by Simon Bown
Weedon and Sutton found the progress hampered by the base’s erratic security systems. Carrying weapons was prohibited without the correct security clearance and every time they neared a door the defence sensor would activate and lock it. A frustrating minute was wasted as they waited for the security office to override the system and unlock the door.
All these delays gave Brightwell more precious seconds to add to his flight for freedom. He reached the transportation ring and darted into the flight control office, he was met with the same blank reaction as the rest of the base. He checked the manifest, there were three faster than light heavy lift tractor units, they were slow and clumsy in orbit but he had no choice. Once he was off the moon and activated the gravity jump he would be free of his pursuers. It was impossible to follow a ship that had jumped. He brought up one of the security network displays, Weedon and Sutton were closing on him. He dropped the heavy plasma rifle and took the flight code log from the desk officer. He activated an airlock umbilical and waited at the foot of the device as it lifted to the tractor unit’s airlock. He faced the hanger doors, energy pistols in hand, covering the entrance through which his pursuers would emerge. The umbilical’s passage to the tractor unit seemed to take an eternity. The whine of the hydraulic systems seemed to increase in volume as the procedure meandered to its completion. Finally, it reached the tractor unit and sealed itself to the airlock, a cloud of oxygen shrouded the door as it opened and released the internal pressure. Brightwell blasted the hanger door lock with the energy pistols and raced through the umbilical.
A powerful pulse of telekinetic energy shook Teafu’s equilibrium. He searched through his surroundings both physical and psychic and located the source of the attack. The Mezzyima were sending the pulses through the sub dimensional foundation of space. The idea of opening a hole in space to utilise this avenue of attack had never occurred to him. Another pulse hit him, he sent a counter strike into the fissure hoping it would reach its target and not get lost in the sub dimensional milieu. The Mezzyima sent a much more powerful pulse through the void, in retaliating Teafu had confirmed to the Mezzyima that their strategy was working. Realising his mistake Teafu quickly set up a converse telekinetic wall across the fissure. Once again a pulse of extremely intense energy pounded Teafu, he regained his focus and changed the shape of his telekinetic barrier to an inverse profile. The next pulse hardly registered on him, it was almost totally reflected back to its point of origin. The attacks ceased, the Mezzyima subtle background impression withdrew leaving Teafu alone in the psychic plane.
Weedon and Sutton arrived at the hangar door and waited for the lock to disengage, nothing happened. The lock remained in place.
Sutton tried to open the door.
Weedon pointed out the problem with a touch of sarcasm. “It’s locked.”
Sutton was becoming angry and struggled with Weedon stating the obvious. She rubbed her temples with her thumb and middle finger. “I know it’s locked I was just making sure.”
Weedon stepped back and raised his plasma rifle, Sutton jumped clear as he blasted the lock.
“What are you doing?” Sutton shouted.
“I thought I would blast it open.” Weedon replied.
“Well you’ve blasted it shut.”
Weedon pushed at the hanger door. “It won’t open.” He said.
“There’s a surprise.” Sutton replied sarcastically.
Brightwell brought the automatic pilot online and started the take-off sequence. Green icons lit up his display panel as routine pre-flight software checked the myriad systems across the tractor unit. He stopped, his eyes glazed over and a dumb tranquil expression replaced his desperate appearance. Teafu had rendered him completely docile.
The hanger door ignited in a storm of burning plasma as Weedon and Sutton blasted the obstacle. The pair stepped through the door and stopped as they became aware of Teafu’s return to full contact.
“I have taken control of Brightwell, he is in the cockpit. You may collect him now.” Teafu said.
Sutton released a large breath in relief at Teafu’s return. “Where have you been?” She asked.
“The Mezzyima set up a telepathic ambush, I managed to fend them off. May I suggest a little haste, they may attack again.” He said.
The cramped cockpit together with Brightwell’s sedated bulk hampered his retrieval. Weedon collected the space plane from the secure landing bay and picked up Sutton and Brightwell. After boarding the star-ship they left the system for their safe base on Strocir Sumae.
Jenson Sollers picked himself up from the floor of the security office and removed his jacket. The astounded staff watched him as he left. He had apparently appeared from thin air to be laying prostate on the floor in a most disgusting condition. As he left the room he sent a telepathic message to the Mezzyima. “It is done.”
