Zero-Point

by T J Trapp

  Alec focused and felt the dark energy. He tried to make a tiny sphere using dark energy; the dark energy responded to him, but in a more sluggish manner than he was accustomed to. Slowly a little pellet formed in his hand, and he released the dark energy. “Wherever we are, there is a significant flow of dark energy.” He walked to the door of the room, and down the hallway. “This place looks oddly familiar. Let’s look around.”

  “We need to hurry,” Erin said nervously.

  Much better English, Alec thought.

  “The clutchmen will return to investigate the big noise you made,” she continued, in Thelandish. “They are looking for orb spies. They know I am expecting others, so they probably won’t be here right away, but they will return.”

  Orb spies?

  They walked out into the dim, dusty hallway. Only a few tracks in the dust showed where the clutchmen made their patrol.

  Erin gestured towards the dirty windows. “They need to have their drones clean those,” she said. “They would not meet a mother’s standards.”

  “Look,” Alec said, ignoring her comments. A bulletin board was attached to the wall near the corner of the hallway. Several pieces of weathered, curling paper were stuck to it with rusting push-pins.

  “The parchments are filled with runes – can you read them?” asked Erin.

  Alec looked at the display and nodded. “It is in my native language. I haven’t read anything in that language in years.” He poked at the yellowing paper. “This is a safety brochure. The top of the page – the parchment – says, ‘North Atlantic Institute Daily Safety Tip.’ It talks about magnetic resonance. That next piece of paper with the drawings of figures shows how to do CPR if there is an industrial accident.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “The reason this place looks familiar is because it is my old lab. The hallways look different, like they have closed off some areas, and there didn’t used to be bars on the windows, but this is it. This is where I was when the lab accident with dark energy sent me to your world!” He pointed back to the long room where they had arrived. “The equipment is all gone, but that transporter ring is what Dr. Alder was experimenting with, when the accident happened!”

  Erin wrinkled her nose. “This does not look like the place that we came to. When we came to your world and met your Lord Doctor Alder.”

  “You’re right,” Alec said, taking her by the hand and pulling her back towards the room with the ring. “We went to Alder’s new lab, that they built somewhere else, because this isn’t the place you and I came. But it’s where I used to work. Alder’s original lab.” He looked at the big metal ring. “I bet I know the reason we ended up here. Let me see if I can sense it.”

  Alec focused and let dark energy flow into his medallion. Then he let his senses wander. At first, he didn’t feel anything; then slowly he sensed a slight pull on the dark energy. “Over there.”

  Alec walked to a closed door on the side of the long room, secured with a hasp and padlock. He pushed on the door but it didn’t move. “Besides being locked, it’s stuck shut.” Alec focused and drew dark energy. Again, the dark energy collected, but at a much more sluggish pace than he was used to. He released the dark energy and a puff of air emitted from where the lock had been. Now he put his shoulder to the door and, with effort, pushed it open. They walked into a small, dark room crowded with old equipment.

  “This used to be the main entryway into the transporter ring room,” Alec said. “They must have opened the doorway into that hallway later.” On one side of the room was a bank of sealed lockers. Alec walked over to one, rattled the latched door, then focused again. The latch turned into another puff of air and he pulled the door open. Inside were racks with several dark energy medallions hanging neatly in place.

  “Third one from the top, second from the left.” Alec pointed at one of the medallions. “That is my old medallion. I can feel its signature.” He took the medallion from the rack and put it around his neck. “Feels just like it used to when I first met you. This medallion served as a beacon today that allowed me to find this location. That’s why we transported here.”

  They left the entryway and into another hallway, looking just as dusty and deserted as the first. “Now this place looks familiar. This way,” and he ushered her past a set of small rooms to a non-descript square room with a window, an old desk, and a straight-backed wooden chair. “My old office,” he said, looking around nostalgically. “This was my world.” He looked at the empty shelves leaning against one side of the room. “That where my stuff was – my ‘scrolls’ with ‘wizard runes,’” he said. None of his materials or books or any of his other things were there. “Too much to hope for – to find anything that used to be mine – but this used to be my spot. There doesn’t seem to be anything here.” He opened the drawer of the desk and fingered the lone remaining pencil.

