by Jay Falconer
Drew rolled his chair back a few feet and didn’t respond.
“Come on now, I don’t have all day,” Larson said, louder this time.
Lucas moved in front of Drew, chest expanded, fighting the urge to strike the bully. It was an instinctive reaction brought on by years of torment in the orphanage. “Can I help you with something?”
Larson took an uncoordinated step back, lowered his head, and began fiddling with his gold pen while shuffling through several layers of his paperwork.
This guy’s a former Marine? Lucas thought.
Larson cleared his throat before looking at Lucas. “I’ve just received this lengthy, attorney-prepared disclaimer agreement from the Defense Department. Obviously, I need a comprehensive briefing concerning the nature of your project, and its need for the material in these three containers. Liability must be assessed. Damage must be mitigated.”
Goddamn attorneys, Lucas thought, remembering the family’s hefty legal bills to defend his dad’s failed pest control invention. He’d thought about hiring a lawyer to fight the insurance company over his mother’s denied medical claims, but hated the idea of lining some future politician’s pocket with what little money he had. Maybe he should team up with one of the chemical geeks down the hall and invent a bio-toxin that targeted only insurance executives and lawyers. He liked that idea—would probably make him rich in the process since everyone would want a supply.
Larson continued, “Which one of you wants to explain this to me? I need to know who authorized this.”
Before Lucas could respond, Kleezebee buzzed in and bolted through the lab entrance. He pushed at the doors, not waiting for them to open fully on their own.
“Damn it, Larson, I’m here. I told you earlier that I would handle this. Let’s go and let these guys work. I’ll explain it all to you—probably very slowly, so you’ll understand.”
Lucas looked at Drew who was sitting in his wheelchair, smiling. Lucas took a deep breath and then let the air seep out through his lips. Kleezebee had come to their rescue as he had done countless times before. It seemed like any time they needed help, Kleezebee would somehow know and magically arrive just in time to assist.
Just then, the lab doors opened again. It was Kleezebee and he looked pissed. “Next time, run the paper by me first,” he said to Lucas. “You’re lucky nothing in it violated this project’s confidentiality agreement.”
“Sorry, boss,” Lucas said, assuming Larson had just told Kleezebee. The professor returned to the hallway as quickly as he came in.
“What was that all about?” Drew asked.
“Nothing. I’ll tell you later. Let’s get to work.”
Lucas and Drew began their shift by dressing in their customary white lab coats and logging into the computer network.
Chapter 5
Elegance
Drew was seated next to Lucas at the lab’s center worktable when the lab doors buzzed behind him. He hoped it was Trevor and the new lab technician. He turned his wheelchair around and saw a lovely young Asian standing next to Trevor. She was a petite, dark-haired beauty with an adorable figure, who revealed a gorgeous set of white teeth when she smiled.
“Hi,” she said to Drew.
Drew’s tongue shriveled up and swallowed the words in his mouth, leaving him to muster an uneven grunt. His lungs forgot how to breathe properly, taking shorter and shorter breaths.
Her hair shimmered under the lab’s fluorescent lights like heat waves rising up from the desert sand. Her long curls wrapped around her neck and cascaded gracefully down the front of her shoulder. Drew couldn’t help but stare at her: She was a vision, a goddess who wore a yellow flower just above her right ear.
Lucas extended his right hand to her. “Hi, I’m Dr. Lucas Ramsay. Welcome to Project AG-356-12.”
She bowed her head and shook Lucas’ hand. “Hello, I’m Abby Park.”
She looked at Drew. He dropped his paperwork.
Lucas chuckled. “And this slobbering member of the male species is my brother, Drew.” He held out an open palm toward Drew. “Trevor, I assume you have already introduced yourself to Abby?”
"Ja, I did."
“Have you signed your non-disclosure agreement?” Lucas asked her. Abby nodded. “Well, then, let’s get started,” he said, motioning for her to follow him toward the reactor chamber, only a seven-step walk. It was on the side of the room opposite from the lab’s entrance doors.
