"No, it's not. An abandoned Humvee creates its own barrier, so if a military group needed to move vehicles through this tunnel, our Humvee would block the way. It's better we walk than create a problem for someone else. Get in here so I can close the entrance."
She walks into the tunnel and over to Mr. Nix, who stands by a small panel inside the tunnel. He inserts the disc into it, and the concrete wall moves back into place, hiding the entrance, becoming nothing more than a water runoff channel.
Once sealed, the tunnel has very little light. Small dim light plates running along the bottom wall edge of the tunnel dot its path.
"What is powering those lights and the entrance?"
"The guide lights, circuit panels and gates are powered by solar collection boxes and reserve batteries placed along the surface above the tunnels. Designed that way in case warfare against the Capital knocked out the power. The power boxes run parallel, so if one gets knocked out, the rest will compensate. Not all humanity was unprepared."
Following the guide lights, the two disappear into the depths of the dark tunnel.
Suit Up
Chapter 42
Engine room, The Barge.
Dr. Black stands next to a tall skinny man known as the Barge's Engineering Officer Evascott. Next to Evascott is a long wide cart with an extremely large deep-sea pressure suit, separated into its outfit components, upon which technicians are bolting into place the final plates. A large plate is being moved into position on the back. Its inner Kevlar fabric lining is interwoven with mini tesseract coils. Smaller but similar plates are being assembled to the boots and gloves. On the helmet, the visor is a windowed caging; a thick crisscross of metal with a few tiny windows of pressurized glass.
Evascott and Dr. Black position themselves between the suit and the makeshift medical bubble which contains Ying on a respirator. While Dr. Black stares at electronic monitors tracking Ying's weakening vitals, E. O. Evascott looks at the huge suit being constructed, then at Ying's enormous body.
Evascott rubs his chin, "Are you sure this suit will cure Ying?"
Dr. Black responds with a question, "You fabricated and installed the mini tesseract coil strings exactly as patterned on the blueprint? If they are not inside the lining of this suit as I displayed in the layouts, a gravity unification rift may not form."
"Double-checked the coils myself, Dr. Black. We need to try the gloves, boots and helmet on Ying to ensure a snug fit. I'm no tailor, but after I did a few modifications to your design to make sure this suit seals. This suit should be a perfect fit."
"You modified my design? That shouldn't have been necessary," says Dr. Black in a firm and upset tone.
"Relax, Dr. Black. Those kinds of adjustments are not uncommon when an engineer works with a scientist's blueprints. Your design was perfect, but designed assembled. You didn't consider the suit must disassemble so it could be put onto Ying's body. For example, to make sure the gloves interlocked to the arm components, there had to be overlap and linkage points for the connection to be seamless. I made sure the primary suit joints contained small explosive bolts affixing those sections, so if we trigger the helmet power input here, we can detonate the bolts and separate the suit for rapid removal. These two valves here are for oxygen input and gas release for his breathing, and this one-way valve here is where you can pump in liquid to fill the suit as you requested. Your design had them on the back of the helmet, but realizing he has to lie on his back during the procedure, I moved the valves to the top of the helmet."
"I see. Yes, that is better. My apologies. This is my first blueprint and technical equipment design. I should expect I'd miss something."
"If that was your first design, I'm blown away. The detail and understanding of energy and pressure in the design was spot-on. I thought Walter or Sandy made the blueprint for you. How did you learn to do that?"
Not wanting to address Evascott's question, Dr. Black responds, "I guess I'm a quick study. Back to the suit. Did you compare the materials used on the coil clasps to the materials that compose the coils to ensure they will insulate and not conduct?"
"Yes. I selected heat resistant polyurethane, but it contains compounds you said Ying is allergic to. Once the suit seals, it could cause an allergic reaction."
"Once the suit seals, we will activate the rift, fill the suit, then get him out as quick as possible, so it should not be an issue. Do we have enough gallium to fill the suit?"
