“Ultrasonic?” questioned Castillo. “Are you using ultrasonics?”
“No, sir,” replied Bloomberg. “We have nothing designed to produce an ultrasonic signature, but the plunge attenuator in the accelerator caused a reflected wave when we varied the signal voltage to it. This in turn hit a resonant frequency in one of the particle chambers which translated into a mechanical oscillation. It transmitted through the hull of the ship and well, you know the rest.”
“Well, when you put it like that, it makes perfect sense,” said Castillo, dripping with sarcasm. He removed his cap, laid it on his desk and made a washing motion over his face with both hands.
“I’m sorry, sir,” said Bloomberg, looking at the floor. “It won’t happen again. We’ve got it fixed now, sir.”
Castillo sniffed. What could he say? He couldn’t be angry at them. It was an accident. He could still smell the aroma of feces in the air. The air scrubbers were probably working overtime to clear the scent. “Okay, what’s next?”
“I’m terminating testing for today,” said Lambert. “We’ve got a debriefing at 1700. We’ll be hooked in with Glasgow and Balthazar. They’ll be wanting to discuss the day’s events.”
“Oh good!” said Castillo. He still had some sarcasm to get out of his system. He could already picture the sullen faces. Lambert cast him an apologetic look but it was lost on him. “Okay, I’ll see you all there.” The QVR people all left. Mason Taylor stayed behind.
“How long are you going to let these people go on with this farce, Don?” queried Taylor. He sat down in a chair and crossing his long legs.
“What do you mean?” asked Castillo.
“I mean these people do not seem to have control of this thing. Apparition needs to go back to the drawing board for a while.”
Castillo sighed. “Have you seen what it does?”
“Yes, Baynes granted me access to the test vids. It was very impressive.”
“Impressive!? It was mind-blowing, Mase! As a kid, I used to watch science fiction. I thought it was so cool when the captain said, ‘Raise Shields’. It made them invulnerable to attack! I never in my wildest dreams thought that we would some day have the same thing. If this works, it’ll save thousands of lives at sea! Don’t you think it’s incredible?”
Taylor held Castillo’s gaze and said nothing for a time. Then he crossed his arms and said, “I shit my pants two weeks ago when I saw what they were experimenting with.”
“What? Why?”
“Do you know what that Hadron Collider does?”
“Sure, it…uh…” Castillo scratched at the side of his face.
“It is exploring the forces that formed the universe, Don. It is delving into the unknown, the dark elemental forces of nature that created our world. I’m not convinced that we should even be going there. Maybe God kept this information from us for a reason. If we had access to these forces, could we control them? Would we do more harm then good? Some experts think these experiments could cause a black hole that would engulf and destroy our planet.”
Castillo had never seen Taylor this worked up. “Well, I don’t know about any of that, but I think this thing’s important. Think of the lives it will…”
“If we were in a shooting war, Don,” interrupted Taylor. “But we’re not. And there’s no knowing when we will be again.”
“But this is a huge breakthrough in electronic countermeasures, Mase! I think you’re overreacting.”
“Have you read about this Higgs boson, Don? It’s called the God particle. It existed before all matter in the universe. This is an area where the laws of physics meet God. This is the kind of technology they’re developing at that collider, and they’re barely in control of it. They’re trying to answer questions they have no business asking. And sometimes it gets away from them with disastrous results and now we have it on Kansas! Have you seen those tubes they attached to our hull? Have you seen those strange spheres and boxes in the aft equipment room? Whenever I ask what something does no one can explain it to me. Are you listening to me, Don? These test people don’t even know how it works! If something goes wrong, what might we unleash on the world? We’re one misstep away from a catastrophic nuclear accident here or maybe something worse!”
Taylor’s eyes were wild. Castillo was shocked and at a loss for words.
“And if today’s events didn’t convince you these guys don’t know what they’re doing, then I don’t know what will. This is the stuff of nightmares, Don.”
