And then there was the need to shake loose additional information from Fermilab or Stetler employees. Whatever Nala knew, others did too. It was a job best suited to the FBI, and the same person could get that rolling.
He picked up his phone and placed a call to the president’s national security advisor, Christine Shea. As had been the case with all of his calls to her, a White House staffer answered and took a message. He left enough detail to feel confident that she would get the big picture. Someone—the State Department, perhaps—would need to begin a diplomatic effort with China.
To do what? Get them to admit they took out a Russian spacecraft and killed three astronauts? Yeah, sure. That’ll happen.
Shea might pursue the diplomatic route, or she might advise the president on stronger options, joint US-Russia options, even military options.
Let the politicians do what they do.
The rest of his message to Shea was more straightforward. Bring in the FBI, just as soon as they could get to Fermilab. But as much value as the FBI would bring to the investigation, they were not scientists. To bring Soyuz home would take more than a badge; it would require detailed knowledge of quantum dimensions, access to coherent neutrinos and the software to control it all. Daniel had a pretty good idea who held that key.
He found Nala in his phone’s contacts list.
The charges against her were serious, but manageable within the Justice Department. Rules were unevenly enforced. Occasionally, leakers went to prison, but there were just as many cases where the government took no action at all. High-level members of any administration often intentionally leaked classified information. It was a political game, even the decisions about what was classified and what was not. Besides, the president was on their side.
He wanted to tell all of this to Nala. She had looked anxious leaving the bar, and with good reason. His decision to follow them had been easy. He had been concerned for her immediate safety, but he also felt uncomfortable letting her out of his sight. She was the key to delivering Soyuz, and without her, the investigation was going nowhere. He hadn’t bothered to hide—on public streets, it didn’t really matter if McLellan saw him. But as their cars had reached the property, Daniel had noticed the security gate and the night watchman. Without the right credentials, it would be difficult to gain access at night. He’d pulled to the curb and watched from a distance. Perhaps it was irrational to think McLellan might do her physical harm. He had watched their cars disappear behind trees and reluctantly returned to the hotel.
There was still much to discuss with Nala. For now, Daniel kept it simple. Checking to see if you’re okay, he typed.
He noticed a message from Spencer Bradley. A resource in Geneva had been assigned to investigate the CERN Kairos team. Even though Nala had discounted the tip as worthless, Daniel knew better. An incomplete investigation could miss a single detail that might become the turning point. Given that it was already midmorning in Geneva, perhaps they would hear back soon.
Marie was next on his mental list. A ridiculous time of night to call, but she would need—and want—to be briefed. She picked up on the first ring.
“You awake?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She sounded tired. “Still thinking about all this. There’s no way I can sleep.”
“Can you come down to my room? You’ll want to hear this.”
“Sure, just a sec.”
He heard some fumbling and she hung up. A minute later, there was a knock on the door and Daniel hopped up. She was adjusting a sweater and brushing her hair back when he opened the door.
“What’s up? You got something?”
“Sorry, it’s really late. But I figured you might be awake.”
She walked in and took a seat on the small sofa. Her eyes looked bloodshot and her makeup was washed away. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve been feeling pretty useless since we left the Stetler office. Anything you’ve got is better than just sitting there.”
“I just got back from a bar. I met one of the Stetler employees, a physicist, Nala Pasquier. She called me… and she had a lot to say.”
Marie looked surprised about the development. Daniel described the initial call, their meeting and much of what Nala had told him. He reached into his pocket and offered the cocktail napkin with the equation scrawled across it. She held it in both hands, as if assessing the authenticity of an ancient artifact.
“The Chinese? They did all of this?” she asked.
“That’s what she says.” Daniel sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed both tired eyes. “The equation on that napkin seems to represent a prize of high value, not only to Stetler but to the Chinese. The Diastasi program is not just a scientific discovery; it could open a whole new branch of profitable technologies… and potentially weapons, too.”
“So, Nala confirmed our thinking that Soyuz is stuck in this… kata space. But she didn’t tell you how to get them back?”
Daniel didn’t hold back. “She doesn’t think it’s possible. She says the return trip to normal space is deadly. They don’t know exactly why, but they have some experiment evidence. I’m sorry.”
Marie nodded her head slowly as she absorbed the difficult news. She didn’t debate the information, but she asked several more questions, and Daniel filled her in as best he could. Together, they agreed there were possibilities, however slight, which was better than idling at a dead end.
If there was any hope of a return for the astronauts, they would first have to locate the capsule. But just as no human hand could point in the kata direction, no radar antenna could either. If you didn’t know precisely where Soyuz was located, zapping a random parcel of space with neutrinos was a hopeless exercise, like target shooting wearing a blindfold.
As Nala had described, they would need accuracy. A way to determine both position and velocity. “If only we had radar in kata space,” Daniel offered.
Marie perked up at the suggestion. “Could we?”
Portable radar. Did such a thing exist? And could it be zapped into this bizarre extra dimension, just like the cameras? He didn’t know, but Nala might.
