Humanity has advantages over the invaders, Wade points out. We can lie, and the San-Ti cannot. Our development of technological know-how occurs at a much faster pace then theirs; even if the sophon interference prevents further advancement of existing science, we can think laterally using the tools we already have in ways the San-Ti likely cannot.
So if Team Wade needs to take out two all-powerful sophon computers, then that’s just what they’ll do. They start with an immediate plan to synchronize all the particle colliders in the world in such a way as to keep one of the sophons racing around without cease, mucking up the test results. One down, one to go.
If they need to launch a probe at the incoming fleet quickly enough to get back results in time to plan, they’ll have to reach the same velocity as the fleet, a seemingly impossible 1 percent of light speed. But only seemingly impossible: The San-Ti have cracked it, and if they can, so can we, Wade reasons.
Under Wade’s regime, it is up to Jin to figure out how to get the probe to that speed using currently available technology. Someone else can find the money, amend the nuclear treaties, handle the politics, build the ships that place the nukes. The point is that it if she can think it up, it will get done. That attitude is a turbo-driven plot driver.
It’s fascinating to see the characters fall in line. Wade has a ready-made battlefield standard-bearer in Raj, who impresses his soldier mind-set on his girlfriend, Jin. Jin, in turn, serves as a Wade apologist to Auggie, reminding her that the San-Ti cultists she continues to mourn were responsible for the murder of their friend.
Will Saul, another brilliant scientist, come along for the big win alongside his pals Jin and Auggie? What about Will? Ultimately, what about humanity? Is Earth to become a fully militarized and mobilized society for four centuries, if that is the only response commensurate with the threat? Whether the answer is yes or no, the outcomes are uncomfortable to contemplate.
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