The Doomsday Prophet

By John West

Nathan Palmer is a quiet, modest quintessential brilliant theoretical physicist and astronomer with his head in the clouds. He's different than most people, he's one the most intelligent persons in the entire world – a polymath. He is forced one day to confront a danger he could never have imagined: he predicts a rogue one-mile wide asteroid will strike Earth within two weeks.
The more Palmer tries to convince the President that the large asteroid will strike Earth, the more dangerous his own landscape becomes. Turns out the President doesn't believe his prediction, has no intention of warning the nation and directs his Administration to suppress the information. Palmer decides to break the law, expose the conspiracy, and risk his career to warn the entire country. No one knows if they will survive the impact of the space object. Tensions arise. Panic erupts.
Can Nathan Palmer and the woman he loves survive the impacts of the asteroid strike, volcanic eruptions and a mega tsunami – forces so indomitable that they threaten the entire world? Stuck in the end high on Mt. Olympus on the Island of Oahu, he finds himself and his friends cut off from the rest of the world, holed up in a cave. Can they work together as a team to survive without getting themselves killed…and live to tell their story for the history books?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543931976

John West

We've all had those nights where drunken sex with a witch in a blood pentagram under a full moon on the roof of your favourite Johannesburg nightclub summons a hard-drinking demon who changes the fate of the human race forever. Right? No? Just me, then?

Book preview

College

PROLOGUE

IN THE BEGINNING…

ALL THE MATTER THAT exists today around us resulted from the formation of the universe 13-to-14 billion years in the past. Our Solar System initially began to form 4.6 billion years ago - either with the gravitational collapse of a small part of a giant molecular cloud, called the Big Bang; or, as some scientists believe - it may have been born from the bubble of a giant star, 40-to-50 times the size of our Sun which shed its layers. Whichever the case, a large cosmic mass eventually formed our Sun, while the rest of a molecular cloud flattened into a rotating circumstellar protoplanetary disk of dense gas and dust…out of which our planets, moons, asteroids and comets were formed.

Over the course of several hundred million years, celestial bodies continuously collided and merged from gravitational interactions, until the four terrestrial planets we know today took shape: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Unfortunately, a biproduct of these collisions resulted in the creation of millions of asteroids, which also became a part of the evolution of our entire solar system.

Our Earth 4.4 billion years ago was a completely inhospitable environment with the surface being mainly molten lava. Fortunately, it eventually cooled enough for its crust to form. Land masses could then exist and when it was cold enough to rain, the oceans formed along with just a few small islands. If an occasional asteroid hit earth back then, it was simply no big deal.

Our solar system today is quite enormous in size and travels along with many other solar systems through the Milky Way galaxy in a circular orbit, approximately 30,000 light years from the galactic center. It speeds along about 137 miles per second. The period required for our own Solar System to complete one revolution around the galactic center - or one galactic year - is in the range of 220-to-250 million years. Since its formation 4.4 billion years ago, our Solar System has completed only 20 such revolutions. Amazingly, scientists estimate that there may be tens of billions of companion Solar Systems in our galaxy, perhaps even a mind-boggling 100 billion of them.

ASTEROIDS…

Consider asteroids as the leftovers from the early formation of our Solar System - relics from when the planets were still forming. There is a large asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter that contains the remains of a lost planet that mysteriously fractured in a violent collision billions of years ago: It harbors more than 20 large asteroids greater than 125 miles in diameter and more than 200 gigantic asteroids larger than 60 miles in diameter.

In total, scientists estimate the asteroid belt contains between one-to-two million asteroids larger than three-fifths of a mile and millions more of smaller ones.

Asteroids survive in their orbits for only a few million years. Then, they are eventually eliminated by planetary gravitation influences, which cause them to be ejected from our Solar System, or they collide with the Sun, moons or planets, and are destroyed. But, sometimes asteroids avoid destruction altogether and are captured by a planet’s gravity and become moons – the best examples are Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos.

Earth has been hit many times by asteroids whose orbits have brought them into our inner Solar System. These errant asteroids are collectively known as Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs. Think of NEOs as asteroids that have been tugged and propelled by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.

Fortunately for us, most NEO asteroids whirl in tight circles closer to the Sun than the Earth and turn out to be non-threatening. They are trapped in gravitational sweet spots, that ensure they will permanently trail or precede a planet in its trip around our Sun. These are known as Lagrange points - where the gravitational pull of the Sun and the planet are balanced.

There are as many as 10,000 near-Earth asteroids circling closer to Earth than the Sun, however they are locked in non-threatening orbits that: 1) approach, but do not cross Earth’s path; 2) have Earth-crossing orbits, but spend most of their time outside our planet’s path; or, 3) cross Earth’s orbit, but spend most of their time inside Earth’s path.

