by Doug Dollard
The observatory was a large room with at least one hundred theater style seats arrayed in tiers much like those in a cinema. In front along the entire length of the room was a massive window overlooking a vacuous chamber in the center of which rose a gleaming complexity of machinery.
Five stories below white-coated technicians scurried about checking electronic panels and monitoring computer terminals.
The Tokomak was a gigantic cylindrical containment vessel rising five stories from the concrete and steel pad at its base four stories below ground. It was an impressive display of twenty-first century technology, all gleaming stainless steel, titanium, space age plastics, hoses, valves, dials and gages.
The crowed had grown silent, momentarily awed by the technological wonder before them.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” echoed a voice through the state of the art sound system. From behind a lectern to one side of the viewing window stood a rotund man dressed in black tie, his thinning hair slicked back so it reflected the lights trained on the podium. His accent was distinctly French which made sense as the French Government had invested heavily in fusion research given eighty-five percent of their energy was currently derived from nuclear power.
“If you will be so kind as to take one of the seats behind you,” he instructed the gathering, extending his arm in an inviting gesture toward the rows of plush seats covered in a rich, scarlet fabric.
Moving with the crowed I took a seat near the middle on the outside of the isle beside a middle-aged woman dressed in a strapless white gown. When everyone was seated our host began by introducing himself.
“I am Doctor Theodore Labeck,” he began as the undercurrent of chatter in the room ebbed. “I am the Director of this wonderful facility we affectionately call JET, an acronym for the Joint European Tokomak Facility which is being sponsored through the generosity of Global Energy Resources.
A few facts are appropriate I think before we begin. What you see before you through two inches of polycarbonate safety glass is the culmination of more than fifty years of research in plasma fusion.
The Tore-Supra Tokomak is the state of the art magnetic confinement vessel. It measures 29.8 meters in height and 28.3 meters in diameter and weighs twenty-three thousand tons. In its internal vacuum chamber nuclear fuel, a mixture of Deuterium and Tritium is heated to more than one hundred fifty million degrees Celsius, which is about ten times the temperature at the sun’s core.
Strong magnetic fields keep the mixture suspended, preventing the superheated fuel from melting the walls of the containment vessel.” Hearing this the crowd moved nervously in their seats.
“Not to worry,” Labeck continued, smiling and holding out his arms in a calming gesture. “The containment vessel is inviolable and the building surrounding it is a bio shield of more than two meters of concrete and steel. You would be no less safe in your own living rooms.”
The crowd appeared to accept Doctor Labeck’s assurances as smiles returned to their faces not with standing the fact that most of the shielding was on the periphery of the building.
“What is most important is that a success tonight will mean we are on a path to creating unlimited, clean and inexpensive energy.”
A quick look around at the audience confirmed I was not alone in anticipating an historic step in freeing the industrial world from its dependence upon fossil fuels.
“In just a few minutes the scientists you see on the floor below will initiate the Tokomak and you will all be witness to the first sustained production of energy from thermonuclear fusion. We expect this first test to produce fifty times the input, that is we anticipate fifty megawatts of power input will produce five hundred megawatts of output.”
The crowd was duly impressed and Doctor Labeck was smiling ear to ear. I hoped for his sake the experiment produced at least as much output as input.
As we were only minutes away from the power up Doctor Labeck directed our attention to the floor beneath us. The massive Lexan window provided a nearly unhindered view of the floor below and the giant stainless steel cylinder containing the superheated plasma suspended in a magnetic field.
As the Tokomak spun up lights came on across the control panels and the milling crowd of white-coated technicians stopped milling around and stood frozen at their stations. I could detect a high-pitched whine coming from behind the thick Lexan and a subtle vibration began to tingle through the metal bars of my seat. Perhaps a full minute passed while the noise grew louder and the vibrations increased in intensity.
An expression of concern appeared on Doctor Labeck’s face and he stepped down from the podium and crossed the floor to one of the doors on the far side of the room. Moments later Labeck appeared on the floor beside the giant machine, gesticulating and yelling something to the technicians below. Nothing they said could be heard through the thick polycarbonate window but their actions suggested things were not going well.
The confusion below grew with each passing moment in consort with the increased vibrations in the observation theater. The technicians below seemed on the verge of panic while the guests in the viewing room had come to their feet and were heading for the exits, some running, stumbling and falling only to rise and run again. The high-pitched whine from the Tokomak had morphed into an eardrum rupturing base rumble.
Lights throughout the facility began to flicker and dim, transitioning from florescent white to an electric blue before disappearing altogether. In the darkness people crashed into seats and each other, desperate to find the exits. Despite being thrust into an inky blackness I knew emergency back up lights would kick on automatically so I held my ground and waited. Seconds later back up lights flickered once and then came into full brightness.
The scene before me was one of utter chaos. People pushed into the exits their bodies clogging their only avenue of escape. The air was filled with static electricity. I could feel an electrical charge building, causing the hair on my scalp and skin to tingle. The air began to crack and pop the smell of burnt copper filled the room.
