Brown, Dale - Patrick McLanahan 10 (61 page)

 
          
The
room was dominated by a large aluminum sphere seven feet in diameter, with a
number of electrodes and cables running around the outside. This was the main
component—the inertial confinement chamber. Set on the inside surface of the
sphere were four hundred diode lasers, like powerful laser pointers, aimed into
the center of the sphere. Inside the sphere, magnetrons—magnetic guns— were
also set up, pointing into the center as well. A tube ran through the center,
and there was an opening in the front end of the sphere that connected the
confinement chamber to a large cylinder with thousands of rectangles etched
into it—the laser generators—and from there to the Faraday oscillator that
would collect the light energy from the generators and produce a laser beam.

 
          
The
tube fed tiny pellets of deuterium and tritium into the sphere, and the laser
beams bombarded the pellets. The deuterium and tritium elements in the gaseous
cloud that formed in the center of the sphere released energy particles but
were then trapped, focused, and squeezed by the laser beams until the heat
built up to a point where the elements no longer repelled one another but were
fused together. When they fused, they created a massive release of heat and
energy. Further squeezed by the magnetrons, the fused particles suddenly
snapped apart, creating a cloud of free electrons and positively charged
particles called ions—a plasma field. The magnetrons then focused the field and
sent it to the laser generator, where the plasma energy stripped high-energy
particles from neodymium, creating laser light.

 
          
Despite
its size and complexity, it was a perfect example of simplicity and
functionality. It weighed less than thirty thousand pounds, less than half the
weight of the chemical laser it was replacing. The inertial confinement chamber
was a simple reengineering of the plasma-yield warhead Jon Masters had invented
years earlier—instead of simply releasing the plasma energy created inside, the
chamber was designed to channel it to the laser generator. It used virtually no
power—just enough to light up the diode lasers inside the confinement chamber
and to keep the magnetrons firing.

 
          
Unfortunately,
that was the problem—and Kelsey’s current headache. “How’s it looking, Kelsey?”
Jon asked, ignoring Cheryl’s concerned expression—better get a status update
fast before Cheryl decided to escort her daughter out of here.

 
          
“Horrible,”
Kelsey said. “I still haven’t been able to control the heat buildup and keep it
away from the magnetrons.”

           
“That’s a problem I never had to
contend with,” Jon admitted. “With the plasma-yield warhead, I
wanted
to let the heat build up—we got a
bigger plasma field and we could do more damage. Here, we want to control it.”

 
          
It
took an incredible amount of heat to create a plasma field—a hundred million
degrees Fahrenheit, ten times hotter than the sun. The heat only lasted for a
tiny fraction of a second, but it was still devastating to ordinary manmade
materials. Further, cooling the sphere or magnetrons was not an option—the only
way to do away with the heat was to build the heat up enough to create a plasma
field, at which instant it would cool to safe limits and the plasma field would
disappear. Even if the creation of the plasma fields were pulsed, excess heat
eventually built up to the point where even the strongest materials would begin
to corrode and weaken.

 
          
“What’s
the pulse interval looking like?”

 
          
“The
optimum safe range is between ten and twenty-five milliseconds,” Kelsey replied,
“but I only get a yield of point four one megawatts—almost half the level of
the chemical laser we’re replacing. Not good.” Kelsey had been experimenting
with trying to vary the spacing between plasma pulses. Spacing the pulses out
farther resulted in manageable levels of heat but decreased the power available
to the laser generators. “If I can go to
five to ten
milliseconds I can get to one megawatt of
power. I’m shooting for one millisecond—then I can beat TRW’s chemical laser
output by twenty-five percent. But at that power level, I can get maybe
ten ten-second
shots off before the magnetrons let go.”

 
          
“Letting
go” was a nice way of saying “exploding.” The magnetrons in the confinement
chamber served two purposes: they squeezed the plasma energy down to a smaller
size to increase the power of the plasma field, and it then channeled the
plasma stream into the laser generator. The magnetrons signaled imminent
failure by vibrating rapidly as the magnetic material began to disintegrate
molecularly and the magnetic fields began alternately attracting, then repelling
one another at incredible speed. If the magnetrons failed and the plasma
reaction wasn’t stopped in time, the plasma field would grow uncontrollably,
unleashing one hundred million degrees of destruction on anything within one or
two miles.

 
          
Building
two smaller confinement chambers instead of one large one was an option, but
there wasn’t enough room for two of the right size in the B-52’s fuselage;
besides, Jon’s and Kelsey’s initial computations suggested that one large
confinement chamber would do the trick, so they went for it, and now it would
take weeks, maybe months, to redesign everything for two chambers.

 
          
“I
don’t think we have any choice—we drop back ten, punt, and go for two confinement
chambers,” Jon said. “We need to build a little more safety into the system
too, or else we can’t market to the Pentagon. We need to get more than thirty
shots and we need at least one point five megawatts, preferably two megawatts.”

 
          
“I
know I can do it,” Kelsey said. “By varying the time between plasma pulses,
making bigger magnetrons, increasing the power to the magnetrons, adding more
laser generators, and perhaps redesigning the oscillator, I think we can get
one point five megawatts out of this system with a good margin of safety. Those
changes would be simpler than tearing everything apart and redoing it with two
smaller confinement chambers.”

