by Dan Glover
"I don’t understand what you're saying, Miss Ena... what does the distance from the central mass have to do with establishing a warp field?"
"Look at it this way, darling Pete... in order to project the field around the central mass we have to accelerate the force of gravity to the point of breaking the bonds that tether it to the electromagnetic field being generated by matter.
"I suggest the only way to accomplish that is mimicking the orbits of electrons around the nucleus of the atoms in question. Rather than having two identical spheres rotating equidistance from the center, have you considered using a three to two and a five to three rotation sequence?"
"I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Ena. Between Ronald and Freddi and me we're certain our calculations are correct. When you get into alternating the rotation sequence in a manner you suggest I doubt we can model the outcome in any mathematical scheme that will hold up to intellectual rigor."
"I don’t have any misgivings about what you're saying, my darling Pete. I am simply painting a picture with words of what I see in the near future. Your model isn’t working now, is it?"
"No, Miss Ena... we cannot seem to achieve any viable anti gravity field using the model as it is configured now."
"Will it take much work to try what I suggest?"
"Can you draw a diagram of what you propose, darling Ena?"
"Of course I can, Grandfather Nate. I see it right in front of me... each of the outer rotating spheres must be exactly one third more massive than the succeeding inner sphere. Too, they must be set at such a distance from the central mass as to orbit in dynamic resonance to the mass contained in the middle. In that way, a twist is given to the field which will warp the space time surrounding the whole structure. A simple juggling of the inner sphere should suffice to propel the entire unit in whatever direction we desire."
"Wait a minute... so what you're saying is that each sphere must rotate on its own as well as orbit around the central mass at equidistant points according to the field being generated. Is that right, Miss Ena?"
"I think so, darling Pete. From the vision I am getting I see your model producing a field that has no variation. In other words, it just sits there. Even if you're producing anti gravity you wouldn’t know it. You have to put a twist into the field being generated. By adding a third sphere the model will become inherently unstable in any given direction. In addition, by adding rotation to each of the spheres, the model can be guided in subtle ways that would otherwise be impossible."
"Let's get to work, Pete. I'll have to fashion axis on which the spheres can rotate. Why don’t you begin construction on a new set of spheres using Ena's specifications."
As the two men begin working they seem so oblivious to her presence that Ena left the workshop to go to the castle and perhaps find something to eat. She considered cooking something to bring back to Nate's shop but from the look on the two men's faces they could well be engrossed in the refurbishing of the model for some time.
Walking into the kitchen she was amazed to see Kāne sitting at the enormous oak table that dominated the room shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth with his fingers.
"I am so happy to see you, Father! What a surprise! Why are you here?"
"Ah, my darling Daughter... it is very good to see you again too. I came as quickly as I could. I understand Lady Lily has been taken and you are planning a rescue. Without my help, you will not succeed. You will only be taken prisoner too."
"Who told you that, Father?"
"Come now, Daughter... you know no one had to tell me anything. I heard Lady Lily cry out from across the sea and even across a wide continent. I was living in the heart of old Africa. The heat of the rain forests there tends to settle in these old bones and cure them of the pain I feel closer to old Scotland."
"Grandfather Nate is here, Father. I'm afraid the two of you may upset each other."
"I've learned to better shield my thought processes, Daughter. I didn’t realize my presence would have such a deleterious effect on other males of my species. Perhaps you should warn your Grandfather that I am here, however. He may not wish for my help."
"But you said we cannot succeed without you, Father."
"That is what I see, darling Daughter. Can you not foresee that eventuality as well?"
"Yes, but I didn’t want to dwell upon it. Grandmother Lily needs our help. If we do nothing, she will die. If I have to sacrifice myself for her, I will do so. That is why the future winds are blowing in my direction. Are you saying you can change that outcome, my precious Father?"
"I am willing to make that sacrifice myself, my sweet Daughter, and absolve you of giving up your young and very precocious life. I have lived so long that to die is nothing for me. In truth, I am interested in experiencing that other side heretofore veiled from my eyes. Please allow me to do this thing for your Grandfather Nate, and for your Grandmother Lily. It was I who broke them apart. This is my atonement.
"Now tell me... how are we to travel to this place where Lady Lily is being held?"
"We have a machine that is both silent and swift. It will only hold two people, however. To sail to old America will take too long. Our Lily will be dead by the time we arrive. Though I tried to convince one of the men to fly me there in his jet, he said there is nowhere to land. Even if we did find a runway, he doubts we could procure fuel for the return trip. So our only hope is my Grandfather Nate's machine. He has yet to finish it, however."
"When will the work be done, darling Ena?"
"I gave them instructions for its completion. If they follow them, it will be ready by tomorrow. They will not listen to me, however. They know so much and I'm nobody. I know nothing."
"How can I help, Daughter?"
"We can complete the work ourselves, Father. I know what needs doing in order to make the machine fly."
Chapter 29—Fear
They were eating her from the inside out.
Molecule by molecule his horde was dissecting Lily and in the process the secrets she carried in her cells would all be revealed. At least, that was his hope.