The few who remained in the observation theater seemed dazed and disoriented, their eyes darting from place to place as if seeking nonexistent sanctuary from the pandemonium. Through the thick polycarbonate safety glass of the observation window I saw white-coated scientists on the floor below moving erratically, gesturing wildly to someone out of view.
Miniature vibrations rippled through the soles of my feet and almost instantly transformed into spine shattering jolts. Several people near me lost their balance and tumbled to the floor in a tangle of arms, bodies and legs.
Panic began to take control of the crowd as a number of people pushed into the hallway that exited the observation room. Near me a woman lay sprawled on the floor and I took her outstretched arm to help her to her feet. Instinctively I headed for the stairwell with the woman in tow when another, more powerful shock wave tore her from my grasp, her fingers raking my arm and ripping the watch from my wrist.
I staggered into the hallway where the violent shaking was bringing ceiling tiles crashing down across the floor. In several places floor tiles had broken loose from their grouting, popping up to create a field of sharp obstacles.
The floor ahead of me shifted suddenly, propelling me against the wall. I staggered, struggling to keep my balance, intent on making my way to the end of the hall where the exit sign’s red letters pulsed in rhythm with the bleating of the claxon.
Without warning some invisible force slammed me to my knees with incredible power. My chest felt like it was being crushed under tons of debris and I struggled draw a breath. I could see energy waves rippling through the air like heat waves off the desert sand. Strange colors were erupting from the pit where the Tokomak was housed. My ears were buffeted with a succession of pressure waves emanating from the Tokomak.
The very atmosphere had erupted into colors I recognized as an optical red shift as the ambient light shifted slowly from red to blue. Simultaneously there was a sound like the roaring
of a freight train bearing down on us.
I was having trouble breathing and I began to fade in and out of consciousness. Around me the physical world seemed to be evaporating. Bodies littering the floor of the observation deck were loosing their cohesion as if drifting in and then out of focus. The floor of the observation deck shook violently. Objects were loosing their shapes, colors were becoming muted, sounds had lost their distinctiveness. The roaring reached a crescendo, exploded and then strangely quickly began dissipating. Everything was cast in a pale blue light.
Suddenly a brilliant white light exploded inside my head. I felt myself drifting, floating through an expanding velvet blackness. I wondered if this was what dying felt like.
Chapter 14
BLOOD IN THE SNOW
Beaconsfield, United Kingdom January 1944
With a force that caused the air to erupt from my lungs I collided with something solid. It felt like I had been dropped from several stories onto corrugated aluminum. I lay in a half seated position with my back pressed against what felt like metal. Brilliant flashes of light followed by deafening explosions were erupting everywhere. White-hot fire pierced my left side pinning me to the ground. Oily black smoke permeated the air. Nearby the unmistakable scream of overtaxed engines pounded in my ears.
Desperately I tried to draw breath. On the verge of unconsciousness my chest finally relented and I drew in a lungful of acrid smoke. Immediately I began choking on the foul air. My lungs felt like they were on fire. Putting my face on the floor where the air was marginally free of smoke I forced myself to take measured breaths, slowing clearing my lungs.
As my head cleared some inner voice began urging me to get to my feet. Attempting to push myself up my hands slipped in something warm and viscous covering the floor. I brought a sticky hand up in front of my face. In the flickering light I saw the unmistakable dark crimson hue of blood.
At that instant the surface on which I lie began vibrating violently. Brilliant sheets of yellow, red and blue flame shot up from every direction. I got quickly to my knees peering into the smoky darkness.
Expecting to see the wreckage of the observation room I was blinded by thick, impenetrable smoke. Feeling my way along the ground on my hands and knees I crept forward, though forward was no more than the arbitrary direction in which I had chosen to crawl.
Ahead of me the thick smoke had thinned enough to make out the shapes of two bodies sprawled out on the floor. The body nearest me lay on its back, its torso horribly mangled, its arm gone at the shoulder, the top of its head blasted away. Jelly like grey and pink brain matter oozed from its shattered skull.
A second body lay face down a few feet further on, arms splayed out to either side. Stitched across its back were several black-rimmed holes the size of quarters. I’d seen this kind of thing before in Afghanistan. The holes were the result of a large caliber weapon, most likely a fifty-caliber machine gun. Both bodies were dressed in what appeared to be thick brown cold weather suits.
I was feeling an overwhelming urge to move. Just as I started to crawl away from the two dead men the floor tilted sending me helplessly tumbling. Instantly I collided with something metal that arrested my fall. My left shoulder took the brunt of the impact. I looked up just in time to see the bodies of the two dead men come hurtling toward me.
I raised my arms across my chest and head just as the dead men crashed into me. Entangled with the dead I had the distinct sensation we were falling through space. To my left I heard an engine sputter, cough and then slowly fade into silence. Somewhere forward of where I lay came the sound of sheering metal.
I had no time to consider my predicament further. Without warning the floor beneath me buckled and I was propelled backward like so much dirty laundry. I must have passed out then because I the next thing I knew I was engulfed in fire.
