Daniel took a deep breath. “Not precisely, no, but the fundamentals are probably the same. Four-dimensional space affecting a boundary of 3-D space.”
“An odd way to think about it,” Ayala said. “But I’ll take it. Second question—how bad could this get?”
“That’s a question I can’t answer,” Daniel said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the physicists could either. By the looks of things outside, it’s already affecting a one-to-two-mile radius, and Mr. Finch tells me it’s growing. So, what happens next? A lot depends on what the people who are controlling this do. Is the power plant shut down?”
“Oh, yeah. First thing we did. Nothing’s been coming out of those stacks for more than twelve hours.” He motioned to the corner where the state troopers were giving Garrity the third degree. “Mr. Garrity is cooperating, but he doesn’t seem to know much. Apparently, there’s a Romanian firm that’s involved.”
Garrity was in deep conversation with the state troopers. One of the officers examined a short piece of PVC pipe.
“I’m aware of the Romanians,” Daniel said. “Any contact with them?”
“None yet. But with the plant shut down, do we even need them? We’ve got a couple of scientists out here that think the cloud might just go away on its own now that it’s not being fed from the smokestacks.”
Daniel paused in thought for a minute. “No… I wouldn’t count on that. Picture a giant invisible water tank out there. Just because you stop filling it doesn’t make the tank go away. These dimensional expansions can be locked in place or collapsed at will. But it’s the physicists at the accelerator facility who control it, not anything you do at the power plant.”
Ayala nodded. “So, this Romanian connection is important.”
“Yeah, I’d say so. Do we know how to reach them?”
“Yup. Got the contact information from Garrity.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn business card. “Institut—”. He handed the paper to Daniel. “Here, you can read it.”
Daniel studied the card.
Pavel Iliescu
Institutul de Fizică Aplicată Belciugatele
DN3 44 Belciugatele 917010, Romania
+40 761 904 791
[email protected]
“I’ll call him,” Daniel said. “They’ll need to be very careful with their next step. Playing around with large volumes of quantum space isn’t a good idea for beginners, so we need to find out how much expertise the Romanians have.”
Finch interrupted, “I can suspend the permit, if that helps.”
A monster storm was brewing outside, linked to a vast unseen dumping ground somewhere out in extra dimensions of space, and it was all the result of an EPA permit issued without consulting the scientists who might have advised on the dangers. Daniel tried to keep the scorn out of his voice. “Yeah, suspending the permit would be a great idea.” It wasn’t Finch’s fault; he was just doing his job.
Ayala pointed to the business card. “Dr. Rice, if you can find out what the Romanians are doing, then I can stay focused on evacuation.”
“I’ll get on it. How far out are you evacuating?” Daniel asked.
Another FEMA person ran over and handed Ayala a note. He looked at it and then responded to Daniel. “We just issued a mandatory order for Bastrop County. Eighty thousand people. That’s going to be challenging enough. Rural. A lot of them are already saying it’s fake news.”
“A rumor is going around that the government created the cloud and is forcing people out to confiscate their property,” Finch added.
“Gotta love Texas,” Ayala said. “But we’ll get everyone out. Unfortunately, I’m a lot less confident about the next level.”
Daniel had a good idea what he was going to say next. “Austin?”
“Yup. If this thing keeps growing, or you tell me it’s a nuclear bomb waiting to go off, then I’ve got to evacuate several million people in Travis County. Nobody’s ever done that before, not with hurricanes or tornadoes or any other disaster. Dr. Rice, I need to know what the hell is going to happen here.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel ambled through an open pasture of bluebonnets, the Texas state flower. The field’s proximity to the parking lot meant that the seeds had surely been scattered as part of a beautification project by the power company. It didn’t matter whether they were natural or planted, the flowers were just as pretty.
Daniel held his phone to his ear. The reception was better outside, and a call to Romania was easier outside the noisy command center.
The cloud loomed above, a giant eddy in the sky. It twisted with the slow-motion speed of any normal cloud, but in the distinctly curved path of a vortex. Daniel multitasked, listening to the conversation on the phone and keeping an eye on the brewing storm.
The Romanian physicists were surprised to hear they might be the source of panic half a world away. They were following a plan established weeks ago, they said, increasing the volume of the bubble of quantum space in well-defined steps to provide additional space as requested by their American client.
For the time being, Daniel persuaded them to stop expanding, though he hesitated to recommend they collapse the four-dimensional structure. Where would it go? How would its contents of noxious gases be dispersed? These were questions only a small subset of quantum physicists could answer. Jan Spiegel was Daniel’s second call.
“We’re in contact with Nala and Thomas,” Jan said when he picked up. “Nala is writing on the whiteboard, walls, floor, everything. She even drew on Marie’s hand. We tried radio communication. That didn’t work, so now we’re attempting a wired connection.”
Daniel could imagine how writing from an invisible pen wielded by an unseen hand might shake things up at Fermilab. “How about the food she asked for?”
“Success. She’s able to pull it out of 3-D space,” Jan answered.
“Remarkable,” Daniel said. He was relieved, but the image of Nala lost in an infinite maze with no exits was still distressing. “Any ideas how to get them out?”
