The Soul of the Matter (5 page)

BOOK: The Soul of the Matter
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“Maybe anything nuclear sounding seems like it can always go wrong,” Alyssa said.

“Something can always go wrong with anything, often in unexpected ways,” Viktor said.

Chapter 11

A
fter Dan buzzed Joanna in, he poured a cup of coffee, opened a book, and placed both on the kitchen table, trying to make everything seem relaxed and natural. He opened the door and smiled as Joanna climbed the last few steps of the stairway.

Happily married for more than twenty-seven years, Joanna had two children in college and a nice income from her remarkably accomplished impressionist painting. Joanna lived on the coast of Connecticut, not far from the Rhode Island border, in Stonington, an old fishing town with classic homes and a quaint main street. She was one of the rare people actually content with life.

Although she was twelve years older, Joanna and Dan had always been close. When he was young, her steadiness and warmth had always comforted him. Though she was only ninety minutes away, Dan didn't visit her often. Not these days.

“Dan, it's great to see you,” she said as she entered his apartment and hugged him. Tall and angular, she had long, light-brown hair with natural highlights framing her face. Her brown eyes sparkled.

“You, too,” he replied with muted pleasure.

“The coffee smells good. Mind if I pour myself a cup?”

“I'll get it. I hope you can stay awhile,” Dan said, not sure if that was what he wanted at all.

“Not long. I have to get back home. How's everything?”

“Good. Staying busy with work and other things,” Dan answered, his internal alarms rising for the probing he thought he heard in her voice.

“Honestly? You don't seem to be yourself these days.”

“Everything is fine. Really it is,” Dan said, trying to convince them both with an almost upbeat voice as the questioning that he dreaded was materializing.

“Lately you've sounded so unhappy. I've been worried.”

“Is this why you came by?” Exasperated, Dan walked to the window, quickly glanced out, then turned toward Joanna and waited for her response.

“Although I wanted to see you anyway, I need a simple, but important, favor.”

Relaxing, he said, “What can I do for my favorite sister?”

“At risk of that exalted position, as your
only
sister, I would like you to hear what Stephen has to say.”

So
that's
it! Stephen's recruited Joanna to plead his
case, Dan thought with disdain.

Standing up, face and voice tightening, Dan said, “I have better things to do. And you don't need to get involved.”

“I figured that was going to be your response.” Joanna said. “Don't you know friendships like the one you two had are really hard to come by? What's he done that's so terrible? Is it worth throwing away your lifelong relationship and ignoring him when he says something is important?”

In fact, no fight had led to the split, just small disagreements here and there. They spent less and less time with each other and their interactions had become increasingly superficial, as though the illusion of a close friendship was more important than the risk of actually trying to have one.

“Maybe we weren't the friends we thought we were. Maybe we aren't who we were. People change, develop other interests.”

Joanna said, “I don't know what your problem is, but get over it. You want to be by yourself, create grudges that you won't even talk about, fine. But when someone you've known your whole life, whom you've been so close with, says something is important, you do it. Stop feeling so sorry for yourself. You need to question who you're becoming.”

Dan was startled. Joanna hadn't spoken to him like this since he was much younger. “It's not like he's made any effort before he sud
denly realized he wanted to talk with me. And I have better things to do than to pretend something is there that isn't,” Dan said.

“Like what? It seems like you are not doing much of anything these days. What's up with the sports league for the inner-city kids you were helping to run?”

“It's done for the year, at least as far as my involvement goes. Same for the high-school tutoring I was doing.”

“What about the group of guys in the neighborhood you hang out with?” Joanna asked.

“We get together once in a while. There is a dinner coming up, but that's with wives and girlfriends, so I'll skip that.”

“I'm seeing a pattern here, and it worries me,” Joanna said.

“Oh yeah, what's that?” Dan challenged.

“You're pulling away from people. The fun things you used to do are no longer enough of a distraction. There's a void in your life you can't fill and can't look away from anymore.”

“I'd ask what you think should fill what you call my void, but we both know what you'd say and that won't work for me. I know too much,” Dan said.

“You need something.”

“You're not my psychologist. And it's not unnatural to be a little sad now. The last of our parents' siblings just died and our ties to that generation are gone.” Left unsaid was the toll that helping to take care of their uncle, their father's brother, had taken on Dan. He had spent almost every day at his uncle's house, for a month, as old age finally took him.