"It took all the gallium on the ship to match the volume of the suit. With this injection valve, it should only take thirty seconds to fill the suit with gallium."
Moments passes while they look at Ying struggling to breathe.
"Are we waiting for something?"
"We are waiting for Walter...speaking of the wise one."
Accompanied by Sandy, Walter comes in to the engine room looking very exasperated and impatient, "Dr. Black, Evascott. I apologize, I have little time to spare with whatever you are working on, but I've instructed Sandy to help you any way possible. But her time is limited, too, so please understand. We need to complete the Barge's dimensional clamp and bring it online as soon as possible."
Dr. Black expresses great concern, "Walter, what I need you for may be equally important."
"How can he help?" asks Walter.
"With this," Dr. Black holds up a vial filled with black viscous liquid, "and that," pointing to the pressure suit.
"What is that in the vial? And what is that outfit?"
"Both are for Ying. To him, this vial is poison. It's a condensed extraction of gingko biloba and petroleum extracts. A drop of it should cause his cells to react, stop healing, and breakdown."
"How is poisoning him going to help him, Dr. Black."
"It is for testing. To see if he is healed after the procedure."
Walter takes the vial and closely studies it, "How did you come up with this?"
"I identified the molecular compounds in both the gingko biloba and crude oil that cause his Grey cells to react. After fiddling around with the chemistry, I came up with what I considered the most toxic solution to Ying's cells. I figured the only way to prove he will be healthy enough to move around on the ship and go on a mission is to make sure his body can resist this. Topically, not ingested."
"Who helped you make this mixture?"
"No one. I worked on it by myself while my mind contemplated how to perform the procedure using that pressure suit there."
"What procedure?"
"Walter, one of the strange side effects of dimensional rifts that can occur is the integration of organic and inorganic materials, combining them into a stable structure. Resulting in a resilient organic material that is still living, yet containing an inorganic aspect that causes the organic material to slow aging, damage, and deterioration. That suit will internally replicate a dimensional rift, then I'll merge Ying's body with an inorganic material. What I need from you and Sandy is to review my blueprints and inspect the pressure suit Evascott made for Ying, verifying the tesseract coils will be able create a dimensional rift."
"You plan to submerge Ying under pressure?"
"No, I want to create pressure within the suit, within a rift, to ensure the inorganic material fills the same space and volume in the rift as Yang's body. The material is gallium that I will inject into the suit in liquid form. I'm using gallium because is liquifies at body temperature, ensuring the heat needed to melt the gallium will do no damage to his living cells. Pumping in liquid gallium will easy and evenly distribute into the space occupied by his body. Once the suit is full, we close the rift, and Ying's organic matter should combine with the gallium, creating the alignment of molecules and the supersolid effect. The outcome should be the same as the Grey hand-wrist sample, where any flesh openings will seal and stabilize, even if exposed to the poisons within that vial."
"I don't know what to say. This invention is brilliant and your choice to use gallium is inspired, but we have no evidence Ying can actually live th
at way. The Grey was dead, and an apple is immobile," points out Walter
"In both samples, where the two materials combined, the flesh was still alive."
"And where they don't? There were spots where the wrist or apple didn't combine. If that happens to Ying, he will have vulnerable spots."
"Which is why I'm using gallium and pressure. The gallium will be where his body is, fill the empty spots within his body, and overflow the outside edges of his body. Any place on or in his body where gallium goes beyond or outside the flesh, we can melt and wipe away by a simple heat lamp if his own body temperature doesn't liquify it. I'm aware gallium will be inside his lungs, stomach and intestines, but the temperature of his body will keep it in liquid form, allowing us to suction it out of his lungs and stomach."
Walter looks concerned, "But the moment he comes out the rift, his lungs will be filled with liquid metal. He will suffocate, drowning the moment the rift closes."