Castillo could tell by Taylor’s compressed lips and furrowed brow, he was agitated. “Your concerns are very disturbing, Mase. I would appreciate it if, for now, you kept these views to yourself and didn’t share them with the rest of the crew.” Taylor uncrossed his arms and plunged both hands into his pockets. Castillo read his body language. “You already have.”
“Unger approached me weeks ago with his concerns, then Tanaka. I think the whole crew is spooked about this thing. I was nominated to talk to you about it.” Taylor pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from his broad brown forehead. “But don’t worry. I’ll do my job. If you insist on continuing, then I’ll tell them all not to worry. The skipper knows what he’s doing.”
Castillo nodded uncomfortably. This was a revelation to him. He had no idea the crew felt this way. He knew this would be dangerous work. Testing untried systems is always dangerous, but the big question was is his ship and crew in any real danger? He didn’t think so, but after talking with Taylor, he wasn’t sure. The dark elemental forces that created the universe? That sounds like something they shouldn’t be experimenting with. He would have to give this some thought.
• • •
“I’d like to begin tomorrow’s testing at test eight in the test plan,” said Admiral O’Keefe. “That starts on page 112.”
Everyone started rattling pages trying to get to the right page. Castillo knew which test O’Keefe was talking about. He was looking at the large screen on the rear bulkhead of the ward room. It was Mt. Rushmore again plus two. There were four stone-faced U. S. Navy admirals plus two British admirals. On another screen was the crew of the Balthazar which consisted of a British captain and three QVR people, among them Dr. Nigel Hill.
“That’s the test of a communication procedure, isn’t it, sir?” said Castillo. “Using a partial Apparition enclosure.”
“That’s the one,” replied O’Keefe. The flat planes of his narrow face caught the light and made him look alien. “I think it’s important that we find a way to stay in communication with you during these early tests.” The admirals all murmured agreement.
“After today’s events that might be a good idea,” agreed Castillo. He shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. “After the last test, some of my crew expressed a concern that this technology may not be ready for test phase. Is it possible that we’re rushing this thing, sir?”
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” said O’Keefe. “Dr. Hill do you have any thoughts on this?”
On the side screen, Nigel Hill spoke in his familiar baritone, “I think it’s safe, commander. Of course, that’s not to say we may not have a few minor mishaps here or there. We always do, it seems, especially with a new technology. I guess I don’t have to tell you that. But we wouldn’t have approached the Navy with this thing if it were not ready. My company, QVR, prides itself on its accomplishments and its safety record. These systems are designed to protect people. We’ve never caused an injury or a fatality with one of our systems.”
“That streak came to an end today,” intoned Castillo. “When the deck dropped out from under us the first time, we weren’t ready for it. One crewman suffered a broken leg and we had five concussions.”
This statement was met with silence from Hill. He blinked rapidly, trying to absorb it. Admiral Baynes was the first one to speak. “I’m sorry about that, Don,” he said weakly. “Are your injured men okay?”
“They’ll live. Doc set the broken leg an
d gave the man some pain killers. That will hold him until we can transfer him to a hospital. He’s off duty until then. The concussions too.”
They went over the order of events for tomorrow and the debriefing concluded. They all dispersed. Castillo had a report to write as did Lambert and McConnell.
That evening the Kansas mess served chicken Piccata with rice medley and Tuscan stuffed mushrooms, but hardly anyone ate. Their stomachs were still upset from the jostling they had been through during the day. The Kansas’s food staff was disappointed.
Castillo tried to sleep but he kept having the same nightmare. He was an ancient explorer, like Christopher Columbus, sailing to a new unexplored land, but he kept sailing off the edge of the world. He would awaken just as his ship fell into the abyss.
• • •
The next morning there was a good crowd for breakfast and the chief food specialist, Clint Jones, or Chef Jonesy as he was called on board, was greatly heartened by it.
The plan was to bring Kansas to a depth where the top of the Apparition sphere would not be able to form completely. Above the ship, the hyperdensification process would not have enough water molecules to use, so there would be an open hole in the sphere through which they could extend an antenna and communicate. It sounded like it would work.