However, the most dangerous threats to Earth are two mysterious fourth and fifth types of asteroids we know very little about: The fourth type are asteroids whose orbits are contained within Earth’s heliocentric orbit around our Sun – meaning, they remain hidden from view because they sit in a Lagrange point opposite the Earth on the other side of the Sun. They are in their own geosynchronous orbits so that the Sun is always between them and the Earth…they are unseen by Earth telescopes and remain undiscovered.

The fifth type of extremely dangerous asteroids are interstellar travelers: These are dangerous objects wandering through the Milky Way galaxy for hundreds of millions of years, unattached to any star system, before being finally drawn into our own Solar System. Astronomers know for certain many of these fast-moving interstellar asteroids travel between the stars, but no one has a clue how many travel through our own Solar System unseen and or missed…several times a year.

It only takes a very modest velocity change in an asteroid’s motion (only a few millimeters per second), acting over several years, to cause these last two types of extremely dangerous asteroids to either hit or miss the Earth entirely.

What would happen if a large interstellar asteroid entered our Solar System unseen, and was only discovered within a few weeks of a collision course with Earth? Too late to deflect the widow-maker or take preemptive action…would we suffer a cruel fate like the dinosaurs?

Another extinction event, only humans this time? Maybe, or yet maybe not.

Our survival, misery and happiness will depend on the circumstances and what we do with our attention.

PART 1

CHAPTER 1

NOVEMBER 1999

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

THE PARENTS OF NATHAN Palmer knew he was an exceptionally bright child when he was born on Christmas day, December 25, 1995, at Stanford Health Care Hospital in Palo Alto, California. He started to try and talk from the minute he was born, but couldn’t verbalize anything, still he attempted to speak. When he finally managed to talk before he was a year old, he was speaking in whole sentences. He was also quick to pick up reading skills. Before Nathan was two, he recognized numbers and letters from watching Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, the Reading Rainbow and Bill Nye the Science Guy on his family’s television. While playing with his mother’s laptop computer, he taught himself to navigate, read the text and follow instructions. By the time he was two, he could read primary school books and when he turned three years old, he was easily multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting three-digit numbers.

He was not only a gifted child…he was utterly amazing.

His father, Dr. Carl Palmer, a professor of physics at Stanford University, and his mother Margaret, a mathematician and software engineer in Silicon Valley, were baffled and concerned. The affluent power couple thought he was hyperactive, maybe even autistic, so they took him to several pediatricians and that’s exactly what the doctors diagnosed.

But he wasn’t suffering from any disorder: Nathan Palmer was just very smart. They called their only child a special gift from God and adored him.

Tragically, the family’s hopes and dreams were shattered late in the evening in November 1999, exactly one month shy of Nathan’s fourth birthday, when their SUV collided in a head-on collision with an old heavy-duty flatbed truck driven by an alcoholic migrant worker who had been convicted for DUI five times in the past 15 years. Carl Palmer and his wife were killed instantly, but their three-year old son Nathan fortunately survived the impact in his rear car seat and was taken back to the same hospital he was born in, with a severe concussion.

The California Highway Patrol was left with the unenviable job of notifying the nearest living relatives, then accompanying them to the hospital morgue to make identification of the bodies, so they could take care of arrangements for their transfer to a funeral provider. The only living relative the police could find for the deceased Palmers however, was from a small address book located in their house. That sole individual was Margaret’s only living relative - a brother named Oliver Wendell Pickering – a 56-year old eccentric bachelor and astronomy professor at MIT, living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Once he was notified by the CHP of his sister’s tragic death, the shocked Professor Pickering immediately took a leave of absence, canceled his classes, packed his suitcase, hopped aboard an airplane and flew out to Palo Alto to take care of the funeral arrangements and settle the estate.

When Professor Pickering made his appearance at the police station, he didn’t look exactly like the professor stereotype that matched popular images of college educators that the police had imagined: He was extremely tall and thin, bespectacled, clean-shaven, square-shouldered, tanned and ascetic-looking. He didn’t have the requisite beard, ponytail and penchant for tweed and rounded shoulders of an academic, that they had imaged. He had a relaxed facial demeanor, appeared confident and professional, smiled sadly, maintained excellent eye-contact and nodded pleasantly.

The police were direct, professional and as sensitive as they possibly could be under the circumstances. After the bodies were identified, the police and hospital authorities turned over his deceased relatives’ personal effects and quickly informed Pickering that his nephew Nathan was doing well and would fully recover.

Due to trauma and stress of the situation, the professor had completely forgotten about his little nephew! Pickering was further stunned to learn that Child Welfare Protective Services was involved and would assume care over him, until the estate and legal guardianship issues could be settled.