Still, there were times when he wondered if perhaps he was mistaken. As quickly as they analyze the data a torrent of new questions arise. He was nowhere closer to solving the mystery than the day Lily arrived.
"I was dying before I arrived here, sweet Micah. Whatever magic I once possessed is gone."
At first he believed she was lying to him in an effort to save herself. When Karen appeared at Cornell University again after a century had elapsed since her first visit, he didn’t know her. It was only after studying her movements and listening to her voice that he recalled the homely British girl who showed up unannounced on a Sunday morning.
He was twelve years old and had never been in love before. He didn’t know what it felt like: the longing to be beside her, the music of her voice, and fast way they became the best of friends.
At least he thought so, until the day she left him.
"Why are you going back to England, Karen? Can't you complete your studies here?"
He was bereft at the thought of never seeing her again. He even thought however briefly about going to Oxford too. He was sure they'd admit him. With his credentials any university in the world would have been happy to have him. But then the old fear came roaring back.
"I'm only here on a student fellowship, Micah, and my time is up. I have to go back. I have no choice. Perhaps I can visit again, or maybe you can come to see me in England. It'd do you good to get out more."
He knew she was lying. There would be no visits. Once she graduated, she'd become ensnared in a career the way all doctors did. He too had become a thrall. If he tried to leave, Cornell would never let him go. He was too valuable.
"I can't leave here, Karen. You know that. I can't even go out in public. Everyone stares at me. They point at me behind my back and whisper things about me that they think I can't hear. But I know what they're saying."
"We're all afraid, Mica
h. I was terrified to come here to America. You're still a child yet. One day when you grow older you'll understand that you can't live your life in fear. You have to face up to it. Otherwise, your fear will rule you."
He never grew older. Within less than a year of Karen's leaving he had inoculated his body with the nanobots. He knew right away that it was a mistake. He should have waited until they evolved into viable entities capable of fully interacting with living organisms.
His sickness had taken a turn for the worst, however.
He was told he'd have one to five years left before the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis killed him. The diagnosis was right but the prognosis wasn't. Within months of learning of his disease, Micah's symptoms began manifesting in ways that precluded him continuing with his research.
He hated it when people felt sorry for him. He was a genius. His work would change the world in ways no one ever imagined. Who were they to pity him?
Now everyone was gone. Being completely alone for the first time in his life terrified him. He began staying up all night for fear the creatures prowling the boundaries of his building would break down the defenses and devour him in his sleep.
He knew something was out there watching him, hiding in the weeds, abiding their chance. Though he installed high intensity spotlights and motion sensors on every square foot of the outer building, he still didn’t feel safe.
When he devised the plan to snatch one of his old tormentors, he first settled upon Karen. Despite the gulf that separated them he was still in love with her, perhaps even more so today than in the past. The love he felt was not reciprocated, however.
Lily was his nemesis.
She was the one who caused the changes. He hated being human, inhabiting a frail body and feeling his mind muddled by thoughts of unrequited love. If he could learn the secret she carried he was sure he could incorporate it into his nanobots. By instilling within their inorganic makeup a biological motive, he knew the answers to the questions that had heretofore eluded him would become clear and concise.
Now, though he felt he was on the brink of a revelation, he knew his intuition was leading him astray. He was only learning what Lily allowed him to see. He thought he had caught her in a weakened condition and could thereby take advantage of her. It was rapidly becoming clear that she expected his plot and was actually taking advantage of him to renew her body and refresh her spirit.
"Among my people, it was known as the diminishing. I never thought it would happen to me, darling Micah. I thought I'd go on forever. Before you brought me here I was getting old. Within another thousand years I would have given up and died."
"I don’t understand why you use such terms of endearment with me, Lily. Don't you hate me for what I've done to you?"
"With your help, my body is purging the decrepit cells to make way for the new growth vital to my survival. At the same time my propensity to heal human beings within close proximity to me is increasing geometrically. Can you not feel it even now, my precious Micah?"
"The changes in my physical appearance will accelerate once you grow stronger... is that what you're telling me, darling Lily?"
"Yes, my sweet Micah. Soon you will be healed of the havoc your tiny machines have wracked your body with. Once that occurs, you will have a choice to make: either you stay with me and become human again, or you let me go and revert to what you were before I came here."
"I tried to board your ship the last time you were here, Lady Lily. But I was too late. You'd already gone."
"I have a secret."
"Tell me what it is, Lily, and I'll tell my nanobots to go easy on you."
"They're coming for me, sweet Micah."
"Any trip that your friends attempt to make will take weeks to achieve. By then, it will be too late, perhaps for the both of us. If what you say is true, my reverting to human form will only exasperate my tiny trinkets. Like the Frankenstein monster of Mary Shelley's they will turn on their master and destroy me... and most likely you as well, my sweet Lily.
"I apologize for bringing you here... that was a mistake. Instead, I should have had myself transported to you in old Scotland. There at least we might have together been able to form a barrier against my machines. Here, we are helpless."