  Erin looked at the room and nodded, “It looks like a wizard den, from the time before you were a great wizard.” She took his arm. “But, Great Wizard, I sense that the two clutchmen have entered this building. They will be investigating the big noise that you caused. If we encounter them, they will be suspicious if we do not go to their ‘House.’ We should avoid them.”

  With one last glance at his old office, Alec took Erin by the hand and led her through the maze of hallways towards the original front door of the concrete building. “We can get out this way,” Alec said, “unless they’ve sealed the door some way.” He led her into a wider hallway with faded old posters that said ‘Science Week – Celebrate With Us’ curling on the walls.

  “No footprints in the dust here,” Alec said, pointing to the dirty floor. “Looks like this is not part of their usual clutch patrol.” But as they neared the original main entrance to the old building, they could see the two clutchmen come around the far corner at the end of the front hall.

  “Stop, Mother! We need to talk to you,” one of them yelled in Elvish.

  Oh no, thought Alec, looking at the old front entry door. It was chained shut and padlocked from the outside. Focus. The dark energy collected; Alec let it flow but it moved like molasses compared to the rate he was accustomed to on Nevia. He released the energy and a link of the chain evaporated.

  Erin looked at the two men trotting down the hallway towards them. “We have little choice but to talk to them. I think they have some of your death rods,” Erin said.

  Alec turned and looked at the two men. “Yes, they do look like clutchmen.” And Erin is still dressed like a mother and I am still dressed like a drone. He stepped to one side, slightly behind Erin, in a position that would be proper for a drone.

  The two clutchmen stopped in front of them; they gave Alec a cursory glance and then ignored him as they spoke to Erin.

  “Mother.”

  Not sure what was coming next, Erin decided to acknowledge them as an elf mother would, but didn’t say anything.

  “Mother, pardon my intrusion, but you must come with us.”

  “Why?” Erin snapped.

  “Our mother is very concerned about the possibility of an unauthorized entry here. This location is out-of-the-way and never used, but we have sensed that there have been three transports through here within the past several hours.”

  “So? I already told you that I arrived here instead of at the standard entry.”

  “Our mother is concerned. She insists that you come and meet with her so that she can verify your assignment, and understand how it happened so that it won’t happen again. We will take you to her.”

  “You can tell her that I will find her,” Erin replied.

  “Our mother insists that we bring you to her, and to do it immediately.”

  The clutchman drew the pistol that he was holding at his side out and pointed it at Erin. “I must insist that you come with us, Mother. You and your drone.”

  Alec focused and gathered dark energy. He tried to release the dark energy, but it rebounded towards him. Ow! They must be wearing diffuser
amulets, he realized. He damped the rebounding energy and let the reverberating oscillations subside. His head ached from the effort.

  The second clutchman had taken a pair of handcuffs from his belt. “Mother, if you won’t come peacefully, then we must lead you to her. Mother is very insistent that she talk to you now.”

  Alec focused again and let the dark energy flow. The molasses-like flow was maddeningly slow, but still adequate for what he wanted. He released the energy just as the clutchmen stepped towards Erin.

  A section of the concrete ceiling came loose with a sharp crack. One clutchman looked up just as the slab fell on top of the two. Erin jumped out of the way, and the dust swirled up from the floor.

  When the dust settled, they could see that both clutchmen were laying on the floor under the large chunks of broken concrete.

  “Sorry for the mess,” Alec joked as he shoved the concrete aside and removed the rings and diffuser amulets from the mangled clutchmen. “I am out of practice.” Alec focused and the dust swirled again. The only sign of where the two clutchmen had been were the concrete pieces on the floor.