Drew remained behind with Trevor to organize the items scattered over the top of the rectangular worktable in the center of the room. He could not take his eyes off her.
* * *
Lucas began her introduction with the control station located just to the right of the reactor chamber’s door. Attached to the wall below the viewing window was a seven-foot-wide stainless-steel counter with a flat panel computer screen at each end. In front of each console was a black wireless keyboard and matching mouse.
In between the two stations was an angled instrument panel that covered up most of the wall below the viewing window. The panel was covered with switches, knobs, instrument gauges, and the like. Two rolling desk chairs were offset to the left, leaving room for a third on the right end of the counter.
“This is the Primary Control Station where all the action happens. Drew sits to the right, and the other console is mine. The chair in the middle is yours.”
Abby opened her spiral notebook and started taking notes. “What about Trevor?”
“He usually stands over there and monitors his system,” Lucas said, pointing at three heavy-gauge steel shelving units installed on the wall to the left of the reactor chamber. They were loaded with rack-mounted computer equipment actively processing data with their LED lights flashing and their hard drives whirling. A retractable network console was located waist-high in the center rack with its hide-a-way keyboard pulled out on sliding rails.
“Trevor designed the system from the ground up and it controls our reactor. Everything else is networked to the university’s mainframe and we share CPU time across all active experiments.”
Lucas guided her to a pair of tall, red-and-blue storage cabinets on the other side of the room. He opened the first storage unit, which contained an assortment of hand tools, cleaning supplies, paper, pens, and other miscellaneous materials.
“If you ever need any supplies, you’ll find them in here.”
He removed a clipboard hanging on a magnetic hook inside the cabinet’s door. “Just be sure to write down what you used in this inventory log. Dr. Kleezebee wants every penny accounted for.”
He opened the second cabinet, which held an array of equipment, wire, and other electronic parts. He pulled out a handheld device the size of a DVD case and held it up in front of her. “Radiological detector. Hopefully, we’ll never have to use this puppy.”
“How likely is that?”
“Not very. We’ve spent the past eighteen months making sure this experiment is perfectly safe.”
“But there’re always risks, right?”
“Sure, but I wouldn’t be too concerned. Kleezebee made sure we took every precaution.”
Abby allowed herself time to scribble in her notebook. “Can I see the reactor?”
“Sure. I was planning on showing you that next.”
He walked to the door to the reactor chamber. Drew followed along behind them. Lucas led Abby into a smaller room just inside the chamber’s entrance; Drew stayed outside. They were standing in a closet-sized room that resembled a two-door airlock system, like those found aboard a submarine.
“The reactor’s a clean-room, so we use this decontamination chamber each time personnel or material enters the chamber.” Lucas reached around her and closed the thick outer door. He turned around and powered on a twelve-inch LCD monitor to the right of the inner door. Drew’s face appeared on the screen once the image stabilized.
“He’s sitting in front of his console at the Primary Control Station,” Lucas told her.
Lucas opened a cabinet to his left and gathered one of the six yellow protective suits hanging inside. Below them were several pairs of steel-toed boots and chemical-resistant gloves. A handful of voice-operated microphones and earpieces were sitting on the top shelf.
“A Hazmat suit?” she asked.
“Yes, Level A. Provides airtight protection from all forms of chemicals, including gasses and vapors. Safety protocols require we use them inside the reactor.” He pulled out a second suit and handed it to her. “We even have one in your size. Put this on. Let me know if you need assistance.”
Lucas used the reflective glass to watch her wiggle and slide her perfect ass into the bottom of the suit. His face flushed with blood, as did the rest of his body. He wondered what it looked like underneath—probably milky white and smooth since she did not appear to be much of a sun worshiper. He didn’t see any panty lines underneath her white stretch pants, so perhaps she was wearing a thong or nothing at all. He smiled. She was definitely an improvement over their previous assistant, Gracie. She pulled the suit higher, nearing the sculpted curves of her breasts that were tucked away inside her skin-tight, pink t-shirt. He prayed she’d ask for help, but she didn’t. Then she froze for a moment, turning her head slightly as if she sensed him gawking at her flawless body. He looked away and fiddled with the video screen, pretending to adjust its screen.