“I know, and you were wonderful, as you were with our parents.”

“Then you can cut me some slack,” Dan said, knowing that despite his denial, he did need something to anchor him. The world was shaking beneath him, seemingly ready to fall apart.

“Except for things that would be good for you. Go see Stephen. Act graciously, regardless of how difficult that may be. Find out what he needs and, afterward, if you want to, you can go your separate way again. Unfortunately, that, seems to be your approach to people these days.” She walked over to Dan and gently laid her hand on his shoulder. “One day, I'm afraid you may do that to me.”

“You know that would never happen. I would have to be dead.”

Looking straight into his eyes, Joanna said, “I hope not. Some people die inside even though they still look alive.”

“I'm all right. Really I am,” Dan protested, though feeling far less sincere than his words.

“Then go to Stephen's, if for no other reason than as a favor to me,” Joanna commanded.

Quietly, Dan replied, “Okay, but it's pointless.”

“Well, you have nothing to lose, and you might even be pleasantly surprised. Then come visit us. It's been way too long.”

“Yes, it has.”

“Dan, no matter what, I'll never let you push me away.”

“I said I'm not going to push anyone away!”

“Good,” Joanna said. “You know you've always been a terrific person, loved by everyone, for all the right reasons. I want whatever is bothering you to pass. I want my joyful brother back, for your sake more than mine.”

“I'm still here,” he answered with insufficient conviction.

“I have to go now. Thanks for letting me stop by.”

“You're always welcome, even when you're nagging me,” Dan said, walking her to the door.

Joanna smiled, then walked down the stairs. Dan closed the door, picked up his phone, and reluctantly texted Stephen, “I'll be there.”

Stephen's reply was nearly instantaneous: “Outstanding. We're looking forward to it.”

Unable to avoid the day any further, he left his apartment, descended the stairs, and exited his building. Confusion ruled his mind. The sunlight stabbed at him and almost threw him back inside. He tried to open his eyes, and when he did, everything seemed shadowy. In a world full of colors, he could no longer see even black and white, only muted shades of gray.

About the only thing he was certain of was that going to Stephen's for dinner was a bad idea.

Chapter 12

V
iktor walked into the control room. Everyone was already at their stations, waiting expectantly for the experiments to begin.

The room was about thirty feet wide and twice as long. On the far end were the main consoles, a double row of six large-screen monitors mounted on metal racks, filled with equipment. Large bundles of wires ran in every direction. Down the center of the room, two banks of desks and computers faced each other. More desks and computers spanned the room's perimeter.

As planned, there were fewer people than normal occupying the various stations.

Ravi Kannan sat at the X-ray monitors. Carol Williams looked over the power supply and magnetic fields. Karl Ashford checked the fuel levels. Nicco Pappas manned the computers that calculated the plasma temperatures. A few graduate students were scattered around the room. Sousan stood sentry near the main monitors, where she could view the plasma images and oversee everything and everyone, including Welch, who was standing next to her.

Viktor ran down the pre-shot checklist with everyone. The reactor room was visually inspected to ensure no one was in it and then the huge concrete and steel reactor room doors were closed. The supercooled magnets were operating within tolerances. The flywheel was fully charged, prepared to let loose a massive burst of electricity through the thick stainless steel bars that ran overhead from the generator into the reactor room.

Viktor called out, “All right, we're a go on the baseline shot,” and then started the automated procedure. A computer-generated voice
counted down from ten. Hydrogen gas was injected into the reactor, ionized into plasma, and prepared. If all went as planned, the shot would last fifteen seconds and then be repeated four more times, under increasingly powerful conditions. They would spend the next few days analyzing the results, preparing for the ­critical test next week.

The countdown reached zero and the fusion reactor ramped up. As expected, the plasma gas, racing around the inside, was visible on the monitors placed at ports around the perimeter of the massive magnets. Readings were compared to expected levels. Throughout the room, there was a deep hum and a high-pitched tone.

Fifteen seconds later, the shot was over. Viktor asked Welch, “Readings, please.”

“All within tolerances,” Welch answered.

“Let me know when you're ready for the next shot.”

Welch directed everyone's preparations: the refueling of the reactor, building up the electrical charges, and preparing data collection. He adjusted a few of the controls, checked power levels, and then said, “All set.”

Once again, Viktor started the countdown, and the shot began.

