Quantum Lens

by Douglas E. Richards

  “So,” he began casually. “Brennan Craft, in the flesh. Looks like you’ve been busy.”

  “You haven’t exactly been running in place yourself,” noted Craft.

  “Just doing business,” said Martin dismissively. “Nothing special. But you,” he added, shaking his head in awe. “What can I say. Congratulations! What you’ve discovered is incredible. I should have known better than to doubt your instincts.”

  “Are you kidding,” said Craft good-naturedly. “I would have checked you into a mental institution if you hadn’t.”

  Craft spent the next hour bringing Martin fully up to speed, during which time the plane became airborne. Since Martin already knew what Craft had hoped to accomplish and the theory behind it, and had already read his thorough e-mail message, Craft didn’t need to spend time on the basics. Instead, he could discuss the situation in more depth, and with more vibrancy, and fill in details.

  Once the plane had leveled off, Craft demonstrated his personal shield. At Craft’s insistence, Martin threw a heavy glass beer mug across the compartment at his head, as hard as he could, only to watch it disappear into thin air about a foot away from its target, and was told the same thing would happen if the mug had been a high energy laser or a nuclear missile.

  Martin decided this was the coolest thing he had ever seen, and sent three more beer mugs to their deaths, just for the giddy thrill of seeing them vanish, before agreeing to move on. He had believed Craft when he described his capabilities, but intellectual belief was one thing. Seeing a demonstration like this was astonishing beyond words.

  Craft spent considerable time describing Alyssa’s work, how it applied to his situation, and how an accountant named Omar Haddad had turned into The Hand of God. It didn’t take long for Martin to ask the obvious question: what was holding a deluded fanatic like Al Yad back?

  Craft delayed answering for several minutes, first using the restroom and then pouring himself another Diet Coke. Finally he returned to his chair and faced Martin.

  Martin could sense his friend was trying to come to some kind of decision, but had no idea what this might be. Martin knew Craft well enough to remain silent while his friend’s mighty intellect grappled with whatever was troubling him. Even after not seeing Craft for many years, being with him brought back an instant flood of memories, and it seemed to Martin as though his friend had never been out of his life.

  Craft finally blew out a long breath, signaling that he had reached a decision and was ready to continue. “What’s holding Al Yad back?” he repeated. “Let me start with the answer I gave Alyssa when she asked this question.”

  What did that mean? thought Martin as Craft began telling him the story he had told his newfound female friend.

  He remained silent until Craft was completely finished. “So this is what you told Alyssa,” said Martin. “But I take it this wasn’t exactly the truth.”

  His friend shook his head and looked miserable. “No. It wasn’t. If it were, Al Yad would have come after me himself in that cornfield. Have you heard the old joke, I just flew in from Syria, and, boy, are my arms tired?”

  “The version I heard wasn’t Syria, but I’ve heard the joke.”

  “Well it isn’t a joke for Al Yad. Except that if he had flow in, his arms wouldn’t be tired. Because he can fly without moving them.” Craft took a drink and set his glass back down. “Anyway, the point is the bluff I described to Alyssa would never have held him in check. He’d have nothing to lose by continuing to challenge me. To see if he could finally break me. And the fear that I might—some day in the future—have his level of power wouldn’t stop him from the devastation he’s so eager to unleash. And even if I did achieve his level of power, it’s doubtful I could kill him.”

  “So what is the truth, then?”

  “I told Alyssa that Omar Haddad had me totally freaked out. Although she likes to use the name Al Yad,” said Craft as an aside. “More colorful, I guess. Anyway, this much is absolutely true. He did have me freaked out. I knew I had to have a mechanism to stop him. He was growing more deluded, and more powerful, by the day—both going hand in hand. I didn’t have to be a genius to know where this was headed. I was listening to a man promise to cleanse the world of infidels while his finger was on the trigger of a thousand nuclear bombs. You can’t see a train wreck like this coming and still sleep at night.”