* * *
Five minutes later, both of them were wearing their protective gear, including boots, gloves, and the voice-activated communication devices.
“Abby, can you hear me? Is your comm unit working?”
“Yes, it is. Can we go inside the reactor?”
“Wait until Drew does his thing and gives us the all clear signal.” Lucas looked at the pea-sized camera mounted above the video monitor. “Okay, brother, we’re ready.”
An upward stream of air blew past them as the process began. Thirty seconds later, Drew gave his brother a thumbs-up signal. Lucas entered a five-digit numerical code into a keypad next to the video monitor and waited for the inner door to unlock and slide open. They both stepped inside.
The reactor was a metal sphere the size of a commercial walk-in freezer, with a series of cables and heavy industrial piping above it that fed into the backside of the unit. There were dozens of valves, conduits, and other industrial components leading to and from the reactor’s base.
“What’s kind of material is this?” she asked, tapping on the reactor’s housing with her pen.
“It’s one of Dr. Kleezebee’s inventions. He calls it VX-312. We call it tri-tanium.”
“Like in Star Trek,” she quipped.
“Exactly. It’s a chemically altered blend of hardened titanium and tungsten composites, which have been infused with a series of interwoven membranes of nanocrystalline diamond fiber. It can withstand fusion-level temperatures and intense gravimetric sheer.”
She adjusted her headgear, then pointed to one of the eight rectangular devices installed evenly around the perimeter of the reactor in forty-five degree increments. “What are these?”
“Superconducting electromagnets. They’ve been specifically calibrated to allow us to control our gravity wave experiment.” Lucas saw her looking up at the elongated tube attached to the dome of the reactor, which extended to the ceiling at a 45-degree angle. “That fires a focused, cold neutron beam at the core. It’s what jump-starts the experiment.”
He unlatched and slid open a protective shroud covering the midsection of the reactor. Inside was a white, egg-shaped receptacle the size of a thermos bottle, which was being held at the exact center by a surrounding lattice of non-metal struts.
“What goes inside?” she asked after looking inside.
“That’s the really cool part. Follow me and I’ll show you.”
They completed decontamination procedures and removed their hazmat suits before stepping out of the chamber. They returned to the center worktable where Trevor was standing.
Drew joined them, maneuvering his wheelchair up an elongated aluminum ramp and onto a permanently installed platform next to the worktable.
Lucas pointed to the three metal boxes near his feet. “These were just delivered today. Trevor, would you do the honors?”
Trevor lifted one of the boxes with ease and put it on the worktable before cutting the bands of yellow security tape with a pair of sheers. He unsnapped three metal clasps along the front of the box, opened its hinged cover, and then pushed the box closer to Lucas with one hand.
Lucas put on a pair of safety gloves before removing the surface layer of the packaging material. Inside was a perfectly round black sphere the size of a baseball. Lucas removed the sphere with both hands, straining to lift the object up high enough for all to see.
“This material is called ‘Unbiunium’ which is a new super-heavy element recently discovered by the U.S. Navy. Its atomic weight is 121, which is why we call it ‘Element 121’ or E-121 for short.”
“I thought elements larger than ninety-two on the Periodic Table were theoretical and do not occur naturally. Even if they could be synthesized by fusing two heavy elements together, wouldn’t the resulting substance be unstable and instantly decay into lighter elements?”
Lucas’ arms were getting tired. He lowered the sphere down to chest level and held it still for her inspection. “Yet here it is, stable, and in solid form. Kleezebee said he pulled a lot of strings to get us access to these samples.”
“Where did the Navy discover it?”
