54

It was Showalter who made the initial breakthrough by suggesting a possible function for the Marker. The symbols, he theorized, were mathematical codes that symbolized DNA. The Marker itself was a representation of a DNA sequence.

The scientists set about decoding the sequence. Another scientist, a radio astronomist named Grote Guthe, made the next breakthrough, suggesting that the Marker ’s signal could be read as a transmission of a sequence of genetic code. Field made sure that Altman heard about both.

Showalter’s team sequenced the Marker itself, and came up with a genetic profile that was, so he told Altman, remarkably similar to that of humans.

“So something like humans?” said Altman.

“Maybe,” said Showalter. “Maybe even something exactly like humans. I think that the Marker has the DNA code for our ancestors.”

“So it records our genetic code,” said Altman. “So what?”

“Not just records,” said Showalter. “We think the pulse transmits it as well, deliberately changing genetic structure slightly in existing human organisms. It may, in fact, have been the beginning of human life.”

Altman didn’t know what to say. It was staggering to think that human life had neither evolved naturally nor been a gift from God but was, instead, based on the Marker.

“But why would it be rebroadcasting our genetic code?” asked Altman. “We’ve already evolved. What would be the point of that?”

“Have you talked to Grote Guthe?” asked Showalter. “He’s hit a snag. For God’s sake, go talk to Grote.”

And so he did. The German scientist was not what he expected he would be; he was small and very thin, and had a skin condition that had left him hairless. He looked harmless, almost helpless. He seemed to be expecting Altman.

“Yes,” he said, “Herr Doktor Field has told me about you. You are one of us, yes?” Altman neither nodded nor shook his head, but Guthe went on. “You want to know about the pulse,” he said. “Whether my team has decoded the pulse. Perhaps Herr Doktor Shovalter has said something, yes?”

“Yes,” said Altman.

“We have decoded the pulse, perhaps. But we have struck a complication.”

“What’s the complication?”

“My team has decoded the signal and we think it is decoded correctly. We understand it to be a code and we understand what that code is. Herr Doktor Shovalter thinks he has decoded the signal and he, too, thinks it is decoded correctly. The complication is that we have different answers. For him it is a code that is a step upon the sequence to human life. For me it is something else entirely, not correlatable to a known species. I am making a synthetic version of mine now, to get a closer look at it.”

“Perhaps one of you is wrong,” said Altman.

“Perhaps,” said Guthe. “Or perhaps the pulse signal is transmitting a different code than is recorded on the Marker.” He leaned forward and gave Altman a steady look. “I must say something to you,” he said. “I am a believer, you must not doubt my belief. But I am also a scientist. I have looked carefully at Herr Doktor Shovalter’s calculations and I have looked carefully at my own. Our calculations are correct. If the Marker was the beginning of human life, then it has no need to be broadcasting this now. And yet it is communicating a pulse, one with an unfamiliar genetic code. Perhaps it is communicating a pulse, but perhaps it is a flawed pulse with a flawed genetic code. Perhaps this Marker has begun a process of deterioration.”

“The Convergence,” said Altman.

“But maybe it has simply become confused,” said Guthe. “We must try to understand it. We must work with it.”

“But what if this is what it’s meant to do?” said Altman.

Guthe groped his necklace out of his shirt, clutched the icon of the Marker in his fist. “No, it cannot intend this,” he insisted. “The Marker is here for us. It has simply become confused.” And then he looked at Altman for guidance.

Altman just nodded, and left without another word. I’m surrounded by madmen, he couldn’t help but think. Fanatics.

But later that night, he began to have doubts. What if Guthe was right? What if the Marker was just broken? Maybe they could fix the Marker by returning the core sample to its rightful position.

That’s ridiculous, he thought. It was transmitting its signal before the core sample was taken.

He lay in bed staring at the ceiling until another idea came to him. But maybe it was transmitting a different signal then, the correct signal.

He couldn’t sleep until he at least tried.

He woke up Showalter, explained what he wanted to do.

“Already been tried,” said Showalter. “Doesn’t make a difference.”

“But maybe—”

“The missing piece isn’t crucial,” Showalter explained. “In fact, no single piece is crucial. The Marker is a complex but internally replicated structure in the same way, for instance, that the pattern of a nautilus replicates even as it tightens. Even if parts of it are broken or damaged, it still works. Probably the only way to stop it from working would be to pulverize it.”

Depressed, Altman went back to bed. Chalk one up for the Marker. Not damaged, or at least not damaged in a way they could understand. Which meant it must be acting the way it was for other reasons. Either it was working for their own good or for their destruction.