Linkage: The Narrows of Time (6 page)

“It’s one of Dr. Kleezebee’s inventions. He
calls it VX-312. We call it tri-tanium.”

“Like in Star Trek,” she quipped.

“Exactly. It’s a chemically altered blend of
hardened titanium and tungsten composites, which have been infused
with a series of interwoven membranes of nanocrystalline diamond
fiber. It can withstand fusion-level temperatures and intense
gravimetric sheer.”

She adjusted her headgear, then pointed to
one of the eight rectangular devices installed evenly around the
perimeter of the reactor in forty-five degree increments. “What are
these?”

“Superconducting electromagnets. They’ve been
specifically calibrated to allow us to control our gravity wave
experiment.” Lucas saw her looking up at the elongated tube
attached to the dome of the reactor, which extended to the ceiling
at a 45-degree angle. “That fires a focused, cold neutron beam at
the core. It’s what jump-starts the experiment.”

He unlatched and slid open a protective
shroud covering the midsection of the reactor. Inside was a white,
egg-shaped receptacle the size of a thermos bottle, which was being
held at the exact center by a surrounding lattice of non-metal
struts.

“What goes inside?” she asked after looking
inside.

“That’s the really cool part. Follow me and
I’ll show you.”

They completed decontamination procedures and
removed their hazmat suits before stepping out of the chamber. They
returned to the center worktable where Trevor was standing.

Drew joined them, maneuvering his wheelchair
up an elongated aluminum ramp and onto a permanently installed
platform next to the worktable.

Lucas pointed to the three metal boxes near
his feet. “These were just delivered today. Trevor, would you do
the honors?”

Trevor lifted one of the boxes with ease and
put it on the worktable before cutting the bands of yellow security
tape with a pair of sheers. He unsnapped three metal clasps along
the front of the box, opened its hinged cover, and then pushed the
box closer to Lucas with one hand.

Lucas put on a pair of safety gloves before
removing the surface layer of the packaging material. Inside was a
perfectly round black sphere the size of a baseball. Lucas removed
the sphere with both hands, straining to lift the object up high
enough for all to see.

“This material is called ‘Unbiunium’ which is
a new super-heavy element recently discovered by the U.S. Navy. Its
atomic weight is 121, which is why we call it ‘Element 121’ or
E-121 for short.”

“I thought elements larger than ninety-two on
the Periodic Table were theoretical and do not occur naturally.
Even if they could be synthesized by fusing two heavy elements
together, wouldn’t the resulting substance be unstable and
instantly decay into lighter elements?”

Lucas’ arms were getting tired. He lowered
the sphere down to chest level and held it still for her
inspection. “Yet here it is, stable, and in solid form. Kleezebee
said he pulled a lot of strings to get us access to these
samples.”

“Where did the Navy discover it?”

“In an unexplored deep sea trench off the
coast of Mexico, near Chicxulub, just off the Yucatan peninsula.
From what Kleezebee told us, the Navy found a substantial amount of
it.”

“Chicxulub? Isn’t that where they found the
impact crater that killed off the dinosaurs?”

Lucas nodded. “Yes, it was.”

Abby stared at the ground before responding
in a softer tone, “I do remember reading something about a
gravimetric anomaly found at that impact site. I suppose it’s
possible that E-121 may have had something to do with that.” She
leaned over and peeked inside the shipping container.

Lucas was excited to be sharing his talisman
with the new assistant. “This special material has very unique
properties, which are essential to the last phase of our project.
Without it, we can’t run the experiment. Super-heavy elements like
E-121 have an ultra-strong gravity field that extends well beyond
the perimeter of its atom, making it accessible. Just like any
other field in the electromagnetic spectrum, E-121’s gravitational
wave has a specific frequency and amplitude. Since we can access
it, we plan on using the reactor to control it.”

“Are you trying to manipulate the element’s
strong nuclear force bonding its particles together?”

“No. We plan to morph the actual gravity
field itself,” Drew replied, picking up an egg-shaped capsule
sitting next to him on the work surface. He unscrewed the capsule’s
domed-shaped lid before holding out the bottom half with both
hands.