“In an unexplored deep sea trench off the coast of Mexico, near Chicxulub, just off the Yucatan peninsula. From what Kleezebee told us, the Navy found a substantial amount of it.”
“Chicxulub? Isn’t that where they found the impact crater that killed off the dinosaurs?”
Lucas nodded. “Yes, it was.”
Abby stared at the ground before responding in a softer tone, “I do remember reading something about a gravimetric anomaly found at that impact site. I suppose it’s possible that E-121 may have had something to do with that.” She leaned over and peeked inside the shipping container.
Lucas was excited to be sharing his talisman with the new assistant. “This special material has very unique properties, which are essential to the last phase of our project. Without it, we can’t run the experiment. Super-heavy elements like E-121 have an ultra-strong gravity field that extends well beyond the perimeter of its atom, making it accessible. Just like any other field in the electromagnetic spectrum, E-121’s gravitational wave has a specific frequency and amplitude. Since we can access it, we plan on using the reactor to control it.”
“Are you trying to manipulate the element’s strong nuclear force bonding its particles together?”
“No. We plan to morph the actual gravity field itself,” Drew replied, picking up an egg-shaped capsule sitting next to him on the work surface. He unscrewed the capsule’s domed-shaped lid before holding out the bottom half with both hands.
“Don’t you think Trevor should take it from here?” Lucas asked.
“Nope, I got it,” Drew replied, resting his elbows on the table.
Lucas wanted to say something else, but didn’t. He put the E-121 sample into the container and screwed on its lid. Drew tugged the capsule across the tabletop and put it in his lap, partially wedged between his legs.
Lucas told Abby, “We’ll use E-121 as the catalyst for our experiment. We hope to compact one side of the element’s immense gravitational field under the control of the powerful electromagnetic system, which will, in turn, push out or bulge an equal and opposite reaction on the other side. While the quantum morphing occurs, we expect the surrounding subspace to counteract the change in force and effectively push against our material to maintain spatial equilibrium.”
Abby nodded several times while writing in her journal. She folded her arms with the notebook pressed flat up against her chest. “Assuming I understand you correctly, in theory that could result in transmutation of the laws of gravity
or ‘anti-gravity,’ as it were. Like what would happen if you pushed against the side of a floating soap bubble.”
Lucas nodded. “We hope this will lead to a revolutionary new type of interstellar propulsion system, which is why NASA agreed to fund this project in the first place.”
“The power requirements must be enormous,” she said.
“That’s where the cold neutron beam comes into play. While an atom’s strong nuclear force is trillions of times stronger than gravity, we believe there’s an underlying quantum energy stream that’s even more powerful.”
Drew was smiling when he added, “So powerful in fact, that we should be able to use it to manipulate E-121’s gravity field.”
“Did you say quantum energy stream?” she asked Lucas.
“If we can precisely match the frequency of E-121’s gravity wave, the beam should be able to wedge open a crack between the exposed section of the gravitational field and the element’s perimeter. This should allow us to tap into the energy matrix connecting our universe to the next. With it, we should have an endless supply of energy to power our experiment.”
Abby’s mouth dropped open and she did not respond.
Chapter 6
Vexation
The security system buzzed, but no one moved. The double doors opened and Dr. Kleezebee entered, carrying a black three-ring binder with the phrase PROJECT AG-356-12 written on a white label affixed to the cover. He joined the group at the worktable.
“How are things progressing?” Kleezebee asked with an unlit, stubby cigar hanging from the corner of his lips. The professor stood next to Lucas.
“Perfectly,” Lucas replied. “We’re just about ready to load the core.”
“Excellent. Let’s get to it,” the professor said, placing the binder on the table. “I’ve finished reviewing your work, and everything appears ready to go. Nice work you two. I only changed a few things with respect to power utilization. Let’s begin with the flow regulator set to fifty percent. We can always increase it from there if needed.” Lucas and Drew nodded. Kleezebee winked and smiled at Drew. “Time to man your station. Abby, you go with him to observe.”
