by Dean M. Cole
She wiggled side-to-side, struggling to extract her upper body from the spacesuit. It took a couple of extra tugs as some of her military gear hung up on the thing. Finally, she extricated herself and then quickly exited the module. “Teddy! I better hear a goddamn ringtone by the time I get there!”
Chapter 62
Finally rid of the reporter and her cameraman, Hans watched the energy levels build. He was happy to see that it had surpassed twenty TeV and was still climbing. Once it peaked, he would have Sampson initiate the collisions.
Just as he had the thought, Hans heard the man talking behind him.
“Stillman, fast-forward through the video. Let’s see what else is in there.”
Hans rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. He just continued to watch the numbers climb.
“Doctor Garfield!” Sampson shouted out a moment later, yelling sharply enough to make Hans jump. “Y-You need to see this.”
Pressing his lips together, Hans shook his head.
He turned from the display and walked heavily to the technician’s workstation. “Vhat is …?” He paused mid-sentence and stared at the video.
The ATLAS detector sat at its center, what was left of it anyway. The entire structure was crumbling down like paper being wadded into a ball. Light rays shot out from it, burning through the facility at odd angles.
Seeing people moving too quickly in the foreground, Hans realized that the video was still in fast-forward. The icon at the bottom right corner indicated four times normal speed. A moment later, the ATLAS detector finished its collapse, leaving nothing but a levitating metallic sphere.
Then something emerged from its top. Hans pointed at the display. “Stop the video!”
Stillman complied, and the image froze.
Unblinking, Hans stared at the orb and the apparent robot that now protruded from its top. Then he turned to look through the window at the currently intact and functional ATLAS experiment. A quick check of the power display showed that the collider had peaked at twenty-three TeV.
They were ready to begin collisions.
The power level had fallen a little short of the hoped-for twenty-five TeV, but it was sufficient to garner a Noble Prize, nonetheless.
Narrowing his eyes, he looked back at the video. Could hackers really do something this elaborate?
He thought maybe they could.
Hans flinched as the mobile phone inside the pocket of his lab coat began to ring.
Still staring at the frozen image, he extracted the device and accepted the call. Distractedly, he said, “This is Doctor—”
“Hans!” shouted a familiar-sounding female voice, cutting off his words. “Stop the experiment! Do not initiate any collisions!”
“Doctor …? Doctor Brown?”
“Yes, yes, Hans. Shut it down! Shut it down now!”
Hans eyed the energy level. Twenty-three TeV. He need only flip the switch, and he’d have his Nobel.
He turned his gaze back to the frozen video. “Vas it you, Angela? Did you send me this message? Is this some kind of practical joke?”
“It’s no fucking joke, Hans. I sent you that message more than a week from today.”
“A veek ago? Vhy?” Remembering his speech at the beginning of the video, he added, “That’s not even possible. I just said those vords a few minutes ago.”
“Not a week in the past, Hans, a week in the future, a very bad future. Stop the experiment, or you’re going to kill us all.”
Hans opened his mouth, but then it snapped shut as he recalled Stillman’s words. ‘The video is more than a week old.’
Doctor Hans Garfield was a rational man. The rational part of his mind told him that a message from a week in the future was impossible, but the part of him that truly understood the quantum realm knew that time didn’t exist within the portion of the universe they were delving. That same part of his mind began to scream that perhaps he was about to open a door that could not be closed.
“Oh, scheisse! Stop the experiment! Kill it. Kill it now!”
Everyone turned and stared at him.
No one moved to follow his order.
Hans pushed past Sampson and bent over the workstation.
He flipped open the clear acrylic cover.
Sampson threw out his hands. “Wait! What are you doing?!”
Hans hammered the wide red button twice, activating the emergency power disconnect.
The omnipresent electrical thrumming of the collider rapidly faded and then died as mechanical actuators around the entire circumference of the ring physically cut the electrical wires, inflicting millions of dollars in damage and robbing the network of its power supply.
The overhead lights went dark, activation of the emergency lights signaling complete failure of all facility power.
Sampson stared at him with wide eyes. “What have you done?”
Breathing heavily, Hans stared at ATLAS through the control room window. “For the sake of my career, I hope I have saved the vorld.”
Chapter 63
As she drifted toward the module, Angela heard Bill yelling inside. “You don’t understand, Director!”
She allowed her inertia to carry her through the opening and into the Destiny module.
“Listen, McCree!” Bill shouted. “I need you to—!” He stopped mid-sentence as he saw her.
Angela smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
Myriad emotions washed across the man’s face, and tears began to flood his eyes. “Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank…” The man’s voice cracked, and then he lost his words.
She knew thoughts of his family, now alive and well back home, would be crowding out all other thoughts.
Angela gently took the headset from Bill. She slipped it on and positioned the mic boom in front of her mouth. “Director McCree?”
“Angela! What the hell is going on up there?”
“I’ll explain it all to you in a minute, sir, but first there’s someone I need you to call.”
“Is this more of that CERN thing? I couldn’t make heads or tails of what Bill was saying.” Randy paused, his voice suddenly becoming unsure. “But the damnedest thing is that, somehow, some of it seemed … familiar.”
