Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (epub e ink reader TXT) 📕

“A word of advice,” Lindsey offered. “Next time you decide to wander off into the jungle with a billionaire, please tell your mother.”

“The poor woman,” Jennifer replied. “She was so worried I would walk into something stupid with Mulder.” She fell silent for a second. “I guess she was right. But anyway, what do you all think about Mulder? I mean, the man was brilliant, full of life and always on the verge of discovery. Do you believe he’s dead? I mean, you all heard the voice.”

“The countdown, you mean?” Bishop asked.

“Yeah, the countdown.”

“That could just as easily have been recorded,” Lindsey explained.

“Sure, I know that, but somehow it didn’t sound recorded. I can’t explain it.”

“The man was crazy,” Ignatowski stated. “Brilliant but crazy. He abducted you and his assistant, came up with some bogus kidnappers, the um....” He thought for a moment. “The Young Earth Movement. And let’s not forget the worst of all. He kidnapped hundreds of people, ripped them from their homes, and sent them to another planet. Really, how crazy can you be?”

“But is he dead?” Monroe rubbed his chin. “That’s the question.”

Bishop gazed into nothingness for a short moment, doubting if he should tell them what he saw. After a moment, he snapped out of it. “Maybe we’ll never be sure.”

“Who knows,” Monroe replied. “Maybe he did get on board one of the rockets at the last moment. Or perhaps he had a secret hiding place in the area after all. He was a man of many mysteries. So, maybe we will see him again sometime, maybe on Mars or maybe at Costco’s.”

The group laughed out loud.

“You know what I’m still curious about?” De Cremonese asked. “What was Eldin Mulder so afraid of that he would go to any lengths to colonize another planet?”

“The extinction of humankind on Earth,” Ignatowski answered. “You heard him say it himself.”

“Sure,” De Cremonese said, “but, say what you will about Mulder, he was an extremely intelligent man. He would not have done this without careful deliberation. He must have had proof of some kind.”

“A man like Mulder doesn’t need proof,” Lindsey replied. “Sure, he was intelligent, but he was also impulsive, and he often started projects he couldn’t finish and named deadlines for his projects he seldom made.”

Bishop chuckled. “Maybe. But did you know that 99 percent of all species that ever lived on our planet are estimated to be extinct already? Extinction is part of the natural process. Happens all the time. Natural selection replaces species regularly with the survivors, newly evolved species. So, in this case, why not Artificial Intelligent species?”

“Humankind being replaced by computers?” De Cremonese asked. “Like in science fiction books?”

“Actually, it’s not as unlikely as you may think,” Jennifer stated.

“Earth has already witnessed five mass extinctions, and the current rate of extinction is higher than would be expected from fossil records. Scientists argue that we’re already in the midst of the next human-made, sixth extinction.”

Lindsey squinted. “I thought extinctions happen through volcanoes and meteorites.”

“Until now, they did,” Bishop replied. “But did you know that on June 14, 2016, the Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat officially became the first mammal species to be declared extinct as a consequence of human-caused climate change? So, even without AI, humans are contributing to the next mass extinction by poaching, overharvesting, habitat destruction and the introduction of non-native animals wherever we deem necessary. Plastic debris has already been found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. That’s thirty-six thousand feet, the deepest point in any ocean of the world. Not to mention pollution, pathogens and the introduction of new viruses all the time. Look at what COVID-19 did to the world. It’s up to the upcoming generations to keep everything under control and to our generation to show them where we possibly went wrong.”

“All right, professor.” Monroe rose from his chair. “That’s enough lecturing for now. Enough with the doom and gloom for a second.” He took a bottle of champagne from the floor next to his chair and opened it. The loud pop of the bottle echoed widely throughout the library. He skillfully filled the glasses and handed them out. “I would like to propose a toast.” They all raised their glasses. “To Jennifer. Strange enough, without you, we wouldn’t be here with old and new friends.”

“To Jennifer,” everyone called out before drinking.

“So, what do you think, Father?” Bishop asked De Cremonese. “Did you change your mind along the way, or do science and religion still go hand in hand?”

De Cremonese grinned while the talk around the table silenced, everyone listening attentively for his answer. “I think that the debate about science versus religion will go on for a long time and that the opportunistic media will use it to their advantage wherever they can. But I also still believe that the answer to that question was already given over four hundred years ago by Galileo Galilei when he said, ‘the Bible teaches you how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.’”

—-MORE TO COME SOON—-

But... don’t stop here. Please keep reading for more, including our Bonus Content—not just one, but two Special Sneak Previews:

ATACAMA by Burt Clinchandhill

and

BLOOD OR LOYALTY by Adam Miller

Interview with the Author

Feathered Quill reviewer Amy Lignor talked with Burt Clinchandhill, author of the “Matthew Bishop” series.

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FQ: Mr. Clinchandhill, per your biography, you are a Dutch-born author. Can you tell readers a bit about when you wrote your first story and how the passion for writing first came about in your life?

CLINCHANDHILL: As a kid in the seventies and eighties, in my teens, I was intrigued by a British TV show called ‘Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected’. Fantastic stories told in half an hour that always had a surprising ending. I felt those were the kind of stories I wanted to tell, so I started writing short fantastic stories, which I – of course – felt were pretty good. Unfortunately, none of those words survived, and we'll never know if, indeed, they were any