Book excerpt: A Seattle detective is called to investigate a burglary at a computer research lab. What should have been a mundane case for Holden Morris instead becomes a cross-country adventure, an international incident, and the questioning of the very nature of the universe. A killer on his tail, a lovely mathematician at his side, and government agents that he can't decide if he can trust. It's a bad couple of days for Detective Morris, a tense time for the nation and a revelation about the fabric of the cosmos for all. Will the world be changed forever?