CHAPTER 15
Claudia and the Professor made their way back to the main house. They stayed huddled together and avoided the others. Reaching inside his tweed coat, he handed her his handkerchief. Staying firmly in his arms, she thanked him and dabbed the moisture from her eyes. They took a different route and came to a side door, near the rear of the large house. The Professor keyed a code into an electronic lock and they entered. They traveled down an old hallway until they reached another door. It was the inner sanctum, a library that contained every paper, every work ever written about or by, Albert Einstein. The Professor typed in a code on an electronic keypad and the thick door opened.
A deep polished cherry wood lined the room and traveled from the floor to the fourteen foot ceiling that defined the study. The edge of the ceiling was bordered with a hand carved etching that matched the dense wood paneling. In the center of the ceiling was an ornate brass fixture, an antique light that years before had been converted from gas to electricity. A large desk centered the room. Across from it was a small table with four chairs. Lining the walls were bookshelves built into the wall and stuffed with scientific books and papers.
The Professor held out a chair for Claudia.
“Please, sit.” He gestured with outstretched hands in a circular motion. “This is our Einstein collection. Everything ever written, all his personal papers. What is not original, are copies that we obtained from his estate.”
Claudia looked around the room, nodded and took the chair. She was still numbed by the Professor’s disclosure.
“How can you be sure that I am an Einstein?”
“Always the scientist.” He smiled, and gently touched the back of her head. “We did blood tests, right after you were born. When the technology became available to us we did DNA testing and compared it with samples of his. The test results established with a 99.8% certainty that Albert Einstein is your great grandfather.”
Claudia accepted the statement and focused on a collection of bound essays. “I don’t think I have ever seen these,” she said.
“They were written in German. We had them translated and put into these bound volumes.”
Claudia rapidly scanned several of the documents as he spoke. She paused for a moment to think and looked at the Professor.
“This is an impressive facility. But where do you find the money to operate it?”
“A group of wealthy Swiss pacifists set up a foundation at the behest of Professor Einstein. The money they originally funded has grown exponentially, following the expansion of our modern economy.” He smiled. “Swiss bankers are very good at what they do. You may have noticed that modest trust check you receive every month is never late.”
“It comes from this place?”
“Yes. We only told you it was from your parents. The foundation that funds this will someday make you an extremely wealthy young lady… should you choose.”
Claudia did not raise an eyebrow at the mention of the fortune. Money had never been a motivating factor in anything Claudia Kohl thought about or did. Money was a tool, a way to feed a family, have a roof over one’s head. It would never be her god.
She pondered his revelations. “But what about this group, this ‘Committee’ that you spoke of? How did it come into existence?”
The Professor walked around the desk, pulled a chair in place and sat opposite her. “The Committee was formed at the behest of your great grandfather.”
“Great grandfather. I love the sound of that word,” she purred.
“Yes,” he smiled. “But as I was saying, Professor Einstein formed this Committee because he cared a great deal about the future of his fellow humans, this world we live in.”
“There was a lot written about his altruism,” she added.
“Yes,” he said. “And he came to realize the futility of mankind; how wars attracted the uneducated, the base elements of society. He called them ‘moral inferiors,’ drawn to the simplicity of violence.”
Claudia nodded. “The Middle East.”
“Exactly,” he said. “And when Einstein saw how the work of scientists could be channeled into weapons of mass destruction, this Committee was secretly formed. As I mentioned, he raised the money through some wealthy Swiss pacifists.” He gestured at the walls around him. “All of this… Its sole purpose is to protect major changes in the elemental laws of physics.”
“My treatise,” she said.
“Yes,” he said. “Every couple of centuries a Galileo, a Newton, an Einstein comes along and turns the laws of physics on its head… And you have done it.”
“Uncle Rodney, stop it,” she said, embarrassed by his comment.
“You know it’s true.”
“But why all the secrecy? And why can’t it be used for the benefit of all mankind?”
“It can. And it will. That is the purpose of The Committee, your great grandfather’s goal to benefit mankind. But we need to maintain confidentiality so we control the process.”
“Process?”
“What we do with the treatise. How we put it into practical use.”
“The widgets – what the engineers do with my treatise,” she said.
“Correct, but the implications are much greater. Your treatise completes Einstein’s dream,” said the Professor. “One theory to govern the behavior of all matter: Yes?”
“Yes… and?”
The Professor picked up a paperweight off the desk and observed the detail of the polished rock. He thought for a moment before he spoke. “So what is the effect of what you have done?”
“Well it –”
He interrupted. “It is not just the power to level cities.” The elder physicist’s face turned grim. He returned the paperweight to the desk. “It is the power to destroy planets. In the hands of some renegade dictator or religious zealot –”
“Mankind is finished.” Claudia realized the significance of what he was saying.
“Precisely,” said the Professor. “And now you see. This is what we have come to fear. Unlimited energy gives us unlimited power and with it, the ability to destroy civilization. We, the scientists, must control it.”
The Professor sat quietly as Claudia scanned the documents. Her mind was rapidly digesting everything around her, four levels of thought all going at once. Underlying her scientific curiosity was anger, an anger she tried to suppress, but could not. She finally spoke.
Her face was red. “All those years…Why didn’t you tell me? Didn’t you think I had a right to know?”
He gently touched her shoulder. “You must understand –”
She pulled away from his touch. “There is no excuse. Growing up without an identity, you can’t imagine what it’s like. When I was little I dreamed of holidays, rooms crowded with my imaginary relatives. My cousins would chase me around the room. Doting aunts and uncles would fawn over me.”
“You’re foster parents were –”
“Wonderful. And I do appreciate what they did for me. I miss them. But that’s not the point. They weren’t me. Blood is thicker than water. Growing up, I read everything I could about Einstein. Now I know why. His blood runs through my veins.” She bowed her head. “I just wish I had known earlier.”
Blackstone knew it was time to leave. He stood.
“Perhaps you would like some time alone?”
“Yes, thank you.” Her voice was cold, but polite. She turned to the books in front of her.
He nodded and walked to the door. Grasping the knob, he turned to watch, his heart filled with her vision. Claudia was rapidly scanning a book, immersed in the text.
Science had been Rodney Blackstone’s passion for most of his adult life. He had never made time for children. When Claudia’s parents were killed, he focused his attention on this gifted young child, dedicating himself to her well-being. Watching Claudia grow up had been an integral part of his life. He loved her as much as any father could love a daughter. As he looked at her, his heart pounded, filled with love and guilt for what he had done to this precocious young woman.
He turned the knob and quietly shut the door behind him.