Sometimes, the universe was in sync. Daniel’s phone rang, identifying Nala as the caller. He felt a spike of adrenaline and picked up. “Are you okay?”
The voice on the other end was tired. “Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. It was a major blowup. I’m emotionally drained… and jobless… but actually feeling pretty relieved that it’s over. Driving home now.”
Daniel let out his breath and mouthed to Marie, “It’s Nala.” He returned his attention to the woman on the phone—no longer just an informant, but a collaborator. “I’m sorry you lost your job. I shouldn’t have let McLellan take you out of that bar. He had no authority to do that.”
“Thoughtful of you, but not logical. Never talk back to a cop with a gun. Especially for a black woman, that strategy doesn’t turn out well. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway—they would have fired me in the morning. Good riddance. I’m glad to be gone from that company.”
Daniel didn’t switch the phone to speaker, but he moved closer to Marie to allow her to listen. “What did they tell you, specifically? Was it Yost, or Stetler?”
“It was Yost. He threatened to sue me and said the government would prosecute me for leaking classified information. He said it didn’t matter who I was talking with, he says the government always prosecutes.”
“They don’t, Nala. He’s wrong. Prosecutions for disclosing classified information are not cut and dried. You’ve done a service to your country, and that makes a huge difference. I can help protect you.”
There was a long pause on the line, and Daniel thought he might have lost the connection. But he heard a sigh. “I appreciate your help, Daniel. You’ve been lovely. Well, hard on me, and then lovely. What is it with you? Are you like two different people? Mr. Interrogator and then Sweet Talkin’ Dan?”
“You see right through me.” And she had. “My apologies, it’s part of the method.”
“The method? It figures. So, which one is the real you?”
“Neither, I guess.” He didn’t mind the personal question, but there was work to do. “Nala, I have an idea. I think I know how to locate Soyuz, and I want your response.”
“Does your brain ever rest, Scientist? Okay, just got home. Three a.m., but I’ll give you whatever attention I have left.”
For the time of night, Daniel was surprised that his brain was still working at all. “You said we needed an exact location of Soyuz before we could move them back to our space, right?”
“Right, before we can return them to Kata Zero.”
“What if we could put a radar unit into kata space? Then it would be able to point in the ana or kata directions, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, it would,” she answered. “But isn’t a radar antenna a big piece of hardware? Like house-sized?”
Daniel thought about it. “Some are. But I think the military uses fairly compact radar units in antiaircraft missiles. I’m not sure of their range, but if we could get one up into 4-D space, we could point in every direction and we might hit something.”
“Yeah…” She paused. “Good thinking, but it all depends on how big it is. What you saw at Fermilab is all we’ve got. A target box about a meter on each side. If it doesn’t fit inside that box, we can’t send it.”
“Is there any way to enlarge the box to, say, room size?”
“Maybe… sure. But that would take time. Even if we scrambled the whole team, we’d need a few days to get the equipment running.”
“Okay, thanks. I know I’m reaching. Just not willing to give up yet.”
“I didn’t mean to burst your bubble. It really is a good idea, sending radar out there. Just complex to set up.”
She was right, of course. They were still a long way from a solution. “Do you think this Chinese company has anything like this already set up?”
“Realistically? No. Look, Wah Xiang got into this mess because they don’t know what they’re doing. How do you leverage incompetence? And how do you solve the problem of returning people? We just haven’t studied this enough.”
Daniel physically deflated. “Nala, thanks. I’ll let you go. You’ve done a great job and helped us more than you know. Get some sleep.”
“You, too,” she said. “And thanks for caring. I meant what I said at the bar, you’re a good man.”
Daniel hung up. He sat on the edge of the bed, his head resting on his hands. There was still hope, he wouldn’t give up on that. But the list of prerequisites to success was long. Unfortunately, the clock was still ticking.
Marie leaned forward. “She sounds like she knows what she’s doing. And she’s clearly identifying the Chinese company as the problem.”
Daniel nodded. “She has. I’ve already asked Shea to get a diplomatic process started. Or a military one—their call.”
He picked up the white envelope that had been sitting on his bed unopened. He reached in and pulled out a thick stack of papers, photo copies of various documents. “Their security guy gave me this.” He read the first page.
Fermilab Security Internal Investigation. Subject: Nala Pasquier
Over the past two months, subject has repeatedly accessed secured files with transfers to an unknown external device. She has made multiple calls to a number in China that has been traced to a Central Committee staff office.
The page continued with a long list of dated entries.
…
8.24.21 7:16 PMMobile call placed to 86 10 626 4371,
Beijing, China, 13 minutes
8.27.21 8:39 AMIncognito browser initiated
8.27.21 8:40 AMExternal file transfer from secured folder:
DiastasiNICarchive
9.12.21 7:01 PMMobile call placed to 86 10 626 4371,
Beijing, China, 19 minutes
9.13.21 9:50 AMIncognito browser initiated
9.13.21 9:52 AMExternal file transfer from secured folder:
DiastasiNICsource
Daniel passed the page to Marie and examined the others. Each provided phone record details or listings of files held within folders.