Sousan stared at the plasma image, then looked at Viktor with a puzzled expression and said, “That's odd. The plasma looks brighter than usual.”

“I don't notice a difference,” Viktor lied. “But just in case, Nicco, give us a temperature reading.”

“In a moment. The computer is calculating it,” Nicco answered.

Looking doubtful, Sousan turned to Viktor and said, “What's going on? Does the new equipment have anything to do with it? You said it was just for measurement.”

Viktor ignored her questions and turned toward Nicco.

Nicco called out, “Temperature is at the top of the expected range. Sixty million degrees.”

“Are you sure?” Sousan said, her face scrunched up in a quizzical expression.

And then the shot was over. Sousan glared at Viktor and Welch, then walked over to Nicco and examined his monitor. It read sixty
million degrees Celsius, normal for the reactor. But it was not, in fact, a true reading. At Viktor's direction, Nicco had altered the programming so that Sousan would not see the actual, much higher, result.

Welch reviewed the other readings and said, “Everything nominal. The reactor is performing as expected.”

“Okay then, everyone ready for the third shot?” said Viktor.

One by one, the scientists nodded yes.

Welch adjusted some more controls and quietly said to Viktor, “Field modulators are ready. RF has been increased with timed pulses.”

“Here we go,” Viktor said with a small smile as he started the countdown to the event that he expected would confirm they were on the right path.

Two seconds into the shot, Welch increased the level of one of the new controls to halfway. Instantly, the plasma contracted into a narrower band and glowed brighter, clearly indicating higher pressures and temperatures. Sousan turned to Viktor with an expression that was both startled and accusatory. The possibility of hiding the real results from her appeared lost.

Ravi announced, “X-ray emissions are up ten percent.”

Viktor called out, “I need a temperature reading.”

Nicco answered, “I'm working on it.”

Without waiting for an answer, Welch flipped another switch and turned the knob the rest of the way. The plasma contracted further and began to pulsate irregularly.

Viktor's throat tightened. Something powerful seemed to be pressing against his forehead. The experiments were supposed to have been straightforward and low-risk. Instead, he was worried that they were jeopardizing the reactor, and perhaps more, with pressures and heat it wasn't capable of handling. A faint, disconcerting feeling came over him, tugging at the periphery of his senses. It was like nothing he had ever experienced. He almost felt detached from his body, while, at the same time, he was aware of strange sensations washing over him. He mentally probed for the source of the sensations; they seemed unrelated to the natural nervousness that sometimes accompanied running a new experiment.

“X-rays are up twenty-seven percent,” Ravi called out.

Viktor yelled, “We need that temperature, now!”

Nicco worked frantically to adjust the laser calibration needed for the reading.

The plasma began to swerve slowly. Sousan yelled out, “What's going on, Viktor? Shut it down.”

“Nicco!” Viktor yelled.

Carol Williams called out, “The magnets are heating up.”

People looked at one another with confused and worried expressions. Viktor wondered if they were experiencing similar odd sensations. Beads of sweat formed on Nicco's forehead as he tried to get the reading. His equipment wasn't set up properly for such high temperatures.

As the plasma swerved more wildly, Sousan yelled out, “We could lose containment. Abort now!”

“Shut it down, John,” Viktor ordered, then turned to Sousan and said, “We're not going to lose containment.”

Welch lowered the levels, brought the reactor under control, and shut it down.

“Viktor, no more shots until you level with me and we figure out what just happened,” Sousan declared.

Ignoring her, Viktor stood up to speak, but he couldn't shake the idea that some of the others had also experienced what he had but were reluctant to mention it. Composing himself, he announced to the room, “Obviously, we had unexpected results. I'm confident that was due to problems with the reactor's calibrations and they caused minor problems with the plasma's stabilization. Nothing more than that. However, until further notice, I have to insist that everyone keep this under wraps until we verify what happened. We're in the midst of a government budget cycle, and in today's sequestration environment, I don't want anything to put our funding at risk. I'm sure we'll quickly figure things out and make whatever adjustments are necessary. Meanwhile, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but that is all I can say for now.” Looking at Sousan, he added, “We'll discuss this further in my office.”

Viktor walked briskly down the hall with Sousan by his side.

Looking sternly at him as she walked, Sousan said, “Viktor, it's time to cut the subterfuge. We could have damaged the reactor.”

