K. Marvin Bruce

  “What’s matter made of?” “Atoms.   Protons, neutrons, electrons.” “And what are they made of?” “Well, the protons and neutrons are made of quarks.   Electrons are energy.” “And what are quarks made of?” “Depends on the theory.” Calum nodded.   “String theory, which looks pretty promising, says energy.   Strings of vibrating energy.   If that’s correct, everything is energy.” “I’m with you.” “There are many sources of energy, of course.   Fossil fuels, natural processes like winds and waves, solar and nuclear.   All of them derive from the sun, ultimately.   All living beings require energy.   We get it from eating.   We expend it by exercising.   I’m sure Lindsey won’t mind if I discuss sexual energy.” Terah flushed and put his hand to his face.   He was glad he’d decided not to shave his beard. “The orgone, or life force, was first explored by Wilhelm Reich in the 1930s.   The main work was carried on by his studen...

  The aliens in his room had to have been hypnagogic hallucinations.   Terah would say nothing about them.   He couldn’t even envision himself mouthing the words.   Long years of doling out the ridicule response to the idea didn’t dissipate, even when he himself had experienced their presence.   Already his observation of the wee people in the woods had evolved to a lucid dream state brought on by deprivation.   The supernatural wasn’t real. “So what do you know about this pandemic?”   It seemed a safer topic. “It’s a new strain of the Spanish Influenza.   There’s no vaccine yet.   Some are classifying it as a ‘superbug’ because it evolves so fast.   The belief in isolationism kept many Americans from thinking it could spread here, but inevitably it did.   Now, slowly, they’ve begun to take measures to isolate individuals.   You’ve been avoiding populations at the right time, it seems.” “Doesn’t the science involved here compli...