The God Particle

by Daniel Danser

  ‘As fascinating as it is, unfortunately not.’ Tom returned the book and went to sit next to Serena. ‘As I said in the message I left you, I believe we have the evidence that Professor Morantz was going to take to the newspapers.’

  ‘Evidence of what?’ Frederick sat forward in his chair and clasped his hands together on the desk.

  ‘I’ll let Serena explain,’ replied Tom. ‘She’s better at figures than I am.’

  As Serena went through the data in detail, Frederick listened intently to her, interrupting only once to ask if she’d checked the figures for herself. As the briefing progressed, Tom observed the blood draining from Frederick’s face. He looked visibly shaken. His vitality had been replaced by a dark, life-draining weariness. At one point, Tom was convinced he was going to faint.

  Serena finished by rounding off with her conclusions. There was a reverential silence, the three individuals absorbed in their own thoughts.

  Frederick was the first to fill the void. ‘What have we done?’ The sentiment was almost inaudible. ‘What have we done?’ he whispered again. His eyes were glazed over, staring into space.

  ‘Frederick?’ Tom was concerned for the man’s health, if not his physical, then certainly his mental. He didn’t respond. ‘Frederick?’ he repeated louder. This time he managed to get through. Frederick looked at the two people opposite him as though they were strangers. ‘What do you think we should do?’ Tom urged.

  ‘I… I don’t know,’ came back the feeble response.

  Tom turned to Serena, who was mesmerised by the transformation in the man. Cupping a hand over his mouth he said in a low voice, ‘I think we need to take this file to the authorities and let them sort it out.’

  ‘No!’ The single word was delivered with such force that it made them both jump. The spell was broken. Blood rushed back into Frederick’s face and his eyes regained their clarity. ‘No,’ he repeated, softer now, but with as much conviction. ‘Involving the police would only entail a lengthy investigation, at the end of which they will indubitably find that no individual is culpable. Science created this abomination and it is up to us to sort it out. We will have to stop all experiments involving the Collider, immediately, with a view to closing down the facility permanently. And pray to God with thanks that this came to light when it did.’

  Tom couldn’t question his reasoning, but he wasn’t accustomed to taking the law into his own hands. ‘Surely somebody has to be held accountable for these atrocities?’

  ‘We all are,’ Frederick said mournfully. ‘Scientists by their very nature are driven to explore the unknown, discover new worlds, push the boundaries to the edge of man’s knowledge, and then push further. The intangible desire to explore and challenge the boundaries of what we know and where we have been has provided benefits to our society for centuries, but not without a cost, the currency of which is usually the lives of innocent victims.’

  ‘But somebody should be made to pay,’ Tom argued.

  Frederick’s eyes saddened. ‘It’s a burden we must all shoulder. It’s the price we have to pay for the advancement of civilisation. Take Rutherford, for example. He was one of the founding fathers of nuclear physics and considered by many to be one of the greatest experimental scientists that ever lived. Should he have been made to pay for the deaths of over two hundred thousand people when the Americans dropped their atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, some twenty-five years after he split the atom?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ Tom speculated.

  ‘Perhaps,’ Frederick conceded. ‘But perhaps we have lost our way. Perhaps, in our quest to achieve the ultimate goals for the collective good, we have forgotten about what’s really important – the individuals.’ Tears pooled in his eyes. ‘I don’t have all the answers, Tom,’ he said earnestly. ‘But I do know that going to the police won’t bring back those poor souls who have perished as a result of our arrogance. We must learn from this. We need to inspire future generations of scientists to be ethically motivated and morally responsible. If we can accomplish that, then the loss of those lives will not be in vain.’

  ‘But the scientific profession already has a high standard of integrity,’ Tom said, indignantly.

  ‘That’s what I like about you, Tom,’ Frederick replied. ‘You’re an idealist. But history has shown us that scientists are capable of morally abhorrent behaviour. Look at the heinous experiments Mengele performed on the inmates of Auschwitz in the name of scientific research.’