“We’re working on it, with input from Nala herself, I might add.”
Jan outlined a few options. There had been no damage to the accelerator, so Fermilab facilities engineers were drawing up an emergency plan to reconstruct what had been lost in the disaster. It would take a few weeks, but they’d regain a limited ability to expand quantum space. One idea was to create a larger overarching bubble that would act as a container to the various 4-D remnants that Marie had identified, including the space where Nala and Thomas were trapped. It would provide the precision they would need to collapse the space when the time came.
Partners at CERN were also busy experimenting with techniques for bringing living things back from 4-D space. Collapsing the space would hardly be a solution if it shredded every cell in their bodies. The plan would require more research, but the situation wasn’t hopeless. In the meantime, they had already found ways to keep Nala and Thomas alive.
“It’s going to be complicated from here,” Jan said. “I’m not sure when we’ll have the answer.”
Jan was up to his neck in the rescue effort, but Daniel couldn’t avoid the dangerous-looking cloud circling above his head. A call between physicists was essential if they were going to prevent an even greater catastrophe. “Jan, I need your help. The situation here in Austin has a lot of similarities.”
Jan’s voice was strained. “Things are pretty crazy here, Daniel.”
“I understand, but you’re the right person. I just need you to make one call to a physics lab in Romania. Explain to them what you know but they don’t. You help them, and maybe they’ll have resources they can offer you.”
The last point seemed to resonate, and Jan agreed. Daniel gave him the contact information. One step complete.
Daniel pocketed his phone and stared up into the sky. The cloud was a natural phenomenon in that it was made of condensed water vapor. But it came with an unnatural structure… and a human origin.
This cloud hadn’t arisen from a natural process any more than global warming had. Humans had done this, not only through their natural curiosity, their creativity and ambition, but also through their neglect. Would we ever learn? Or would advances in technology forever come with an illustration of how deadly the world can be? Core had said we would learn in time. Daniel was not so sure.
He headed back inside and passed state troopers, who accompanied Davis Garrity down the hallway.
Garrity flagged Daniel down. “Dr. Rice, they said you would call Romania. Did you get the problem fixed? I know it’s something small. They probably just have some knob at the wrong setting.”
Ignorance is bliss.
“Yes, Mr. Garrity, I did call. But you should know it’s going to take more than a few adjustments. This is a serious business with a lot of unknowns.”
One of the troopers put a hand on Garrity’s elbow. It was clear they would be leaving the building regardless of what hallway conversation their suspect was interested in having. “Uh, yeah,” Garrity said, noticing the tug. “They want a deposition. I’ll be at the state courthouse today but available if you need me. I want to make sure we do everything possible to get this little problem cleared up so ElecTrek can get back to normal operations.”
“I wouldn’t count on normal operations anytime soon,” Daniel said, as the trooper guided Garrity down the hallway.
Normal? If we get to sunset without an apocalypse it’ll be a good day.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, and Daniel ducked into a side room off the hallway. The call was from Marie, and she sounded more agitated than Daniel had ever heard her.
“Daniel, I know you just talked to Jan, and that you’re putting all your faith in him,” Marie said. “But in my view, none of these so-called geniuses has any idea how to fix this. They’re arguing the minutiae. They’re absorbed in their theories and their math, but they’re running blind. They can’t see what I see. They just wave me off as a nutcase with a toy crown.”
Even over the phone, it was clear that she was upset. “You explained what you saw to Jan?”
Marie nearly exploded. “Don’t you do it too, Daniel. Of course I explained it! Why does everyone think I’m so incompetent?”
Daniel waited without response. This was unlike the Marie he knew.
“Sorry,” she said eventually. “I know you don’t mean to be condescending, but sometimes you are anyway. I’m calling you to coordinate, assuming you ever get back to Fermilab. Look, Jan doesn’t have the answer. Park doesn’t either. But I do. I’ve seen it.”
She was angry, upset and probably on the verge of doing something irrational. His assessment was, of course, condescending. An emotional woman about to do something rash. But she was in possession of powerful alien technology, and he wasn’t sure how far she could go with it. “What are you proposing?”
“I’m tired of sitting around listening to them. I’ve told Jan. I can solve this. Me, alone. I’m going in.”
“In? Where?”
“There’s an opening. I can see it with the headband. It might be dangerous… well… it’s going to be dangerous. But once I’m in, the headband will tell me everything we need to know. Of that, I’m sure.”
“Don’t.” He couldn’t articulate why, and any justification would likely be thrown out anyway as yet more condescension from the male who knew everything the female couldn’t possibly fathom.
Her response was just as simple. “Bye, Daniel. Watch for messages.” The phone connection ended.
35 Resolve
Marie ran down the empty corridor and skidded to a stop at the edge of the yawning cavity. Her chest heaved with deep breaths as she studied the scene once more. The bright light in its center beckoned.
She turned the headband over in her hand and examined the electronic components along its sides. An amazing device that could provide such a wealth of information. She had no doubt there was more information waiting to be discovered on the other side, but it was impossible to guess how she would use it.