One of the female CHP officers pulled Pickering aside and suggested he go to the Palmer’s house and look for a written Will and find the name of their attorney: The estate, funeral and legal issues would have to be taken care of, she advised him sadly.

Upon entering his sister’s house, he managed to find a copy of the Palmer’s Last Will and Testament and their attorney’s name after several days. The professor set up a meeting that afternoon with the attorney, Mr. Charles Rosenthal – a solemn, moderately overweight, slack-jawed, pensive man in his seventies – who informed him of the probate process.

Probate usually works like this, Professor Pickering, the mournful attorney informed him. In a situation like this where both parents die, their estate must go through probate, which is a process overseen by a Probate Court. Since you are named as the executor of the estate in their Will, we’ll have to file the necessary papers in the local Probate Court to get things going. Then we can begin settling the estate…that’s the process of transferring all their assets to their sole beneficiary in a tax efficient way. In this case, that’s their only child – your little nephew Nathan. We’ll need to deal with their life insurance policies, bank accounts, retirement plans, real estate joint assets, set up a Trust Account to take care of the lad, as part of the estate settlement process.

Is there anything I can do to help the proceedings along? asked Pickering.

You can begin by making funeral arrangements and notifying agencies and employers of their deaths…by that I mean, the post office, utility companies, credit card companies, banks, and other businesses with whom they had accounts. You also need to start preparing an inventory of all their assets and getting appraisals on their house and cars. If you wish, I’ll make a legal assistant from our law firm available to help you.

That would be splendid, remarked the professor. What about my little nephew Nathan? he asked, expecting the worst.

Why, whatever to you mean? He’s in excellent care at the hospital and I’ve been told he’ll probably be there in the pediatric ward for several more weeks, replied the puzzled lawyer.

Oh, I meant - what happens to him; will I have to battle the State of California for custody? Pickering fretted.

Absolutely not, I won’t allow it! bellowed Rosenthal, waving a copy of the Will in the air for emphasis. The Palmers clearly named you as guardian for their child in their respective Wills. When a child as young as Nathan is beneficiary and inherits assets from his deceased parents, the estate funds will be devoted to his care through a Trust Account. The Probate Court must approve the appointment of you as the conservator, or asset manager of his Trust, just as it must approve the guardian. As conservator, you will have to report back to the court on a regular basis, giving a detailed accounting of the child’s assets; you don’t have any issue with that, do you?

Heavens no! declared Pickering. It will be a privilege and honor for me to take care of little Nathan, I think that’s exactly what they wanted to happen.

Excellent! declared the obese attorney, pointing a stubby index finger into the air for emphasis. "Mostly, probate is tons of legal paperwork and I’ll take care of that. As executor, your job is to keep the real estate well maintained, small valuables secure, and everything of value insured. Keep investments safe - our goal is to avoid losing money and to make sure the young man is well taken care of."

++++

OVER THE NEXT TWO weeks, the professor’s life was a blur, as he arranged for the cremation of Carl and Margaret Palmer and held a memorial service for their few family members, many friends and neighbors. In accordance with their Will, they preferred a simple memorial with such things as a eulogy, music and fellowship, over a traditional funeral. He had a member of the clergy open and close the service, offer prayers and a brief message of comfort, and that was it.

After the memorial service, Attorney Rosenthal asked to meet at the Palmer’s house where Professor Pickering was staying.

He said he had good news and bad news.

First the bad news, Mr. Pickering – since that’s the way you seem to prefer it, the attorney began with a sigh, as they sat across from each other in the Palmer’s living room. Unfortunately, an exact timeline for this particular estate to go through the complete probate process - from petition to probate filing to final distribution of estate funds – is going to take approximately a year to eighteen months.

Why so long! exclaimed Pickering, throwing up his hands, frustrated and tired.

Why so long? the morose lawyer echoed and huffed. Actually, that’s pretty short! Please understand the timeline depends on several factors. For example, the length of the probate process depends on how large the decedent’s estate is, how complicated the estate is, whether the decedent left his papers, debts and obligations in order, and normally lasts an entire year for even simple estates. In this case, I’m extremely optimistic it won’t take much longer than that because after all, there is only one heir and the Will is uncontested.

What about the child’s Trust arrangement; I mean when will that be arranged? Pickering inquired.

Good question! answered Rosenthal. My law firm will establish the Trust arrangement over the next several months, so once probate is complete, we can fund it with the proceeds of the estate. In accordance with the Palmer’s Last Will and Testament, you will be appointed the legal custodian for your nephew, Nathan. We will also have you designated as trustee, which means you will hold legal title to his Trust assets…you will manage them for his benefit as instructed in the Trust Deed.

How long will I have to manage his Trust? the professor asked curiously.

I am recommending to the probate judge, in this situation that the beneficiary – your nephew – take control of the funds at the age of 21. At that point, he should be old enough and can do whatever he wants with the money, the lawyer replied.