  You could argue that we have learnt from our mistakes, developed codes of conduct to prevent those sorts of atrocities ever happening again,’ Tom reasoned.

  ‘You would like to think so, but even today scientists serve as apologists for the tobacco and pesticide industries, and cosmetics are routinely tested on animals. Is that morally acceptable? What I’m saying is that beneath the white lab coat is a human being, who is vulnerable to all the usual temptations of the real world.’

  ‘One thing’s puzzling me,’ Serena said. ‘Why don’t we just go to the press with the information we’ve got, as Professor Morantz wanted to do?’

  ‘When Erik came to me,’ replied Frederick, ‘the afternoon before he died, and told me that he was going to the media with proof that the Collider was going to destroy the world, I was naturally very sceptical. I thought he’d lost his mind. But it made me think about what would happen if the story was true. How would the world react? At first, there would be a media frenzy; we would be inundated by an army of reporters and camera crews seeking an exclusive. And it wouldn’t just be our facility in the spotlight; every research establishment in the world would come under the scrutiny of the press. Newspapers, in particular, are notoriously indiscriminate when it comes to apportioning blame.’

  Frederick paused for a moment, sighed, then continued.

  ‘Secondly, the hype would generate mass hysteria. At best, we’re talking about the demand for the immediate closure of all research facilities, at worst – lynch mobs. Next, once the furore had died down, there would be a period of reconciliation. Debates would go on between eminent scientists on the one side and lawmakers on the other; naturally, the lawmakers would win, as they would have to be seen to take action. More governing bodies would be set up and more legislation passed.’

  Selena made as if to say something, but Frederick continued without giving her the chance to speak.

  ‘The long-term consequences for science as a doctrine would be devastating,’ he went on. ‘It would set scientific research back hundreds of years and it wouldn’t just be physicists that would be affected. Every disciple in the science arena, from astronomy to oceanography, would be regulated to such an extent that we wouldn’t even be able to produce a new formula of dandruff shampoo without getting it approved first. Medical research, I fear, would be affected the most. It’s already a race against time to come up with new drugs and procedures to prevent and treat chronic diseases. Can you imagine how many more people would die as a result of slowing down the pace of that development with bureaucratic red tape – a hundred, a thousand, a million times more than have been killed in the Earthquakes? So, when we make our decision, it isn’t just the loss of life we need to consider, but also the potential loss.’

  ‘So what do we do now?’ Serena asked, anxiously.

  ‘I have some… er, colleagues,’ he replied. ‘I’d like to run it past them to get their perspective. Do you mind if I take the file with me?’

  Tom and Serena exchanged glances. ‘I’ve made a copy for you,’ Serena said quickly, rummaging in her briefcase. She took it out and slid it across the desk to Frederick. Tom picked up their file from the desk and secreted it in his flight bag.

  ‘Thanks, I’ll come back to you as soon as I’ve had a chance to speak with them,’ he said absently, flicking through the pages.

  ‘Did you, by any chance, tell these colleagues about the message I left on your voicemail this morning?’ Tom enquired, trying to sound nonchalant.

  ‘No, I’ve bee
n busy all morning trying to locate Ajay,’ Frederick lied. He had, in fact, phoned each one of them as soon as he’d heard the message to arrange a rendezvous in the Bunker to discuss the document.

  ‘Any luck?’

  ‘No,’ said Frederick. ‘It’s very unlike Ajay to go missing. We had some problems with him when he was a teenager, but what parent doesn’t?’ Frederick hoped that that wasn’t the reason he’d gone missing this time. ‘I’m sure he’ll turn up sooner rather than later. There’s probably a girl involved somewhere.’ Frederick stood up from behind his desk, indicating the meeting had concluded.

