“That’s not a difficult enough problem for God,” Saint Michael had responded. “God wants to know the extent of the zone of harmony in the hypersurface of creation parameters, plus all the mathematical characteristics of the zone. Besides, I don’t think you yet appreciate the scope of God’s problem. Only a minuscule fraction of all possible universes can end up harmonious. The natural outcome of the transformation of energy into matter is a universe with no life at all, or, at best, aggressive, temporary living creatures who are more destructive than constructive. Even a small region of harmony inside an evolving universe is a miracle. That’s why the whole enterprise.is such a challenge for God.” ^
Big Michael had then jumped up again. “What God is looking for-is a universe which, before it dies in the Big
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Crunch, has achieved total harmony. That’s not just every living species from every world working together for the mutual good, but every subatomic particle of His creation actively participating in that harmony. For a while, I myself couldn’t comprehend the full grandeur of this concept. Then Saint Michael told me about a species that makes living beings out of rock and dirt, as our biblical God did, by transmuting and rearranging the elements. Total harmony requires that advanced species like us use our technological tools to transform inanimate and nonliving things into creatures that contribute to the harmony.”
Nicole remembered that she had announced, at about this point in the conversation, that her mind was overloaded and she wanted to go to bed. Saint Michael had asked her to wait just a few more minutes so that he could summarize what he felt had been a slightly disorganized discussion. Nicole had agreed.
“Going back to your original question,” Saint Michael had said, “each of the Nodes is part of a hierarchical intelligence gathering information throughout this particular galaxy. Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, have a single superstation, which we call the Prime Monitor, located somewhere near their center. The set of Prime Monitors was created by God at the same moment the universe began and then was deployed to learn as much as possible about the evolutionary process. The Nodes, the Carriers, and all the other engineering constructs you have seen were in turn designed by the Prime Monitor. The entire activity, including what has been going on since the first Rama spacecraft entered your solar system years ago, has as its objective the development of quantitative criteria, for use by the Creator, that will enable subsequent universes to conclude in glorious harmony, despite the chaotic tendencies of the natural laws.”
Nicole had not been able to say anything for over a minute. “This conversation has been absolutely mind-boggling,” she had finally said, activating her wheelchair. “And now I am completely exhausted.”
But not so exhausted that I can sleep, she thought. How
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could anybody sleep after having had the purpose of the universe explained? Nicole laughed to herself in bed. / can’t imagine what Richard would have said after that discussion. A good theory, perhaps, but how does it explain the African dominance in the World Cup between 2140 and 2160? Or is the meaning of life no longer 42? She laughed again. Richard would have appreciated Saint Michael, no doubt, but he would have had hundreds of questions. We would have made love as soon as we returned to the room and then talked all night. . . .
Nicole turned over on her side. The ramifications of what she had heard that night were overwhelming. But was any of it really true? Nicole understood that she would never know for certain. // is a beauti/ul, stirring concept, she thought. As Nicole drifted off to sleep, visions of universes exploding into being danced in her mind’s eye.
9
N
I icole woke up refreshed and I with a surprising amount of energy. She started to push the button beside her bed, but decided against it. Instead she struggled into her wheelchair. She rolled over to the windows and pulled the curtains.
It was a beautiful morning outside. There was a little creek off to her left, and three children, probably between eight and ten years of age, were skipping stones across a small pool in the creek. As Nicole gazed out the windows at the perfectly simulated fields and trees and rolling hills, she felt temporarily young and full of life.
Maybe I should let them repair me after all, Nicole thought. Replace all my damaged and worn-out parts. I could live here, with Simone and Michael. Maybe I could even teach my great-grandchildren a thing or two.
The three children left the creek and raced across a green field to where the horses were enclosed. The boy ran the fastest, but he barely beat the smaller of the two girls.
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The trio laughed together and called the horses over to the fence.
“The boy is Zachary,” Big Michael said from behind her. “The two girls are Colleen and Simone. Zachary and Colleen are Katya’s children, Simone is Timothy’s oldest.”
Nicole had not heard him enter the room. She turned around in her wheelchair. “Good morning, Michael,” she said. Nicole glanced back at the window. “The children are all gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Michael said, walking over to the window. “I am a very lucky man,” he said. “God has granted me a fascinating life with unbelievable riches.”
They watched in silence as the children played. Zachary mounted a white horse and began to show off. “I was sorry to hear about Richard’s death,” Michael said. “Patrick told us the story yesterday. It must have been horrible for you.”
“It was,” Nicole replied. “Richard and I had developed such a wonderful friendship.” They faced each other. “You would have been so proud of him, Michael. He was a different man in his last years.”
“I suspected as much,” Michael said. “The Richard I knew would never have volunteered to place himself in jeopardy, especially to save the lives of others.”
“You should have seen him with his granddaughter Nikki, Ellie’s little girl. They were inseparable. He was her ‘Boobah.’ … He found tenderness so late in life.”
Nicole could not continue. A sudden heartache overwhelmed her. She drove over to the bedside table and took a drink from the bottle of blue liquid.
She returned to the window. Outside, the girls were now on horseback also and some kind of game was under way.
“Patrick told us that Benjy had grown into a fine adult,” Michael said, “limited in some ways, of course, but quite remarkable considering his basic ability and the long periods of sleep. He said that Benjy was a living tribute to your talents, all of them, and that you had worked with him tirelessly, never letting him use his handicap as an excuse.”
It was Michael’s turn to choke up. He turned to*Nicole with tears easing out of both of his eyes and placed his
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hands in hers. “There’s no way I can ever thank you enough for raising those two boys with such care. Especially Benjy.”
Nicole looked up at him from her wheelchair. “They are our sons, Michael,” she said. “I love them very much.”
Michael wiped his nose and eyes with a pocket handkerchief. “Simone and I want you to meet our children and grandchildren, of course,” he said, “but we both agreed that there was something we should tell you first. … We didn’t know exactly how you would respond. However, it would not be fair not to tell you, because otherwise you might not understand why the children are reacting—”
“What is it, Michael?” Nicole interrupted. She smiled. “You’re certainly having a hard time coming to the point.”
“I am indeed,” he said, crossing the room and pushing the button beside Nicole’s bed twice in rapid succession. “Nicole, what I am about to say is a bit delicate. . . . Remember last night, when we told you that both Simone and I had alien companions?”
“Yes, Michael,” Nicole said.
“Look outside,” he said after a moment’s hesitation. “There’s someone I want you to see.”
Michael came over beside Nicole and took her hand. She stared out the window. A woman in her late forties, athletic, with dark copper skin, had left the house and was walking quickly toward the horse compound. Both the woman’s figure and her gait seemed familiar to Nicole. The children saw the woman, waved, and came toward her on their horses.
Nicole watched Zachary yell the woman’s name and suddenly she understood. Nicole was thunderstruck. The woman named around briefly and Nicole saw herself, exactly as she had been when she had left the Node forty years earlier. It was difficult for her to keep her emotions under control.
“It was you that Simone missed the most,” Michael said, acknowledging the look of astonished recognition on Nicole’s face. “So it was only natural that the aliens fashioned a companion for her from your image. She is a remarkable