“I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that, Director. I promise, I’ll tell you more soon, but first, we need to make that phone call, and no, it’s not to Geneva. Teddy is on the IP phone with them now, filling in the scientists there on the rest of the details. The call that I need you to make will be to a location a bit closer than Europe.”
Chapter 64
Standing in the locker room and partially clad in his spacesuit, Vaughn growled in frustration at his mobile phone. “It’s still busy!”
Mark shook his head. “Mine, too!”
Vaughn looked at Mark and smiled in spite of their dire situation. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you back alive, my friend.”
“I can’t tell you how good it is to be seen alive … again. I just hope we get to stay that way. If we can’t get a hold of someone soon, we’re going to have to get back inside the vacuum chamber.”
Vaughn blew out a breath. “God forbid.”
Releasing a frustrated growl of his own, Mark hammered the end-call button. An instant later, his phone began to ring.
The two men exchanged glances.
The phone rang again.
Vaughn pointed. “Are you going to answer that?”
Mark stared at the device for a moment and then handed it to Vaughn. “I think it’s for you. It’s Houston.”
Clutching the mobile in a suddenly shaky hand, Vaughn pressed the answer-call button and then held the phone to his ear.
“H-Hello?”
“This is Angela, Vaughn!”
He smiled. The line was crackling as if it were coming through a relay, but by the tone in Angela’s words and the smile in her voice, Vaughn knew all was right with the world.
“Angela-Vaughn, huh? That’s an unusual name. What are the
odds?”
Epilogue
Angela stared around the conference room. A wan smile twisted the corners of her mouth.
Walking from her, Vaughn stepped over to Mark and wrapped his friend in a bear hug. “Good to see you, buddy.”
“You, too, Vaughn.”
After slapping each other on the back, the men parted, and Vaughn looked up at Mark. “Well, Chewie. How have they been treating you?”
The tall man massaged the back of his neck. “I’ve had worse.” He winced. “Although I can’t remember when.”
Releasing a soft chuckle, Vaughn nodded.
Angela shifted her attention to another part of the expansive room. Bill and Teddy, the ever-inseparable pair, were reuniting, hugging each other and having a conversation similar to Mark and Vaughn’s. As with the other men, the two of them looked significantly better than they had last time she’d seen them.
Teddy laughed at something Bill said. The cosmonaut shook his head, causing his puffed-out ball of tied-back, strawberry-blond ringlets to bounce back and forth comically.
Looking at the man’s now much cleaner hair, Angela ran fingers through hers. The military had supplied a barber to cut and tame her near-dreadlocks. For the first time in ages, it felt soft, light, and a bit shorter. Its trimmed auburn tips slipped through her fingers.
She studied the back of her hand. The various cuts, nicks, and bruises had all but healed, leaving light, untanned marks in their wake. She hoped none would leave permanent scars.
As she brushed the hair from her face, it fell listlessly across the side of her right cheek. When the military finally released her, she was going to make a beeline straight to the nearest stylist.
Blowing the lock from her eyes, she scoffed. “First-world problems.”
The smile fell from her lips.
If only minor concerns were all she had to worry about.
She sighed and then flinched as a voice spoke just a few inches from her ear.
“Looks like I’ll be able to get back to the telescope soon.”
Before she could stop herself, Angela spun toward the person and grabbed his shirt.
Rourke stared at her with wide eyes. He held up his hands. “S-Sorry.”
“No, no.” Releasing the man, Angela straightened the lapels of his blazer. “It’s not you. It’s me.”
A crooked smile banished the shocked look. “If only I had a nickel.”
Chuckling, Angela punched the man in the shoulder. “Yeah, I’m sure.” She threw her arms around Rourke and hugged him fiercely. “It’s so good to see you, Doctor!”
He hugged her back. It’s good to see you, too, Doctor,” he said, emphasizing her title through a chuckle. “I wanted to say hello earlier, but I saw you chatting with Monique and Rachel. Then Vaughn arrived, so … you know.”
Angela smiled. Not the wan one she’d had earlier but a full, wide grin. “I’m just happy all of you Team Two folks made it to the other side.” She hugged him again and then kissed his cheek. “You were so brave, Rourke. Thank you for all you did. I don’t think the world will ever know how much it owes you.”
He blushed and then shrugged. “We all did it together.”
Angela stared past him for a moment and then nodded. “I just wish we had more to convince the government of how desperate our situation is.”
Seeing the man’s confused look, she said, “Never mind about that for now.”
Hair had fallen across her right eye again. She blew it out of her face. “What was that about a telescope?”
He blinked at her sudden course reversal. “Oh, that. I was just saying I’m looking forward to getting back to work on the James Webb Space Telescope.”
“Oh, yeah. Guess it’s back in one piece now?”
He smiled. “Yep. Safe and sound inside the vacuum chamber. My interrogators were really confused when I asked about its destruction.”
Angela winced. She pointed at Bill and Teddy. “We’ve only been going through the grilling for the five days since we landed the Soyuz. They’ve been going at you guys for a week now.”
