As the Light Dies (7 page)

Finally though, after some further discussion the Defence Minister was outnumbered with most of the group deciding that sometimes technological breakthroughs came with great risks that had to be overcome in order to be able to invest in the future of mankind and more often than not the greater the breakthrough the greater the risk involved, and besides, the cycle had been carried out many times already. Lars did
n’
t hesitate when he got the go ahead from the Prime Minister; he pulled a walkie-talkie from his pocket and spoke in to it
.“
First cycle is a GO. I repeat first cycle is
a
GO.”

A moment later a voice came back from the walkie-talkie and said
,“
Pre- cycle sequence started
.”
Then there was a pause until the voice came back and confirmed that antimatter capture would take place in exactly three minutes and with that a digital clock that hung on the wall started to count down. At first nothing happened, the room was silent but gradually the hum of machines grew getting louder and louder until the whole room felt like it was vibrating!

People were having to shout to be heard. The Defence Minister stared at Lars
.“
This is all normal, do
n’
t let the noise alarm you
,”
Lars called to him as a distant heavy thrum began somewhere above them sounding as if it were coming closer like a fast moving train on the underground.

“
The conducting magnets and boosters are coming on
,”
shouted Lars.

The noise pulsed on and off getting faster and faster and louder and louder as the clock counted down until at ten seconds left there was a steady deafening thrum, everyone stood in rigid anticipation peering through the thick tunnel like glass, even the Defence Minister, h
e’
d even claimed his own porthole to watch from pushing someone else out of the way to do so. Jade Anderson had expected some noise but not like this, she could feel the vibration through her feet, it came in deep bone shaking pulses.

Lars shouted out
,
“FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE!”

Everyone held their breath. There was an almighty whoosh over and above the train like sound that caught everyone out making them all jump as the machinery done its job at a tremendous speed. Magnets and boosters worked in unison switching on and off pushing the most miniscule particles along the collider at unimaginable speed towards the detector and towards them.

It sounded like a thousand trains now, all coming at once. And then suddenly the noise stopped dead leaving everyone almost deaf for a moment with the sudden loss of noise, a few people flinched.

The little hatch at the back of the containment chamber snapped open. Straining eyes watched as a tiny shimmering black teardrop fell down in to the collection chamber and arced towards the quivering black beach ball as it was caught by the magnetic field. All eyes were on the little globule of antimatter, two people gasped, another sai
d
“Wow!”
and another whispered
.”
There it is
,
look!”

The tiny little tear drop was ingested instantly and disappeared through the surface of the larger shimmering sphere of floating antimatter creating one seamless ripple as it did. The ripple ran across the entire surface of the shimmering mass leaving the large globule smooth like a pebble behind its wake. The ripple worked its way across the sphere to the other end where it closed in on its self with an almost audible plop!

David Smith was the first to break the silence that followed
.“
That was simply amazing, just amazing, I ca
n’
t believe it
.
I just can’t believe it!”
he said.

“
This truly is the start of a new dawn
,”
added Philippe Sanchez and Sarah nodded eagerly in agreement
.“
This is going to change the world
,”
she said.

Others were also full of praise; it was music to Lars and Sve
n’
s ears even though Lars knew part of it was relief that they were still here!

The Swedish Prime Minister approached them both, he was smiling and nodding, he said
,“
You both have my full backing
,”
and he pushed his hand out and shook both of theirs. Behind him both Deputy Prime Ministers from Denmark and Finland approached and promised their full backing, as did the Norwegian Prime Minister, telling them that there was never any doubt in his mind that h
e’
d be giving Project Tree Cycle his full backing. The Defence Minister still had doubts however and he repeated his fears of the technology being unstable, and the possibility of a terrorist attack or the potential for using the substance to produce the most powerful bomb the world was ever likely to see. He found himself in a very heated conversation about it with the other members of the group. While they were preoccupied with their mild mannered argument others began to speak up and started arguing about the pros and cons, for and against the properties of antimatter. Tempers were starting to rise and people were shouting to be heard when suddenly the humming started again!

No one noticed at first because of the shouting but gradually one by one as the noise increased the arguments stopped and everyone turned to Lars!

“
I thought that would quieten you all down
,”
he said
,“
that was only a demonstrational warm up cycle, just one lap of the coil at nominal speed, tha
t’
s all, accelerating the particles just fast enough to create a visible amount of antimatter to be collected, roughly four micrograms or so.
I’
ve just instructed a full cycle to commence three laps of the coil at full power
.
”

Sven rushed over looking concerned
.“
We do
n’
t need to do this Lars
,”
he said speaking in a hushed tone
.“
The
y’
ve all pledged their backing. W
e’
ve done it. W
e’
ve convinced everyone. W
e’
ve shown them what we can do, even the Defence Minister is beginning to come round, we do
n’
t need to do another cycle, let alone a full cycle! We do
n’
t even know if the containment chamber is powerful enough to handle anymore antimatter, especially after the amounts w
e’
ve seen produced with full power on a full cycle! W
e’
ve never seen the same amount of antimatter produced twice! We could end up overwhelming the containment chamber
;
you have to call it off Lars!”

