The tube was enclosed so Morgan had no more idea how it might work than he had a couple of days ago when Kiri first mentioned it. “And how does it work?”
Kiri shrugged, “I understand the theory, but I really don’t know how Dad reduced it to practice.”
“You understand the theory, but not how it actually works?” Morgan said slowly, without being able to hide the doubt in his voice.
Kiri shrugged again, “I’ll bet you understand how an internal combustion engine works… in theory. But I’d bet even more money that you don’t really know how to build one.”
Morgan gave a nod, granting the truth of her proposition. “Can you explain it to me at the same level that I understand internal combustion?”
Kiri squinted at the machine as if she was concentrating deeply. She shook her head, “I don’t think so. I don’t understand it all that well myself. Electrostatic forces accelerate the particles while an electromagnetic guide wave forces the waves to travel in register…” She glanced at Morgan, “Which requires you to think of them as particles when you’re considering how they’re accelerated and think of them as waves when they’re being lined up in register.” She waved at the big tube, “I think of it as containing thousands of smaller tubes, each with their waves in slightly different register. I don’t know if that’s how Dad really did it, it’s just how I think of it. In any case, they’re emitted slightly out of time with one another and that lets us focus them just like with beamforming.”
Morgan turned his gaze back to the big tube, thinking, I guess if it works, we could take it apart and try to reverse engineer exactly how it happens. He had a thought, But I’ll bet Daryn has some design drawings on one of his computers. He pointed at the structure at the end of the big tube. “What happens here?” Something about the structure gave him the impression that its steel-grey walls were thick.
“The magic happens there.” Kiri said with a grin, “Alpha capture with proton ejection. Our focused, in phase, precisely accelerated alpha wavicles strike our rhenium target in that chamber.”
Morgan’s brow wrinkled as he considered, “So, you’re adding one proton and two neutrons to the rhenium nucleus?”
Kiri nodded. “We thought it was going to generate some radiation, thus the setup in a mine. Turned out that it doesn’t, but the mine still provides a place where no one hears it running or asks any questions.”
“Ah,” Morgan said. “So rhenium jumps to osmium?”
“Uh-huh,” Kiri said. “It’s pretty interesting. Rhenium’s element seventy-five, in other words it has seventy-five protons. Thirty-seven percent of naturally occurring rhenium consists of the isotope rhenium-185—i.e. rhenium with seventy-five protons and 110 neutrons. Sixty-three percent’s rhenium-187 which has 112 neutrons. When you add a proton and two neutrons to those two isotopes you jump them one element to osmium which has seventy-six protons. You increase their atomic weight by three. Therefore, you get thirty-seven percent osmium-188 and sixty-three percent osmium-190. Both of those are stable osmium isotopes and osmium’s worth more than four times as much as rhenium, so you’ve already got a significant increase in value. Your isotope distribution isn’t what’s found in nature though. Only thirteen percent of natural osmium is osmium-188 and twenty-six percent is osmium-190. But, if you just keep hitting the osmium with alpha particles, the osmium’s going to jump to iridium which is the seventy-seventh element. Now you’ll have thirty-seven percent iridium-191 and sixty-three percent iridium-193. Surprisingly, thirty-seven percent and sixty-three percent are the correct distributions for the natural isotopes of iridium, so it’d be hard to tell that we’d artificially generated our product by transmutation. Iridium’s currently worth sixteen times more than rhenium, so the profit margin’s pretty good when you get to this point.”
“Wait a minute,” Morgan said, frowning. He felt grateful that he’d recently been studying that part of the periodic table while trying to determine what Daryn’s lump of metal was. “You make this sound neat and clean, but not every atom in your rhenium target’s going to arrive at iridium, then stay there. Some of them will get hit a third time to become platinum or a fourth time to become gold. At the same time, some of them’ll still be rhenium or will have only jumped once to osmium.”