Oh dear, that’s a long time, muttered the professor, "you mentioned there was also some good news, whatever can that be in all this?"

The good news is: I received a phone call from the hospital and the doctors are ready to release Nathan into your custody.

But I thought you said Child Welfare Protective Services were involved and would assume care over him, until the estate and legal guardianship issues could be settled? Pickering stammered.

I convinced the judge and CPS otherwise! Rosenthal said proudly.

B-but…I don’t know the first thing about children…I’m not even married! Stuttered Professor Pickering.

Mr. Pickering, I strongly suggest you consider hiring a nanny to assist you in raising Nathan. A nanny can provide invaluable assistance with all the child-related tasks, such as laundry, cleaning up after meals and tidying play areas, Rosenthal added.

But who is going to prepare his meals, dress him, help with homework, organize his activity schedules, bathe him at night before bedtime, potty-train him and tell him stories? fretted the mild professor.

You are! boomed the rotund lawyer, grinning. Welcome to parenthood Professor Pickering! You’ll even have to prepare his little lunch box, drop him off and pick him up from school - probably even attend parent-teacher conferences and join the PTA – I suspect.

Oh my…oh my, the eccentric professor gulped, blinking rapidly as he began fidgeting with his hands.

As he stared at the bemused attorney, the full weight of his new responsibility descended upon his shoulders like a ton of bricks.

CHAPTER 2

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

AFTER RETURNING TO MASSACHUSETTS with his nephew, Professor Pickering took Rosenthal’s advice and immediately hired an elderly nanny – Mrs. Tuttle – to help with Nathan’s care, while he taught his classes at the university, conducted research and graded papers. It became immediately apparent that something was wrong: The exceptionally talented four-year old had difficulty sleeping at night, he wouldn’t speak, he banged his head against the wall and cried constantly. Neither the nanny nor the professor could figure out what was wrong, so the uncle took him to several pediatricians, who speculated Nathan was suffering from some form of brain damage due to a severe blow to his head from the traffic accident. They could only recommend further psychiatric and neurological evaluation. Basically, nobody knew what was wrong.

That is, until Nathan was about four and half years old.

One day, Professor Pickering came home, and the gray-haired nanny was ecstatic.

What’s wrong! he asked her quizzically.

Look! He’s started talking, she replied excitedly, "and listen to him – he’s talking in complete sentences like a little adult and asking questions – isn’t that amazing; I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s like he’s had some massive word explosion. He’s speaking in sentences, phrases and metaphors at a level five times his age!"

Over the next twelve months, Professor Pickering began to realize that his nephew’s intellect was off-the-scale. Nathan preferred to accompany his Uncle Oliver to the university every day and read books on astronomy, mathematics and Shakespeare, instead of playing Super-hero’s with the other children on the local playground. He even preferred the company of graduate students and professors over other children.

Before age five, the hyper-energetic little boy amazed his uncle one night by identifying all 88 constellations and their locations in the entire night sky, from memory. There are 14 men and women, nine birds, two insects, 19 land animals, ten water creatures, two centaurs, one head of hair, a serpent, a dragon, a flying horse, a river and 29 inanimate objects, he announced proudly.

The youngster even astutely pointed out to his uncle that the total number of constellations in the sky came to more than 88 because some constellations included more than one creature.

For fun, the little boy had memorized every bus route in Massachusetts.

Nathan’s uncle Oliver noticed he was very unusual when, at five, he memorized the number of pages of every book in the bookcase of his office. The professor decided to teach Nathan how to play chess and the youngster immediately began beating him.

By five and a half years old, Nathan taught himself how to read and speak in Russian, French, German and Mandarin Chinese. All the professors and grad students with whom he came into contact asked, My goodness, how old are you? He would then astound them by asking their ages and when they were born, and then computing in his head how many seconds they’d been alive and how many seconds until their next birthday. His idea of fun was to quiz math-majors with prime and negative numbers.

He freaked his uncle out with his incredible memory and math abilities: Nathan had the uncanny ability to recall events that happened since he was three months old. He could also recall verbatim, every word his mother, father, his Uncle Oliver and nanny, Mrs. Tuttle, ever spoke to him and when they said it. He could perform complex math calculations instantly in his head, faster than a calculator.

When Professor Pickering asked the youngster how he could do math so rapidly, Nathan simply replied, casually, Uncle Oliver, I always see numbers and thoughts as pictures, shapes, colors and textures.

How so? the professor asked.

Well, the number two, for instance, is a motion, and five is a bolt of lightning, he explained. "When I multiply, or divide numbers, or even memorize something - I suddenly see shapes - then images start to change and evolve in my head, and then a final shape emerges and that’s simply the answer! I don’t believe other people really see things the way I do…sometimes I think there’s something wrong with me."

