The Soul of the Matter (14 page)

Chapter 29

V
iktor's nose stung from the fumes of the cleaning fluid and markers. The whiteboard, wiped clear fifteen minutes ago, was again covered with colored numbers, Greek letters, and squiggly lines. The symbols were grouped into four separate sections, depicting each of the experiments they planned to conduct in a half-hour.

Welch stood off to the side, reviewing what he had written. Viktor, Nicco, and Sousan sat at the large oval table opposite the board. All stared silently ahead, eyes focused on the parameters of the experiments.

After a short period, Viktor said, “So that's it. Four short steps to achieve what decades of international scientific research couldn't.”

Even now, Viktor could hardly believe it. It was as though instead of sailing across the ocean in three frail ships, hoping to find a shorter passage to India, Columbus had been given a way to travel back and forth instantaneously. He almost felt cheated out of the coming accomplishments, except that he would be able to ensure the spoils went to good use. Still, he felt uneasy.

Sousan looked up from her notes on her tablet and said, “Do you want to push the envelope a little further? I'm confident that, with the adjustments we've made, we can control the plasma.”

Welch replied, “First of all, this is the most heat we can subject the reactor to in this period of time. Second, if it works as I expect it will, it's all the proof we'll need. If it doesn't work, then we'll need time to figure out more adjustments and try again tomorrow, before the reactor is shut down. But I'm confident it'll work.”

Viktor answered, “Well, it better. At my age, I'm not sure how much more my overstressed old heart can take. After it does work,
whatever comes next, even if it's my last heartbeat, will be worth it.”

“I prefer you stick around. There will be lots to do after this,” Welch said, finally smiling. Turning toward Nicco and Sousan, he added, “Are you two clear on everything?”

Nicco said, “Got it. The first shot will be a standard calibration. Nothing special there. The second will prove out the balance between our new field effect and the electromagnetic repulsion. The third will be a longer period test of this balance, under a variety of different combinations. The fourth will be a short burst of high-yield fusion.”

“That's right. Together, they'll demonstrate that fusion energy is now a reality,” Welch answered.

Even though she had been briefed over the last few days, what Sousan was taking in still felt like too much, too soon. “Once word gets out, how are we going to handle the fallout? Sorry, poor choice of words; I mean peoples' reactions. How are we going to handle it?”

Viktor said, “One step at a time. Let's make sure of what we've got before we worry about whom we tell and when. We can all keep quiet until then,
right
?”

•  •  •

Sousan glanced at Welch, and then looked away from him. She didn't want anyone to notice her contempt and anger. Where did he get off acting so superior and cocky? The breakthroughs clearly weren't his. It was part of an act that Viktor and Welch were performing to distract people from realizing that it was really Viktor's work, based on his discoveries and secret government programs he wasn't disclosing. She was not going to be deceived by Welch's arrogance and Viktor's assertions. At first, she'd been disappointed and hurt by Viktor's deception and exclusion of her; he had been her friend and mentor, a righteous man who had suffered much in life and still viewed all people as worthy human beings. Now she realized that it had all been an act, that he had used her all these years.

At first she hadn't wanted to believe that, despite what her handlers had told her. They were trying to compel her to take the steps she was about to take, steps she'd at first thought were wrong. She now saw the truth of what they had told her.

Fusion energy would be used to repress her people and plunge them back into economic hardship. It was a plot to drive down the value of oil, to weaken Muslim countries, to prop up the illegitimate Jewish regime in Palestine, and it was work against Allah.

She was disappointed in herself for not seeing this sooner, for repressing her Islamic identity and adopting a secular view of the world, just for meager success as a scientist. It had all been an illusion. Seeing the hardship that the Western world caused her people, and listening to the holy words of her handlers, had made all this clear.

She was glad that she had a way to atone for her transgressions. Yet, as she prepared to execute the computer commands that would activate the sabotage, she hesitated. The odd sensations she had experienced while the experiment was going on last Friday had unsettled her, made her feel uncertain about the path she had chosen. She worried that her decisions posed a risk to her well-being, but these feelings had passed.

Then her eye caught Welch and Viktor talking quietly, no doubt conspiring about some further slight. Without hesitation, she initiated the commands.

The plan was perfect, and everyone would get their rightful due, including her.

•  •  •

Viktor stood at the main console and watched Welch complete the preparations. Minutes away from the momentous events, he was surprised that he felt so calm.

While he was disappointed that Stephen wasn't there to see it, Viktor understood. Stephen's presence could only raise questions about his connection to the research and the experiments.

Viktor scanned the room one more time and saw Nicco repeatedly running the temperature and spectrometer analysis programs on an empty and dormant reactor. He was consistently getting readings that confirmed the obvious: nothing was going on. Sousan was on the opposite end of the room, away from the main console, and close to the door, calmly poised to monitor the plasma. Her steely
resolve was complemented by her normal standoffishness and determination.

Welch was on the last item of the pre-experiment checklist. He exhaled slowly, smiled, and said to Viktor, “Ready to do the honors?”

Almost instantly, Viktor's muscles tightened and his pulse jumped, even though this first experiment was only a standard calibration exercise. After taking a steady, deep breath so no one would notice his excitement, he said, “Okay. Here we go. Round One is starting.” With that, he pressed the button that started the sequence. The computer-generated voice counted down, 10, 9, . . . 3, 2, 1. The screens lit up with the bright plasma, the readings registered on the monitors, and in a few brief seconds, the shot was over.

Immediately, Welch called out, “Everyone, please confirm readings were within the expected ranges.” As he looked at each person in turn, they called out the results. Everything was as it ought to have been.