  “Quick thinking, Great Wizard,” Erin said.

  Alec looked back at the rubble.

  “I wasn’t expecting to be fighting elves, here on Earth,” Alec said ruefully.

  Maybe that wasn’t what I should have done. This is Earth and not Nevia. You don’t just go around killing people here on Earth, even if they are elves. And you are with the Princess of Theland. From another planet.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before somebody else finds us,” Alec said. They walked through the dust to the front door and Alec released the locked chain. With another hefty shove, he opened the door.

  Alec looked wistfully at the old concrete building and then focused again. The dust swirled and all of their footprints were lost in the settling dust. Focus, and the chain link was repaired and again protecting the building. “The elves will not know that we left this way,” he said to Erin.

  25 – The Institute

  The slight breeze and the fresh air were invigorating after the dusty closed-up lab building. Alec breathed in deeply, relishing the sights and smells of autumn that he had not felt for so many years. However, Erin shivered; her thin elf robes provided little protection against the chill, and she wrapped them more tightly around her shoulders.

  Alec led the two of them from the old building and across the research complex towards the middle of the main campus. The maples had just reached their peak fall color and the morning sun highlighted the brick and stone buildings of the campus quadrangle against the backdrop of red and orange. People were everywhere. This was the best time of year to be on campus, but the students seemed not to notice.

  The two of them walked slowly through the throng of students who were hurrying back and forth to class, laughing and talking to each other, holding their cells and listening to their ear buds. None of the students paid any attention to them. A young man, probably late for class, came zipping by on a hoverboard, oblivious to everyone around him. An old memory came to Alec.

  “I sense that this brings back the past, for you,” Erin said softly, taking his arm.

  “Yes, it does.” Alec cleared his throat. “This is where I was walking, right before I went to the lab and ended up in your world. I was talking to my girlfriend Sarah on my phone. We were having an argument.” He paused, remembering that day so many years ago. “Sarah was uncharacteristically annoyed with me. Now, looking back, I think she knew she was pregnant and wanted to tell me, but I was preoccupied with my latest research idea.” He drifted into silence.

  “And now somewhere is a daughter and here are all of these people trying to learn to be great wizards. It is a suitable place for great wizards,” Erin said, trying to cheer him.

  He squeezed her hand.

  “Can I help you?” asked a man in a plaid shirt and khakis, stopping them as they walked along the broad sidewalk.

  I guess we do look a little … odd, Alec thought.

  The language was his but Alec had not used it for a long time. In halting English, he replied, “Yes, we are looking for the Institute’s dark energy science laboratory or department. Can you direct us to it?”

  The man gave them a quizzical look. “The old research lab on dark energy? It was shut down long ago, and all the equipment was hauled off.” He gestured in the direction of the building they had left. “The experimental building still stands, but only because they used so much concrete to build it that it would cost a fortune to tear it down. It is just an eyesore and takes up space on campus that we could put to better use!” He chuckled, then noticed that neither Alec nor Erin were laughing. “The other lab buildings in the research complex were all turned into classrooms, after they cleared them for toxic materials. But I think they turned one of them into a museum, for old time’s sake. I’ve never been there.” He turned and pointed to a building just off the main quad.

  “A colleague of mine, Professor Smidt, runs the museum. It’s on the second floor of that building. He also teaches a legacy class on dark energy. I teach the more traditional stuff, you know – the real science behind energy and matter.” He smiled broadly at Alec. “But you might want to find Dr. Smidt. He could probably tell you more.”

  The man looked at Erin, shivering slightly in her long robes. “You must not be from around here. You don’t look like you are dressed for our weather. Where are you from? Africa? Asia? Are you visiting scientists?”

  Alec ignored the question. “This weather is colder than we were expecting,” he said, trying to speak his language properly. “And we just got here. Our stuff didn’t arrive with us. Can you direct us toward Dr. Smidt?”

  “Sure! Professor Smidt’s office is in Alder Hall, right next to the building with the museum.”