She looked past the crumbled edge of the corridor into the zone of destruction and began to wonder if she was doing the right thing. Jan had said it was a terrible idea. She dropped to her knees, feeling vulnerable.
Do you have any idea what you’re doing?
With the headband off, everything seemed so confusing. The images it created in her head, the ideas that appeared from nowhere. The horrifying hallucinations. How and why any of this had occurred was still a mystery, magnified once the headband was off and her mental abilities reverted to those of any mortal.
There was a dumpster behind the building. She could throw it in and no one would ever know. She could tell people that she’d lost it. Daniel would come back to Fermilab and figure out this mess. He’d find a way; he had last time.
The guard will be here soon.
Jan had rejected her proposal. She had told him she was tired of waiting and would go ahead anyway. As she’d left his office, he’d called for security.
Now, at the edge of the precipice, nothing felt right. She wasn’t herself and probably hadn’t been since the first day she’d worn the headband. It was affecting her, altering her personality, changing her thought processes. She’d never in her life been so rude to people, lashing out at Stephanie at the end of the mission, at Daniel on the phone, and yelling at Jan just now.
The creepy-crawlies hadn’t surfaced for a while, but she knew they were still there. She could feel them hiding just beneath the surface, ready to spring when she least suspected it. They’d come again. Of course they would.
Footsteps echoed in the corridor far behind her.
The power she could summon from the headband was breathtaking, but the courage to use the alien device was becoming harder to find. She’d have to reach deep. There was danger, both physical and mental. But two people were trapped. They needed help, and all that she’d seen in the past twenty-four hours had led to one inescapable conclusion: Marie was the only person who could save them.
I volunteered. I’m the highest probability.
The footsteps were getting closer. “Ms. Kendrick!” a voice yelled. “Wait.”
She stood up, put the band over her head and backed up a few steps.
“No, don’t!” the security guard yelled.
Marie took three long strides, and with every bit of energy her body could muster, she leaped into the void.
36 Rabbit Hole
The fall should have killed her. Her body should have been found among the tangle of twisted rebar and broken concrete at the bottom of the vast hole. But gravity no longer functioned as expected here. Space warped into a direction other than down. It wasn’t surprising. In fact, it was completely expected—she’d already visualized the lines of gravitation, and they pointed in an altogether different direction.
She passed through darkness and landed with a jolt. Unable to stay on her feet, she tumbled. Pain shot up her arm as she hit something hard. Her knee scraped against a sharp point. She came to rest among piles of broken wood, bent metal and shredded carpet, the debris only dimly illuminated.
She lifted herself onto her elbows, allowing her eyes to become accustomed to the dim light and taking stock of what hurt. Her shoulder ached, but not enough to worry about. The sharp sting in her knee demanded greater attention. She reached down and felt blood just below the hemline of her skirt.
Pants. From now on, always wear pants.
It was a scrape, deep, but she’d live. She sat up and looked around.
Where am I?
The headband would tell her everything she’d need to know. She reached up to tap it and was surprised to feel only hair. The familiar ring was gone, and panic quickly followed.
It must have fallen off in the leap. There was so much debris around, it could be anywhere. Without it, she’d be lost.
Marie stood up—really stood up, for the first time in her life. It was as if she’d been lying down forever, unaware of the more vertical
position that was available. Up wasn’t up. It was something else, not describable but felt in the inner ear. Her balance was tenuous, like being on ice skates for the first time.
She took a step. Not easy in the darkness, but at least she didn’t fall. Another step, easier. And another. A slight dizziness filled her head, and she began to regret her decision to make the leap. If standing and walking were this hard, what chance did she have of helping anyone else? The headband was the only reason to be here, and it was lost.
This was a one-way trip with only one destination. She’d assured herself of that before she’d made the leap. Wherever she was, the headband had to be here too.
Marie walked, tentatively at first but with increasing confidence. The material was scattered everywhere, requiring that she step over boards and twisted metal. The balance required to stand on one foot, even for just a second, took some concentration.
Just as she was stepping over a large plank of wood, she noticed a body. A person, lying perfectly still among the debris.
Oh God, I’m too late.
The light was better as she approached. It was a man lying on his back. Red hair and a red beard. Part of his leg was missing, the stump wrapped in a bloody bandage. Thomas, no doubt, though why Nala had failed to mention his grave injury was a shocking oversight.
Marie bent down and felt for a pulse in his wrist. Nothing. The body was cold; another discontinuity from Nala’s notes. She’d just told them that Thomas was with her.
Marie took a deep breath and shouted. “Nala!” Her voice sounded dampened, like she was deep inside a clothes closet.
From the periphery of her vision, there was a flash of light, startlingly bright. With the flash, everything went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marie awoke. Her body was tilted at an odd angle, her feet above her head. The heap of carpeting she lay on was twisted and torn, but soft.
She shifted her weight, lowering her feet to the surface and standing up, not sure why it seemed easier. Her balance was still off, but those first steps now seemed like a faraway dream. She reflexively touched her knee, half expecting to feel a painful scrape, but there was none. No blood either.
The Quantum Series Box Set Page 53