Free The Omega Theory by Mark Alpert

They could transmit thousands of gigabits a second. Jacob could send the entire contents of the Library of Congress through those cables in less than a minute.” Bennett shook his head again. “I sensed that something was wrong. That Jacob was hiding something, a completely different research project. So I asked him straight out: ‘Jacob, are you diverting the grant money from its intended purpose?’ He got very upset and denied it vociferously. And though I had my doubts, I took him at his word. Because I liked him, you see. And I felt sorry for him.”
    “Then what happened?” Lucille asked.
    “I noticed more odd things in the report he submitted last fall. And he missed the deadline for building his next prototype, a quantum computer with twenty-four ions. I was almost certain by then that Jacob was working on something else. But I couldn’t prove it. I tried talking to one of his lab assistants, but she couldn’t tell me much. Jacob kept everyone in the dark.”
    Monique, who was still sitting on the edge of the desk, tapped her index finger against her lips. “Maybe Jacob changed his strategy. Instead of developing a more advanced quantum computer, could he have been building an array of simpler prototypes? With one quantum computer at this lab and others at different locations, all working together? That might explain the fiber-optic lines. Maybe the computers were exchanging data.”
    Bennett shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible.”
    David tried to picture it, a tidal wave of data coursing from one computer to another. Maybe that was why Jacob had called his project the Caduceus Array, naming it after the symbol of the Roman messenger god. An array of quantum computers and fiber-optic lines could certainly send a lot of messages back and forth. But how could this array do what Jacob had said the Caduceus Array had done—detect a rip in the fabric of the universe? “Do you think Jacob might’ve ventured into another branch of physics? Besides quantum computing, I mean?”
    “Excuse me?” Bennett looked askance.
    “When I saw Jacob yesterday he said the Caduceus Array had detected an anomaly in spacetime. Did he ever express an interest in doing that kind of research?”
    “No, I’m sorry. He never mentioned anything like that.” Bennett raised his right hand to his forehead. His face was slack. “All I can tell you is that I made a mistake. I should’ve stopped Jacob when I noticed the first irregularities in his work. But instead I stood by and did nothing. And now Jacob is dead and I don’t know why.” He raised his other hand to his forehead. His fingers ran through his hair, making it stand up in white clumps.
    Lucille got out of her chair and came toward him. Her expression softened a bit. “All right, the first thing we need to do is find out where Jacob was sending all that data. Where did he keep his records?”
    Bennett lowered his hands. He was breathing hard. “All of Jacob’s records were on his server, and that was destroyed in the explosion. But he was using the phone company’s trunk line. And they keep track of all the data traffic.”
    “Okay, we’ll check with them. And I want to see all your documents related to Jacob’s research.”
    He nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll contact my office and make sure you get everything.”
    Lucille turned away from him. David could tell she was thinking ahead, already planning the next step in the investigation. “We need to talk to whoever was receiving the data,” she said. “Because that person knows what Jacob was doing. Maybe we can find a name in one of the reports.”
    “I can give you one name right now.” Bennett’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper. “I’m not sure if it’s a real name, but . . .”
    Lucille spun around. “What?”
    “I . . . I mentioned earlier that I talked to one of Jacob’s lab assistants? I asked her confidentially if Jacob had been in touch with any other researchers. She