Quantum Radio

QUANTUM RADIO BYA.G. RIDDLE The Atlantis Trilogy The Atlantis Gene The Atlantis Plague The Atlantis World The Extinction Files Pandemic Genome The Long Winter Trilogy Winter World The Solar War The Lost Colony Other novels The Extinction Trials Lost in Time Quantum Radio A.G. RIDDLE QUANTUM RADIO www.headofzeus.com First published in the United Kingdom in 2023 by Head of Zeus Ltd, part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Copyright © A.G. Riddle, 2023 The moral right of A.G. Riddle to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN (HB): 9781803281698ISBN (XTPB): 9781803281704ISBN (E): 9781804549872 Illustration copyright © A.G. Riddle Head of Zeus LtdFirst Floor East5–8 Hardwick StreetLondon EC1R 4RG WWW.HEADOFZEUS.COM To my in-laws, who watched the kids and helped me write during the pandemic. Contents By A.G. Riddle Title Page Copyright Dedication PART I: THE ORIGIN PROJECT Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 PART II: THE WORLD AFTER Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 PART III: THE LOOKING GLASS WORLD Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Author’s Note About the Author An Invitation from the Publisher Note: Much of the science and history in this novel is real. Visit agriddle.com to separate fact from fiction (and browse other bonus material). PART I THE ORIGIN PROJECT 1 In an auditorium at CERN, Tyson Klein stood behind a wooden podium, watching his colleagues arrive. It was the end of the workday, and most seemed tired. They shuffled in and plopped down in the folding seats, stowing their messenger bags and backpacks at their feet, weary eyes staring at him, silently saying, this better be worth getting home late for. It would be. This talk would be the most important of his entire career. And possibly theirs. The slides—and the discovery they detailed—were the culmination of twelve years of research into his life’s work, The Theory of Everything. The data he was about to reveal was, he believed, the key to discovering a master theory that would unite the opposing branches of modern physics. If he was right, this breakthrough would resolve scientific mysteries that had haunted the world’s greatest minds, from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking. More than that, Ty believed that his discovery might answer the deepest questions of human existence: Why do we seem to be alone in the universe? Where did we come from? And what is the future of the human race? What is our destiny? Ty had spent his entire life pursuing those questions. Now the answers were within reach. He simply needed what all scientists eventually require: time and money. He was about to ask for it. If his audience said no, Ty wasn’t sure what he would do. It was entirely possible that the whole of human history might turn on what was about to occur in this auditorium. As a child, that sort of pressure would have made him nervous. In fact, in middle school, he had once faked sickness to avoid giving a presentation in class. Luckily, he had a mother who could see through such a ruse. And, even more luckily for him, he had a mother who knew how to speak to him in a language he appreciated: science. Even at a young age, science was Ty’s true north, and his mother wielded it to his benefit—even when arguing against him. “Everyone is scared of public speaking, Ty. At least at first,” she had said, peering down at him as he sat on his bed. Like any angst-filled twelve-year-old, he had hung his head and muttered, “Great. How does that help me?” “Practice—that’s the only way to get better. The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll feel.” “I don’t want to practice. Or get better. There’s no point. When I grow up, I’m going to get a job where I never have to talk. I’ll be a mute.” “You can’t simply not talk when you grow up, Ty.” “You watch me.” “Let’s look at this a different way, shall we? Let’s apply science.” Ty looked up. “I like science.” “So do I. It’s why I became an evolutionary biologist, and it’s why I can tell you exactly—from an evolutionary biological perspective—why you’re afraid