The stench of petrol and burning flesh filled my nostrils. Panicked I searched my body for any sign I was burning but found none. I noticed one of the bodies not three feet from where I lay was on fire, both its legs burning furiously. The heat from the fire was rising intolerably and I knew I had to get out immediately.
About a dozen feet beyond the burning man I could see a small opening large enough through which I might be able to escape. I crawled toward it over the body of the burning man and across hot metal plates until I reached the opening.
There was fresh air pouring in from outside through the opening and I knew this was my way out. My spirits soared. The opening was located three feet off the ground and measured about two feet long and a foot wide. The opening appeared to be in a thin metal wall where the metal had sheered away along a seam where the rivets failed. The edges where the metal tore were jagged and sharp.
I couldn’t worry about that now, I had to get out. Already the air was barely breathable. The heat was growing so intense sweat immediately evaporated from my arms and head. I raised myself up and pushed my head and shoulders into the opening. A blast of cool air greeted me.
With an urgency wrought by fear I pulled, twisted and squeezed my hips through, falling several feet to the ground just as wreckage behind me exploded.
I knew I needed to be well clear of the wreckage or I’d soon be consumed in the growing conflagration. There was no time to speculate what had happened or why. I knew what my priority must be and my instinct and training demanded I focus on survival.
I attempted to scramble to my feet but my knee buckled and pain shot up my leg with such intensity I nearly lost consciousness. Nausea flooded over me. I knew instinctively I had only seconds before the heat or flames would embroil me so I concentrated on one final goal. With every ounce of my strength I began crawling through burning debris in a line directly away from everything on fire.
My left shoulder was barely functioning, making an intensely painful and ugly crunching sound with each movement. Despite my injuries I made miraculous progress. In less than a minute I covered nearly fifty feet. My instincts had been good. Looking back behind me I could see fire and smoke raging along a line running several hundred feet as explosions erupted with mounting intensity and growing frequency.
Despite my distance from the wreckage I could still feel the intensity of the heat on my naked face. I knew I had to put more distance between us. But I was at my limit. Exhaustion overwhelmed me. If I could just rest if only for a moment I could gather my strength for another long crawl. I knew this was fatal thinking and fought to resist its seduction. With renewed determination I dug my elbows into what was now frozen earth and wriggled forward, every movement now a battle of will over agony.
Behind me a trail of blood marked my passage through the snow. When I could not crawl another millimeter I let myself go, my body resigned to its fate, my mind slipping into a dark pit of unknown depth.
Chapter 15
A DISTANT SOUND OF THUNDER
London, United Kingdom
Somewhere off in the distance I could hear the impact of explosions. It was an all to familiar and utterly terrifying sound. Huddled down within the protective folds of sleep a tiny voice prodded desperately at my subconscious. You should wake now, the voice demanded. No time for sleep.
One eye opened reluctantly. The world was a blur. I could hear the drone of heavy machinery and feel the dull throb of their vibrations. In the distance the crumping sound of approaching explosions grew in intensity.
An irresistible urge to move forced me to sit up. Pain shot through my abdomen like an electric shock. I ignored it. I had to get up. I had to move.
I forced myself into a sitting position and then rose unsteadily to my feet, wobbling precariously as I attempted to orient myself. My right eye was swollen shut and through my left it appeared as though I were looking through a waxy film. The vague outlines of objects appeared against a grey background. I put one foot in front of another and began to move forward.
I had taken no more than a few steps when I felt the shock wave from a nearby blast. It rippled through the floor like an o
cean wave nearly knocking me off my feet. It past quickly only to be followed by others in quick succession, each one more violent than the last. I needed to find shelter. Blithely I began moving from the sheer compunction to do anything other than remain static.
Directly in front of me the figure of a woman suddenly appeared in a haze of dust and soot. Her back was to me and I called out to her just as a series of ear splitting blasts erupted around us.
The woman made no movement but remained standing as if frozen in place. A succession of explosions were moving inexorably in our direction. A few more seconds and the spot where we stood could be the center of the next blast.
I moved forward and grasped the woman around her shoulders and waist, bringing us both to the ground. I landed on my good shoulder with the woman on top of me and immediately rolled under the nearest solid object.
The pain on hitting the ground was agonizing, setting off shards of brilliant light behind my eyes. The woman in my arms moved against me in protest. Another explosion was so close the concussion stole my breath. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was the woman’s face pressing close to mine, her eyes wide with fear.
Chapter 16
SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME
Fear gripped Wellington’s heart. Terrified, she no longer had command of her body. Knowing she must move she could only remain standing rigidly in the center of the ward. In a moment of clarity she knew the next bomb would surly kill her and there was absolutely nothing she could do to prevent it from happening.
Suddenly something crashed into her from behind, forcing her to the ground where she was literally rolled across the floor and under one of the vacant beds. Breathless with fear Mary closed her eyes and clenched her fists into tiny tight balls, steeling herself for the impact.
