Wanda

by carl smothers

  Yasaid’s head hit the top of the cab as Mohammed hit another deep pothole. “Damn it, Mohammed! You’re going to send us to an early grave,” Yasaid yelled as he rubbed his forehead. “Shit, that hurt!” Last time I ever let this crazy bastard drive me anywhere.

  Olmid groaned, and Mohammed laughed louder and drove faster.

  Chapter 21

  Weapon Facility

  Waziristan Valley, Pakistan

  After another hour of abuse from the pothole-infested road, they arrived at the site. No one would have suspected that this simple looking cave was the entrance to one of the most sophisticated weapons facilities in the world.

  They drove the vehicle into the mouth of the cave and stopped at a parking space.

  I’m going to have to make some serious security changes to this place, Yasaid thought. We need a fence and security towers in place with high caliber automatic weapons installed. We’ll also need to camouflage them or the recon satellites will spot us.

  “Olmid, do you need help?”

  “No thank you. Hell, I’ve had women scratch my balls worse than this.”

  Mohammed gave Olmid a funny look. “Shit! What kind of wildcats do you mess around with? Do they wear black leather?”

  Olmid grinned. “Only when they tie me up.”

  The three men laughed and got into a personnel utility cart. Mohammed drove the cart down a long, concrete tunnel with heavily armed guards posted every thirty feet. After several turns, they arrived at their final destination. Mohammed stopped the vehicle, and announced, “We are here.”

  They approached a set of steel doors. Mohammed pushed an intercom button, talked with someone, and then walked to the identification station. An eye retinal scanner confirmed his identity, and the doors unlatched to allow entry. Two guards checked their ID chips after which they rode elevator down three hundred feet to the main floor.

  A short tunnel way led to another set of steel doors. The armored doors opened, and two armed guards asked for their identification again.

  “Welcome to the facility. General Sone is waiting for you in the command center. Follow me and I’ll take you in,” a guard said.

  The command center was on a second story balcony overlooking a large, well-lighted, modern, high tech facility. A tall, Korean man in a neatly tailored uniform greeted them. A sword hung from his belt.

  “Gentlemen, welcome to Project Allah’s Breath.”

  Yasaid returned the smile. “Thank you, General. May I introduce Olmid Abdual?”

  “It is a pleasure to meet a good warrior. I heard from Mohammed that you ran into a bit of trouble en route. All of you look a bit beat up. Olmid, you’re wounded. Are you all right?” The general asked.

  “I’ll live, sir. Thank you for asking.”

  Sone went on. “One day soon we shall finish this thing with the Sacred Warriors of God. They have been a pain in our ass for too long. Well, I think we need to give you the one-rupee tour. He turned and waived a hand at the surroundings as he started walking. “This glassed room overlooks the main control center below. My console allows me to monitor everything. From my command position, I can call up the status of any system, do diagnostics or override any operation. Let’s go downstairs where we can see more.”

  The main floor was a beehive of activity. Engineers and technicians worked to integrate systems and others were testing, running diagnostics and writing code. The general picked up a vid phone. “Dr. Lieu, please meet us in the control center.”

  Lieu walked in wearing a white lab coat and carrying a clipboard. Yasaid thought he was about sixty and maybe of Chinese origin. His slender five feet six build, round wire frame glasses, black drooping moustache and long, black hair made him look like some kind of a mad scientist. Yasaid chuckled to himself and thought. He probably is a mad scientist — the Asian version of Dr. Frankenstein.

  “Doctor Lieu is our Chief Scientist. He has PhD’s in Theoretical Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Robotics,” Sone said. “He was the scientist in charge of China’s Space Program that put the first Chinese astronaut on Mars. He has published over two hundred technical papers and written twenty books on theoretical and quantum physics. He’s a great scientist.”

  “I’ve heard of Dr. Lieu and I’m honored that he’s a part of our great movement, Yasaid said. “It is my extreme pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  Lieu gave Yasaid a slight bow.

  “Doctor, would you please brief Yasaid and Olmid so they will see the great work you and your team have done?”

  “I would be honored. The tunnel you see at the left of the room leads to the field and matter synthesizers. The system output port is surrounded by superconducting field coils that generate the black hole and provide spatial navigation. A two-kilometer synthesizer meets in the center of the field coils, which produces and controls the exotic materials we need to create and stabilize the black hole. All of these systems are interconnected by state vector optical supercomputers; they continually generate and balance the gravitational field equation solutions to produce the black hole; maintain its stability and provide the spatial navigation we need to direct it to target.”

  “Excuse an old warrior, Doctor, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Lieu smiled politely at Olmid. “I will try to keep things a bit more simple. I spend so much time with scientists and engineers; I forget that non-technical people may have difficulty grasping such complex subjects.”

  “Please go on,” Olmid replied.

  “The design we’re using is somewhat different from the Americans’. We have designed a system that has a micro-sized black hole on the business end, which we will be able to navigate and strike our enemies. We’ll use it like a precision weapon of mass destruction to completely annihilate anything we wish.”