TIME WAITS FOR NO WOMAN
Lucy Harcourt stepped off the red London bus and opened her umbrella. The rain was worse than the day before and she scowled as she realised she had been wet every day this week. Despite the depressing cold and the harsh street lights colouring everything a stark, intense white she did feel optimistic about the evening ahead. She opened the front door to the large Victorian house and as she stepped in she accidently kicked the lethargic black cat. After taking off her coat she went straight to the basement door. She had decided she must be strict with herself. She could not rush a single thing. Any mistakes this evening would be intolerable. She fumbled in her pocket for the key. If time is taken to do things properly there is a far less risk of error. She unlocked the door to the basement, descended the stairs and put her jacket across the back of a chair. The large room contained the results of years of inspiration and muse, revelation and ferment, failure and despair. Tonight she would find out if it were all a waste of time. Her makeshift shelving held hundreds of books outlining every theory of physics from the mundane to the bizarre. She had searched them all in a desperate attempt to retrieve that peak of understanding, that clarity of thought that had exploded in her mind. An idea of such simplicity but of such significance it had changed her forever. But it had slipped away in an instant, only to remain a shadow beneath the surface, a diamond on the tip of her tongue, always there; if only she could uncover it she would seize it.
After many months of studying the current quantum equations and space-time theories she realised that the human race hadn’t even touched the surface. She was alone, only she could bring this idea to life.
Just as she had all but given up, the abstract danced before her, a 3am bath, a flannel over her eyes and there it was. A peculiar leap of the imagination in a moment of rest, a moment she will never forget.
At the far end of the room the reactor sat on a low wooden bench. A dull silver gathering of parts about the size of a microwave oven, two gas intake valves protruded from its side close to the large insulated power cable. Its small size failed to detract from its implied exotica. Beneath the bench a heavily shielded strong box contained the small amount of radioactive material necessary to generate the enormous quantity of energy needed for the night’s experiment. Close by two cylinders of hydrogen gas waited on a trolley.
Lucy obtained the radioactive fuel from the university. She collected small pieces of waste from the many experiments and over time made up the needed quantity. Use of the lab was expensive and Lucy, a lowly lab assistant, would never be given time in the schedule. At first she was very uneasy walking into the building that housed the shielded safe, stealing radioactive waste would have cost her her job and seen her in the police cells. However, she soon found no one took any notice of a lab assistant clearing up excess material. It had taken her three months to collect the amount she needed and even though it was decaying, it was enough.
She unscrewed the catches around the base of the reactor and lifted off the spherical lid. After checking the interior, she put on her heavy protective gloves, unlocked the shielded strongbox and lifted the precious radioactive
material from the container. At the centre of the reactor stood a slim stem with a small cup attached to the top. Lucy carefully placed the material into the cup. She put the lid back on top of the reactor and locked it in place. Facing the opposite wall, surrounding a hole in the side reactor was a pair of large electro magnets. When properly polarised they would focus the gravity beam. Lucy connected the gas canisters and pumped some hydrogen into the reactor.
She looked in the mirror and straightened her top. Nerves were something she had never suffered from until now, sweat had soaked through her top and it was rather uncomfortably sticking to her back. She wiped her forehead with her handkerchief and waited a moment for her knees to regain their usual composure.
All that was left was to engage the reactor and begin a new era for humanity. This small act as momentous as Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon and yet as everyday a physical movement it would place it in the world of the mundane.
The reactor would draw little power during its start-up routine but would then generate enough energy for the entire city when reaction was at optimum. Some scientists might have enough of a desire for adulation that they would rush to unveil this amazing reactor but for Lucy it was just a means to an end.
She inserted the power cable into the side of the gravity generator and powered up the electromagnets for stabilising the initial reaction. She dried her sweating palms on her skirt and then flicked the three switches to engage the reactor proper.
Nothing. She waited and watched and still nothing happened. The collar of her top seemed to be shrinking, she pulled at it all the time staring at the reactor, afraid to blink, afraid to breath. ‘Click’, Lucy opened her mouth, ‘Click’, she took a step back. Then again she heard the sound, a small click like something within the chamber had sparked. Then another and another increasing in frequency until soon the sound was almost continuous, these were the tiny particles of anti-matter reacting with the atoms of hydrogen in the gas. The clicks were now so frequent they were lost in a white noise. Power was now at its most favourable level, Lucy felt frozen in time, there was nothing for her to do but watch. The software was designed to start the system automatically.
At first a beam of the most beautiful blue light, two inches wide, stretched out from the hole between the two electromagnets. Awed by the sight before her Lucy was now with her back pressed against the wall. Sweat ran down her forehead into her eyes and obscured her vision.
The beam came to an end a few inches short of the wall. Lucy was both ecstatic and disappointed; something was happening but not what she had expected. She turned to reach for her Geiger counter, it was then with her back to the reactor, the room was enveloped by an intense white light. One by one the light bulbs exploded sending tiny shards of glass across the room to rain down on Lucy. The light from the reactor’s energetic beam painted the room with dancing shadows. Partly blinded and with her hands shading her eyes she moved forward, tripped over a stool and fell behind the table. She rolled over onto her back and lay still for a short time watching the amazing spectacle. The room was filled with light shifting in colour as beautiful a sight as she had ever seen. Myriad patterns shimmered across the room, lighting the ceiling in the most incredible show of graceful radiance. She clumsily pulled herself up the table onto her feet; it was then she saw before her a split in the fabric of space. Lucy was shaking. She stared, transfixed, hardly able to fathom the reality she had created.