“Don’t you think Trevor should take it from
here?” Lucas asked.

“Nope, I got it,” Drew replied, resting his
elbows on the table.

Lucas wanted to say something else, but
didn’t. He put the E-121 sample into the container and screwed on
its lid. Drew tugged the capsule across the tabletop and put it in
his lap, partially wedged between his legs.

Lucas told Abby, “We’ll use E-121 as the
catalyst for our experiment. We hope to compact one side of the
element’s immense gravitational field under the control of the
powerful electromagnetic system, which will, in turn, push out or
bulge an equal and opposite reaction on the other side. While the
quantum morphing occurs, we expect the surrounding subspace to
counteract the change in force and effectively push against our
material to maintain spatial equilibrium.”

Abby nodded several times while writing in
her journal. She folded her arms with the notebook pressed flat up
against her chest. “Assuming I understand you correctly, in theory
that could result in transmutation of the laws of gravity or
‘anti-gravity,’ as it were. Like what would happen if you pushed
against the side of a floating soap bubble.”

Lucas nodded. “We hope this will lead to a
revolutionary new type of interstellar propulsion system, which is
why NASA agreed to fund this project in the first place.”

“The power requirements must be enormous,”
she said.

“That’s where the cold neutron beam comes
into play. While an atom’s strong nuclear force is trillions of
times stronger than gravity, we believe there’s an underlying
quantum energy stream that’s even more powerful.”

Drew was smiling when he added, “So powerful
in fact, that we should be able to use it to manipulate E-121’s
gravity field.”

“Did you say quantum energy stream?” she
asked Lucas.

“If we can precisely match the frequency of
E-121’s gravity wave, the beam should be able to wedge open a crack
between the exposed section of the gravitational field and the
element’s perimeter. This should allow us to tap into the energy
matrix connecting our universe to the next. With it, we should have
an endless supply of energy to power our experiment.”

Abby’s mouth dropped open and she did not
respond.

Chapter
6

Vexation

The security system buzzed, but no one moved.
The double doors opened and Dr. Kleezebee entered, carrying a black
three-ring binder with the phrase PROJECT AG-356-12 written on a
white label affixed to the cover. He joined the group at the
worktable.

“How are things progressing?” Kleezebee asked
with an unlit, stubby cigar hanging from the corner of his lips.
The professor stood next to Lucas.

“Perfectly,” Lucas replied. “We’re just about
ready to load the core.”

“Excellent. Let’s get to it,” the professor
said, placing the binder on the table. “I’ve finished reviewing
your work, and everything appears ready to go. Nice work you two. I
only changed a few things with respect to power utilization. Let’s
begin with the flow regulator set to fifty percent. We can always
increase it from there if needed.” Lucas and Drew nodded. Kleezebee
winked and smiled at Drew. “Time to man your station. Abby, you go
with him to observe.”

Drew gave the E-121 container to Trevor and
wheeled himself to the Primary Control Station. He sat in front of
the right console; Abby sat down to his left. When she scooted her
chair closer to his, he could smell her strawberry-scented perfume.
It reminded him of his mother’s backyard vegetable garden.

Abby was looking over her right shoulder when
she whispered to him, “What’s the deal with Trevor? He gives me the
creeps.”

“Trevor? Oh, he’s harmless. He’s a big teddy
bear and would never hurt a fly.”

“He just stands there with his arms folded
and never says anything.”

“That’s just the way he is. Sometimes he goes
an entire day without saying a word.”

“I’m glad you’re not that way,” she said,
touching her hand lightly on his shoulder.

Drew felt his face flush when she smiled at
him. He had difficulty stabilizing his left hand when he reached
for a series of red switches located on the riser panel in front of
her. When he pulled back his arm after enabling power to the
chamber’s video system, his forearm grazed her shoulder. The tiny
black hairs on his arm tingled, sending a wave of shivers
throughout his body. He waited for his LCD screen to fill with four
equal-sized windows. Three of them contained camera feeds showing
the exterior of the reactor; the fourth was a shot of the reactor’s
core.