  “Is there a limit to the size of an area it can destroy?” Yasaid asked.

  “No,” Lieu said. “We can use it to annihilate buildings, a city or an entire country. We would probably restrict it to a city to conserve power and prevent the black hole from becoming too powerful and possibly getting out of control. Make no mistake; it’s a monster of the first degree. Once it strikes, nothing survives — no life or structures. Its power increases as it feeds. There’s no defense against it. The black hole is the perfect balance of power weapon, and whoever has it, and uses it correctly, can control the world. Of course, our enemies could attack us, but they would have to use strategic weapons such as antimatter, nuclear or RFGs. Either way, the attack must be very precise, as we have our facility completely isolated from such events.”

  Yasaid liked what he heard. “When will we be operational?”

  “We still need the final algorithms for the relativistic simulator and field generator systems. Once we get those, they’ll be modified and adapted to obtain the final design. Then we can show the world our power.”

  “Several hundred years ago, after the Russians launched Sputnik, one leader said, ‘the world will tremble at the sound of our rockets.’ This time they will pray the Earth covers them up and hides them when our hideous abomination strikes,” Sone said, defiantly.

  Yasaid, thought, the first bunch to feel our power will be the Sacred Warriors of God.

  Lieu then went on. “The diagnostics console to the left of you allows us to monitor the system’s operation, and system metrics. The next console is the field and matter synthesizer console. This is where we generate the weapon. Adjacent to this is the navigation console. It works in conjunction with the field and matter synthesizers to navigate the weapon to target. Actually, it would be more correct to call these two stations the targeting subsystem. The end console is the relativistic design and simulation console. It provides solutions to the field equations from which to design, generate and control the black hole.”

  “What’s that large display on the front wall?” Olmid asked.

  “It’s our 3D Earth map,” Lieu said. “It shows a flat view of the Earth and the
geometric configuration and spatial orientation, or projected targeting path, of the black hole. We’re tied into the World Navigation Satellite System, or WNS as it is commonly referred to, so we’re able to get the precise coordinates and time data we need to accurately direct the black hole to target.”

  “How about a demonstration?” Yasaid requested.

  The general complied with a sly grin. “Target Yasaid’s home.”

  Lieu entered the coordinates from the holographic control panel on the navigation console, and the Earth map rapidly showed the location and computed path to target — Yasaid’s home.

  Yasaid grinned and said, “Well, let’s hope we don’t accidentally target this point. Is the code downlink secure?”

  “The American system is tied into the WNS and Global Communications Net, as is ours. Omega has devised a very clever method of causing the computers to duplicate the code for the American system. It then transmits it as part of a downlink to this site every time the Americans access those systems. Prior to downlink, Omega’s algorithms strip off the code then route it through the Arab Science Foundation to us. It’s encrypted and cannot be detected. There’s no trace path beyond the ASF.”

  “Once we get the final codes and get the system on-line, I plan to run the test we discussed,” the general informed them.

  “I assume the target is the one we agreed?” I can’t wait to see those dogs beg for mercy. Yasaid envisioned the bastards who had caused him so much grief torn to pieces by their new weapon. He smiled with great pleasure.

  The general nodded. “Yes, Yasaid … that very one.”

  Olmid could not contain his excitement. “This will be the most powerful weapon in the world. Allah willing, we will be undefeatable. I can’t wait to hit the SWG. Those dogs are finally going to get theirs.”

  “Yes … and a few other pigs that have lived far too long.” The general fingered the grip of his sword. “I will relish settling old scores and seeing our enemies scream with fear and pain when our weapon rips their bodies’ apart atom-by-atom. I also hope I get the chance to behead a few of those slime gabs.”

  Chapter 22

  STL

  Wormhole Development Facility

  New Mexico

  Four years of hard work culminated in this one milestone — activation of the wormhole. Harry considered all of the possible things that might go wrong. An exercise he had mulled over a hundred times.

  I’ve dreamed ever since Wanda and I were kids of this moment. I’ve taken a few hard knocks and it hasn’t been easy, but we’re finally here. I can’t figure out if I’m just plain scared or excited. Bet Wanda’s ecstatic. Well, we’ve double checked everything and taken every precaution. Guess it’s game time.

  Harry felt the tension rising in the MCC as the countdown to activation continued. Despite months of planning and staged precautions, the outcome was not completely predictable and that made his anxiety to increase and the adrenalin to surge.

  Wanda appeared. “Well, Harry, today’s the day. Are you ready for this?

  “It’s been a long time coming. I’d like for you to stay close to me at the system control console in case I need you.”

  Wanda gave him a knowing smile. “I’ll be right here.” You aren’t fooling me, Harry Stevenson. I know how excited and scared you are under that calm exterior. I’d think something was wrong if you didn’t feel that way. She chuckled to herself. She knew Harry all too well. Being frightened wasn’t part of Wanda’s makeup. To her everything was a simple matter of physics, mathematics and probability of success or failure. There were a few areas she thought needed a bit more work, but her analyses indicated they had an excellent chance of success.

