home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Media Share 9
/
MEDIASHARE_09.ISO
/
mag&info
/
e_form11.zip
/
EPF11-5.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-01-31
|
16KB
|
321 lines
███████████████████
█ THE ETERNAL MAN █
███████████████████
Much Science fiction is written for immature adolescent boys
with hormone imbalances. Those works tend to be moralistic
shoot-em-up westerns transferred to the stars, usually with
white, Eagle Scout, American Christian, anti-communists as
heroes (or futuristic variations thereof.) The 1960's writer
Harrison Greystone once suggested that such science fiction was
clandestinely sponsored by the CIA as a subliminal propaganda
campaign to rekindle and promote imperialistic, manifest destiny
policies of the Teddy Roosevelt/Alfred Mahan variety. Heinlein,
Pournelle, et. al. have contributed to that pulp subgenre. After
a few pages, such works get tossed into the discard box, and I
bemoan the dearth of intellectually-stimulating science fiction.
Vernon Davis' THE ETERNAL MAN is on the opposite end of the
spectrum from the "starship trooper" pulp mentioned above. The
Eternal Man has no villains, no violence, and the sex scenes are
so subdued that even our contemporary Queen Victorians of the
Republican religious right can have no objections. The Eternal
Man is a cerebral tale depicting the battle against viruses that
cause cancer, AIDS, the common cold, and other diseases. The
hero, Mark Silverman, is seduced into an elaborate labyrinth of
interconnected scientific disciplines and scurries around the
planet in search of pieces of the virus puzzle. In the process
the reader is exposed to a careful analysis of contemporary
thinking on the subject. Often, while reading, I thought that
the dialogue sounded like reportage from Science News Magazine,
and indeed, in the epilogue it is indicated that the author is a
reader of that prestigious publication.
This novel is, therefore, a good treatise on the subject of
viruses, cancer, and AIDS, however, as a work of fiction it
leaves much to be desired. It doesn't necessarily need an
infusion of Rambo-esque violence, but it does need the addition
of conflict to add zest to the narrative. Furthermore, there are
numerous loose strings strewn about, then left untied and
ignored. Undeveloped or underdeveloped are the relationships
between the eternal man, the super-scientist Jeffrey Kylin, and
his mysterious helper Gretchen, between the scientist characters
and a shadowy U.S. Senator from California, plus the potential
conflict between a medical researcher and a science reporter,
both of whom are attracted to the hero.
Fortunately, electronic publications are not set in stone
the way that on-paper publications are when they are typeset and
etched onto the printing plate. The author, if he so chooses,
can revise and reedit his work to his heart's content, and it
won't cost the publisher more than a few minutes time to put out
a new edition. (The actual amount of time will, of course, vary
depend on the type of interface used with the book. Some will be
easier to revise than others.) The Eternal Man has the potential
to be a major novel, however, for that to happen it needs an
infusion of verve, and there needs to be a significant expansion
of the text to develop and tie together all the loose ends and
potential conflicts. Let's hope that there will be a version 2
of this book.
The Eternal Man is published by Kedco Studios, 575 D Roxella
Lane, Las Vegas NV 89110. This is their first electronic book,
and the price has tentatively been set at $7.95 plus $1.00
postage and handling. Contact Glen Chavis, Marketing, for the
latest information on prices and for a list of other electronic
books.
███
An Excerpt from The Eternal Man
Copyright 1992 by Vernon Davis
Eternal Man
Chapter Eight
Mark was more comfortable this trip into the
cave. He was determined to learn all he could
about the building of this superhuman, called the
Eternal Man. He marveled once again at the
futuristic equipment deep in the earth. He
switched on the lights. He didn't use the earphone.
He stood by the enclosure trying to distinguish
the features of this man of greatness and mystery.
All he could get was an impression of size and the
rhythmic breathing. A mist or fog of some sort
obstructed any detailed view. A menu was on the
largest viewing screen to the computer. There
was access to telephone lines, military data banks,
and an assortment of satellite communications,
and Internal Revenue computer files.
"Ah yes," Mark thought. 'The IRS, this
country's terrorist group, using the power and
fear tactics other countries only aimed at enemies.
The smaller screens ran programs silently in
many different languages from around the world.
Mark began thinking about the original Doctor
Jeffery Kylin. Many questions raced through his
mind, and the large screen changed to a biography
of the man. Mark was again stunned when the
machine anticipated his request. There was an
astounding list of accomplishments, ranging from
Nobel prizes in medicine and literature to Pulitzer
prizes in journalism. It was apparent the man
was at least a century ahead of his time. He
discovered a bubble memory for computer data
storage, when a computer filled a room the size of
a city block.
Talk about a lone ranger. This mysterious
doctor could very easily have been considered a
modern version. One puzzling thing struck Mark.
There was no date or place of birth, nor was
there any indication that he died. Mark wished
he hadn't begun to think about the design of the
machine, because screen after screen of technical
data and electronic schematics began to run. It
seemed like this equipment was so complicated the
information would run forever.
Mark walked over to the headphones to talk
with Gretchen.
"Hi, Gretchen. Did you know I was here?"
"Hello, Mark. Yes, I knew. I'm always
monitoring the computers."
"How long will those electronic prints run?"
"About an hour unless you interrupt them for
new access."
Mark looked at the screen, and sure enough, it
changed to the main menu again.
"That's one spectacular piece of equipment."
There was no answer from her. He hadn't
asked a question.
"Why did Doctor Kylin go to Egypt? What was
he looking for?"
"He went to study medical information and
records of a long time ago."
"Then we have to go there, too?"