"Hush, sweet Micah... you give yourself too little credit."
Chapter 30—Thief in the Night
He didn’t understand how it could have happened.
When they called it quits for the night the machine was still not functioning. Though Ena seemed more familiar with his work than he thought possible he never dreamed she'd unbeknownst to him finish the project.
The model still sat on the bench. At first glance he saw no alterations upon it but upon closer examination he realized the replica had been subtly changed to match the diagram Ena had drawn the day before.
Though he'd been intrigued by her drawing Pete wasn’t convinced that she had anything to add to their work. Looking at the vacant spot where the full sized anti gravity unit once sat, Pete's words rang in his auditory organs.
"I know Ena meant well, Mr. Nate, but the ideas she presented made no mathematical sense. We'd only be wasting our time if we pursued the changes she suggested. We need to continue working along the same lines we've been pursuing all along. That's our only hope."
Despite his reservations he listened to Pete rather than to Ena. Now, it was painfully obvious that either someone came into his workshop during the night and stole the machine they'd put so much time into, or else...
"Kāne was here last evening, darling Nate."
"Here in Toulon? Why did you wait until now to tell me, sweet Amanda?"
"I was going to tell you but when I went to your workshop I saw you and Pete working on your new invention. You looked so engrossed I didn’t want to bother you."
Amanda gave him the news over breakfast that morning. The look on his face must have betrayed the avalanche of bewilderment cascading through his mind. The man had robbed him of one wife... was he covertly seeking to steal more from him?
Though Nate told himself he didn’t hate Kāne, he held no fondness for the man either. Moving to the south of old France had been more than a gesture at helping his friend Kirk establish a home here... indeed, in his hearts Nate knew it was a ploy at separating himself from the memories that haunted him at Orchardton Hall.
He never understood Lily leaving him... not for a man like Kāne. Had she come to him and confessed that she had grown tired of their lives together, he might have at least had a chance... a chance to what?
He could have no more forced Lily to stay with him than he could stop the sun in the sky or still the ragings of the sea. He was as helpless in the face of her infidelities as a newly born baby in the rigors of the wilderness.
No, it wasn’t Kāne that he hated... it was Lily. Yet here he was... willing to risk not only his life but the entire colony they had established here all in order to mount an ill-equipped rescue to old America.
"Are you okay, my lovely Nate?"
"What is Kāne doing here?"
He didn’t know what else to say though he was certain the look on his face said it all. Amanda must have already suspected his feelings for Lily were still alive and yet now she would be certain of it. The girl deserved better.
"He said he was on his way to Orchardton Hall, my lovely Nate. He'd been sailing for weeks. He told us he first sailed up the old Nile river and then across the Mediterranean Sea before finally reaching the south of old France."
"The last time I spoke to Lady Lauren she told me he was in old Africa. She doubted he'd ever leave. He must have had a good reason, my precious Amanda. Did he speak of it at all?"
"Kāne talked of something strange, sweet Nate. He said that Lady Lily called out to him... that she was in trouble and needed his help. He said he had to find a way to travel to old America as soon as possible. What do you suppose he meant by that?"
He remembered how Pete told him that Ena had tried unsuccessfully
to convince him to fly her to old America. Pete told him how he had to explain to her that even if they were able to find a landing strip, the odds were they wouldn’t be able to find fuel for the return trip.
"She was demanding in the extreme that we set out immediately, Mr. Nate. She said that her Grandmother Lily had been carried off by dragons. I swear, I thought she might have been drinking but she's always been so clear-headed."
"Carried off by dragons... what on earth could she have meant by that, Pete?"
Ena had said nothing to him about taking a trip to old America. While her visit surprised him—especially that she arrived without Alpin—he reasoned that she might have needed some time away from the Isle of Skye. The weather at Orchardton Hall seemed downright balmy compared to the week he'd spent in northern Scotland some years ago.
Picking up the remote control and switching on the power to the model he didn’t expect what happened next. The anti gravity unit lifted off the bench upon which it sat hanging motionless in mid air. A faint buzzing and the odor of ozone filled the room as he maneuvered the tiny machine in a circle above his head.
"I'll be damned; she was right."
He had built the full scale machine to seat four. If Ena and Kāne were indeed responsible for taking the anti gravity unit, they must be planning on bringing Lady Lily home. At the same time, he was a bit miffed that they took the machine without asking.
He would have gone with them. If he was right, they were flying into a trap. Micah wasn’t a stupid man. He would doubtlessly expect someone to come to Lady Lily's rescue. Nate had an uneasy feeling it was all an elaborate trap designed to separate them from one another and pick them off all the more easily.
He remembered how effortlessly they were repelled during their last journey to Cornell University. Even though they carried automatic weapons they were sent packing like frightened children. Given the two centuries that had since elapsed, how much more formidable had Micah's swarms grown?
"We need to fly to old America, Pete. I'm afraid Ena and Kāne have taken our machine and gone off on their own. They'll never be able to rescue Lady Lily on their own. They'll need our help."
