Sei sulla pagina 1di 8

CHAPTER 2

“This new lifestyle was a complete change for me.

What was left of my personal effects fit into two old

steamer trunks. Since the projects were military funded,

for the first time in my life I had to deal with military

security. It was easier and cheaper to take up residence

on the testing facility. An old cold war think tank

provided us with plenty of space and plentiful equipment in

a post cold war decade. My official title was Personnel

Research Assistant and Lab Manager. I was directly under

Dr. Tobor and answerable only to him. He set it up like

that on purpose. It seems that most of his time was being

taken up in paper work so by making me his attaché, he was

in effect putting me in charge of the research. This made

all the technicians my responsibility, leaving him free to

act as a liaison between the military and us.

At first, I was overwhelmed. But in the course of a

few weeks, I was handling my new responsibilities as if

born to them. I threw myself into my work. All of the

energy I had used for drinking, I now channeled into my

work. Sixteen, twenty, and thirty hour days were common.

As I was given more leeway, I started pushing the project

more and more into the directions I felt would be most

prosperous. The project breakthroughs in super


conductivity, magnetism, gravity, and laser research were

legendary. These successes were merely building blocks for

my ultimate achievement. Our super conductivity

experiments progressed in leaps. A new alloy mixture,

dubbed supconal, was the key. The alloy showed tremendous

magnetic properties when reduced to a few degrees Kelvin.

After applying a current, a two microns thick strand

produced a field capable of bending a three inch steel bar

in less than one hundredth of a second. A bigger magnet

produced the same phenomenal results. The potential

applications were enormous. Everyone was ecstatic. The

Pentagon was heaping praise and even parted with some of

their tightly held cash for bonuses. But I did not care;

all I wanted was something to placate the void that neither

liquor nor companionship could fill. So I threw myself

into work. Going till exhaustion forced me to sleep.

Trying to eliminate all thoughts and longings of her and

the companioning elixir crescendo, that thinking and

reflecting brought. Researching still another new project,

I came across a pleasant discovery; underneath our facility

was an old nuclear accelerator. Riding high on previous

laurels and turning down now numerous lucrative offers, I

asked and with very little arm bending and persuading it

was mine.
Previously, scientists hypothesized that gravity and

magnetism are two faces of the same coin. But beams of

light seem to be unaffected by magnetic fields. Electron

beams could be affected, as evidenced in every day

television. However, a laser could pass through fairly

strong magnetic fields without wavering. The only anomaly

to this fact is a theoretical black hole. Light, in fact

any matter, entering a black hole does not return. Since

light beams could be considered merely waves of positrons

and positrons like electrons are matter only smaller, I

hypothesized that positrons could be affected by a magnetic

field. I also concluded that the field strength would be

inverse proportional to the size of the particle affected.

These theories explained why normal magnetic fields would

not bother a light beam while a black hole absorbs it. The

pieces to prove my hypothesis were now available. Now all

they needed were assembling. Rolls of supconal wire, tanks

of liquid helium and nitrogen, crates of laser components

and everything else I could possible imagine was supplied

for the renovations. It was noticed that in some of our

latter experiments, the earth’s magnetic fields were

distorted by some of our larger magnets. So the first

steps we took, was to peel the tunnels to the original

infrastructure and check for stress integrity. Then a


resin coating, capable of withstanding the extreme

temperatures of the inert gas mixture, was sprayed on the

walls. Next a tunnel of supconal coils was laid. These

coils sprayed with resin and another layer of concrete.

Liquid helium and nitrogen was piped through the tunnel,

and sensing equipment attached. This in essence created a

magnetic bottle isolating us from effecting or being

effected by the earth’s magnetic field. Now came

constructing the main tunnels. These tunnels utilized a

different but similar construction. First a hollow core

was built. Then this core was coated and a tunnel of coils

lay around its’ circumference. This tunnel was coated and

sectional pressure tests run. A central core provided an

area for the laser to fire while in a total vacuum. This

minimized interference from assorted suspensions and air

particles. To minimize the effects of magnetism on video

equipment and electricity in general, a central operation

hub was constructed and prepared with fiber optic plugs

inserted into the tunnel walls. This arrangement allowed

for the shielding and protection of all monitoring

equipment and operations personnel from the main fields.

