Tesla's Signal (8 page)

“That was wonderful! Let's all give Miss Margerie a hand,” Miss Lily said after her cousin's performance. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce a fascinating performer, Mr. Leon Theremin from  Russia. He is going to show us something completely unique!”

Two servants brought in a small table. A tall man in tails and black suit entered, placing on the table an oblong metal box. A wire loop protruded from one end; a metal rod extended from its top. A woman in a black silk robe followed him, carrying a wooden cabinet. Niko could see that it contained vacuum tubes and a transformer.

The man plugged the device into a wall socket to tap the electrical system which Niko had installed for this mansion when he'd worked for Edison. Niko watched in fascination as the two performers connected the device to the the vacuum tube box.
An amplifier,
he guessed. Miss Lily then brought in a gold-plated gramophone horn, for further amplification. After the apparatus was assembled, the tall man took a bow.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen.” He spoke with a thick Russian accent. “My name is Lev Termin, or
Theremin
as you say it, and this is my student, Miss Kara. We are working on new musical device which does not work by plucking strings or blowing air—but by wireless electric waves, as we have studied in journals of Nikola Tesla.”

What do we have here?
Niko sat on the edge of his seat.

“Observe,” said Mr. Theremin. “My instrument can be played through the air—without touching!” The Russian extended his left hand, palm down, above the wire loop. As he slowly raised his hand, the instrument emitted a pure sine-wave tone. “Sound is produced by interaction of two radio frequency oscillators,” he explained.  “This antenna controls pitch. The body itself disrupts the electromagnetic field of the pitch antenna, and volume is controlled by this loop. I have called my instrument
 Aetherphone, Terminvox
...but others just call it
Theremin
.”

Mr. Theremin held up his right hand, like a conductor signaling his orchestra to begin. “I will now play a passage from the Rose Concerto, while Miss Palmer accompanies me on piano.”

He lifted a hand and played the first note. A most incredible wailing sound emerged from the gramophone horn. As he moved his hands, the noise varied in volume and pitch. It went from a low growl to a high wavering screech like an owl at midnight.

“Why, this is amazing,” Niko murmured. He resolved to speak to the musician when the demonstration was done.

The sound resembled that of a violin, although Niko thought the piece would have sounded better on the latter instrument. Still, the concept fascinated him. After the inventor had demonstrated his device, he stepped back to polite applause.

“I have showed you what my instrument does,” he said. “Now I would like to introduce my student Miss Kara, a true musical prodigy who can play this device like an angel.”

Miss Kara bowed her head as the people applauded. She wore an Oriental silk robe and her dark hair had been twisted in a tall knot on top of her head. It gave her an exotic look, which was heightened by her high cheekbones and heavy eyebrows. She never looked at the audience, but gazed upward and struck a dramatic pose with her hands uplifted. Miss Lily played a soft minor chord on the piano. Kara's white gloves fluttered and she drew the first notes out of the air.

Niko was captivated by the very first note. He had never heard anything like it. The notes vibrated like a violin, and sometimes sang like a human voice. The low notes had the richness of a cello; the mids sang with the purity of a crystal bowl; the highs rang like a celestial choir. For a moment it reminded him of the Aon communication.

He couldn't take his eyes off the young woman's gloved hands, as they caressed the air. With a wave of her fingers she created an exquisite tremolo. Now the fingers plucked at the air like a harpist's, making the aether dance. Sparks of current, invisible to everyone else, played around her fingers. Surely she was a born current-weaver, he thought, like himself! Yes, she certainly used the principle of resonant frequency...the transmitter was her beautiful hands, and the receiver was his soul.

By the time the last note faded into silence, Niko had fallen completely under the spell of Miss Kara.

The lights came back and the audience applauded. Miss Lily mentioned that contributions were being accepted on behalf of Miss Kara's education. The performer herself slipped away behind a carved wooden screen. But Niko followed after her and knocked at the frame.

“Yes? Who is it?” said a faint voice from beyond.

“Ma'am, your performance was exquisite. May I have a few words?”

“Very well. Come in.”

The girl sat at a vanity table with a large oval mirror, sipping water. He gazed at her somber countenance and wondered: had he ever seen this woman? Why did she look familiar?

He took off his hat and gave a slight bow. “Miss, I'm Nikola Tesla, the inventor. Your Mr. Theremin was just mentioning me.”

“Oh. It's
you.”
She stood up, regarding him with narrowed eyes. She did not smile or give any indication of welcome.

“Miss Kara,” he continued, “your performance was so impressive. How are you able to control the oscillations with such fine accuracy?”

“Forgive me sir, I do not give interviews. Now, if you'll excuse me.” She turned to the mirror and began undoing her necklace.

“But Miss, I...you look so familiar. Have we ever met?”

“Most certainly not, sir.” Her voice and expression held all the warmth of an icicle. “Now I'm very tired, if you don't mind...”

Niko made the connection then. “Yes, I believe we have met. I'm sure that you...your hair was a different color...perhaps a wig. But I'm sure that you worked for me. You were my secretary, Miss Clara Eps.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You're mistaken. Go away!”

“But why did you leave?”

“None of your business! Leave me alone!” She pushed past him and left the room via a thick mahogany door, letting it slam after her.

***

“Why in God's name did she do that?”

Robert and Katherine took their shaken friend Niko home in their coach. He could not stop speaking of the strange encounter. “What was it all about? Why did she put on this elaborate disguise, the false name?”

“Why Niko, she's in love with you, of course,” Katharine teased.

“But...she never acted as if...she never tried...”
she never threw herself at me,
was what Niko meant to say. Unlike scores of young society
beauties who had tried to catch his eye over the years. “In fact, she acted as if she
hated
me.”