Nathan didn’t tell his uncle that he even perceived auras around the faces of most people when he visualized them in his mind; the same colors were always associated with the same types of people, his perceived colors defined their emotions and personality to him – red auras indicated anger, violet was love and affection, light blue was friendliness, dark blue was truthfulness, yellow was shyness, green was sadness and orange indicated the person was probably lying.

His uncle replied, "There’s nothing wrong with you Nathan, it’s called ‘mental imagery’, and that makes you kind of special. It’s like performing mathematics or memorizing things without having to think and very few people have that ability."

Professor Pickering promptly took his nephew to a child psychologist for testing and was shocked to discover that Nathan had an IQ of at least 179, which placed him in the top 0.01 percent of children his age. He scored higher on the IQ tests than acclaimed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein and the well-known contemporary cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who both clocked in at around 160.

The psychologist was astounded and described Nathan as a high-functioning savant, almost identical to the person Dustin Hoffman portrayed in the movie Rain Man. In fact, they said his savant syndrome was a very rare condition in which people with developmental disorders were exceedingly brilliant in mental abilities.

Only ten percent of children with autism have savant syndrome, but Nathan was not autistic and fewer than one percent of non-autistic people exhibited savant skills, the psychologist excitedly told Dr. Pickering. This makes Nathan very unusual – in a class all by himself!

The doctors and specialists indeed classified Nathan as a one of a kind individual with a mind on the order of a young Aristotle, Newton or Socrates. No doubt they said, he was probably brilliant when he was born, but the blow to the head he incurred from the automobile crash, had turned him into a savant. His accident also resulted in an increased memory capacity, commonly known as an eidetic or photographic memory.

They highly recommended that Nathan take advanced classes, since he loved books, newspapers and playing on the computer so much.

++++

PROFESSOR PICKERING QUICKLY REALIZED Nathan needed to be in high school when he was only six years old to be normal, and he needed to be in college when he was nine to keep from being bored. It was a brilliant decision, because when he was nine years old, Nathan was impressing everyone by dividing and multiplying fifteen-digit numbers in his head, speaking fluently in ten languages and debating Newton’s theory of gravity and Einstein’s theory of relativity with college grad students. Taking classes with adults ten and twenty years older did not seem to bother him: He was too young to have social anxiety and never afraid to ask a lot of questions. In college lectures he would always put his professors on the spot and make controversial statements, like, So, does that mean…has anyone ever considered this? Or, an alternate solution might be this!

He loved books and read more books than anyone else his uncle knew. Amazingly, at age ten, Nathan taught himself to read two books simultaneously placed side by side, one with each eye, so he could read faster. He demonstrated to his uncle how it was done by moving his gaze back-and-forth between the two books, separating his left visual field from the right and splitting the center of his gaze.

He told his Uncle Oliver "Anybody could probably do it with training and concentration, but to remember everything from both books and not get confused like he could, would probably be more difficult."

Professor Pickering reminded his savant nephew that most people, even himself who had a prodigious memory, had difficulty remembering everything from just one book they read.

Nathan calmly responded that he could recall, in exact detail, every paragraph and sentence of the 10,937 books he had read. He called it quantum speed reading, making him both the best and the worst nephew in the world to be stuck living with in a household…he could recall 98 percent of everything he ever experienced in perfect detail, due to his bear-trap mind and increased memory capacity.

For example, for anybody’s hometown, he could tell his uncle all highways leading to it, the county, area code and ZIP codes, and any notable local history. When prompted, he could even draw from memory a map of the town, with every single building in its exact location – including windows and doorways.

CHAPTER 3

NATHAN’S TEENAGE YEARS

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

TO SAY THAT NATHAN Palmer was an early bloomer was a bit of an understatement. He graduated from MIT university at the age of 13, summa cum laude, tall and gangly – nearly six feet tall - sociable, somewhat nerdy, energetic and talkative, with sandy brown hair and strikingly blue eyes. Before his peers even started high school, he had acquired four undergraduate degrees in mathematics, physics, computer science and geology. He was recognized by the MIT teaching staff as a mathematical genius who could figure out cube roots quicker than a calculator and recall pi to many thousands of decimal places. He could perform astronomical, mind-boggling calculations in a couple blinks of an eye, within a few seconds at breakneck speeds. Nathan didn’t even pause for a breath, and at age 13, he proceeded immediately to work on his doctorate degrees.

What was most startling about Nathan, his professors noticed, was the handsome affable young man possessed the rare qualities of character and leadership: He had the universal admirable traits of honesty, responsibility and courage. He was humble, honorable and honest in his accomplishments and in his relationships with others.

Many described him as being scrupulous and meticulous, with a uniquely principled behavior that seemed to reflect his own unusual consciousness and intellect.

