Entangled With Faeries

by Lynn Donovan

  “Not even that. The lasers are beyond the scope of human vision. All that we expect is to watch the crystal take on a glow. I predict it to be an interesting spectacle, as you say. Like a diamond with bright lights shining through its facets.” He chuckled. “A five gallon bucket-sized diamond.”

  She giggled again. “Yeah, that crystal is something else. I guess it’s a blatant example of Teak’s genius.”

  “True. It is her— I don’t know how to say it in English— brain baby. Is that right?” He saddled up next to Abbie. “Do you mind if I stand with you?”

  She resisted the ‘Pfffft!’ that popped in her head and calmly responded, “No. I don’t mind.” Her eyes met his. For a moment she was lost in the chocolate depths. “Uh. Brain child, I think you’re trying to say.”

  He nodded with a mischievous smile. Was he teasing her about his limited knowledge of English colloquialisms?

  Footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Dr. Teak popped into the observation area. Two other scientists were close behind her.

  “Dr. Teak.” Assad greeted Holly with little emotion. A professional air of neutrality hung in the room.

  Abbie tore her eyes from Joseph. Holly seemed to ignore everyone. Her focus directed to peruse the computer screens, reading the information each one displayed. She settled in front of an observation window above the young assistant on the lab floor, who waited behind a plexiglass shield. He wore a red t-shirt. Abbie squinted to make out the words.

  Never trust

  an Atom

  

  They make up

  everything!

  Abbie chuckled. “That’s cute.”

  A man in a mechanics-brown lab coat circled the toroid and joined the assistant behind the shield. Abbie knew his face but not his name. She swung her attention to Holly who leaned over Minerva to look directly down at the QUEST and waved when the Chief Technician lifted his eyes. Holly’s fingers rolled in succession, once again reminding Abbie of a middle-school girl waving to a boy in a concession stand.

  “Huh?” Abbie looked down. Did they have something going on between them? She shrugged and brought her attention back to the school-bus-sized machine surrounding the brilliantly designed crystal. Dr. Teak’s genius could not be denied.

  Abbie drew her gaze back to the computer terminals in front of her. Data scrolled up the screen as Minnie and her team gazed intently at the numbers. The windows overlooking the lab had been polished recently. Why that caught Abbie’s attention, she had no idea, but the glass was so clean it was practically invisible. Two more scientists, entered and stood to Abbie’s left.

  Almost everyone spoke in hushed tones. The environment in the Ops Center lent itself to speaking quietly, like a library or a funeral. But Holly Teak’s voice rose above the general hush. She sounded and acted like a younger-than-average straight-A-student at the district-wide science fair, who knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she was going to win. She always won. Why would today be any different?

  A sensation slammed into Abbie’s gut like she’d swallowed stones. She shouldn’t be here! She closed her eyes and said a small prayer. Please let me be wrong!

  A speaker squeaked as Sandy East, Test Director, tried out the sound system. “Testing, one, two, testing. Is the sound okay? Alright.”

  Abbie turned to look through a clear-screen computer monitor, the size of a large white board, that served as a divider between the Operations Center and the observation area. Ms. East stood among the rows of computers and technicians at the back where Abbie’s brother stood with his arms folded across his chest. He winked at her. Butterflies of concern fluttered in her gut, but her brother’s jovial wink helped ease her worry. The huge, clear screen received Sandy’s system check verifications. It read backward to Abbie.

  Patrick paced the Ops Center the way he did when he was working out a difficult programing problem. And he looked agitated. Was it the numbers scrolling before him that concerned him, or her presence? Abbie drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. All of the Ops Center personnel at the back would watch the QUEST firing results from their computer screens.

  Abbie craned her neck to look into the lab below. The man in the brown lab coat walked around the toroid again. Her eyes remained on the man below, as she spoke softly to the scientist at her side, “Doctor Assad, who are those guys on the lab floor?”

  He lifted his gaze to her. “I prefer you call me Joseph.”

  She nodded. “Joseph. Who are they?”