  Tom and Serena followed suit. Tom was debating whether to shake the man’s hand or kiss him on the cheeks; he was still unsure what the local custom was. However, the decision was taken away from him as Frederick lumbered around the desk and caught hold of him in a man-hug, Tom responding with the obligatory patting on the back. They released and Frederick turned to Serena, arms still outstretched. She obliged – the embrace much gentler and briefer.

  ‘Thank you for entrusting me with this information,’ Frederick held the door open for them. ‘As I said, I’ll be in touch.’

  Tom and Serena said their goodbyes and made their way back down the stairs to the golf buggy.

  It was late afternoon and the sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows on the ground. The cold breeze had upgraded itself to a squall and had picked up some snowflakes along the way, which it deposited in their faces as they drove away. Tom’s cashmere jumper offered little protection against the biting wind. They didn’t say a word to each other until they were in sight of the main office building.

  ‘So, what do you make of all that?’ Tom parked the buggy and got out.

  ‘It’s a lot to take in,’ Serena got out the other side and followed him up the steps.

  ‘I know. But do you think we can trust him?’

  ‘We don’t appear to have much option,’ Serena replied, thinking back to Frederick’s elicitations.

  CHAPTER 19

  There was a tense atmosphere in the Bunker that evening. Everybody, apart from the woman, had been able to make it at short notice, CERN’s two private jets having been dispatched immediately to collect them from various locations across Europe.

  The lights were dimmed and the wall-mounted monitors, which Frederick had switched on prior to their arrival, were showing news reports of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Istanbul. The volume had been turned down, but that didn’t lessen the impact of the programme on the people seated around the table. In fact, it had the opposite effect; taking away one of their sensory faculties made them concentrate even more on the detail of the images being broadcast.

  Frederick watched their faces as they reacted to the scene of a body being discovered by rescue dogs. It had been over twenty-four hours since the initial quake and the incidences of survivors being found had diminished exponentially.

  The International community had reacted swiftly. Donation centres had been set up in most countries overnight, with initial requests for food, blankets and fresh drinking water. An appeal for money would come later, but currently it wouldn’t be of much use to the hundreds of thousands of homeless people trying to survive the harsh conditions of a Turkish winter. Teams from the Red Cross and Blue Crescent had flown in and were facilitating the construction of tent cities by the army, outside the affected zone. Médecins Sans Frontières were in the thick of it, dispensing minor medical treatment where necessary and setting up field hospitals for the more seriously injured. The dead weren’t a priority. Bodies were being unceremoniously stockpiled in the streets as there was nowhere left to put them.

  The enormity of the aftermath pervaded everybody’s mood, as they stared at the unfolding drama.

  Frederick flicked a switch and the fluorescent strip lights came on. Everybody blinked, adjusting their eyes to the sudden glare.

  ‘We are responsible for that,’ Frederick said gravely. They turned to him, bewilderment etched on their faces. ‘I have here a document,’ he held up the copy that Serena had given him earlier, ‘which was compiled by Professor Morantz, just before his death. It clearly shows a pattern of earthquakes that took place at exactly the same time the Collider was operating at maximum capacity.’

  ‘Where did you get that?’ Deiter asked, sharply.

  ‘That’s not important. What is important is that the figures have been independently verified. Based on this information, we have no option but to conclude that the Collider is responsible for causing these earthquakes.’ Shock replaced bewilderment on the faces in front of him.

  ‘But how?’ the man on his far right asked.

  ‘We know that the Earth’s molten iron core produces a magnetic field which envelopes the planet,’ explained Frederick, ‘entering at the South Pole and exiting at the North Pole. The outer core of the Earth is, in effect, a giant molten magnet. What we have inadvertently created in the Collider is the world’s second largest magnet. I believe that, when the Collider reaches maximum capacity, the resultant electro-magnetic waves interact with the Earth’s geomagnetic field causing instability. This imbalance is then transferred through the Earth’s mantle to the tectonic plates, which realign, causing an earthquake.’