  Martin nodded solemnly. The world was rushing by thirty thousand feet below them, and its inhabitants were blissfully unaware of the greatest threat they had ever faced.

  “So I didn’t sleep,” continued Craft. “I worked around the clock during the months that Omar was falling farther and farther off the deep end. I found the certainty of a coming Armageddon—for which I would be responsible in many ways—to be very . . . motivational. I strained my brain to its limits.” His face reflected a demonic intensity. “And finally I succeeded. I found a weapon that could stop him.”

  Martin leaned forward. “Then what are you waiting for?” he said. “Use it.”

  “Thanks, Eben,” said Craft, rolling his eyes. “That hadn’t occurred to me.”

  “Sorry,” said Martin. “So what’s holding you back?”

  “When I describe it, you’ll understand. The only thing I could come up with was a feedback system. I won’t drill down into the math and science of it, because you wouldn’t understand it. I’m better at quantum physics than you.”

  “No doubt,” said Martin. “You’re better at quantum physics than anybody.”

  Craft nodded to acknowledge the compliment and then continued. “I call my weapon—device really—the quantum mirror. Not because it resembles a traditional mirror in any way. But because, once it’s deployed, any mind tapping into the zero point field has the energy it’s harnessing reflected back at it. Imagine shooting a laser at a mirror and having a hole drilled in your chest by its reflection. The brain connects to the field, but instead of directing the zero point energy elsewhere, it flows right back to the brain. Like fire following a gunpowder trail back to the source. A personal shield won’t stop it, because the energy follows the open connection between the mind and the field.”

  “Okay,” said Martin. “I understand the principle.”

  “Once the device is activated, it catalyzes all quantum space within Earth’s gravity well in a chain reaction. I was able to conduct a controlled test on a very weak version of it. And the kickback effect—the reflective effect—is extraordinarily potent.”

  “I thought you said your device started a chain reaction. So how did you conduct a controlled test?”

  “The chain reaction requires a critical energy of deployment to achieve. Similar to a critical mass for a nuclear reaction. I made sure I was well below this threshold for the tests. Anyway, extrapolating from these small scale tests, if the device were fully deployed, any use of zero point energy whatsoever would cause instant death.”

  “Sounds perfect. Yet Al Yad is still alive. So I’m still missing something.”

  “What you’re missing is that once you’ve used biofeedback techniques to build your skills, you reach a point at which tapping the field becomes automatic. Reflexive. I showed you my defensive shield, and told you about the first layer of defense that’s always on.”

  Martin nodded.

  “Well, you can’t turn it off,” explained Craft with a deep frown. “And the reflective matrix established by the quantum mirror device won’t distinguish how the zero point field is being used. It doesn’t matter if you’re using it offensively or defensively. Purposely or involuntarily. For good or for evil. Once your mind sticks a straw in and takes a drink,” said Craft, turning away and shaking his head in frustration, “it’s game over.”

  Martin nodded. His friend had told him of the experiments he had done, showing that his subconscious had grown far more powerful than it had been before, and far more vigilant. “Now I get it,” he said. “You deploy this weapon and . . .” He brought his finger tips together in fro
nt of his chest and then threw his hands apart, mimicking the sound of an explosion. “So long Brennan Craft.”

  “Thanks for the visual, Eben,” said Craft, rolling his eyes. “That’s really helpful.” He sighed. “But, yes. It will kill me, too. And if I had activated it when it was first ready, I would have killed eighteen other people as well in my camp.”

  “Something Al Yad ended up doing anyway.”

  “Yes, as it turned out,” said Craft gravely. “But prior to this I was racing to find a way for this quantum mirror effect to only reflect back energy when a mind actively directed it, rather than involuntarily. And I continued to work on the problem for some time after Omar became Al Yad. But there was no way. Tapping the field is all subconscious. Even when I’m able to consciously, voluntarily, direct it, it’s my subconscious carrying out the order. I still have no idea how.” Craft smiled humorlessly. “The only good news is that while I was working on the problem, before Omar wiped out my group, I set up a fail-safe.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I built a quantum mirror device large enough to catalyze the entire planet. Which would occur at the speed of light, by the way.”