  “That’s Axel Ashton. He’s the best tech I’ve ever worked with. The man can put together any fantastical design we physicists come up with. I think that’s why he and… a certain scientist”— he inclined his head toward Dr. Teak— “get along so well. Whatever we dream up, he builds. And the kid in the red t-shirt is Zeke Callahan. I understand he just got engaged, last night.”

  “Really? Huh? Okay, but why are they on the floor with the QUEST?”

  “There’s 1,024 lasers in that circular machine precisely directed at that crystal. I believe he manually set every one of them to her prescribed specifications.” He glanced at Dr. Teak who remained engaged in her chatty, effervescent, hair-tossing conversation. “I suppose he’s there to ensure they stay aligned, you know, in case any of them need readjusting.” Joseph shrugged. “Or yell ‘abort’ if anything goes wrong in that donut.”

  A shiver ran over Abbie’s spine. She glanced at the stairs. How far could she get, really? Returning her eyes to Mr. Ashton, she nodded. “A donut the size of a school bus, designed to produce quantum-bits of entangled particles. What could go wrong?”

  She lifted worried eyes to meet his. His tongue slipped across his lips in amusement as he gestured agreement. Abbie stared at his mouth. Suddenly her mind focused in wonder. What would it feel like to kiss those lips? Soft, inviting, and with that sultry accent, she imagined his kiss to be… intoxicating.

  Mentally, she shook her head and forced her eyes at the activity on the floor. Was it suddenly hot in here? She adjusted her arms to air out the wet coves. Secret, don’t fail me now! She wriggled in the spot where she stood.

  “Are you alright? Would you like me to find you a chair?”

  “No. I think I can see better if I stand.”

  Joseph laughed. “There’s really not much to see. It’s mostly—”

  “Sub-atomic, I know.” She laughed with him. “Still, I want to watch.”

  What a blatant contrast to the anxiety that had been brewing in her gut over the effects of this experiment. Here she was laughing and flirting like this experiment was a routine walk in the park. Guilt squeezed her heart like a vise. She sobered and cast her eyes on the activity below. The moment of truth was at hand.

  This flirting could wait for later at The Oasis. If everything went okay in the next few minutes. Maybe she should have just waited at the bar to hear how the experiment went. She let her eyes land on the stairwell, imagining herself sitting at a cocktail table for people she hoped would show, waiting endlessly because everything went wrong. She swallowed back the anxiety once again. No, better to be here.

  The young technician, Zeke, moved around the QUEST with Ashton. He seemed antsier than the Chief Tech. “Are you sure it’s safe for them to be on the floor when that thing fires?”

  Joseph leaned to speak softly next to her ear. “Positive.”

  The warmth of his breath sent a ripple of goosebumps down her arm. She resisted the shiver that followed.

  Ashton glared at the laser panels as if he expected something to happen. A smile curled on one side of Abbie’s mouth. Waiting was the toughest part of any experiment. Patrick had mentioned Ashton was one cool dude, now she knew who he spoke of, and had to agree. He looked very calm for where he was and what he was doing. Certainly calmer then she felt.

  Zeke now stood beside Ashton behind the thick shield. It must be time.

  “Two minutes to Full-Scale QUEST Firing.” Ms. East announced, bringing all discussion to an end in the observation are
a. Abbie turned to see Sandy staring at the clear screen.

  A digital clock on the wall glowed red numbers. The hour, minutes, and seconds displayed as a glaring contrast to the count down. Abbie straightened her back and drew in a ragged breath. Too late to run, she’d barely make it to the first security station if things went bad. She wrapped her arms around her waist and watched the two men below settle behind the Plexiglass shield. Please let me be wrong.

  “Ninety seconds to ignition, alignment test beams activated…” Sandy spoke in a subdued tone.

  Anxiety fluttered in Abbie’s gut like a thousand dragonflies. She swallowed bile, pursed her lips, and scanned the room below.

  The technicians looked relatively calm. The scientists at the terminals in the Observation Area looked calm. Minnie looked calm. Sandy East, of course, sounded calm. She had the perfect voice to announce the count down. She could easily record one of those meditation tapes, her voice had that soothing, tranquilizing quality to it. If only listening to her count down the execution of this experiment would settle Abbie’s pins-and-needles nerves right now.