  ‘Science 101,’ the man who had asked the question said, nodding his head. ‘Magnets attract. How could we have missed such a fundamental flaw?’

  ‘Because we were so preoccupied discovering new science that we forgot about the old,’ Frederick said despondently.

  ‘Are you seriously asking us to believe that the Collider produces enough electromagnetic force to pull the Earth’s core towards it?’ the man opposite him asked sceptically.

  ‘No, that’s not what I’m saying at all,’ Frederick replied patiently. ‘The Collider causes a butterfly effect. The Earth exists in a state of fragile polar equilibrium; the tiniest influence on one part of the system can have a huge effect on another part. The magnetic waves the Collider generates upset the natural balance of the Earth, which leads to a chain of events, the outcome of which can clearly be seen on those screens.’

  They switched their attention back to the monitors. There was a red banner running along the bottom of the bulletin with the words, ‘Warning! Viewers of a nervous disposition may find some scenes disturbing’ scrolling across it. The images showed a bulldozer laden with corpses, its giant steel caterpillar tracks trundling towards a deep trench. It stopped just short of the hole, raised its bucket and tipped the bodies into the mass grave before turning around to collect another load.

  ‘Can you prove it?’ Deiter cut in.

  ‘Our primary objective is to prevent anything like this happening again,’ Frederick replied resolutely. ‘This document empirically proves that the earthquakes are linked to the Collider, which is enough for me to recommend to the Council that we close down the facility immediately. The hows and whys can wait.’

  He paused to gather his thoughts before addressing the group again. ‘Gentlemen, we have to face the stark realisation that we have failed in our mission to protect civilisation from itself. Our organisation was founded by our forefathers with the sole edict of preventing such a catastrophe taking place. Our myopic resolve to undermine the discovery of the God particle, by whatever means necessary, has resulted in bringing about the very disaster we were trying to avert. I take full responsibility for the part I played in allowing the Collider to be built in the first place, my only defence being that I truly believed that we would have been able to control it long enough to misdirect those dogmatists, determined to split open the smallest known particles with scant regard to the consequences.’

  He paused again, letting out a brief sigh. ‘I will, naturally, be stepping down as head of this cell, but first I must convince the CERN Council to cease all future activity without alerting the media to our intentions. I couldn’t desert my post without at least trying to rectify some of the damage we have done.’

  There were a few objectors around the t
able to Frederick’s announced resignation. Deiter wasn’t one of them.

  Frederick ignored the protests. ‘None of us are getting any younger,’ he continued. ‘And, whilst maturity brings with it a degree of wisdom, technology is moving at such a rapid pace that it takes a younger mind to keep up with all the developments. It is to this end that I propose we approach Tom Halligan to join us.’

  There were a few proponents around the table. Again, Deiter wasn’t one of them.

  ‘Look!’ one of the men facing the screens shouted. ‘If the Collider was responsible for causing the earthquakes and it is currently inoperative, how is this possible?’ He was pointing to the broadcast, which had replaced the earlier warning with a newsflash banner reading ‘Reports are coming in of a major earthquake in San Francisco’.

  Everybody was perplexed – everyone, that was, apart from Deiter. If Frederick and the others hadn’t been so absorbed in watching the TV report, they would have been disturbed at the sight of Deiter, a triumphant glint in his eyes, mouthing the words ‘It’s started, it’s started’ over and over like some demonic chant.

  CHAPTER 20

  Tom and Serena had parted on the steps of the main building but had arranged to meet up later that evening, more for companionship than anything else. Tom said he needed to catch up on some emails, whilst Serena called it a day and went back to her apartment.

  He made his way to his office through the control room. There were a handful of technicians still there, but very little work was being done – they were all watching CNN World News. Tom glanced at the screen; a wave of guilt and remorse swept over him as he saw the homeless survivors, their tear-stained faces, a portrait of shock and incredulity.