CHAPTER 25

The remote location of the estate was something that had impressed the Committee when the original group first began its meetings. Discussions were candid, and the physical isolation of the estate gave these first members a sense of freedom, a place where no one worried about their respective governments or a political group interfering with their work. The members all maintained their positions in academia and government, and each kept the existence of the Committee secret. The idea was to keep an eye out for any fundamental change in theoretical physics, the type of achievement that could turn the world around …or destroy it.

Like Einstein’s time dilation and relativity, the estate was a secret manifestation of the great physicist’s dreams, a thought experiment in how science could save the world. Not unlike the characters Claudia had admired in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, the idea was to assemble the best and the brightest in an isolated physical location. The scientists, not the politicians, would control what was done with their research. The Committee’s notion of world peace was forever intertwined with their concept of scientific achievement. At a time when the entire world was at war, these scientists gave each other hope for the future.

But it was not until Claudia came along that the Committee saw its first chance to truly change the world.

The financing for the estate had originally come from the elder patriarch of a Swiss bank, one of the world’s largest, who was an avowed pacifist. Bankers and industrialists made money from wars, but this man had a conscience. He joined forces with Einstein to make his dream a reality. Protected by the natural terrain of the Alps, Swiss neutrality in war had evolved from their many years of isolation, and their noncombatant status had become a given in world politics. Of more significance, the secret Swiss banking system gave tyrants the only place where they could safely hide their contraband cash. So the Swiss were protected and had remained neutral through both world wars.

At the request of Einstein and the Committee, the banker had quietly raised the money to purchase the estate. Further assuring a permanent isolation of the estate property, he surrounded the 160-acre tract with many square miles of rugged wilderness; a conservation easement the banker negotiated with the Swiss government, assuring the Committee that the forest surrounding the estate could never be developed or sold.

Distant jagged tips of snow-capped Alps formed a further wall around the estate, expanding the conservation easement with national forest lands. White and barren, the above-tundra peaks seemed to rise out of the dark green forest that enveloped their base. Seated in the center of a valley, the estate had been built on a natural plain, barren of trees and exposed to the sun for most days of the year. A labyrinth of hiking trails open to the public had evolved over time and threaded through the woodland around and above the estate.

It was these trails, and the public access, that gave the Committee’s security man his most concern.

John was several hundred feet beyond the gatehouse, binoculars in hand, scanning the surrounding woods. On alert, he instructed the two men with him to drive around the property, checking with the other guards, looking for something out of the ordinary; any signs of potential trouble.

“See anything?”

Professor Blackstone startled John.

John put down the binoculars and faced his boss. The security man’s furrowed brow told the Professor he was worried.

“What are you doing here?” said John.

“We took a half hour break while the technicians finished setting up the remote lab. I decided to walk the grounds.”

John gestured at the gatehouse. “Lot of activity at the gate today.”

“Yes,” he said. “A lot of work is going into this experiment.”

“So why here?”

“What do you mean?” said the Professor.

“Why such a remote location? There are military bases all over the world that could guarantee the security of your work.” He opened his arms at the surrounding wilderness. “Anyone with half a brain could be watching everything we do.” He pointed, as the veins in his neck distended and his voice strained. “From there… and there, and there. We’d never have a clue they were watching us.”

“A military base would defeat everything that this place stands for,” said Blackstone.

“Which is what?”

“A permanent place of study, dedicated to furthering achievements in theoretical physics - and the prevention of weapons of mass destruction.”

“My God,” said John, “you’re working on bombs?”

The Professor laughed.

“No, precisely the opposite. You see, Dr. Einstein was an avowed pacifist most of his life. At least until the time the Nazis raided his beloved lakeside cottage in Caputh, Germany. Back then, the Hitler youth overran Germany, and excuses were thought up to raid his lakeside cottage.”

“I read somewhere after his pacifism days, he became a Zionist,” said John.

“Labels. It does not matter what we call it. What is important is an understanding of what takes place around us, here, in this special place. The mark of an intelligent human being is the ability to think. And that means the sense to change, where and when it is appropriate - a point our current political leaders seem to forget.”

“Look,” said Blackstone, “the Nazis even took his small but beloved sailboat from that cottage. We are talking about the world’s most respected scientist, one of the greatest men alive, being treated like a criminal. Nazi thugs also raided his apartment in Berlin, ransacked it more than once. Fortunately, friends were able to sneak his papers out through the French embassy.”

“The Germans arrested Einstein?”

“No,” said the Professor. “He was safe in the United States when the Nazis came to power in 1933. It was right about the time Hitler burned the Reichstag and took over.”

“But –”

“Einstein never gave up on his love of mankind. If you love mankind, ipso facto you must hate war. But love of mankind doesn’t mean you sit by when blonde haired hoodlums march your family off to extermination camps. Like an animal, you must react to violence. Sometimes that means you must fight to protect yourself and your family.”

“That I understand,” said John

“It was something Einstein understood.”

“This.” The Professor spread his arms. “Everything here… all of this was his dream. He wanted to create a process to protect fundamental changes in the study of physics, both before and after his death. He wanted to try and control the process. No more physics dedicated to the development of bigger and better weapons of mass destruction.”

He put his arm on John, the tenor of his voice grave. “That is where Claudia comes in. This place was built with the idea that someday, someone like her would come along. And now she is here. Young Claudia is the manifestation of everything Einstein ever dreamed of. And you must do everything in your power to protect her.”

John nodded. “I understand.”

“No you don’t,” he said. “Claudia has fundamentally changed the world as we know it. We must all die, if need be, to protect her. She is that important. I cannot tell you why or how, but be assured that we are talking about the survival of our species, mankind itself.”

John felt the gravity of what the elder physicist was telling him. He steeled himself, knowing the responsibility for Claudia’s welfare, and all of the scientists, was on his shoulders.

His face was grim as the Professor turned and headed for the lab.

“I won’t let you down, Professor.”

Without turning, Blackstone responded. “I know you won’t. Stay vigilant, John - and protect her at all costs.”

When Professor Blackstone left John, another pair of binoculars adjusted its focus, but this time the view was of the estate. Posted high above the compound in the mountains, they watched, camouflaged by the impenetrable green forest surrounding the estate. A four-wheel-drive road wound its way up to the remote space, an open area used primarily by hikers. There were in a parking spot that faced a marked trailhead. From this site, hikers would park their vehicles and begin the two and three day hikes into the surrounding tundra. Up and around, a maze of trails led over a snow-capped peak into a section of lakes on the opposite side of the range. Summers were the busiest, and today it was vacant except for the one vehicle.

A black SUV, silent and watching, sat on the trailhead, hidden in the dark thicket of coniferous trees.

***

Lucien sat behind the steering wheel as he trained his high powered binoculars on the estate gatehouse. Seated next to him was Mr. Hamid, quiet and still. They had been there for several hours, watching the traffic enter as the Committee prepare for Claudia’s experiment.

“Our friends seem a little busy today,” said Lucien, breaking the silence. He placed the binoculars on the dashboard.

Hamid turned to face his employer. “Then it is time? Should we contact the men and –”

“You must have patience, Mr. Hamid.” Lucien toyed with the binocular straps as he spoke. “It is not yet the time. Our source will tell us when the moment is right. Until then, we must sit here, be patient and watch …and wait.”

The errant physicist lifted his binoculars and returned to his surveillance.