  “Alignment nominal. Checking capacitor power levels…” Ms. East’s voice flowed from the speakers like syrup.

  Axel lurched as if he were going to do something beyond the shield, then he settled in place. Abbie’s inside lurched too. What was that about?

  “Capacitor power levels all within safe parameters. Checking crystal optics…” Ms. East’s voice echoed slightly.

  Abbie scraped her top teeth across her bottom lip, still clinging to herself as if she were cold. She glanced at the clock.

  “Crystal optics excellent,” Sandy cooed. What a gift that voice must be.

  Ashton put his arm around Zeke’s shoulder. A here-we-go hug? Then stood still beside him. This could be history in the making.

  “Quest firing in 30 seconds. Check safety gear and take your positions!”

  What position? Crash position, with her head between her knees? How did Sandy maintain such calm in her voice?

  Abbie repositioned her stance. Maybe she should have opted for a chair. If she fainted, she’d never live it down with her sibling.

  “Ten.” Sandy stated flatly. The clock’s seconds flashed forward with the time, yet an eternity passed between number changes. Abbie looked back at her brother, then down at Ashton, and finally at the crystal in the middle of the toroid. If anything went wrong, it’d start in that crystal where all those photons would be splitting.

  “Three.” Joseph took Abbie’s hand and squeezed it. A thousand sensations flooded her mind. Most of them pleasant.

  “Two.” Abbie drew in a deep breath and held it. Was this what it felt like to stand in front of a firing squad?

  “One.”

  Time stood still… suspended in some alternate reality. Abbie’s lungs burned. Her eyes stung. She didn’t dare blink. She didn’t dare breathe…

  “Fire!”

  Chapter Five

  Nothing happened.

  Abbie stared at Axel Ashton. He stared at the crystal. Zeke remained motionless.

  Abbie let go and air rushed from her lungs. She glared at the QUEST. A metallic taste in her mouth brought her attention to herself. Had she bit her lip?

  She released the assaulted lip from her teeth and swallowed.

  Joseph’s anxious clamp on her hand lessened. A sigh escaped his lips. “Well, that was—”

  Light emanated from the center of the crystal, growing brighter and brighter. Abbie tightened her grip on Joseph’s hand. He gently touched her arm with his free hand. “That’s expected. In fact, I predicted it. The photons are splitting into our visual range now, that’s why it appears to be a white light. But watch, I predict—”

  A flood of multi-colored light filled Lab One and the observation area. A rush of fear slammed into Abbie’s chest. Her mouth went dry. She gasped with a jerk backward. Joseph wrapped his arm around her shoulder, “No, it’s alright. I predicted this light show, too.”

  It sparkled like glitter had been thrown in the air. It would have been beautiful if it weren’t so alarming. Joseph kept telling her it was what he expected.

  But it was what Abbie had expected too, only she expected it to be a bad thing. A catastrophically bad thing.

  “That’s what we predicted.” Holly’s loud, arrogant voice penetrated Abbie’s fear-saturated mind. Anger festered in Abbie’s gut. Fiery eyes darted to Holly, then back to Joseph’s calm face.

  It’s alright. Joseph predicted this. It’s not catastrophic.

  He nodded in agreement with Holly’s statement. Abbie nodded with him, settling her erratic breathing. The pressure lessened in her ears from her heart pounding so hard. Her eyes dropped to the room below. It’s alright. She forced a smile, letting relief wash away the worry. It was alright. She panted.

  But the light from the crystal continued to swell, filling the rooms. Axel and Zeke moved, taking a step back. Her anxious heart thrummed into an accelerated rhythm again. Regardless of Joseph’s insistence that this was predicted, something was not right! Abbie opened her mouth, “What’s wro—?”

  An explosion rocked the room. A thousand rays of colorful lights radiated from the giant crystal, saturating everything in an instant, like an overexposed negative. Instinctively, Abbie squeezed her eyes as tight as possible, and dropped to the floor.

  Burying her face against her arm, she prayed she had closed her eyes in time to protect her eyesight. Something heavy and warm lay across her back. Had the ceiling collapsed?