He dropped the pile of papers on the bed and looked up. He thought of the phone call, the bar, and his whole experience with the woman who for the past several hours had single-handedly guided his investigation away from herself and toward Stetler.
No way. This can’t be true… can it?
28 Reality
The top of the atmosphere is not any specific place. Air thins gradually with height. But eighty kilometers up is as good as any to call the top. It’s a height where the light and warmth below dissolve into the cold space above.
At the top of the atmosphere, the brilliant sun peeked above the gently curving horizon. To the west, long shadows spread across the ground and eventually blended into dark side of the planet. In the foreground, an expanse of mountainous land was topped by scattered clouds tinted orange by the early-morning light.
Out of the darkness from the west, a brilliant blue light exploded across the sky. A low boom rumbled through the thin air, and a burning object moving at high speed blazed a searing orange trail in the early-morning twilight. It left behind a long white contrail of smoke that lingered in the air and pointed the direction of the object’s path, descending eastward.
The Soyuz capsule bounced wildly as the buffeting of the atmosphere increased. Its design provided for descent path control; a slight rotation counterclockwise, and lift increased, flattening the descent. A rotation clockwise, and lift decreased, and the descent angle steepened. But this capsule exhibited no hint of control. It spun around in circles, leaning left, then right, rising and then falling in a wildly erratic path.
The contrail abruptly came to an end, the spacecraft’s speed having been reduced below the point where atmospheric friction melts metal. Still at supersonic speed, it hurtled above the high peaks of western Wyoming, the mountain ranges graced with fresh snow colored pink in the twilight.
At twelve kilometers above the surface, an exploding bolt automatically fired near the top of the capsule, blowing off a metal ring and releasing a drogue parachute. The chute stabilized the capsule, stopped it from spinning and further slowed its speed. A few seconds later, another small explosion and the huge main chute deployed, blossoming into its full size and ending the plunge. The heat shield that had protected the capsule through the fiery descent blew away from the bottom, exposing six small rockets.
The enormous parachute dwarfed the small capsule, now swaying gently below it. The dazzling orange-and-white cloth stood out against a bright blue sky. The capsule drifted past a towering volcanic monolith, crossing an imaginary line into South Dakota. Here, the mountains became forested hills, and beyond, a broad expanse of prairie stretched out into the distance.
As the capsule crossed a ridge, it descended into a broad valley, colored brown but bisected by a meandering creek and the light green of elm trees along its banks. In this vicinity, there were no towns or roads and few signs of civilization. Just the beauty of the undisturbed surface of the planet Earth.
The enormous orange-and-white parachute could be seen for many miles around, and even in an area with sparse population, it was no ordinary sight and would be noticed by many. Somewhere, a phone call to 911 was already being made, telling the operator that a military plane must have crashed and the pilot ejected.
The capsule continued its gentle descent to the valley floor. As it came within twenty feet of the ground, six retro-rockets fired, creating a blast of white smoke and dust. The capsule hit the ground, and the lines to the parachute went slack. Several startled birds flew off towards the creek. A squirrel on a nearby rock scurried into the shadows. The cloud of dust began to clear just as the parachute itself folded into the surrounding grass.
With the rockets shut off and the dust cloud dispersed, the area returned to its prior state of calm. The rising sun, still low in the east, poured its light across the land, and
the various inhabitants of the planet Earth soaked up its warmth.
Alone in a valley in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft had completed its journey home.
29 Dakota
The couch was comfortable, but the cat’s claws were not. Daniel peered over the edge to see Darwin reaching up from the floor below. “What’s up, buddy? Hungry?” The cat jerked his chin to the right.
At the far end of the couch, Janine was absorbed in a magazine, her legs curled under her and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She took a sip from a drink that bubbled like a witch’s brew.
He was surprised to see her. “Janine! I forgot to say thanks for watching Darwin. He seems pretty happy.” Daniel watched the frothy liquid flow over the top of her glass, and was thankful that it was evaporating before hitting anything. Probably liquid nitrogen, he thought.
“My pleasure.” Janine put the magazine down. “Boring read, actually.” She pulled the blanket off to expose bare breasts and smiled sweetly. “Want to do something fun?”
Daniel wanted to answer. He tried to form the words, but his mouth didn’t seem to be working. She stared at him, her fingers drumming on her thigh. Darwin meowed loudly.
“He’s right, you know. It’s your bones, Daniel. They’re showing. You should look into that.”
Daniel noticed that he was naked too. His skin was transparent and he could see the bones inside his arms. He looked down at his legs. A bone from his right thigh protruded into midair. His heart pounded. He looked at Janine and could just make out her skull under the skin of her forehead. None of it was right, but he wasn’t sure why.
The Quantum Series Box Set Page 15