"Yes"
"Okay, I'll make the reservations when I leave
here."
"I can do that for you right now."
"Really? That would be great. Go ahead."
Mark looked at the screen. An airline ticket
office computer information was on the monitor
and a reservation was being made for him and
Doctor Simpson. After a brief interval, a
confirmation appeared on the screen with
instructions to pick up the tickets one hour before
flight time. The tickets were paid for by direct
withdrawal from a bank account somewhere, and
travelers' checks were issued, to be picked up at
the bank across the street from the airport in his
name.
"That's fantastic. Thank you," Mark said.
"It's nothing," answered the voice. "That's what
I'm supposed to do."
"Still, that's something. You know I've been
thinking a lot about viruses lately. Can you
answer some questions about them that I could
understand?"
"I don't know. I can try. What do you wish
to know?".
"Why is it so difficult to do anything to stop a
virus like the one that causes aids or a cold for
that matter?"
"You have to be more specific than that. You
just asked about two separate, distinct families of
virus. The virus, which causes the common cold,
is a Rinovirus. The one that causes aids is a
Retrovirus. Even then the Retroviruses fall into
two groups, Oncoviruses that cause diseases like
cancer, and Lentiviruses. Lenti means slowly.
This type causes degenerative problems like aids
and crapie, a disease of the central nervous
system, in people, sheep, and other animals. The
main reason they're hard to control is because
they have the ability to change the outer layers of
protein protective coatings so rapidly. As soon as
one enters the body, the immune system produces
an antibody to destroy it. Unfortunately, by the
time it gets to where the virus is, the outer
coating has changed to something different and the
antibody can't find it. The fact that the antibody
is present will also tell that the virus is present.
That's why a test for the antibody is used to see if
a person has one of these viruses. Some of these
viruses can have as many as two hundred or
more varieties."
"I see. Once it has disguised itself, what does it
do?"
"It tries to reproduce. A virus needs two kinds
of nucleic acid to reproduce. They need DNA,
Deoxyribonucleic acid, and RNA, Ribonucleic acid.
All viruses only have one or the other, never both.
They have to find a body cell that has the other
kind they don't have and merge with it to
reproduce, because they can't merge with each
other. When this attaching takes place, the virus
becomes part of the body cell, and the immune
system won't mount an attack on itself. Then the
cell ruptures, and the new viruses spread out to
do it again, destroying more cells."
"Amazing," Mark said. "So if the body's
immune system could recognize the invader, it
could destroy it?"
"Yes," the voice said.
"The explanation was a little complicated, but I
was able to follow it enough to understand the
general problem. I'll bet there's not that many
people that really know how much danger the
human race is in by not knowing about these
different kinds of virus."
"Probably not. Most people don't really think of
viruses at all, much less the odd ones like the one
that causes distemper in dogs and seals. A vaccine
is now used similar to the one used for polio that
uses a live virus to inoculate against this virus.
Ten years ago, if your dog got distemper it died,
but today it doesn't get it at all.
There also is a false sense of security being
promoted by the medical profession sometimes.
Most doctors know a virus loses its potency over a
period of time, so they use that to pacify the
patients. Unfortunately, people keep dying while
waiting. What the doctors don't focus on is that
the virus doesn't lose potency. It just mutates into
something more frightening most of the time."
"Couldn't the public be informed how dangerous
it is to wait for a deadly virus to simply go
away?"
"Not unless someone found a way to explain to
everyone at the same time, that in fifty to a
hundred years, the average life span would be cut
back to twenty or thirty years. As soon as a
young person got past puberty, they'd have to
start having as many children as possible to
perpetuate the human race. Because of the short
life span, there'd be no educating, doctors,
engineers, or any professionals to keep the world
and its machinery running. There just wouldn't
be enough time in a person's life to get an
education, only time to have children to feed to the
viruses. Everyone will be born infected with
them by then. The human race doesn't have to
worry about invaders from outer space destroying
the world. The viruses will do it."
"That's frightening," Mark said.
He stood and paced considering Gretchen's
words. He began to take an interest in some
writing on a few wall panels, near the smaller
monitors. "This must be deja vu," he thought. "I
seem to have seen this stuff before." He began to
copy the symbols and writing into his notebook. It
startled him to hear Gretchen's voice while he
was away from the headphones.
"There's a reference library through a
doorway directly behind you," she said
"How did you do that? I don't have the
earphones on."
"I don't need extra amplification to talk to you.
I can just use normal mental telepathy and talk to
you anywhere here. Any other time I can talk to
you through a device that has a speaker and
amplifier. Just put your hand on that dark spot
in the center of the wall."
"Why didn't you tell me you could do that
before?"
"You didn't ask. Everything I tell you is in a
need to know order."
"Could anyone that happened to get in here
make these things work for them?" Mark asked.
"No. Only you."
Mark turned around and placed the palm of
his hand where the voice said. A slightly audible
sliding noise could be heard as the entire wall
shifted, revealing a fantastically large well-lighted
room, containing shelf after shelf and row after
row of books. The one thing that made Mark the
most uncomfortable was that he was too
comfortable. He should have been at least a little
edgy and apprehensive from this astounding place.
Mark glanced at his watch and saw it was nearly
time for the caverns to be closed for the night, and
he didn't want to get stuck here. There was just
too much to do in preparation for an extended trip.
He said goodbye to the magical voice in the air
and left.
PRESS the RIGHT ARROW (numeric keypad) for next file, or
PRESS INS key to return to the INDEX MENU.
To QUIT, return to the INDEX MENU, then enter 0 (zero).
End of file.