He deliberated what to tell her. It would need to be a satisfactory explanation but still withhold the essence of what was going on. On the one hand, he had promised Stephen complete secrecy except for the few people who had to be in the know. On the other hand, Sousan had seen enough to know something big was going on, and she could easily stir things up trying to find out.

Entering his office, he closed the door, sat down at his desk, and pointed to the chair across from him. Sousan slowly lowered herself into the seat, her eyes trained on Viktor.

Finally, Viktor spoke. “What I'm about to tell you has to stay between us. If you agree to that, I'll tell you what I can for now, and more later. All right?”

Sousan nodded her consent.

“I was introduced to Welch four months ago. I had reason to believe that he was involved in a privately sponsored breakthrough, collaborating with a top-secret government research program, that promised to accelerate fusion energy research. But he needed a facility like ours to test their new theories. As you know, we're an unclassified center, just like all of the other fusion research centers in the US. Yet the implications were so great that his project sponsors needed to guard the research. So, as you've probably guessed, we picked this Friday, with most of the staff out, to start the tests. Only, as you saw, we got more than we expected and were prepared to handle.”

“You're not kidding. I think when we're done analyzing the data, and I do mean
we,
we'll find out the temperatures and pressures were far higher than ever achieved in a fusion reactor. How did you do it?”

“We've found a way to use quantum wave theories to help overcome proton electromagnetic repulsion.” Viktor said this in a matter-of-fact voice—despite the extraordinary nature of what they were doing—in an attempt to manage Sousan's reaction.

“But that's impossible. The forces are universal constants. If they can be changed, everything collapses and there is no universe, no you, no me,” Sousan said.

“You saw the same things I did. Do you have another explanation
for it?” Viktor answered. “Anyway, the forces aren't changed. It's more like a deeper understanding of them can be used to affect their interactions in small, tightly controlled areas.”

Hesitantly, Sousan asked, “Is there any possibility of the effects rippling outward?”

Left unspoken was that his feeling of his body detaching from all around him was more real than imagined, and that she had felt it, too.

“Absolutely not. The effects are all within the confines of our reactor,” Viktor replied.

“Why didn't you include me from the beginning? You need my expertise. We've worked side by side for so long. I'm really ticked off that you didn't confide in me,” Sousan said, raising her arms and shaking them forward.

“Trust had nothing to do with it. I had to agree to conditions beyond my control.”

“Well, now I'll need to know everything. I'll want to see all of the research, know everyone who is involved with this,” Sousan asserted.

“That's not possible. Even I don't know all of that.”

“It's your reactor. Find out.”

“I'll do what I can. Everything is on a need-to-know basis,” Viktor said while thinking that he wanted the same answers.

“Tell whomever you have to that things have changed and that
I
need to know
. For one, you'll need my help to fix the plasma turbulence. When's the next experiment?”

“Tuesday.”

“Does it have to be that soon? I need time to get up to speed and analyze the data.”

“We have no choice but to stick with the schedule. As you know, the reactor will be shut down for maintenance after that. If we're successful, we'll have what we need to argue for a whole new energy policy. Funds will flood in, fusion power plants will be built rapidly, dependence on foreign oil will be eliminated, fracking can be put on hold, carbon emissions will be reduced, and we'll have a green—­actually, to be more accurate, less brown—America and a booming economy. So it really is a matter of national security, but not from a direct military perspective.”

“I can't believe it; we could be on the verge of developing fusion energy power.”

“Go home and enjoy the day. Next week will be very busy for both of us.”

“I will. And thanks for the illumination,” Sousan said with a smirk.

With a feigned look of disdain at the pun, Viktor waved her out of his office.

•  •  •

Viktor closed the door to his office, sat down at his desk, and removed the lower drawer. Taped to the bottom was a pouch. He opened it, withdrew a page, and examined what looked like a satellite image of an area of land. Scattered across it were circles of different colors and sizes. There were indeed a lot of powerful implications that could come from their work. The images he'd just viewed could dramatically alter balances of power and trigger dreadful events.

After placing the image in his jacket pocket, he sifted through a dozen other images, chose two, and put them in an envelope that he then sealed and addressed.

Replacing the drawer, Viktor put on his jacket. It was time to get real answers from Stephen. The discussion could turn out as hot as the experiments that he had just conducted. Powerful forces were building, the world was approaching another terrible juncture, and he had to make sure the right things were done.

BOOK: The Soul of the Matter
6.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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