  She dared to lift her head to peek through slitted eyelids. The brilliant light still blanched everything, but, thank God, she could see. The other people were on the floor too, in various huddled positions to protect themselves. Only Holly remained standing.

  Just then, the window pane shattered. Abbie hunkered down tighter, covering her head with her arms. The weight pressed harder over her back, but the shattered glass did not fall across her as anticipated. A whooshing sound and a stream of wind immediately roared across her toward the lab’s back wall. Where had the glass gone? Papers rattled and fluttered past her head. What was happening?

  Cautiously she lifted her head. The stream of debris and wind diminished.

  Just then the weight pressing on her moved. It was Joseph! He had lain over her, protecting her from whatever had happened. They moved apart and slowly stood. She pulled a curtain of pink hair from her face. The back and side wall of Lab One were gone. Destroyed. But where had the debris gone?

  A huge wall of quartz strata stood exposed at the back where the lab was built into the mountain.

  Abbie stared at the quartz wall with fear-filled amazement. It glowed and glittered as if fireflies were swarming inside it. “What the—”

  She had predicted dimensional instability. Was this that? Good Lord! She buried her face in her hand. What had they done?

  Abbie’s eyes perused the lab floor. Where was Zeke Callahan?

  She scanned the room again. Debris lay scattered across the lab, Axel slowly stood next to the crane, but Callahan— was nowhere. Had he ducked under a desk or something, back where she couldn’t see him? Her heart pounded in her ears. She swallowed against a dry throat. “What happened to the kid?”

  “I don’t—” Joseph’s voice faded. Terror filled his face, his eyes fixed on the exposed quartz wall.

  “Are you alright?” Abbie looked at Joseph for the first time since she had stood.

  The other people moved. First, examining themselves for cuts or blood, then slowly standing, too. Holly looked crumpled on the floor as though she had tried to sit down but the chair had moved away from her and she just fell. Slowly she climbed to her feet and leaned over the broken window.

  Abbie’s tear-blurred eyes remained on Holly. She looked enthralled by the chaos below. Abbie wanted to walk over and slap her. But Abbie couldn’t move either. Shock had everyone stunned. Anger roiled in Abbie’s chest. This was all Holly’s fault. Abbie had told that preppy little school
girl this experiment could go wrong! She had said the quartz strata needed to be considered and over-producing that much photon entanglement could cause instability—

  No. Abbie reconsidered the expression on Holly’s face. She didn’t look exhilarated by all this… chaos, she looked… stupefied. Did she realize Callahan was missing? Or that Ashton had literally clung to that crane for his life?

  God, Abbie hated being right!

  Holly stumbled back from the broken window. “My crystal!”

  Abbie tore her eyes from Ashton to look at the bent toroid. Abbie gasped! The crystal was gone! But so was the assistant!

  “What about Callahan?” Joseph said the words, but Abbie’s hands balled into fists. If she could reach the woman, she’d punch her in the face. “Is that all you care about?”

  Abbie took a step toward Holly, but Joseph blocked her.

  “That stupid crystal?” Abbie shouted around his broad shoulder. “What happened to the technician?” Abbie struggled against Joseph. If only she could slap Holly into next Tuesday!

  Something filled Holly’s eyes— remorse? —fear?

  One of the scientists shouted, “Look! Is that… fog?”

  Like a mad scientist with some crazy experiment combining dry ice and liquid, a dense fog poured from the exposed mountain strata. Or was it steam? Abbie leaned over the computers. “Axel, get out of there!”

  Joseph stared at the mist growing exponentially in the lab. “We have no way of knowing if that’s water vapors or poison. It could be hot or cold. It could even be ácido… uh, acid!” He turned to the Operations Center.

  Project Director Adam Stettler stepped forward. He looked dazed, but decades of military training moved into place with a sobering expression that settled across his face. Joseph hollered at the director. “We need to evacuate this building!”

  But no one seemed to hear him. Abbie’s eyes widened as she stared at the growing thick mist. If it was hot, it could burn Axel, literally boil him to death right in front of her eyes. If it was acid, he’d dissolve into a puddle of goo. Either way, it would be horrible! He had to get out of there!