But his uncle Oliver knew academic achievement had to be balanced by the child’s overall well-being. Some of the most difficult challenges of being a gifted child, were becoming aware of the world too quickly, difficulty developing normal social skills and not being able to interact with children of their own age.

After all, the professor most certainly didn’t want Nathan to turn out like the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski – the most glaring example of child genius gone wrong – and see him move to a cabin with no running water or electricity in the wilderness of Montana.

So, as he began pubescence, Professor Pickering encouraged Nathan to join him in developing trivial and relaxing hobbies that were outside of his exceptional academic pursuits and interests.

He introduced him to caving, camping – even paid for rock climbing, martial arts and yoga lessons, but what thrilled and fascinated his nephew the most was an obsession with water. For personal pleasure, Nathan enjoyed solo watersports such as windsurfing, surfing and sailing… activities that he could pursue alone; he never learned to ride a bike, but for thrills he would occasionally ride his uncle’s restored British Triumph motorcycle at breathtaking unsafe speeds throughout MIT’s 168-acre campus and on the streets of Cambridge.

That is until the campus police paid a visit to the professor, then he dropped the boom and hid the keys from him.

Fortunately, Nathan didn’t have to face the challenges most college kids do, like filling out complicated Federal financial aid forms and holding down a part-time job. Life was tough enough for the child prodigy without the worries of financial uncertainty.

As trustee and custodian over Nathan’s Trust Account since he was four years old, Professor Pickering proved to be someone who was very adept at handling money. The professor protected Nathan’s estate by investing the financial assets wisely and used the money only for his nephew’s education, health, and benefit.

He protected the money in the Trust from creditors by enacting a spend thrift provision, meaning: Nathan as beneficiary of the Trust was given a weekly allowance, but while he was a minor, he could not use any of the principle, or assign it for debt or anything else.

No one could attach liens against Nathan’s inheritance.

Fortunately, having a trustee like Oliver Pickering in charge of the Trust meant that Nathan couldn’t squander the property; it was protected for his benefit. The professor always thought it was appropriate to give only as much information about financial matters as his nephew could handle. He found no point in telling a 10-year old that there was several million dollars sitting in the Trust for him. However, as Nathan grew older, his uncle did start to prepare him to manage his own money – without conjuring up frivolous images of yachts, country clubs, exotic sports cars and lavish spending.

Professor Pickering knew he would feel comfortable ending the Trust arrangement when Nathan reached the age of 21, distributing the assets to him as beneficiary and providing a full accounting of how the money was spent over the years.

Nathan always found it hard to socialize with anyone other than his uncle and MIT grad students. With the advent of adolescence, his tendency toward shyness never improved. Complicating things was the fact that Nathan was a night owl and required only three-to-four hours of sleep a night. This didn’t really matter to him because he found the late-night hours were a quieter environment for personal pursuits. He limited his television time to only four hours a week to watch world news broadcasts, because he said it interfered with his focus and concentration.

His overactive mind and academic obsession resulted in him operating to his own agendas and functioning to his own schedules. Unfortunately, the tragic downside of being a savant was he found normal life and conventional social interaction almost impossible, but he thought that was perfectly okay because every college student should be focused on their work, concentrate on learning and developing their careers.

The truth be told, it was a strain for him to make friends he could relate to; hanging out was out of the question, because college life was based around alcohol.

Everyone should be working and not drinking, he told his uncle.

He found no reason to join any clubs or societies, like fraternities or Mensa, and did not like spectator sports; so instead, he enjoyed working on his doctorate degrees with his academic mentor and advisor, Professor Magnus McWhorter, physicist and Senior Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering.

++++

NATHAN PALMER EARNED THREE Doctorate Degrees in Astronomy, Quantum Physics and Electrical Engineering by the time he reached his 17th birthday. He spoke twelve languages fluently. To him, mathematics and science wasn’t just an abstract set of digits, it was a visual story, a never-ending movie projected in front of his eyes. He was determined to use his uncanny abilities to make the world a better place.

When Nathan was a little boy, he wanted to be a fireman and then a fighter pilot. Not so anymore…he promptly announced to his Uncle Oliver one day that he was going to become an astronomer like him and follow in the footsteps of his famous relatives.

"So, you are aware of your great grandfather and his brother – the great astronomers?" his uncle asked Nathan.

Of course! replied Nathan, "remember I have a good memory and can remember almost everything I’ve read…the Pickering name is derived from old English ‘Piceringas,’ the name of an ancient Old-English tribe from South Britain. Great grandfather Edward Charles Pickering was a famous 19th Century astronomer who taught physics and discovered the first spectroscopic binary stars; he was also Director of Harvard College Observatory. His brother, William Henry Pickering was also a famous astronomer, who discovered Saturn’s ninth moon Phoebe and established several famous observatories around the world."