“So what happens next?” Abby asked, opening
her documentation journal.

He changed the upper-left video feed to show
Trevor and Lucas standing inside the decontamination chamber. Lucas
was holding the E-121 container while Trevor put on his triple-XL
hazmat suit.

“It’s time to load the core,” Drew told
her.

He brought up a command window on his
computer screen, obscuring the video feeds except the one
monitoring his brother. He waited until he received the thumbs-up
signal from Lucas before entering a series of programming
constructs into his wireless keyboard. Thirty seconds later, the
decontamination sequence was complete.

* * *

Lucas stepped through the inner door first
and led the way back to the reactor. He unscrewed four wing nuts
securing the reactor’s protective shroud and slid it open. He stood
aside and waited for Trevor to place the E-121 container inside the
core’s main housing. The container fit perfectly inside the
precision-made receptacle.

“The material’s in place. Closing the core
now,” he announced over the communication system.

Lucas closed the heavy shield, secured it,
and the two scientists headed for the exit. They followed
established air-lock decontamination procedures before removing
their safety gear and leaving the chamber.

“All set, boss. We’re good to go,” Lucas
said, sitting down in front of the left console. He was only a few
feet to the right of the chamber’s door. Abby was seated to his
right with Drew on the other side of her.

Lucas spent the next several minutes
preparing his workstation for the experiment, but was distracted by
Abby and Drew babbling away. Occasionally, the chatter was
interrupted by one of Abby’s giggles. He looked back to see
Kleezebee talking with Trevor near the center worktable. Lucas
couldn’t hear their conversation, but based on Kleezebee’s body
language and the professor’s frequent glances at Drew, he suspected
a problem.

Lucas leaned around the front of Abby and
quietly told his brother, “You need to concentrate on the work.
Kleezebee’s watching, and he looks pissed.”

“Sorry,” Drew said, straightening himself up
in his chair.

A short while later, Kleezebee and Trevor had
finished their conversation and joined the Ramsays at the Primary
Control Station. “All right, then, let’s fire this baby up,”
Kleezebee said.

Drew opened the procedure manual, licked his
forefinger, and used it to turn to the first page. It contained
almost forty pages of instrument checks, startup protocols,
calculations, and notes to run the experiment. The first order of
business was to boot the various systems and reset the instruments.
Kleezebee’s procedure manual included extensive notes regarding
startup protocols and baseline readings.

“Control systems initiated. Stage one
complete,” Lucas reported after calibrating the final set of
instruments.

Abby documented every facet of the experiment
in precise detail. As was true with most scientists, Lucas despised
the tedious documentation requirements mandated by the advisors and
often chose to shortcut the process by avoiding it altogether. He
hoped Abby’s detail-oriented nature would save him a tremendous
amount of grunt work.

Kleezebee was standing watch over Lucas’
shoulder, his arms folded high across his chest. He was grinning
and seemed proud of their accomplishments. Lucas felt the same way.
Their team was about to rewrite the laws of gravity.

“Go ahead and remove the atmosphere from the
core,” Kleezebee said.

Drew started typing into his keyboard and
seconds later, the custom-built reactor engaged, filling the lab
with a momentary swooshing sound.

Lucas checked his instruments to verify the
reactor’s core had transformed into a space-like vacuum. It had.
“Core’s ready, Professor.”

“Now let’s flood it with the gas,” Kleezebee
said.

Drew turned to another page in the procedure
manual and pressed a series of bright yellow switches in order from
left to right. Then he twisted two quarter-sized control knobs and
pressed a black button labeled
FLOW
. “Flow regulators are
set. Releasing the Radon gas now,” he said, typing commands into
his console.

“Radon gas?” Abby asked Drew.

“We use pressurized inert gas to stop
unwanted chain reactions from occurring.”

“Status?” Kleezebee asked.

“Seals holding and all systems report green,”
Drew replied after checking his instruments.

“Lucas, fire up the EM system, and make sure
it’s calibrated properly,” Kleezebee said.