and passed on from generation to generation, awaiting discovery by intelligent life.
Is this the origin of the Genesis Code? A truly ancient message delivered to us across time and space? A communication from a distant civilization?
Quiz picked up the phone and dialed Madison’s extension. Five rings passed before Madison’s voice mail picked up.
“You’ve reached Christian Madison. I’m either on another call or away from my desk…”
Why isn’t Madison back in his office?
Quiz waited impatiently for the beep.
“Christian, it’s Quiz. Call me as soon as you get this message. You’re not going to believe this.”