Kiri nodded, “Yeah, you’d probably also have significant quantities that kept jumping until they became mercury, thallium, or lead. Then you’d have to do a lot of refining to separate out the elements you wanted. Worse, sixty-three percent of the gold would be gold-199. Gold-199’s radioactive and decays to mercury.” She lifted an eyebrow, “It’d be a mess.”
When Morgan looked over at her, she had a sly smile that suggested she had a solution for the problem she’d just described. “So, I’m assuming Daryn came up with a way out of the mess?”
She grinned, nodded and pointed at the steel-grey structure at the end of the accelerator. “There’s an induction furnace inside that tungsten chamber there. It heats the rhenium up to 4,200 degrees centigrade—”
“Whoa!” Morgan said, doubtfully. “What’s the melting point of tungsten?”
Kiri arched a surprised eyebrow, “Smart. Tungsten melts at 3,422 degrees centigrade, but the whole chamber’s not at 4,200 degrees centigrade. Only the area in the middle of the induction coil gets that hot. And, to play it safe, we circulate coolant through the coil and through the walls of the chamber.”
Morgan chewed his lip for a moment, pretending to think while actually trying to decide just how offended he should be to have a fifteen-year-old complementing him for being smart. Or was it a jibe? After a moment he decided to pretend she hadn’t said it. “So, you’ve got molten rhenium. That means your atoms are constantly moving around while you’re bombarding them with your alpha particles and converting some of the atoms to osmium. I get that. And then some of the osmium transmutes into iridium—” He paused to think but Kiri didn’t say anything. Finally, he slowly said, “I can see how molten metal with constant movement of the atoms in the melt would make it less likely that your beam of alpha particles would strike the same atoms twice. But it still seems, assuming alpha capture works on any atom, that some atoms are going to keep capturing and jumping up the scale with all the messy problems you brought up earlier. Maybe at a lower percentage, but—”
Kiri waited a beat, then she said, “Iridium boils at 4,130 degrees centigrade.”
“Oh!” Morgan said as he understood. “So, rhenium and osmium stay there in the melt until they get converted to iridium, then they boil away.” He looked at her, “I suppose a few atoms do get converted to platinum, but not that many, right?”
She nodded, “And virtually none transmute to gold.”
“Then you condense the iridium?”
“Yeah,” she laughed, “getting it to condense where you want it, instead of all over the walls of the chamber, that’s a huge hassle in its own right, but Dad had a real genius for figuring that kind of stuff out.” Kiri’s eyes got wistful.
Morgan, thinking of all the times Daryn had solved seemingly impossible problems, felt a frog forming in his own throat. He cleared his throat in an effort to be able to speak normally and moved their thoughts to something less bleak. Then he thought, We shouldn’t be trying to avoid thinking about Daryn. He cleared his throat again, but then spoke despite the tightness that remained, “Yeah, he was pretty amazing…” Morgan and Kiri were standing next to one another and he reached out to put an arm around her shoulders without thinking about her aversion to hugs. She leaned into him and turned her cheek into his chest, her shoulders starting to shake.
Morgan stood, holding his sobbing niece and avoiding the temptation to tell her it was going to be okay.
He didn’t really know how long it’d been when she lifted her face from his chest and wiped at her eyes. She sniffed, then said, “I miss him so much…”
“Me too— Shall we go back and make dinner?”
Kiri snorted, “We’d better, before Lindl’s stomach st
arts digesting his spine.”
***
After dinner, Morgan searched through Daryn’s files in hopes of finding a patent application. He quickly found a large folder loaded with subfolders full of patent materials. Some regarded existing patents, some were applications that’d been abandoned, and some were for applications that had been submitted, though not yet granted.
He spent a brief period trying to understand the abandoned patents. Some seemed to have been abandoned because the patent examiner regarded them to be non-novel over existing technology. Morgan got the impression that this was debatable and could have been argued, but that Daryn had not regarded the value of the patent to be sufficient to justify the additional legal costs. One of the patents had apparently been abandoned when Daryn realized that he couldn’t improve the efficiency of the technology like he’d expected.