They decided not to risk any of Kansas’s antennae. Instead they tethered a communications buoy directly over head and linked in to a comm mast on Kansas. When the test crew determined they were at the proper depth, they announced all was ready. This time Castillo was looking at Dr. Nigel Hill on the forward control room screen. He could also switch to a photonics camera with enough up angle to see the bottom of the comm buoy sitting over them. It looked like the buoy was doing quite a bit of pitching. Kansas was also doing some rolling from wave action.
“How’s the weather look up there?” queried Castillo.
“It’s deteriorating,” said Hill.
“What do you think, Hill? Is it good enough to test?”
“I think so. We have some rain four miles to the south of us right now and winds out of the southeast at 28 knots and in our little cove here only about 6 foot seas.”
“Any lightning with it?”
“Yes, but it’s pretty far off. About 22 miles.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“It’s up to you and Dr. Lambert.”
Castillo looked to Lambert for a sign. She gave him a thumbs up. “Okay, let’s do it!” Castillo didn’t want any delays at this point. He just wanted to get all this testing over with. The sooner its done, the sooner they could all go home.
Susan Lambert and her team began going through the Apparition initialization…stage 1 activation…stage 2 activation…emitter arrays power up and activation. Finally they were ready. Castillo made the announcement to the crew and almost everyone laid flat down on the deck. This was the best way to handle the jolt of dropping 3 feet. The deck fell and the Apparition sphere formed. Castillo could still see Dr. Nigel Hill with total clarity, and on his photonics camera he could see the buoy above them. The sphere stopped short of forming completely around Kansas, leaving a hole about fifty feet wide at its top.
Castillo beamed at Lambert, then turned to Taylor on his right. “It worked!”
“Sure,” griped Taylor, “but how’re we going to use this when we’re down 600 feet?”
“Well, I don’t know. But…one step at a time. If we can…”
Suddenly there was a sharp report and a flash, and ship’s alarms began screaming. All the display screens went black.
“What the hell was that?” shouted a concerned Lambert.
“I’m guessing a lightning strike,” shouted Castillo. “Is everybody okay?” He began statusing his departments through his headset. “Engineering, Nav, Weapons…report.”
Lambert did the same. “Talk to me, Norm. I’m blind here. What are you seeing?”
“How about Command and Control?” asked Castillo. He turned to Taylor, “Mase, I’m not getting an answer out of weapons. Could you check?”
“I’m on it,” said Taylor, springing out of his seat and sprinting away.
“What do you mean?” shouted Lambert over the cacophony of ship’s alarms. “What’s going critical?” There was tension in her voice and Castillo caught it.
“See if you can reset the ship’s alarms,” barked Castillo to a crewman in the back of the room.
“Yessir,” replied the crewman. He ran to a workstation and began typing furiously.
“Well, shut it down, Norm,” cried Lambert. “For God’s sake! Pull the breaker! Do whatever you have to!”
Castillo stared at her. She was bordering on hysteria now. “What’s going on?” he demanded.
“We’ve got an accelerator that’s in full runaway! Accumulators are going critical! Norm’s trying to stop it, but so far…” She stopped and listened. “Shit! No! No! No!”
“That sounds bad,” shouted Castillo, standing up. “What does it mean? In plain language!”
“In plain language. The containment tubes for the emitters are about to breach. When that happens…I don’t know… I have a feeling we’re about be blown to kingdom come.” Crystal McConnell’s mouth was twisted in anguish and she began to wail, tears filling her eyes. It was the hopeless wail of the banshee. Her mask was gone now. Lambert’s eyes began to fill too as she choked out, “I’m… so… sorry.”