Basically, we had a bottle inside a bottle inside a bottle

all pulling and pushing against one another. Upon

completion, the structure resembled a buried wheel and hub


with a two-mile diameter. After all the tests, we started

the laser tunnel decompression and inert liquid gas tunnel

pressurization.

Two weeks passed as we cautiously debugged the refurbished

tunnels, constantly checking all pressure readings.

Finally, it came time to test the coils; a few micro amps

of current were allowed to flow. The field strength

meters, in and around the tunnels, proved the success of

our installation. The final tests on the pulse laser

systems green lighted the completion and concluded the

construction. Now, the real experiments could begin.

All the bugs were worked out, my tunnel waited for its

inaugural full power test. Theoretically, I should be able

to bend a laser output through the tunnels so that it

finished at its starting point. The tunnels were cooled,

the vacuum drawn. All that waited was to power up the

coils and fire the laser. As we were getting ready for the

final test, the military brass suddenly started getting

cold feet. They became concerned about the inherit safety

and advisability of our project. All that was needed was

to throw the final switch. Our staff dwindled down to a

skeleton crew as we waited for the final approval. Days

passed then weeks but still no definitive answer was given

on the final test. Finally information leaked that due to


budget cuts, the military was getting ready to pull the

plug on the whole project before we could even do a full

test. All I needed was one full test. If my theories were

correct then civilian funding could be arranged to continue

the project. But I needed one successful test to prove my

ideas were valid. In my mind I had lost so much already

that I really had nothing else left to loose. Looking back

it is really inconceivable how limited and narrow my

thinking was. So one night, I arranged to take the night

watch. This was a common occurrence since the waiting

began. Everything could be controlled from the control hub

including the safety doors at the entrance and exit.

Around midnight, I powered up the data recorders, activated

the security interlocks, and charged the supconal tunnels

and laser to full power. No one was expecting a preemptive

strike. The tunnels were charged and the laser ready

before the sentries even noticed the security doors were

sealed. If I had had the luxury of a full staff then

perhaps it would have been noticed about the strange

twisting of the earth’s magnetic field centered around my

tunnels. As the phone rang, I hit the launch sequence for

my super cooled laser. The beam shot out and just as I

hypothesized turned around the bend, just slightly missing

its origin spot. I slowly adjusted the subconal fields


until the laser matched up exactly. I had proof, the data

recorders showed my theories valid. I was so excited that

I did not notice that the laser intensified. As the beams

matched up, the photons at the front of the laser started

pushing the photons of the rear of the laser increasing

their speed which increased the front section even more

until the laser because self-actualizing and increasing in

intensity going faster and faster while growing stronger

and stronger. The subconal fields started straining to

contain the multiplying pulse. Soon the entire tunnel was

filled with a ruby ribbon. At a critical junction, an

inert gas pipe burst venting the helium and nitrogen into

the laser stream. As their atoms split, the laser pulled

the fiery plasma around the tunnel course. Suddenly the

hub was in the middle of a miniature fusion sun. The

plasma stream was first ruby, and then turned ochre, then

white hot. As it started to collapse, a blue barrier

surrounded the hub. The very essence of time and space

were ripped and the hub shot through the vortex. Removed

from its power source the protective field collapsed and

the hub started disintegrating at its atomic level. I had

the most curious and agonizing experience as my body was

ripped and shredded into gluons as my nerves were on fire

simultaneously. Somewhere along the line I passed out. I


awoke to nothing. There was no light, no black, no sound,

and no sensations of any kind. It was a total and complete

void. It was then I felt the ache. It was a soul crushing

longing and want. So complete and pure was the loneliness

that it would make the most hardened heart weep

uncontrollably in sorrow. A longing so unequivocal and

unspoiled, any with a smidgen of conscience would rush

headlong to reassure and squelch such desire. As I writhed

in the emotions, I heard a single word. It was a glorious

word at once full of hope and promise banishing all the

loneliness and longing held sway before. The word vibrated

through me filling my being with an intensity that was

glorious and excruciating at the same time. After what

seemed an eternity the word slowly faded as did my

consciousness.”

Potrebbero piacerti anche