Breakthrough (Breakthrough, #1)

by Michael C. Grumley

It amazed him how many people loved noise. Insistent that they need a break from the grind, they travel to a remote area to unwind, only to shop with a thousand other tourists, or zip across the bay on a rocket running at 80 decibels.

“History, for both of our worlds, is filled with millions and millions of meaningless deaths. Wars over lands or resources that later meant nothing. The worst, over religious beliefs, which were nothing more than emotional ideas being systematically forced onto others. Humans,

These elements are all released when a star explodes, resulting in the end of the fusion process within that star. My point is that when the star explodes, it scatters these elements over a great distance, including the same amino acids. You see, the reason we are so similar is because it was a giant explosion that fertilized both of our solar systems with the same elements. We were created by the same atomic building blocks. This, along with carbon’s natural tendencies during evolution, is why we are so very similar.”

“In my last job, I was a White Hat.” “What’s a White Hat?” Caesare asked. “People that hack computers for nefarious purposes are called Black Hats.” He grinned. “White Hats are the guys who catch them.”

The spin was better than he expected. He reached for his beer, which had hardly been touched. Governments lie, he thought.