  Martin was a student of physics himself, and knew that light could circumnavigate the globe seven times in a single second. “So basically, the effect is instantaneous.”

  “More or less,” replied Craft. “I built it, and then I hid it. If I were to activate the device, the entire Earth would become toxic to any use of zero point energy. For about six hours. Then the effect would dissipate very quickly, and the field could be used safely once again.”

  “Where did you hide it?”

  “Sorry,” said Craft. “But that I can’t share with anyone. I don’t expect you to ever be captured by Al Yad. But the stakes are too high to take any chances. If he found it, he would destroy it in an instant.”

  Martin nodded. His friend was absolutely right. He shouldn’t know.

  “I set up the device so it could be activated remotely. By any cell phone. Dial its number and you connect to a computer housed within the device. If you then enter a certain code, the computer activates it.”

  Martin shook his head in wonder. He never ceased to be amazed at his friend’s genius and ingenuity. “So after Al Yad killed your colleagues, and was a few minutes from doing the same to you, you played your quantum mirror card?”

  “Exactly. My phone is always with me. And since I can power it myself,” said Craft, raising his eyebrows, “it’s always charged and ready. So before Omar managed to breach my shield, I told him about the quantum mirror. And I threatened to activate it. I told him to build his religion. Do anything he wanted. But if he ever committed terrorist acts, killed world leaders, that sort of thing, I would activate it. I would screw us both. A suicide pact.” Craft’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “And he knew I meant it.”

  Martin nodded appreciatively. “The ultimate stalemate.”

  “So this is what is really holding him back. Why he doesn’t come after me himself. Because even if he wins, he losses. I have no doubt that he can kill me. He just can’t do it fast enough to stop me from activating my device. And I’ve modified my phone. I can use zero point energy to boost the signal to a level no cell phone suppressor can overcome.”

  “So Al Yad needs to destroy your device before he can destroy you?”

  “Right. Which explains why he didn’t come after me himself in the cornfield.”

  “Everything’s a field with you,” said Martin wryly. “Zero point. Corn. It’s all the same.”

  Craft laughed. “There’s enough zero point energy in an ear of corn to boil away all the Earth’s oceans. Fields within fields, my friend. Fields within fields.”

  “Well, now it all makes sense,” said Martin. “You’ve done a masterful job of handcuffing our delusional friend.” He shook his head. “But why not tell Alyssa?”

  Craft lowered his eyes. “I didn’t want her to think less of me.”

  Martin thought he understood, but wondered if his friend would acknowledge the situation openly. “Think less of you?” he repeated. “You’ve invented a brilliant deterrent. And you’re the only one alive who could have possibly managed it, and we both know it.”

  “We also both know I should deploy it now. Don’t we?”

  Martin had his answer. Craft wasn’t hiding from the cold reality. He sighed. “I love you like a brother, Bren. You know that. But I see where this argument could be made. Al Yad hasn’t brought about the apocalypse—yet. But from what you’ve told me, he’s killing scores of his own followers to demonstrate his supposed divinity. Or on a whim. And he’s not growing any saner. Even if he never finds your device, at some point he’ll grow too impatient, or snap completely, and destroy a major city. Or twenty.”

  “Yep. That’s the analysis. And I can take him out now. But if I do, I go as well.”

  Craft paused and stared through one of the plane’s windows into the black night outside. After an extended silence, he turned back to his friend. “I know I should do the heroic thing,” he said finally. “But I can’t. Remember when you guys were into bungee jumping? I couldn’t do that either.”

  “No comparison,” said Martin. “Who could blame you for not being in any hurry to commit suicide. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Other than I’m protecting one life at the almost certain cost of millions. The morally correct thing would be to activate it now. Rid the world of this threat.”