I should have known you would want to become an astronomer like the rest of us, smiled the professor. I guess the stars are in our DNA…tell me…what it is you would like to accomplish?

No offense, Uncle Oliver, but I would like to be like Carl Sagan and become a famous astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist and astrobiologist, Nathan answered.

No offense taken! his gray-haired uncle retorted good naturedly, he was much more photogenic than me!

Thank you, Uncle Oliver, your approval means a lot to me, Nathan admitted. "There are still many puzzling questions about the nature of the universe that remain unanswered. For example, the essential properties of neutrinos, dark matter and energy are still unsolved mysteries. Known particles constitute only one-sixth of all the matter in the universe, but are there other undiscovered particles in nature? Are there new hidden dimensions of space and time? Both matter and anti-matter were produced in the Big Bang, but today our world is composed only of matter. Why? Why is the expansion of the universe accelerating?"

Nathan, none of us have answers to your questions, the professor laughed. "I’ve raised you as if you were my own son…my best advice to you is to do what you really want to do; pursue whatever makes you happy – in the end – that’s the only thing that really counts. Sometimes though, it’s better to take a chance and see where life takes you, the professor mused. I often wish I had gotten married and had children of my own, but alas – that was not in the cards."

Astutely, his young nephew answered back, "I think society has a way of making academic success and personal fortunes the sole measure of a person. I’d just love to make a great contribution; but really, I feel like I haven’t done or accomplished anything yet. I certainly don’t want to be a pedant – one who loves to show off all of his book smarts."

"Remember, you can’t be what you cannot see, so you must have vision in life to be a trailblazer; never underestimate the value of having a pathway to walk on and be your own trailblazer! asserted Professor Pickering, holding up his index finger for emphasis. The sooner you establish your vision, the better will be your passion, determination, perseverance and sense of direction."

"And that is exactly why, with Professor Magnus McWhorter’s assistance, I have accepted a three-year Space Grant fellowship funded by NASA, the National Academy of Sciences and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) to do my post-doctoral research at the Arecibo Observatory, in Puerto Rico! Nathan announced excitedly. It’s even a paid position according to Dr. McWhorter!"

What! his protective uncle stuttered…b-but…why didn’t you tell me you applied?"

"Why? You would have tried to dissuade me because you think I’m too young. This is something I have to do, Uncle Oliver," the young man insisted, crossing his arms.

No, that’s not it…it’s just that I’m going to miss having you around is all; you’re like my own son, sighed the old professor, his voice cracking.

I promise I will come home to see you at least once a year and on major holidays! Nathan vowed. And you can come and visit me there, too! It will give you an opportunity to take vacations away from the cold New England winters, and come to a tropical climate, he vowed. You know, he continued seriously, the temperature averages between 70-to-80 degrees Fahrenheit and the easterly trade winds pass across the island year-round.

Okay, okay! the professor said with a smile, holding up his hand. "But no motorcycles – promise me!"

Scouts honor, Nathan answered, with a lopsided grin, holding his three middle fingers of his hand upward and together in the sign of a universal Boy Scout salute.

PART 2

CHAPTER 4

THREE YEARS LATER

ARECIBO, PUERTO RICO

NATHAN PALMER LIVED IN the city of Arecibo for almost three years, a municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of the cities of Utuado and Ciales in the central mountain range. Arecibo was the largest city in geographical size on the island. Located in the Northern Coastal Valley region, it was adjacent to a large karst zone peppered with large numbers of caves and wooded hills. Settled in 1556, the city of Arecibo was the third Spanish settlement in the New World, it was named after an island Native Indian leader called Jamaica Aracibo.

Nathan found Arecibo to be a sad little town where the economy had been hit hard. It had been enduring economic stagnation for at least the last quarter of a century, causing the slow but dramatic decay of its community. Vacant buildings, run down neighborhoods and few services were the norm. Per capita income was only $8,867 and nearly 50 percent of the people lived at the poverty level.

The young people were migrating in greater numbers to the San Juan metropolitan area and the U.S. mainland, expecting to set up shop and start a new life. Just like everywhere in America, the Sam’s Clubs and Wal-Marts were taking away customers from local businesses, by offering imported, cheap products.

The beaches were filled with rocks and the waves were rough; there were few hotels and it was hard to find restaurants – but that’s the way Nathan liked it. A large park for children seemed to be a reminder of what the city once was, but a modern splash water park, a few shopping malls and a couple of kiosks on the beachside promenade showed hope of what it could be if more tourists arrived. Hospitals and a healthcare center appeared to support the entire local economy.

Nathan thought Puerto Rico had more Walgreens stores than anywhere else in the U.S. and more Wal-Marts per square mile than anywhere on the planet. He figured if you needed a prescription, cardiologist, dentist, radiologist, or dialysis, Arecibo was the right place to be.

