Free The Soul of the Matter by Bruce Buff Page A

more than time and decay.
    Sarastro, leader of The Commission, had no intention of dying, of dissipating until the weakest of breezes could destroy his form. It wouldn’t be enough for the heavens to remember him, to scream his magnificence. He intended to become the heavens, to provide the light to which others flocked, to create a haven for them within the eternal world he’d shape.
    Yet here he was, he of all people, almost shuddering from a dream of mortality. On the verge of immortality, a convergence of consciousness with the eternal on the horizon, and yet fear and doubt had crept in.
    Without question, it was time to act.

Chapter 15
    V iktor marched into Stephen’s office and flung himself down in the chair across from him. Perspiration dotted Viktor’s partially flushed, sun-worn face.
    â€œI expect Welch called and told you about the results of our little preliminary experiment,” Viktor said with irritation that bordered on indictment.
    â€œHe said that it was a success, though not without the expected rough spots.”
    â€œThat’s one way of putting it. Another is that we came close to severely damaging the reactor, alarmed a few of our staff, and raised a red flag to someone we were trying to keep in the dark. Other than that, it definitely was a resounding success,” Viktor said sarcastically.
    â€œWhat I heard was that you validated the theories, collected the data you needed, and that you’re in a good position for next week’s tests. I’d say that’s pretty good for a first run.”
    â€œAren’t you concerned about what news of our work could unleash?”
    â€œOf course I am, Viktor. But from what I understand, there wasn’t much for people to put together. And you told them this was just an issue with calibrating a new reactor,” said Stephen. “So what’s really bothering you? You didn’t charge over here just to talk about things I know you can easily handle yourself.”
    Narrowing his eyes, Viktor said, “I need real answers. The ambiguous ones you’ve given before won’t do any longer. We all have a lot of skin in this game and I’d like to keep mine from getting burned.”
    Stephen clasped his hands behind his head while leaning back inhis chair. He had good reasons for withholding information from Viktor. Until Stephen knew all that he was dealing with, he had to limit what people knew to the barest minimum, and sometimes what they had been told wasn’t completely true.
    Welch was one of the few who knew more, most of it true. Stephen had met Welch through Alex. After Alex’s death, Stephen had shared some of the physics insights with Welch.
    Welch was a good choice because he knew the latest research, both public and classified, and had access to equipment to test aspects of the theories in small ways without attracting attention. At times this included unauthorized use of top-secret government facilities. Another thing was that Stephen knew from discussions they’d previously had that Welch believed that the universe was the work of divine providence. Stephen used this to both interest Welch and ensure his confidentiality by telling him that Stephen and Alex had been working together on the relationship between the laws of physics and the origin of human life.
    For now, the less Viktor knew, the better. Still, Stephen had to tell Viktor something more now to satisfy him for a while longer.
    Straightening, Stephen said, “Viktor, have you ever thought that maybe, given all your concerns, we’re protecting you ?”
    â€œI don’t care about protection. I want to make sure everything we do is for the right purpose. You haven’t lived through the things I have, where scientific advances were used to destroy and subjugate. The world was the emigration of a few scientists away from being dominated by an atomic-armed Nazi Germany,” Viktor said