Castillo was in denial. This couldn’t be the end. The end of him, his ship, his crew. No way! He wanted to say something comforting, but he couldn’t. His mouth was suddenly dry. He opened it, but when nothing came out, he closed it. The alarms abruptly shut off, and it became eerily quiet and without the illumination from the display screens it was very dark, but there was an undercurrent of something else. It was a fine fluctuating vibration he could feel through the soles of his feet. The vibration seemed to be building and the temperature in the room was dropping. A glow bloomed on the bulkheads and room surfaces like you would see on a sunlit meadow of mustard flowers. When he looked around the room, he saw worried faces looking to him for answers. He had none. How long did they have? Minutes? Seconds? He could feel a hissing inside his skull like a radio tuned to nothing.
“Taylor was right,” he said to nobody. We have no business experimenting with the dark elemental forces that created the universe. My God! What have we done?
He heard McConnell weeping softly and a sob from someone to his right. He had never felt so helpless. The dreadful hissing in his head was intensifying. He wanted to scream and cry hysterically, but he was still a Navy commander and decided to act it right to the end. It would do no good to break down in front of his men in their last moments.
The only thing he could think of to say was, “It’s been a pleasure, gentlemen.” He put a grim expression on his face, came to attention and snapped a salute.
• • •
“What do you mean it’s gone?” screamed Admiral Baynes. He was staring at the ashen visage of Nigel Hill on the control center monitor.
“The ship, Kansas, and all her crew have simply vanished, sir. We’re sending you all the footage we have, but I don’t think it will help you much. We have two search crews out right now looking, but they’ve not found anything so far.”
“Vanished?” bellowed Baynes. “Nothing just vanishes! Kansas has got to be somewhere. It didn’t just drop off the face of the earth, did it?”
“It happened shortly after a lightning strike, admiral. A bolt scored a direct hit on the communications buoy tethered to Kansas and traveled down to the ship. We lost all communication at that point. As you can see from the video, there was an aura of some kind and then a collapse. When we run it back we can see the collapse of the Apparition sphere.”
Everyone in the control center watched the big screen where they saw a video from one of Balthazar’s surface cameras. It showed a yellow buoy with a whip antenna on it riding on an angry gray sea amid frothy waves. An unearthly underwater golden glow
formed under it, wisps of steam rising in streamers from the water’s surface and then the buoy and the adjacent waves collapsed inward as if there were a vacuum under it. An angry whirlpool of foaming water boiled and the buoy resurfaced.
“That’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Admiral O’Keefe. “Could Kansas have gone down?”
On screen Nigel Hill said, “We’ve sent a drone down to look, but nothing so far.”
Baynes could not wrap his mind around it. Kansas and all its crew gone. It was unthinkable! Had they simply been vaporized? A lump formed in his throat and his eyes were suddenly wet as he thought about those brave men and women. This was a catastrophe that would hit the Navy hard. He suddenly felt very old. He glared accusingly at Nigel Hill on the screen and shouted, “This thing was not ready for test, Hill! You assured me it was! We pushed it too fast. And I wanted it too badly. Now, men are probably dead because of that!”
The color drained from Nigel Hill’s face but he said nothing.
“If that ship isn’t found, your career is over, Hill. I’m going to make sure of that,” said Baynes angrily, then he quietly added. “I think all our careers are over.”
No one spoke for long seconds, the depression in the room heavy. Finally Baynes said, “I’d better make some calls,” He rose and left the elevated VIP platform in the control center.
• • •
Admiral Baynes made his calls and notified the authorities at Naval Atlantic Command headquarters who in turn notified the Chief of Naval Operations who in turn notified the White House.
The Navy quickly put together an emergency search and rescue force which included the attack submarine Connecticut. The British also responded with a ten ship task force which included the attack boat Ambush and the research ship Balthazar. They did an intensive thorough sweep of the cove where Kansas was last seen and fanned out from there to the storm-tossed sea. They also used air-dropped deep transit search drones. The Navy spared no expense. They were very thorough, but as the day wore on and light faded to darkness, spirits waned and the mood grew very heavy. They knew the truth. Kansas was gone without a trace.
Deadly Apparition Page 6