Two of the patents that hadn’t been granted yet looked like they might provide an income stream for Daryn’s kids. However, Morgan realized that he might not know how to commercialize them. Daryn had a great deal of experience with commercialization of his ideas and it still didn’t look like he’d succeeded every time.
And finally, there were the patent applications for the transmutation technologies. They’d been submitted, but not granted. There was one for the alpha particle accelerator, another for alpha capture, and a third for Daryn’s method of condensing metal vapor.
Morgan had been under the impression that a patent precisely described how an invention worked. He was, therefore, surprised to see the technology described only in general terms. He thought this might be because you didn’t want the patent to be invalidated if someone used a slightly different method, but he wasn’t sure. Maybe having the actual fine detail of the method remain secret could represent another form of protection for the technology?
I’ll call the attorney listed on these patents tomorrow, he thought. She should be able to tell me whether it’s okay to talk to Satya. Morgan’s friend Satya was the particle physics expert he’d mentioned to Kiri.
Thursday morning
The kids had left for school and Morgan found himself sitting out on the porch. He was staring at the valley, drinking his coffee and thinking about Tilly Arvind. What’s my problem? he wondered. It’s only been a week since I separated from my wife. I’m in mourning for my brother. I’m newly responsible for my brother’s children. My life’s work at Matilda’s in shambles. And, I’m spending hours thinking about a woman I’ve only met twice! He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, I need to call that patent attorney.
Moments later, he found himself texting Tilly, “Do you know a patent attorney named Diane Carper? Is she any good?”
Tilly responded almost immediately, which Morgan considered a good omen. She said, “And here I was hoping you’d be inviting me to lunch again. But, yes, Diane’s very good. I like her.”
Morgan responded, “Lunch, yes! When? Where? Looking forward to it.”
He waited until he got those details from Tilly, then contacted Carper’s office in hopes of setting up a meeting either before or after lunch.
***
As instructed, Morgan took a copy of Daryn’s will to his meeting with Carper. Once she’d been assured of his bona fides, she expressed her sympathy for Morgan’s loss and her willingness to answer questions.
First, she believed that the three submitted patents regarding Daryn’s transmutation equipment would all be granted. There really wasn’t any similar technology out there. Second, she thought it’d be okay for Morgan to discuss the underlying theory with his friend the particle physicist, but recommended that he have his friend sign a nondisclosure agreement first. She had a boilerplate document for such an NDA. She quickly modified it to fit Morgan’s situation and printed out two copies. Third, she didn’t have any idea who’d developed the underlying theory. From the things he’d said, Daryn’d had incredible respect for whoever’d come up with the theory. Nonetheless, he hadn’t attributed any of the intellectual property of the patent to that person, nor ever mentioned his name to Carper.
Morgan left his meeting with the attorney feeling confident in his ability to discuss the whole thing with Satya. However, he felt worried about whether Daryn’s friend who’d developed the theory might assert a claim to the proceeds. A justifiable claim, if the whole transmutation process depended on the man’s theory. Maybe, once Kiri gives me a copy of the theory, I’ll be able to understand just how dependent the process is on it?
***
Morgan and Tilly placed their orders in another restaurant with a view, this time of a park along the French Broad River. She leaned back, smiled, and said, “Well?”
Ah, he realized, this time she expects me to carry my end of the conversation. He asked, “Where were you born?”
It turned out that Tilly’s father and his parents had immigrated to the United States from India. They’d worked in the motel business. After ten years, they’d opened their own motel in Virginia. Tilly’s dad had fallen in love with a local girl who worked as a desk clerk. It had been quite the scandal in his family when he’d refused to marry the girl with whom they’d arranged a wedding. Instead, he’d insisted on marrying the clerk.
Telling her own story, Tilly said that when she’d been in college she’d fallen in love with a boy from Asheville. “We moved here after we got married—”
A sudden dread filled Morgan, “You’re married?”
