“Hear, hear,” I mutter.
“Would Kap agree with you guys?” Matt asks.
“You know he would. You just read my story.”
Matt disagrees. “Kap’s observations of mankind are confined to small things. How people push ahead of each other in checkout lines. He never reads a paper while on earth. He doesn’t study our politics. He doesn’t go after the bigger picture of why we’re a danger to the rest of the galaxy.”
“Remember, for the bulk of the story, Kap’s lost his memory—”
“I don’t know why you set it up that way,” Matt interrupts, a bad habit of his. “Kap’s observations would be more interesting if he could mentally compare his home world to earth.”
“Kap’s observations are worthwhile because they’re innocent,” I say. “He focuses on the small things we do because they’re the most telling. When he sees a herd of cattle being rounded up for slaughter, it’s his gut reaction that makes the story ring true.”
“The truth is most of us would be vegetarians if we saw how animals are killed,” Teri says. “Matt, remember that chicken farm we drove past in Kansas? After they gave us a tour, that was it for me. I haven’t been able to eat chicken since.”
“You’re a hypocrite, darling. You still eat steak.”
“Once a month. To keep from getting anemic.”
Matt gestures to the swordfish. “You ate meat right now.”
“Fish is not meat,” Teri says.
“Tell that to the fish just before you chop off his head.”
“Krishna used to say that fish were swimming vegetables,” I say.
“By Krishna do you mean the Hindu god?” Teri asks.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know you were into Eastern thought,” Teri says.
“I like to study what every tradition has to offer.”
“According to Kap, humanity has nothing to offer,” Matt says.
“Not true. In the end he tries to save the earth,” I reply.
“So what? Ninety percent of his observations of us are negative. The one place where you do deal with a larger issue is when it comes to money. You portray everyone who’s rich as evil.”
“Kap never uses the word ‘evil.’ He just notes that the distribution of wealth on earth is insane. Kap never gets angry at the rich. But he can’t help feeling their behavior is illogical, because such unfairness cannot be sustained forever. At one point equality is either achieved or a culture falls apart due to internal pressures. History has taught us that much.”
Matt laughs. “Bullshit. America’s the most powerful nation on earth. But ninety percent of the wealth of this country is held by one percent of the people, and America shows no signs of faltering. It grows stronger with each passing decade.”
“China grows stronger with each passing decade,” I say. “They’re the ones who pay the interest on our national debt.”
“I knew, I knew it,” Matt jeers. “You’re a left-wing liberal.”
“You could not be more wrong.” I hold up both my hands and flex them. “I believe only the strong survive.”
“Then you’re a Republican, like me,” Matt says.
“I despise Republicans,” Teri mutters.
“I’m neither,” I reply.
Matt misunderstands me, of course. Having lived so long, I can’t tell the difference between the two political parties. They both sound like broken records that started skipping after the founding fathers died. Now there were some real men!
Matt continues—he still wants to win the argument.
“At the end of the story, when Kap’s partner returns to find Kap and restores his memory, he makes an impassioned argument why violent races cannot be allowed to spread across the stars. I assume that was you talking. It sounded like it came from your heart.”
“It’s true, I did speak through his partner.”
Teri is hurt by my remark. “Do you really feel there’s no hope for humanity?”
I find it hard to lie to those I care about.
“I feel the road we’re on leads nowhere. Yet part of me is an eternal optimist. I feel if we can change direction, we can survive.”
“Why hire Teri to help you write a medical thriller?” Matt asks. “Your heart is clearly with bigger themes. Write a novel that focuses on a dystopian society.”
“You mean, a novel that takes place after the bomb drops?”
“That’s already been done,” Teri says.
“Alisa will tell you that everything’s been done,” Matt says.
“True. It’s how you do it that counts,” I say. “But as far as my thriller being a small story—you have to understand it deals with our genetic code. I think our genes are the keys to our existence. They can either be our greatest wealth or our worst curse.”
“How does it start?” Matt asks.
“With someone dying from a mysterious cause.”
Matt smiles. “I look forward to reading it.”
“I hope I can help you with it,” Teri adds nervously.
“You’ll help, trust me. I’ll give you more work than you can handle.”
Matt leans over and puts his arm around his girlfriend. “Let me tell you a secret about my girl that took me a long time to discover. She’s tougher than you and I put together.”
He lowers his head and kisses her, showing no inhibitions. Teri, aware that I’m watching, breaks away. But I feel the heat of her body. Naturally, I feel my own heat. The guy has sex appeal enough to sell by the pint.
I give Teri a list of books I want her to hunt down and buy. My next novel is not just an excuse to get to know her. I honestly think it can warn mankind about what’s coming next.
The books I want Teri to find are not easily available. A few were self-published. All deal with the human genome. I give her cash to purchase the material and she promises to bring me receipts.
Matt squeezes me tightly and whispers in my ear. “There’s something about you,” he says, so softly Teri cannot hear.
The remark strikes me deeply. I wanted to have lunch together to get to know them better. But when I look back, I realize it was Matt who did all the probing. I suspect his teasing was all a charade. That he’s like me, and has no political views at all. It makes me wonder what he really thinks.