"I understand. We will have to work fast to expunge his lungs. I expect the moment he exits the rift, his breathing and heart will stop, but if I expunge his lungs quick enough, I should be able to get his heart and breathing restarted. Then we just have to pump his esophagus, stomach, and send suction up his rectum to withdraw the liquid metal in his waste track. After that, the only metal left in his body will be integrated with his organic matter. The molecules will align, his wounds should close and begin healing, and he will be able to function on this ship. The safety to his being is another reason I chose gallium. It doesn't rust, so it will be unaffected by the fluids in his body, and isn't toxic to organisms. I am hoping it will add a defense mechanism to his flesh. Since Gallium is corrosive to other metals, any metal that penetrates his flesh should break apart or weaken. If a bullet gets lodged under his skin, it might be absorbed by his body."
"I'm in shock you came up with this...it's ground breaking. I mean, you must have..."
Walter stops mid-sentence and locks gaze with Dr. Black. He then grabs her by the arm and pulls her to a quiet corner of the engineering room.
"Walter, what is it?"
"You've been using the information implant headsets! A lot. A tremendous awareness of scientific and engineering knowledge was needed to formulate this. In addition to the medical and biological deductions. I couldn't come up with this. How often have you been implanting information into your brain?"
"Enough," says Dr. Black, not wanting to answer.
"Too much. And you promised me brain scans that I could review to make sure using it wasn't causing any short-term or long-term damage to your biological, chemical or synaptic makeup. I didn't receive a single scan! I thought you stopped using it because you didn't send me any scans. Instead, you are using it so much, I should have a stack of scans. What are you trying to do?"
"Stop it, Walter. Just Stop! It's my business, and my decision. I'm doing what needs done. My breakthroughs will get results. I'm tired of dying, Walter. I can't do it anymore, and I'll do whatever it takes to stop."
"What do you mean, dying? Afraid of dying? The thought of dying if we fail upsets me, too, but we can't be reckless."
"Not the thought of dying. Actually dying. I remember it, Walter. Each time I've died. Living it in my mind. You are there. We have conversations."
"That's not possible. It hasn't happened yet."
"It is possible. You even confirm it in one of our conversations before we die. You and I were waiting to run out of oxygen, and we debate reincarnation and the memory past lives. We both agreed reincarnation didn't exist, and then you added that people might confuse past lives with lives in different timelines interconnected through the fifth dimension, where past and future timelines exist simultaneously. Past lives being echoes of our lives in other timelines that we remember. What if I am remembering my life in previous loops that same way?"
"Do you think it is being caused by the implant headset? I'm not remembering anything."
"No. It started before I used the headset, with memories and dreams of Tomas Seventeen. I surgically altered Tomas, who created the Roswell time loop. That sequence forced you to create these loops we are living, and it is dependent on me, on my first lifetime in the first timeline. Somehow, I remember every lifetime. Every death. So, I don't care if using the implant device destroys my brain. All I want is to break this loop cycle and end the endless deaths."
Walter sees that beneath her anger and frustration, Dr. Black is on the verge of tears, and tells her, "I don't know what to make of the things you are telling me, but I can see it is very real to you. Promise me when we finish this, you will let me take brain scans, explain to me these things you are experiencing, and allow me to help you make sense or come to terms with it. I understand you are feeling alone, but you aren't. I'm with you in this. And from what you just said, I'm with you to the end every time. That first loop may be about you and Tomas Seventeen, but these loops are about us, you and me."
As Walter wipes a tear off her stressed face, Dr. Black looks to him and says, "I must succeed this time, Walter. We have to succeed. I can't take much more."
"Well, if you say we need to succeed, then I guess we must succeed. So, let's get back to the project at hand. My final concern with what you propose for Ying is that even if it helps stabilize his flesh, the metal integration negatively affects his optical, auditory or nervous systems. If this heals his skin but blinds him or neutralizes his brain, the procedure will only produce a perfectly preserved corpse."
"Do we have a choice? Ying will die. At best, I will kill him by suffocation, but hopefully revive him and save his life. No matter what, he will die. But if I can resuscitate him, Ying will be a necessary asset against the Greys."
Walter considers what she is proposing.