She grinned at him, “Was married. Maybe you should have checked the marriage question out before you started taking me out to all these expensive lunches, huh?”
He glanced at her left hand, “I did check it out. You’re not wearing a ring.”
She laughed, “Some married people don’t wear rings.”
“Mostly men,” he grumbled darkly.
She lowered an eyebrow, “You don’t believe in equal rights for women?”
“Yeah, just not equal sneakiness.” Before she could make any more fun of him, he said, “So, what happened to your marriage?”
She shrugged, “We fell out of love. Others would tell you that he fell in love with another girl… But, really, we hadn’t been in love with each other for some time when that happened. We’d just been marking time. I was glad it happened.” She looked out over the park, “We’re still friends and wish all the best for one another.”
Morgan sighed, “I wish I was still friends with Arlette…”
Thursday evening
As they finished eating dinner, Morgan said, “Kiri, I looked through your dad’s patent files and he’s already submitted patent applications for the alpha particle accelerator, for transmutation itself, and for his process for condensing the metal vapor. Your dad’s patent attorney feels fairly certain that the patents will be granted and that, even now, the IP’s pretty well protected by its patent pending status—”
“IP?” Kiri said.
“Intellectual Property.”
Morgan drew a breath to explain more, but she nodded sharply, suggesting she understood fully. “Go on,” she said.
“The attorney, Ms. Carper, said it’d be okay for me to discuss the theory with my particle physics friend, though she recommended I have him sign a nondisclosure agreement before I do so.”
Kiri frowned, “You’re still wanting to talk the theory over with some guy? If transmutation works, who cares whether your buddy thinks the theory’s sound or not?”
“If all this transmutation stuff’s based on the guy’s theory, I’m a little worried he’s going to be making a claim on any of our financial proceeds.” Morgan shrugged, “And if he really gave Daryn the idea, it seems to me that he’d be justified in making a claim.”
“We can just build the device. We don’t have to attribute its function to any theories or anything. No one’ll know we got the idea from any fancy theory.”
“We’ll know. And, you said he was a friend of your dad’s. He’ll know, and may have some records showing he gave the idea to Daryn.” Morgan shru
gged, “On the other hand, if the theory turns out to be some kind of mumbo-jumbo nonsense, then we’d be justified in saying it’s unrelated.”
Kiri sat perfectly still, looking out the window at the valley.
Eventually, Morgan said, “I’d feel much better if you told me who the guy is that came up with the theory. It’d be good if I talked to him.”
She broke out of what appeared to have been a little reverie. “I’ll get you a copy of the theory. You can show it to your friend, but… For, several reasons, I’d rather not introduce you to the guy that developed the theory. Besides, you’re missing the point of something you’ve said a couple of times now yourself. He gave the theory to dad. Said he could have it without paying for it.” Abruptly she rose and went upstairs.
Morgan let her go, but thought, I doubt he “gave” it, but even if he did, we’d need documentation of the gift.
A few minutes later, Morgan was looking at Kiri’s printout of the theory. He laughed. The written description was sparse and didn’t tell him anything she hadn’t already described. The majority of what she’d printed out seemed to be equations that contained a lot of bizarre mathematical symbols Morgan was unfamiliar with. What was funny was how he’d hoped to read the theory and figure out how much of the transmutation process depended on it. Now he realized he’d never understand it himself. He wondered if it actually was mumbo-jumbo nonsense.
Satya will know. The more implausible it is, the less we have to worry about the guy making a claim.
Deciding he should at least make an effort to understand it, Morgan started looking up some of the symbols. His phone rang. It was Adam. When Morgan picked up, Adam said, “Can you pick me up at the school tomorrow? Instead of Jerry’s house.”
Surprised, Morgan said, “You’re wanting to come up to Asheville for the weekend?”
“Yeah,” Adam said, sounding as if he couldn’t believe Morgan would’ve thought otherwise.
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