“She was just flirting with you, silly.” Katharine tweaked his chin. “That just makes the romance more piquant.”

Niko sighed.
“Romance?
That's ridiculous.” Sometimes Katharine said the silliest things! Clara Eps loathed him for some reason, and Katharine interpreted this as some kind of flirting game.

“It's simple, Nicky...just plain biology, that's all! Why don't you give in to the inevitable. It's time you had a lady friend.”

“My dear Katharine, you know I don't have time for a relationship. I spend days at a time in my lab.”

“So does Thomas Edison, yet he has a wife and three children.”

“Don't compare me with that thieving scoundrel! I'm a
real
scientist. I cannot wed because I'm married to
Science
.”

“What a waste,” Katharine muttered.

Another idea occurred to him. “I wonder if she was a spy.”

“Why, what do you mean?”

“She came to my office and left after three days. Maybe she was spying for Marconi, or another one of those thieves who try to steal my work.”

“Oh, Niko, don't be absurd.”

***

He put away the problem of Clara Eps and her strange behavior. There was much more pressing business to be done.

To build a tower strong enough to reach the stars, Niko needed money...and lots of it. He went right to the top, and scheduled a meeting with J. P. Morgan: steel magnate, railroad baron, owner of General Electric, master financial manipulator who held the strings of the U.S. economy.

“I propose to build a tremendous communication tower, Mr. Morgan. With my World Wireless System, a business man like yourself will be able to receive stock quotes on your yacht, or on your ship to London, or anywhere in the world.”

J. P. Morgan's size was commensurate with his wealth and reputation. His shoulders seemed as wide as Niko was tall, and his stern, frowning, countenance reminded Niko of some of the thunderstorms that rolled over Pike's Peak.

Mr. Morgan lit a cigar and filled the room with smelly smoke. “What's this I hear about you talking to Martians?”

Does the whole world already know?
Niko clenched his hands and thought quickly. “Sir, it may be possible to speak with beings from other planets, but at the present time I wish to give Mankind the gift of speaking with each other.”

He unrolled a drawing of his new project. “I have an option on some land near Shoreham, at a site called Wardenclyffe. I propose to build a great communication tower, which will stand 180 ft. tall.”

The great financier sucked on his cigar and studied the plans for awhile. Niko took the opportunity to gaze at his surroundings. The walls of the great man's study were paneled in rare mahogany. Priceless works of art, framed in gold, hung high and low. Niko identified Renaissance Masters, Van Goghs, Rembrandts and medieval fresco panels.

Morgan had also collected several tiger skins, rhino horns, and a stuffed bear. The man was a collector all right. He had collected Steel, Oil and Railroads. He had driven many rival companies into bankruptcy so he could scoop them into his coffers. Now Niko was giving Morgan the means to add  World Wireless to his private hoard.

But what other choice do I have?

Morgan fixed him with a steely gaze. “Tesla, you are like the midway at Coney Island. Always something novel, strange and fantastic.” Sighing, he took out a pen. “Very well—there's no fortune without risk. So I'll take a shot at this venture of yours! I'll advance you a loan of $150,000 to complete your tower. I'll retain a 51 percent interest in your company, but here's the catch...” he leaned forward with a sly grin.  “If the reporters ask, tell 'em that was
your
idea. They're already complaining that I control the whole damn country. All right? Here, sign on this line. Now then—let's drink a toast to our new venture, the control of wireless radio communication!” He poured sparkling brandy into two crystal shot glasses.

“Thank you, Mr. Morgan, you are truly one of the most generous men on Earth!”

After that, Niko worked twice as hard and slept even less than before. A mania took him, similar to that of his gaming days: a passion to challenge himself. Now he had wagered his technical abilities, his finances, and his reputation, in the hope that his grand idea would work. For this game he had pitted his nerve and wits against nature, physics, and one of the greatest financial kings in the world.

“I'm sorry, Katharine,” he told his friend over the telephone. “I cannot spare the time to accept your dinner invitation.”

“Do tell! What sort of grand scheme are you hatching these days,
Nicky?”

“It will be a scientific breakthrough—a method of transmitting information and electrical power through the world.”

Katherine sighed. “How wonderful. I only wish your machine could transmit your delightful presence to our humble parlor now and again.”

The project got underway at the remote acreage in Shoreham. The first project was a large brick plant which would house his equipment—the great generators that came from Westinghouse, the transformer coils, and the contents of Niko's laboratory which would be shipped from the city.

Then the tower itself began to take shape. Tall girders and struts rose up into the sky. The tower framework would house the mightiest of all transformers to send out the pulses to the heavens. Workmen dug tunnels beneath the tower as well, to tap the currents transmitted by the Earth.

Niko often came out to watch the construction. He could see the whole thing in his mind. Unfortunately it was taking longer than he'd thought to put his vision into being—and costing much, much more.

“How is your great project coming along?” Katharine telephoned him.

Niko sighed. “Not as well as I would like. There are problems with suppliers, design details, labor disputes. And most of all...money.”

“Oh dear. Do tell!”

“Yes, prices keep rising and the bills are piling up. The stock market has taken a nosedive. They say the whole economy's going into recession.”

***

Every day brought new frustrations, but Niko kept his spirits up, visualizing the future. One day he would be able to speak with anyone...his family in Croatia, his college friends in Hungary, and...his
Colleagues
far beyond Earth, wherever they might be.
Mars? Venus? A Jovian world of gas clouds?
Who knew? Surely there were intelligent beings out there. Morgan could have his stock quotes and Niko could exchange ideas with great minds all around the galaxy. How grand that would be!