  Marc stood so everyone could see him. “Ladies and gentlemen, I realize we’re all on edge. It’s always exciting to do something for the first time, but you know that just makes it more interesting. So please, settle down, take a deep breath and focus.”

  “Well, Mister Director, are we ready?” Harry asked, taking a deep breath.

  Marc wiped his brow with his sleeve. “Sweating in an air-conditioned environment, go figure. Let’s do a final round robin. If everything looks good, we’ll initiate the startup sequence.”

  Harry nodded agreement. He was trying to appear confident, but despite his calm demeanor, he was a bundle of nerves. He could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. If anything went wrong, he would bear the blame … if he survived — if anyone survived. I really believe this is going to work. We have the best scientists in the world on our team. If anyone can pull this off it’s us.

  “Attention, this is the systems director,” Marc announced. “We’re going to do a round robin status check. When your station is queried, enter a go or no-go indication. Computer, initiate a status query on all subsystems, and enter the data in the system status registry.”

  “Working. Status updated. All systems are go.”

  Marc smiled precariously at Harry. “Shall we light the fuse?”

  Out of habit, Harry checked the system metrics display board on the front wall. “It’s been a long time coming,” he replied. “Let’s do it.” He hid his hand and crossed his fingers.

  “Harry, I’ll be monitoring things inside and outside the system. If I see anything funny I’ll let you know immediately.” Wanda said, unemotionally.

  Harry smiled and nodded his head appreciatively.

  “Attention,” Marc announced. “As I call your function, complete your activation sequence and acknowledge. Okay, let’s get started. Power and all support systems on and ready.”

  The support station engineers brought up all power, cooling and auxiliary support systems. The systems lead engineer made a few adjustments and when satisfied, he replied with an affirmative.”

  “I guess we’re ready to make a wormhole,” Marc said to Harry, chuckling softly. “Ronnie, initiate the wormhole design synthesis program. Here we go, gang. Let’s rock and roll.”

  “Roger that, Marc.” Ronnie sequentially entered the wormhole design parameters as prompted by the systems control software. Within a few minutes, the computer responded.

  “The wormhole design has been simulated and optimized. The system is ready to transfer data to the field and matter synthesizers.”

  Harry was deep in thought, his mind running over things that could go wrong, and hoping they would not. He checked to make sure he knew where the system shutdown button was. He then ran a hand through his hair, and noticed the sweat on his forehead.

  “Very good,” Marc replied. “Activate the field and matter synthesizer subsystems.”

  “Roger, flight.” Scott entered the initiation sequences. The powerful subsystems came on, demanding an unexpected amount of energy. The power drain was so severe; the subsystem power draw caused the facility lights to dim momentarily. Everyone glanced around nervously. Finally, the subsystem yielded up the megawatts required; the synthesizer systems ramped up to full operating potential; and the lighting returned to normal.

  The systems control computer announced its status:

  “The field and matter synthesizer subsystems are on-line, awaiting design parameter transfer.”

  “Initiate the data transfer, Ronnie,” Marc ordered.

  Ronnie manipulated the controls on his holographic display and uploaded the optimized parameters to the field and matter synthesizers. After a brief time, which seemed like an eternity to Harry, the metrics representing the synthesis of the fields and exotic materials required for creation of the wormhole displayed green.

  That’s a relief. I’m glad we kept the data transfer command manual — at least for now. That gives us a bit more control, Harry thought.

  “Awaiting WNS time and spatial coordinate data.”

  Kimberly initiated download from WNS to get the time and exact coordinates of the source position. Following parameter download completion, he entered the final commands. No one had any idea the Waziristan Valley was receiving their code. The star map on the front wall video dis
play began to twist; moving stars around the contours of the space-time the wormhole was folding and twisting. Both the main display and holographic display showed the puckered wormhole design, superimposed within the contorted star map. To everyone’s relief, the wormhole was connecting Earth with Alpha Centauri 5 through the bridge they had created.

  The status and diagnostic board indicated the wormhole was in a stable mode. Marc smiled at Harry and continued his checks. The data transfer between the simulator and field synthesizer systems was acceptable. The good news was the new compression algorithms were maintaining data flow within the system’s bandwidth capacity. Harry and Kimberly exchanged looks of relief. Kimberly, who had redesigned the algorithms, was grinning ear to ear.

  The computer then announced:

  “Wormhole synthesis is complete. The bridge between earth and Alpha Centauri 5 is in place. All metrics are within specification requirements.”

  Tension in the MCC lifted. Harry still had a queasy feeling in his stomach. His butterflies were going nuts.

  “Hey bro, you look a bit unsettled. Don’t worry everything’s going well — so far,” Wanda said.

  Harry just looked at her and grinned. Yeah, so far so good. Hope it stays that way.

  After two hours of operation, Marc announced, “Team, it looks like the system’s stable. Okay, let’s move the bridge. Scott, please enter the coordinates for PL 2.”