The hole was four inches wide; through it she could see daylight. Shaking as she went and surprised by her own courage she moved closer to look through the rift. She could see green fields covering the landscape into the distance with cattle grazing oblivious to the hole’s disdain for the laws of physics. The sun’s heat was coming through the hole and the air carried the smell of freshly ploughed earth. Lucy leant back, after bracing herself and using much more care than seemed reasonable she put her hand through the hole. It was not painful in fact she felt nothing unusual. She heard a rustling sound; somebody was walking through the grass. Something touched her hand, she started pulling it back through the hole but then a hand on the other side grabbed hers and started pulling. She was terrified; this didn’t make sense, what was happening? Her thoughts spiralled for a moment, but a decision came quickly and Lucy put her foot against the wall opposite and tugged as hard as she could. The grip on the other side failed. She fell backwards, fumbled for the switch and with the finesse of a charging rhino cut the power.
Shaking and barely able to control her limbs she dragged herself up off the floor and collapsed into a chair. Her breathing began to slow to a reasonable pace but her heart still pounded in her ears. She put her head in her hands and waited for a moment for her mind to catch up. What had started as a sudden flash of inspiration had now produced, quite literally, a hole in reality. The possibilities were enormous. It seemed that after all his time working on the reactor her journey was only just beginning.
She picked up a tissue and she began to wipe her eyes. The enormity of her success had just started to sink in and her natural curiosity set off question after question. Where had that hole led? Would she ever know? How could she make the hole bigger? If it had led to another time and place how could she control the equipment to take her to other times and places?
A quick sweep with the Geiger counter put Lucy’s mind at rest concerning radiation contamination. She unscrewed the catches around the base of the reactor and lifted off the spherical lid. She was surprised to find there was plenty of material left. She knew she could switch on the reactor again as soon as she was ready.
She unlocked the shielded box and with the heavy protective gloves put the precious material away. She stopped and looked at the wall, the site of her own personal revelation. A calmness came upon her, she felt fulfilled, even though she had never admitted it, even to herself, she had had doubts as to the eventual success of her endeavours. Gazing at the reactor as she turned, she picked up her notebook and began to climb the stairs. After switching off the light she closed and locked the door. She turned to walk upstairs and bumped into her landlady, Mrs Mackenzie, who had somehow silently appeared behind her.
“Cup of tea?” She asked.
“Um no thank you Mrs Mackenzie I am just off to bed.”
“Come now Miss Harcourt even mad scientists need a cup of tea now and then.” She smiled.
Lucy wondered if she had seen anything when she had been so engrossed in the basement. “Thank you for the offer but I really must be off to bed.” Lucy began to make her way up the stairs to her bedroom.
“See you in the morning Miss Harcourt.”
IMMORTAL DISCOVERY
Gea sat on the cold synthetic bench, lifted her legs up and hugged them. The medical staff came and went, always busy, always looking after somebody else. Her mother picked something from her shoulder and smoothed her hair over her forehead.
Gea Aro liked her own company. She didn’t make friends at school not because she was different or shy but because she just wasn’t interested. Other people were an irrelevance and anyway she had better things to do with her time than waste it on the trivia people seemed so fascinated with. And here she was waiting to be analysed by an overworked doctor who had little interest in introverted adolescents.
A fifty something overweight nurse approached Gea. “Hello, you must be Gea, will you follow me?” The nurse smiled.
Gea ignored the question and stared at the nurse.
“I’m sorry.” Her mother said. “She is like this with everyone. Come on Gea, let’s go and see the doctor.”
Gea scowled as she listened to the nurse’s thoughts.
‘I don’t have time for this obnoxious girl, there are real patients here and treating a miserable adolescent for being miserable is wasting everyone’s time.’
“I’m not miserable.” She said angrily.
The confused nurse looked at her. “What did you say?” She was more baffled than angry.
“Gea stop it, don’
t be so rude.” Her mother said.
They followed the nurse through the small hospital to the doctor’s office. She knocked and entered without waiting for a reply. Gea sat next to her mother and examined the small room. The white walls and white furniture imposed a feeling of sterility. Only the doctors’ certificates on the wall had colour but they did little to lighten the mood. The chairs they sat on were instantly uncomfortable and Gea thought they were probably chosen like this on purpose.
The doctor took his time making some notes in a folder as if he hadn’t noticed they had entered. He looked up, snapped the cap back on his pen with the palm of his hand and smiled. “Gea Aro?” He asked.
Gea nodded.
He rummaged through the mess of folders covering his desk and finally pulled one out. “Ah here we are. Gea Aro.” He announced. He fumbled through the paperwork and mumbled to himself. “No history of major illness, Oh, no history of any illness, just the usual cosmetic dentistry.” He put the folder down, looked over the rim of his glasses and leant forward. “Tell me, why are we here?” he asked.
