Perturbation Theory
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
He wasn’t a big man, especially for a Russian, just under six feet tall and fairly thin. His brown curly hairline was receding slightly, but he wasn’t worried about that just now. It was the recent great difficulty he had sleeping that concerned him the most ever since the weird event that happened just over the last week. The whole thing was a blur that his mind couldn’t resolve, and it was affecting his behavior. And to top it off, his brother was missing! Not that he had any great love for Tomas, but, after all, he was his brother. And now they…his military superiors, wanted to meet with him in the strangest of places. Why here in the middle of nowhere? Had they found Tomas? Was he alive or was the news bad?
It was dark and cold, typical of an early winter’s evening in Saint Petersburg. Despite his warm coat, he shivered noticeably as his eyes scanned the dark sky searching for anything to take his gaze off of the full moon. He knew it was that very moon that was keeping him awake at night even when he couldn’t see it with his eyes. It was talking to him in a low whisper only he could hear. How could that be?
Help me! Help me! were the words his mind could understand. When he looked directly at the moon, the words became louder and more rapid. It was as if the moon could see him the same as he could see the moon! The voice sounded exactly like that of his missing brother. Tomas had a unique way of clearing his throat while he spoke and that sound punctuated the voice that he heard.
Or, he wondered whether he was just losing his mind? Once again he had begun to question his own sanity. He had recently taken influenza shots, but that couldn’t be the reason…could it? He was completely lost as his mind searched for acceptable answers to his many questions.
Suddenly, through the icy darkness he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Soon he realized that the military boots crushing the newly fallen snow were those of Captain Kulikov and one of his aides. They greeted him as friends would greet a friend, so the man relaxed.
But before he could extend his hand in greeting, there was a sound behind him and suddenly all went black!
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Two Russian scientists in an underground laboratory in Saint Petersburg and American scientists aided by robots onboard an orbiting laboratory named Spacelab are racing to develop a class of virus capable of reading the memories locked in the brains of newly dead humans. In the course of the highly classified American effort, a former student of the lead American researcher discovers that certain of these viruses are capable of communicating with each other over great distances. Serious problems begin when the brains of living humans on both sides including two Russian cosmonauts, the lead American scientist and a United States senator are voluntarily and involuntarily exposed to the research viruses. They begin to hear unexplained voices communicating in their heads. After a Russian cosmonaut is observed onboard Spacelab and subsequently disappears, the Russians and Americans are forced to combine forces when it appears that an alien presence on the moon might be the root of all of their problems.
About the Author
James Wollrab holds a chemistry Ph.D. from Stanford, played professional baseball, and has published over fifty scientific papers, a book on microwave spectroscopy, and ten novels based on the French and Russian Revolutions, the War of 1812, and the Battle of Troy. Now he probes the world of science fiction.