Page 61 - Extraterrestrials, Foreign and Domestic

SIFTING’s End

“Right now I’m not so sure I don’t wish we hadn’t. Our lives will
never be the same.” Norton brightened. “But it could be the dawn of
a new era in human history, a real watershed. We’ll get our own lives
back sooner or later: remember Neil Armstrong, the first man on the
moon? After a while he could go to the grocery store and no one
would recognize him.”
“That’s right,” chimed in Sal. “We’ll be celebrities for as long as we
want. Interviews. Book deals. You name it. Even a Nobel Prize in
physics.”
“Physics?” The old man stroked his chin. “We haven’t done
anything new in science. Just kept to the same course over the years,
fighting for funding, office space and computer time. If anything, the
Swedes would give us—”
The outer door to the room burst open and a tall man in military
uniform strode in, followed by two armed soldiers in urban
camouflage.
“Secure the area,” he commanded, after quickly surveying the
scene. The soldiers saluted smartly and left. “Gentlemen, I am
General Caleb Rader. You are hereby relieved of all responsibility for
and involvement with SIFTING.”
The professors’ mouths hung open; the graduate student’s clamped
shut.
“What’s that?” demanded the general, jabbing a finger at the notes
in front of Zorrillo.
“Draft of a press release, sir.”
“Hand it over.” Rader read it, folded it up and put it in a pocket. “I
will not burden you with more than you need to know, but this
response to the message would jeopardize national—not to mention
international—security.”
Norton South regained his voice. “See here, General: by what right
do you come in here and seize control of our project? We work for
the university, not the army.”
“Wrong. Everyone in this institution, and in virtually every
research university in the country, is working either for the
government or the corporations—or both. Your grants came from
our black budget, have done so from the start. The potential for
uncontrollable mischief is inherent in several scientific and technical

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