Glancing at Viktor, Welsh added, “Now onto the fun stuff. But just a little at a time.” He turned to the room and said, “Let's review the procedures as indicated on the program monitor. After the fuel is loaded, and the magnetic field has pressurized the plasma, the quantum field generator will fire a short burst that will reduce the apparent electromagnetic repulsion of the nuclei and cause the plasma to compress further. Everyone ready?”

After his colleagues called out that they were, Welch initiated the program and started the countdown. As before, the plasma formed a bright circular ring within the reactor. Then the quantum field kicked in and the plasma shrank into a narrower and brighter band.

Viktor felt the same faint unease he had experienced in the first round of tests. It was hard to place. Looking around the room, he couldn't determine if others were experiencing similar feelings, though there was no natural reason why they should be.

Meanwhile, the experiment had ended, and Welch once again confirmed that the readings for the shot were within the expected ranges. He fed the readings into a computer program that analyzed them to produce slightly modified parameters for the third experiment. This is where things would get really interesting: demonstrat
ing a mastery of the forces that governed subatomic behavior and fusion reactions.

Repeating the previous procedures, Welch loaded the program and reviewed the steps with everyone. With a slight nod, Viktor indicated it was time to start the third experimental shot.

This time, a progression of quantum and magnetic field combinations would control and manipulate the plasma under different conditions. Unlike the earlier experiments, which had lasted five to ten seconds, this would last twenty-five. It would demonstrate that they knew enough about the physics to control fusion and produce significantly more energy than was consumed. The key had been the discovery of how to reduce momentarily the repulsion of atomic nuclei, the alteration of the forces that held the universe together. He was glad it could only be done on a small scale, with no possibility of a chain reaction, otherwise the consequences would be quite severe and irreversible.

Once again, the computer-generated voice counted down to the start of the shot. The first result visible on the monitors was a wide, diffuse band of plasma. At intervals of five seconds, the band constricted as the quantum field was applied and then expanded as the field was reduced. It was almost like tones on a music scale that got progressively higher. The band widened, but not as much as the prior iteration, then it contracted quicker and more intensely than before. They were pushing the boundaries of how much they could compress and control the plasma without actually producing high-yield fusion.

The scientists around the room looked amazed by what they saw. Blazingly hot plasma, compressed into a tighter band than they had ever seen, seemed to jump in and out as the band expanded and contracted. Each time it rapidly contracted to a narrower band, they flinched, half expecting intense combustion and a powerful fusion reaction. Nervously, they looked back and forth between their instruments and the monitors. Viktor felt a combination of awe and joy that was washed over by the waves of the odd sensations, both physical and mental, that seemed to pulse with the plasma.

Finally, after twenty-five seconds, the experiment was over. Welch gathered the readings and strutted over to Viktor, who patted him on the back. They were ready for the final step. He was almost amused
by how well it had worked. Several people were visibly excited, and Sousan looked stunned. Then he reminded himself that it was too soon for self-congratulations and that the source of their imminent triumph was not solely the fruits of his labors.

•  •  •

Excited by the success of the experiments, Welch wanted to push the envelope. They wouldn't get another chance for many months and, by then, he didn't know where things would stand with the fusion center. He wanted to repeat the last experiments with a lot more plasma in the reactor, for a longer duration. That would demonstrate, almost at the conditions needed for commercial operations, that high compression and control could be achieved at low power, using today's engineering. The ramifications for people throughout the world would be incredible.

•  •  •

After conferring with Welch, Viktor announced, “The outstanding results of the first three experiments have given us the confidence to perform an additional experiment. We're going to repeat the last shot with double the fuel in the reactor for a total duration of thirty seconds. This will demonstrate our capabilities at almost commercial levels. Then we'll continue with the original fourth test, the final fusion reaction. After that, well, it'll be a new world for us, and we'll have to celebrate appropriately. I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like consuming some fusion cuisine accompanied by the right fluid dynamics.”

The groans at his bad pun notwithstanding, Viktor saw a lot of excited faces. He was surprised to see Sousan, who had been on her way over to him, turn and rush back to her station.

He wondered if there was something wrong. Before he could check, Welch had started the automated countdown.

•  •  •

Sousan didn't know what to do. The tritium was supposed to be for the last shot. Now it would be used in this shot, only at much
higher fuel levels. In the few seconds she had as the countdown commenced, she tried to figure what would happen as a result of the change. Would the excess fuel prevent the fusion reaction, or would something far more dangerous occur? Should she stop the countdown, and reveal herself and the plan, to avoid a potentially catastrophic reaction from harming the others?

Angry, she thought that whatever happened, it was Viktor's fault. He should have respected her.

•  •  •

As before, the experiment started with a wide band of plasma. It was immediately apparent that something was very different from the prior experiment; something more than just a denser plasma from the higher fuel levels. The readings were elevated well beyond expectations.

Viktor shouted out to Nicco, “Something's way off. What do the instruments show?”

Nicco's face was tense. He answered, “I don't know yet, but something is definitely . . . wait . . .” His voice changed from confusion to alarm. “This can't be. Oh . . . no . . . There's tritium in the plasma. It looks optimized for a reaction. How in the world . . . ?”

Before Nicco could finish, Viktor slammed his hand down on the abort button. It had no effect. He tried it again, and still nothing changed.

Welch yelled, “We have to shut down immediately!”

“I can't!” Viktor shouted. He knew what would happen if they couldn't stop this. There would be a full fusion reaction and more heat than anything the reactor, or any of them, would be able to withstand.”

Desperate, Viktor yelled to Sousan, “Cut the power to the reactor!” This would severely damage the walls of the vessel and release radioactive tritium, but at least everything else would be spared.

Sousan screamed back, “The controls aren't responding!”