Upon his arrival, he’d found a room in a family-run sprawling B&B hacienda with five guest rooms, owned and managed by an elderly white-haired couple named Jorge and Maria Bonilla, who prepared all the food and cleaned the rooms. Breakfast was served in their large kitchen and there was a community bathroom for the five guests.

The B&B was situated in the downtown Arecibo area, on a small hill within a mile of the various restaurants. There were many gardens, fruit and citrus trees, a gazebo and a walking path. For $200 a month, he thought it was the deal of a lifetime. All rooms had their own air conditioners, and there was a central entertainment room with TV, Wi-Fi and over 100 DVD old movies in Spanish. He lived three blocks from the local Malecon, or broad seawall esplanade.

The rules for living at the Bonilla Hacienda were somewhat monastic, but simple: No smoking, park your vehicle in the designated parking lot area, no pets, no parties or drinking alcohol, no children 0-12 years old, no overnight guests of the opposite sex and no rowdiness or loud noise. For a small fee of $50 per month extra, Senora Bonilla would even do guest’s laundry.

The second week after arriving in Puerto Rico, Nathan shopped around for a primary source of transportation. He considered purchasing a small motor scooter – since technically it wasn’t a real motorcycle and he’d promised his uncle Oliver he wouldn’t – but Senor Bonilla talked him out of it.

The wise old man warned him, Mopeds and scooters are common on the smaller Caribbean islands, but not so in Puerto Rico. The roads, distances and traffic do not make them practical my son. The distances between major areas on the island are significant and connected by freeways with heavy 65 mph traffic, where a motor scooter should not tread. Our driving customs are not friendly to small two-wheeled vehicles and most people do not use turn signals. Road kill is frequent here, especially the poor slow-moving iguanas…you do not want to be among them! And you don’t want to buy a newer car, it will get broken into or stolen by the local gangs!

So, Senor Bonilla helped him locate a 12-year old Hyundai from a distant cousin, for $750 with about 185,000 miles on it, for cheap transportation to and from the Arecibo Observatory. There were so many scratches and dents all over the body that it looked like it had been through a gang war. The maintenance and repair records were a jigsaw puzzle. While test driving down the local roads, most of the warning lights and chimes came on, but the cousin told Nathan, If no problems are evident, just ignore it.

Nathan bought the car and miraculously he had no major problems with it.

Nathan Palmer reckoned San Juan was better than most Third World cities and was several steps down from living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he didn’t mind at all. Its streets were paved, air conditioning and indoor plumbing was everywhere, but there was a lot of poverty, depressed conditions and feral animals.

Despite that fact that he always felt safe and blended in well, he did not venture out much at night because of the people driving loud cars too fast. Overall, the locals he interacted with were very friendly and helpful and he felt very much at ease frequenting the local shops and bakeries; or swinging into road side restaurants and trying their delicious fish fritters called empanadillas de chapin, or fried hand-pies.

++++

THE SURROUNDING LIMESTONE KARST countryside of the city of Arecibo had the appearance of haystack hills with conical valleys, shaped like volcano calderas, where the water dissolved the limestone. The landscape looked slightly mystical due to the tall peaks.

Lush foliage and puffs of water vapor and mists continuously emerged from the dense forest canopy. The gigantic radar-radio Arecibo Observatory telescope where Nathan worked, was built into the depression of one of these large round caldera karst sinkholes and was located 50 miles west of the city.

The single-dish radio telescope was located high in the mountains. It was one of the most powerful in the world and housed a 1,000-foot diameter spherical main collecting dish, consisting of perforated aluminum panels that focused incoming radio waves on movable antenna structures positioned about 500 feet above the reflector surface. The radio telescope’s dish measured an amazing 20 acres and its austere metallic symmetry shimmered in dramatic contrast to the dense, green, tropical landscape. It had even been featured in the Jodie Foster film Contact and the James Bond movie GoldenEye.

The Arecibo Observatory contained the largest curved focusing dish on Earth, giving it one of the largest electromagnetic-wave-gathering capacities in the world. From a scientific perspective, it was the sheer size of the reflector that made the observatory so special.

It was one of the most sensitive radio telescopes in the world. The antenna could be moved in any direction, making it possible to track a celestial object in different regions of the sky. It collected radio astronomy and planetary radar data and was powerful enough to receive signals transmitted by a comparable telescope located 1,000 light-years away. It could bounce radio waves off objects in the Solar System and make a three-dimensional drawing of them and determine their size and shape. Due to the sensitivity of its instrumentation, worker’s cell phones were always required to be in airplane mode.

The facility was staffed and operated by about 142 people, who provided everything from food to software, in support of the operation. Nathan was part of