He shrugged. “It hasn’t been too bad. I just wish they’d answer some of my questions. They’re not saying much.”
“I know. Everything’s a big damned secret with them.”
Chance Bingham stepped up, his usual scowl firmly in place. The man positively reeked of righteous indignation. “When in bloody hell will we get to see our families?”
Angela nodded. “I hear you.”
And she’d heard him the first ten times, too, although she knew the man was right to be upset, all of them were. They had saved the world, but all they were getting was questions and non-verbalized accusations.
She looked around the spacious conference room. “I just wish they’d tell us something. I mean, I’ve been able to track the news and contact a few people via email, but I’m sure all of that has been filtered or screened or whatever.”
Bingham’s frown deepened. “Yes, yes, I’ve been able to email my family, and I’ve maintained the instructed cover story: that we’re in a surprise, short-duration, simulated space mission as part of our training.” He gestured angrily at the conference room’s distant wall. “It might only have been a few days to these twits, but dammit, it’s been more than two weeks for me.”
The same door through which Vaughn had entered suddenly opened, and Randall McCree walked into the room with the battle operations bot in tow.
Angela broke from her conversation and sprinted over to the two of them. “Randy!” She threw her arms around the director and hugged him tightly.
BOb watched the exchange with mechanical curiosity.
Releasing the man, she smiled up at McCree. “Thank you for all your help. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
The director smiled sheepishly. “I just wish I had clearer memories of whatever it is I did.”
Angela nodded. “Maybe it’ll come to you in time.”
“Maybe. Doctor Andrew, the ass-can I supposedly sent into the chamber with the rest of you doesn’t remember much either.”
Vaughn walked up to him and extended a hand. “Vaughn Singleton. Pleasure to finally meet you, Director.”
Randy gave Vaughn an inscrutable look but then shook the proffered hand. “Same here, Captain.”
Looking back, Angela saw that the other eight members of the team had gathered around the new arrivals. Over the next several minutes, they asked the man myriad questions, but it turned out he was just as in the dark as were the rest of them.
“How are you doing, BOb?” Monique asked, smiling at the robot.
The bot looked at Lieutenant Gheist. “The week has been long.” BOb drooped his shoulders and melodramatically wiped the back of a hand across his carbon-fiber forehead. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and apparently, I’m wearing bacon-wrapped underwear.”
Angela placed a hand over her mouth and stifled a laugh. Not for the first time, she wondered if BOb’s programmers may have unknowingly imparted the bot with sentience or something close to it.
“Hola, BOb,” Teddy said with a wide grin. “Dude! Where’s your BFG?”
Monique held up a hand. “I will take this one.” Turning, she addressed the group. “During my debriefings, I was permitted to contact a colleague at DARPA. I instructed her to secure any new equipment that they might find in BOb’s possession, including any weapons,” pausing, she gave them a meaningful look, “and the modified BFG.” She nodded. “Yes, it came back with him, although it now seems completely inert. They have not been able to get anything from it. My friend said its circuits were completely fried.” She frowned and added, “As were BOb’s memories.”
Angela peaked her brows. “All his memories?”
Shaking her head, Monique said, “Only the ones associated with his time with us.”
“What about his stored archives?” Rourke asked. “Weren’t there video logs?”
Monique rubbed BOb’s shoulder. “All gone.”
&nb
sp; “Wait. What?” Vaughn paused and looked at the robot. “You don’t remember anything prior to a week ago?”
“Of course I do, Captain Singleton. I have complete memories of my time working in DARPA. I even recall working with Lieutenant Gheist … before she left me for NASA.” The robot tilted its head. “However, my internal clock tells me there is a gap of several days’ worth of data.”
“My associate ran a full set of diagnostics on our mechanical friend,” Monique added. “Aside from the wiped memory sectors, he seems completely intact.”
Bingham leaned in and inspected the bot. “How does the wanker know our names, then?”
She winked at Angela. “I had my friend upload them.”
Vaughn cocked an eyebrow. “Did they work on his humor?”
BOb looked at him quizzically. “Why would they do that, Captain Asshole?”
The director guffawed, which caused the room to burst out in laughter.
Even Bingham’s omnipresent scowl faded as he, too, chortled.
Seeing the look on Randy’s face followed by the reactions of the others, caused Angela’s initial chuckle to dissolve into one of her patented snort storms, which, in turn, led to another burst of laughter from the gathering.
After a few moments, the hysterics began to diminish.
Angela wiped tears from her eyes and saw a few others doing the same, including Vaughn.
He collected himself and cast a mock scowl at Monique. “Thanks for nothing.”
An uncharacteristic smirk spread across the naval lieutenant’s face. “They asked if anyone preferred a nickname, and I remembered how much you loved that one.”
Vaughn pointed at BOb. “Don’t make me change your name back to COC-RING.”
“How did you know my original—?”
Monique waved a hand. “Never mind Captain Asshole, BOb.”
The exchange elicited a short round of giggles.
Having drifted across the expansive room, the group started to sit in the chairs that ringed the large circular table that served as the chamber’s focal point.
