 Harper Audio Presents, Next, by Michael Crichton. Performed by Eric Singer. Copyright 2006 by Michael Crichton. Production at Abridgement Copyright 2006 by Harper Collins Publishers. This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren't. The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless. Steven Weinberg. The word cause is an altar to an unknown god, William James. What is not possible is not to choose. Jean-Paul Souther. Vasco Borden tugged at the lapels of his suit and straightened his tie as he walked down the plush, carpeted hallway. It wasn't used to wearing a suit, though he had had this one in Navy specially tailored to minimize the muscular bulk of his body. Borden was big, 6'4", 240, an ex-football player who worked as a private investigator and fugitive recovery specialist. And right now Vasco was following his man, a 30-year-old balding postdoc, a fugitive from Microproteonomics of Cambridge Mass, as he headed right for the main room of the conference. The BioChange 2006 conference was being held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. The 2010Ds represented all sorts of biotech workers, including investors, HR officers, technology transfer officers, CEOs and intellectual property attorneys. In one way or another, nearly every biotech company in America was represented here. It was the perfect place for the fugitive to meet his contact. The fugitive looked like a dink. He slouched when he walked and gave the impression of timidity and ineptitude. But the fact was, he'd made off with 12 transgenic embryos in a cryogenic doer and transported them across country to this conference, where he intended to turn them over to whomever he was working for. It wouldn't be the first time a postdoc got tired of working on salary. Or the last. The fugitive went over to the check-in table to get his conference card to drape around his neck. Vasco hung by the entrance, slipping his own card over his head. He'd come prepared for this. He pretended to look at the event roster. The fugitive, whose name was Eddie Tolman, walked past him into the ballroom. Vasco followed. Tolman went down a few rows and dropped into a seat with no one nearby. Vasco slipped into the row behind and sat a little to one side. The Tolman kid checked his cell phone for text messages and seemed to relax and looked up to listen to the speech. Vasco wondered why. The man at the podium was one of the most famous venture capitalists in California, a legend in high-tech investment, Jack B. Watson. Watson's face was blown up large on the screen behind him, his trademark suntan and striking good looks magnified to fill the room. Watson was a young-looking 52 and assiduously cultivated his reputation as a capitalist with a conscience. That appellation had carried him through a succession of ruthless business deals, all the media ever showed were his appearances at charter schools or handing out scholarships for underprivileged kids. But in this room, Vasco knew, Watson's reputation for tough dealmaking would be foremost in everyone's mind. He wondered if Watson was ruthless enough to acquire a dozen transgenic embryos by illicit means. He probably was. However, at the moment, Watson was cheerleading. Biotechnology is booming. We are poised to see the greatest growth of any industry since computers 30 years ago. Federal grants to universities exceed four billion a year. The lure of magnificent cures made possible by stem cells, cytokines, and proteomics are drawing the brightest talent to the field. And with a global population growing older by the minute, our future is brighter than ever. And that's not all. We've reached the point where we can stick it to big pharma. And we will. Those massive bloated companies need us and they know it. They need genes. They need technology. They're the past. We're the future. We're where the money is. That drew huge applause. Vasco shifted his bulk in his seat. The audience was applauding, even though they knew that this son of a bitch would cut their company to pieces in a second if it suited his bottom line. Of course, we face obstacles to our progress. Sample complete. Ready to continue?