"Ok. Sandy and I will review your blueprints, and the suit's construction. I'll have Sandy test the suit coil's conductivity."
Dr. Black relaxes a little and smiles, "Thank you, Walter. I just need to take the helmet, gloves and boots into the bubble and make sure they fit Ying. If they do, they are yours to inspect."
Walter puts his arm around Dr. Black, walking her out of their quiet corner back to where the suit, Ying, and personnel work, "Then we agree. Sandy and I should finish in less than an hour. Sandy, can you work with Evascott checking the suit's interior?"
"Sure thing. Evascott, let us do a section at a time."
Back at the tool cart, Walter picks up the vial of black toxin Dr. Black made for testing, "Could you make me a vial of this poison, and send me the formula for it?"
"You can take this sample, I have more. I'll transmit the formula to your computer. What do you need it for?"
"It might just be the payload for the smart ammunition I need. You've tested it, correct?"
"On his cells from a biopsy. It weakens the cells walls and causes the cell nucleus to swell until it bursts. That is how it subverts the Grey ability to regenerate. It destroys their cells faster than their regenerative abilities can create new cells."
"Again, nice work, Dr. Black. You can leave things to me and Sandy for the moment if you want to rest or prep for your procedure. I'll ask Evascott to try the gloves, boots and helmet on Ying. We'll notify you as soon as we complete our inspection. Take a break."
Dr. Black nods. Satisfied everything is being taken care of, she leaves.
Walter calls out, "Evascott, could you try these suit parts on Ying? Sandy, test each coil string inside the suit."
"Sure, Walter," responds Sandy.
"On it!" snaps Evascott.
While Sandy uses a circuit tester on each coil string in the suits lining, Evascott wheels parts of the suit into the bubble with Ying for a test fitting. Walter scours Dr. Black's blueprints, checking the math and measurements.
On the Rocks
Chapter 43
Surface Ice Pack, Arctic.
As the sun shines bright over the snow-white wasteland radiating a blinding frosty glare, a group of Barge crewmen bundled in arctic gear and UV goggles
stand by an ice wall of a small protruding ice peak. They carve at it with plasma torches and chisels, while one worker pounds measurement markers into the ice's surface outlining a cube. A box-shaped snow vehicle with spiked treads is parked nearby, chains hanging off the back, ready to tow the ice block when carved out. Next to the snow vehicle sit a half dozen snowmobiles.
In the near distance, the Barge can be seen resting on top of the ice, its rectangular shape resembling a massive building dropped from nowhere. A slew of crewmen are busy erecting scaffolds in front of the Barge where a set of massive two-foot diameter arc clamps protrude from the front of the ship and touch ends creating two huge half rings.
Captain Nemolopolus stops overseeing the carving of the ice block to take in the stark beauty of the arctic scenery. Watching the loose crystalized snow blow off the top of an ice ridge, he appreciates how the flowing snow swirls and floats, drifting in the air and blowing away. Then something in the blowing wind catches his eye. He sees the airborne snow colliding against and flowing around something solid that is not there. As if the snow is hitting an invisible object. Nemolopolus stares, trying to decides if his eyes are playing tricks, spotting an optical illusion of white on white summoned by the spontaneity of swirling snow. Just when he is certain there has to be something there, it moves away, disappearing behind an ice wall.
Captain Nemolopolus finds himself drawn to investigate. A worker sees the captain walking away toward a gap between the ice protrusions and becomes curious.
"Hey, Captain! Where are you going? What is it?"
"Ahh...just keep working."
Captain Nemolopolus continues to the gap in the ice. He knows he shouldn't be wandering off if something is here watching them, but he can't afford to distract his crew from carving out the ice block on time, and make them nervous that something is out here if it was a snowy illusion. Or have his crew to lose faith, wondering if their captain is seeing things or becoming paranoid. The last thing a captain wants before leading his men into a fatal battle is give them reason to doubt the clarity and lucidity of his judgement. Their captain chasing invisible objects could cause that.
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