 
          
“Frankly,
Kels, we make more of a splash with a two- megawatt system even if we only get
ten to twelve safe shots out of it,” Jon said. “It’s not important now—tuning
up an unworkable system is a mental exercise, not a business one. We’ll
redesign the system for two confinement chambers.” He squeezed her shoulders
appreciatively. “You’ve done an extraordinary job, young lady. You’ve designed
and built a powerful, sophisticated laser pumping system that’s never been
tried before, and in record time. It’s got some bugs, but we’ve actually
fielded a working system. You should be proud of that. Let’s let the concept
engineers work on the new drawings and take a break from this one for now.”

           
“Okay, Jon,” Kelsey said.

 
          
Jon
Masters nodded, winked at Cheryl, then headed for the door, fully expecting
Kelsey to follow him, even holding his hand as she sometimes did. But Jon was
out the door before he realized that Kelsey had not followed him—had, in fact,
not even gotten up out of her chair.

 
          
He
was about to go back inside and ask her—no,
order
her—to get up and go home. But then Cheryl reached over and, instead of
taking her daughter out of there or trying to convince her that she needed her
sleep, started to massage her daughter’s little shoulders.

 
          
Who
was abusing whom here? Jon asked himself. Did Cheryl want the best for her
daughter, or was she mostly interested in making sure she was happy—and what in
heck was the difference? Jon wasn’t a parent—he could never know the answer to
that question. The closest he came to family had been Paul and Patrick
McLanahan— one was dead, the other an emotional wreck.

 
          
Best
to just get out of there and let them have their time together, Jon thought.
Cheryl obviously treasured even these little moments, as long as they could be
together— even if it was at the control terminal of a fifty-million-dollar
laser.

PRESIDENT ANWAR SADAT UNITY
 
STADIUM,
CAIRO
EGYPT
 
SEVERAL DAYS LATER

 
          
“My
brothers and sisters, may God bless and protect you, and may He grant all of us
everlasting peace and happiness,” Egyptian president Susan Bailey Salaam began.
The military memorial service for the slain, injured, and missing of Mersa
Matruh had concluded, and then came the political rally and the speeches. Last
to step up to the dais was the president herself, making her first political
speech since taking office. The cheering was deafening: It rattled seats, made
the flags high atop the rim of the stadium flutter, and even caused car alarms
in the parking lot outside to go off.

           
“We are here to pray for the victims
of the terrible tragedy that claimed so many lives,” Susan went on. “I pledge
to you, on the memory of my beloved husband, to work tirelessly to bring to
justice those that perpetrated that horrible deed. They will be brought before
the people of
Egypt
, and they will feel our wrath—this I guarantee you.

 
          
“But
we are here not just for vengeance or retribution, but to profess our strength
and unity in the eyes of God and to everyone in the world,” Salaam went on.
“None may challenge us. None may stay our hands or our voices, because God is
on the side of the believers, and he will defend and protect those who stand
for justice and peace.”

 
          
Seated
beside her, General Ahmad Baris,
Egypt
’s new foreign minister, looked on,
applauding enthusiastically and rising from his seat each time she was given a
standing ovation. Outwardly, he was proud and overwhelmed by the effusive show
of support for his friend ...

 
          
...
but inwardly, he was confused and, yes, a little frightened.

 
          
“My
friends, we are here in the presence of God for one reason: to show Him that
the faith, the solidarity, and the unity of His people is stronger than ever.
We have an opportunity to do exactly that.

 
          
“We
have seen the birth of an exciting and promising new venture: the opening of
the Salimah oil project to all Arab workers. My goal is simple but powerful:
share the wealth of our land with all of our Arab brothers and sisters. We have
opened our borders to friends. We pledge Egypt’s protection and support to all
who enter peacefully. Salimah promises full employment, wealth, and happiness
to anyone who is willing to take a chance and brave the
Sahara
.
Egypt
recognizes the bravery and sacrifice of
everyone who ventures to Salimah, and we will defend and protect you in your
travels and your labors—this I promise.”

 
          
After
waiting nearly a full minute for the applause to die down, Susan continued: “My
friends, the spirit and promise of Salimah shows us one important ideal: that
if we work together, we truly can be happy, wealthy, and fulfilled children of
God. That important ideal is unity. We must become as one. Salimah is only the
beginning. You can look out across that wasteland and see nothing but sand and
rock, but I see much more: I see one people, one message, one common goal:
peace, prosperity, and happiness. I see the future, secure and full of hope and
promise for our children. I see ah Arabs and all Africans working together to
secure our borders, sharing in the wealth of our land and our seas, and
contributing to a brave new society where we show the world what it’s like to
be free. I see our future, my brothers and sisters: I see the new
United Arab Republic
. God wills it, my brothers and sisters, and
so let it be done.”

 
          
The
cheers and joyful screaming reached an almost feverish pitch. This is what the
crowd had been waiting for, and now they had heard it from the “queen’s” own
lips: She was calling for the formation of the
United Arab Republic
.

 
          
It
was not a new idea. In 1958,
Egypt
formed a
United Arab Republic
, mostly to fight against lingering European
domination in
Middle
East
affairs. With
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser as its leader, the
United Arab Republic
flourished for three years and grew strong;
the Republic was largely responsible for reuniting the Arab world following its
defeat in the first Arab-Israeli War, and for strengthening the individual
power of its member nations by removing foreign domination of Arab interests
and instituting self-rule and determination.