  ✽✽✽

  Although it wasn’t a long walk, they were both quite cold when they arrived at a newish building with ‘Alder Hall’ chiseled into the marble facing on the front. Inside, out of the wind, they looked at the building directory, Erin puzzling over the strange small runes.

  Professor Smidt’s name was on the door of one of the first-floor office suites. They walked into the large outer receptionist’s office; several smaller offices were adjacent. No one was in the receptionist’s office.

  “Hello?” called Alec. The few people sitting in the smaller offices paid no attention to them. Ear buds.

  Near the receptionist’s desk was a door with gold letters on the frosted glass panel: ‘Dr. Herman Smidt, Professor of Physics – Endowed Chair of the Alder Foundation.’ The door was ajar and an older man – short, balding with a fringe of gray curls, and black-rimmed spectacles sliding down his broad nose – was bustling around the large desk, gathering papers.

  “Professor Smidt?”

  “Yes, come back during my conference hours. Don’t you know the rules?”

  “We aren’t students,” Erin ventured.

  “We were told to see you about dark energy science,” Alec said.

  “Museum is only open on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings. Come back then, and the building will be open.”

  “That is days away! We have come a great distance. I am not sure we will be here then. Couldn’t you show us around?” Erin said. She sensed the lines and imagined her little red stone, the one that Leon had given her. Some of the lines brightened. She gave an encouraging twist to the brighter lines. The professor stopped shuffling papers and looked at them for the first time.

  “Hmpf. I see that you are not students and not local. We get lots of foreign visitors.” He shoved his glasses back into place. “I hate to disappoint you. But I do not have time today to give unscheduled tours.”

  “We just wanted to see …”

  “I am one of the last people who worked at that lab,” the professor interrupted, cutting her off. “I can guess what questions you have. Lots of foreigners, like you, who come here to see the old lab have seen those three in the morning hologra
ms on the webnet and come traipsing in here hoping to learn how to do ‘magic.’ No, the lab did not do ‘magic.’ Yes, we did ‘science.’ We used solid scientific methods to manipulate the background energy of the universe. You’ve probably heard about the big accident, and yes, there was an accident and people were killed.”

  “We heard …”

  The professor again cut her off. “Yes, the lab has been shut down ever since. Our safety-conscious government decided it was too dangerous to continue to work with dark energy. It takes big machines to concentrate enough dark energy to do anything useful. And they are dangerous, and expensive, and our money only goes so far. The only thing they let us use are tiny concentrators that are throttled down. They can only emit a pittance of energy. See that little concentrator sitting in the corner of my office? It is good for show and tell, but not for anything real.” He peered over the top of his glasses at Erin, then Alec. “Does that answer your questions?”

  “I guess so,” Alec answered. “I had … a relative … who used to work at the lab. He left before it was shut down, but he talked about it a lot, so I wanted to see it. We were passing through, sort of unexpectedly, and decided to stop and look.”

  Erin continued to sense the lines and twisted them in an encouraging manner around the professor. The man quit shuffling his papers and walked towards them, hand extended.

  “Then I am pleased to meet you. Not too many of the old crew are still around.” Alec shook his hand. Erin wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, so she kept them tucked inside the sleeves of her robe.

  “I have a few minutes before my next class. Let me give you a little demonstration,” the professor said. He motioned for them to come around his desk to the corner of the office where the little concentrator machine sat, and turned it on. It hummed faintly and clicked a few times. Alec focused and felt the familiar fluctuations of dark energy. The professor opened a cabinet near the machine and rummaged around a bit before he found and extracted a medallion. Then he focused and drew dark energy from the concentrator. A small rough diamond appeared in his hand, about the size of a small pea. The professor looked at it, astonished. “This is about twice as large as I usually can create! But it is the most you can do with the dark energy from that little concentrator. Dark energy isn’t worth much without large devices. You can 3-D print a diamond this size for almost nothing, now-a-days.”