  “But you’ve been holding Al Yad in check. If the murder of millions was five minutes away, and certain, I have no doubt you’d . . .”

  “Do the right thing?”

  “Do the incomprehensibly difficult thing. But you’re still kicking and he hasn’t crossed your metaphorical line in the sand. And while you are, I know you’re still searching for other ways to kill him. Ways that require less personal sacrifice on your part.”

  “Which is where Alyssa comes in. If I can get to his level, maybe I can beat him.”

  “God knows you have the far superior mind,” said Martin.

  “Alyssa worries that anyone with this kind of power is a danger. Including me. So if she knew about the quantum mirror, maybe she would refuse to help me get to the next level.”

  “Knowing that you could erase Al Yad from the picture at any time would certainly reduce the urgency of this move.”

  “Please don’t tell her about the device,” said Craft. “I’m still sorting through a number of possibilities, and I don’t know where I’ll land. But until I tell you otherwise, please keep this to yourself.”

  Martin nodded solemnly. “I promise.” He downed the rest of his Tom Collins. “So you think if Alyssa helps you up your game you might be able to take him out?”

  “Doubtful.”

  “He has to have some weakness,” said Martin. He rubbed his chin in thought. “What about poison?”

  “You’re as sharp as you always were, Eben. Great thought. But it won’t work. Liquid poison wouldn’t get through his inner shield. The VX trick on the door handle that took out Alyssa’s bodyguards wouldn’t work. But gas could. It’s the only thing that could. He still needs to breathe. Cut off his air, and he blasts through any restraint or barrier you could impose to get a fresh supply. Only an odorless, colorless gas, that he doesn’t know is there until it’s inside his body, could work.”

  “Then that’s the answer.”

  “No. Al Yad knows this as well as we do. His fortress in Syria has a higher density of gas and poison alarms than any other place on earth. And just in case these fail, he surrounds himself with canaries. Inside cages with sophisticated respiration monitors and alarms. If this fails, he has long-range monitors that he’s always wearing. ”

  “You’re shitting me?” said Martin. “Canaries?”

  “I would not shit you about this,” said Craft with a wry smile. “He has them everywhere. From the intel I’ve seen, he tells his followers they’re symbolic. Decorative. Naturally, he�
�d never tell them their real purpose.”

  “What about poisoning his food?”

  “He’s totally paranoid. He doesn’t eat. Ever. He doesn’t need to, other than for the flavor or social convention. The fact that he never does helps seal his divinity. Not that his followers need any more convincing.”

  This was a more daunting problem than Martin had realized. But Al Yad was just being smart. If you’re invulnerable except for your heels, you don’t go charging around in sandals like Achilles. You find the best heel protection money can buy.

  Martin shifted on the couch, the ride so smooth they had no indication they were tearing through the sky at over five hundred miles per hour. “Bren, I know you’ve given all of this more thought than I have,” he said. “But don’t you think the world could use a second fail safe?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not trying to be pessimistic here, or a downer. But what if Al Yad finds a way to kill you that you haven’t thought of? Or you die of a heart attack? You’ve told me you think tapping the zero point field confers health benefits. But are you certain it will prevent strokes and heart attacks?”

  Craft frowned. “No. I think it will. But you’re right, I can’t be certain.”

  “Let’s face it, Bren. If you were to die suddenly, the world would be at Al Yad’s mercy.”

  “So you want me to give you the telephone number and code to activate the quantum mirror device? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Yes. As a backup. Just in case. The stakes are too high. I know I’m asking you to put your life in my hands. But I think you should consider it.”

  Craft remained silent for some time, thinking. “You’re right,” he said finally. “But instead of putting my life in your hands, I’d like to think of it as putting Al Yad’s life in your hands.”

  Craft wrote out a telephone number and code on a yellow post-it note and handed it to his friend. “Memorize this when we’re done and then destroy it.”

  Martin looked down at the numbers, nodded, and then pocketed the yellow square.