“
I ca
n’
t
,”
said Lars
,“
i
t’
s already commenced
.”
He nodded towards the digital clock; it was already counting down from nine minutes
.“
Christ Lars
,
why have you done this?”

“
Relax Sven yo
u’
ll make people nervous, it will be fine. W
e’
ll show them what Project Tree Cycle is really capable of and send everyone home happy
.
”

“
We were already going to send them home happy
!
”

Lars stepped passed Sven and addressed the group
.“
It will get a little noisy as we reach the final part of the countdown more so than before because of the extra power required. I
t’
s nothing to worry about though, ok. So if yo
u’
d like to take up yo
u’
re places by the portholes again and observe, then this time you should all see an ample sized piece of anti- matter
.
”

There were a few uncertain mumbles from the group as they started to gather around the portholes again and this time they were a little more apprehensive than before.

They all noticed Sve
n’
s concerns.

“
Yo
u’
ve worried them, with your flapping around and your negativity Sven
.
Well done,”
said Lars.

“
You know the reasons for my concerns Lars, better than anyone else here
!
”

The noise was louder this time. A lot louder, gradually increasing in volume like before until to some of the group it felt like the floor was actually moving under them as the countdown continued.

The loud electrical hum changed to a pulse, then back in to a steady hum and then back again to a long drawn out pulse. To the Defence Minister every time the volume peaked and dropped in his min
d’
s eye he saw the miniscule atoms looping round the giant coil accelerator moving closer as the noise intensified and then moving further away after the volume peaked like truck passes you stopped in a lay by. Jade Anderson shared almost exactly the same vision. This did not just worry her, it frightened her and she could sense the tension in the air. They all could!

David Smith felt sweat trickle down his spine along the small of his back, there was no doubt that the system was at full power this time. The air was hot, so hot it almost burnt his nostrils when he sniffed hard, and the noise was tremendous, he almost wondered if there was actually an avalanche cascading down the mountain above their heads!

Sven felt himself breakout in a sweat all over, something h
e’
d only done during their first few antimatter recovery attempts!

At twenty seconds and counting Lars could
n’
t hear the message for him coming over his walky-talky with the volume maxed out so he checked the information panel and read the text. Then he called out nearly having to scream
.“
W
e’
ve recorded a new maximum top speed of four hundred and eighty four thousand miles an hour
!
”

Suddenly the noise stopped leaving everyone deafened by the sudden absence of noise.

All eyes were fixed on the small hatch at the rear of the containment chamber. It seemed to be taking forever. Sven felt uneasy, he wrung his hands together. The hatch snapped open, Sarah flinched, and Andrew gasped. A shivering shiny black Siamese twin of a teardrop dropped in to view! Each twin was the size of a large pear
!
“
Wow!”
said David.

This should
n’
t be happening, Sven could
n’
t believe his eyes nor could Lars.

The
y’
d never produced anything even half the size of even one of the pears, never mind two at once!

The co joined teardrops did
n’
t arc towards the centre, towards the collected mass of antimatter like all previous attempts. Instead it sunk, and faster than any before!

As they fell, they eventually began to try and turn towards the collected mass but only very slightly.

For a second it looked like it was actually going to split completely in two but then it did the opposite and completely joined together to form one big oversized unbalanced globule.

As everyone watched a slither of silver suddenly flashed across its surface!

Lars pressed his face hard against his porthole seeing it. It happened again. A silvery looking almost white hairline shot across its surface and split in two just before it disappeared.

David Smith suddenly jumped over to the next porthole for a better view pushing the Defence minister out of the way.

“What in Christ’s name,”
he said, totally oblivious to the Defence Ministers out cry at his actions behind him. The fractured white line disappeared and reappeared, darting from one side to the other and again it split in to a fork this time with three distinct prongs before disappearing again!

“
Looks like lightening
,”
said Lars.

“
I think i
t’
s contaminated
,”
said David.

“WHAT!”
yelped the Defence Minister.

“
What have you done Lars
?”
said Sven without lifting his head from his porthole. Lars did
n’
t answer anyone, he just watched transfixed.

Rippling and quivering it started to arc closer to the larger mass, its internal lightning bolt came to the surface again, and this time it stayed there, arcing all over the surface of the globule, splitting up and forking like a tiny lightning bolt, like lightning compressed in a bubble, trying to burst out.