The Traveler Read online

  They watched Collins walk from the room, leaving them standing and looking like schoolboys who had just received corporal punishment.

  The same question came to each man simultaneously. Just who did the colonel think was expendable?

  13

  As the nonessential personnel gathered inside the observation room, Virginia went from one of her nuclear science technicians to the other, making sure their safeguards were in place. In case of any power fluctuation, especially when high-powered lasers were concerned, she wanted the ability for each team member to have the wherewithal to shut the test run down. The last item on her list were the power couplings that snaked in through the exterior conduit through the basement. The four-inch thick cables were strong enough to carry the current that would illuminate all of Chicago. The three power lines hummed with power from the nuclear plant generated by the USS Los Angeles.

  Master Chief Jenks sat at the main control console with Moira Mendelsohn. The old woman was excited and near giddiness to see her doorway once again becoming ready for operations. She received the old butterfly feeling as she thought about her own heady and far-too-adventurous transports back into a world that no longer existed. With eyes smiling the old woman lifted a cigarette to her mouth and lit it. Just as one of his staff was going to inform Madam that there was no smoking, Niles shook his head. He was not about to tell one of the most brilliant people in world history that she couldn’t smoke a cigarette—it was time to stop being ridiculous.

  “It amazes me that anyone would have trusted this thing enough to go through it,” the master chief mumbled.

  Moira, with the cigarette dangling from her red lips, reached out and brought down the intensity of the floodlights that illuminated the large doorway. The ceramic composite material used in this second doorway was an advancement that Moira was unfamiliar with but she immediately saw the benefits of the material. Whoever the traitorous element in her company consisted of they had done a remarkable job duplicating her original doorway. She could not fathom how they reengineered the Welsian Doorway in the first place, but she did have suspicions that she kept to herself for the time being.

  “This new material will have a far better effect at conducting the electrical charge suffered by the Traveler through their system without the pain associated with entering the field. Marvelous engineering.”

  “Painful, was it?” Jenks asked as he watched the Traveler sitting as calm as if she were at the opera. “The early experiments, I mean?”

  She smiled and turned the rheostat for the lowest lighting mark. She turned to Jenks. “It was as if someone were drilling into your bones with a red-hot poker. And you asked why would someone go through an untested apparatus such as the doorway. Some of us had very little choice in that decision.”

  “Nazis, huh?” Jenks asked with an admiration he had yet to show for the woman.

  “Yes, Nazis.”

  “Now those are some fellas I would have liked to meet up with.”

  “No, Master Chief Jenks”—Moira turned away—“you would not.” She stubbed out her cigarette and then faced the doorway once more.

  Jenks was about to say something when Virginia nudged him aside as she slid into her chair.

  “Excuse the hell out of me,” he said.

  “Is he bothering you?” she asked Moira.

  “No, just answering some of the master chief’s naiveté.”

  “God, we’ll be here all night,” Virginia said as she hurriedly spoke into her walkie-talkie before Jenks could retort with something idiotic.

  “Los Angeles, let’s start off with only fifty percent power profile. We’ll start here at twenty-five percent.”

  “Reactor is at redline—fifty minus.”

  “Thank you Los Angeles. Emergency shutdown on my command.”

  “Roger, control has the scram call.”

  * * *

  “This is so far beyond my basic understanding of the universe and how it works,” Ellenshaw said as he watched the glimmering square with the ceramic doorway in its circular form in the middle. The doorway was capable of fitting six men side by side and large enough for a tracked vehicle to traverse.

  “Don’t feel alone, Professor,” Compton agreed.

  “In essence the lasers engage a form of disintegration on the subject matter?” Charlie asked.

  “It’s a form of light transfer of solid material. The subject is basically sectioned by Europa. Back in 1942 it was a program that guessed at the reconstruction of the Traveler upon arriving in the chosen dimension and then reformed the subject, or the Traveler. The applications for this technology are far more than just dimensional shifting,” Niles said as he watched below as a technician adjusted the focus of the sixty-five laser apertures lining the doorway.

  “Are you talking about transport?” Jack asked as he watched Jason and Will walk in and set down at the far end of the room. They had just checked on security but he knew they were far from happy with him and his decision making of late. When the door opened he had hoped it would have been Sarah and Anya.

  “Yes, real Star Trek stuff, I know, but there you have it.”

  “Doctor, we have discussed this before in our ‘what if’ sessions. This technology cannot be allowed to—”

  Niles held up a hand, staying Jack’s argument before it could be voiced, only because it was his own argument to begin with.

  The lights dimmed and then flashed on and off as the Los Angeles sent the small percentage of power coursing through the building’s old wiring system. The test was starting.

  The protective glass shield below that fronted the technician’s consoles that fed telemetry to the doorway’s geopositioning system, a program hurriedly designed by Virginia and Jenks with the assistance of Europa, slid up from the rubber-lined flooring. The specialized glass was treated with gold shavings that assisted the electrical charge to disburse more evenly to protect the control personnel. As Moira watched on she saw many of the same design characteristics of her own doorway in building 117. But whoever built this had spared no expense, which gave her pause as she thought of possible suspects in the copying of her technology. The prohibitive cost alone eliminated most everybody in her sphere of influence—almost.

  Moira looked over at Virginia, who stood leaning on the console as she looked at the Wellsian Doorway. She shook her head. “Incomplete science,” she mumbled under her breath.

  “I heard that,” Jenks said as he reached for the ever-present cigar stub but forgot about the clean room protocols—with the exception of the Traveler, evidently. He looked at Virginia. “If you have doubts about this hunk of science fiction, you damn well better say so now,” Jenks said as his eyes went to a smiling Moira Mendelsohn.

  Virginia Pollock looked down at the master chief and allowed her thumb to lightly play at his hand and then she smiled.

  “Sometimes, when you’re desperate to help a friend”—she glanced at Moira—“you do it not just because you can, but because you have already lost far too many friends. Sometimes, Harold, you take risks.”

  “You said it yourself, it’s an incomplete science. We don’t know enough about this. What long-term effects will there be on the Traveler?”

  “I daresay, Master Chief, that I will outlive you by a goodly margin,” Moira said as she turned and looked at the copy of her creation. She thought inwardly, Thomsen’s creation is more accurate.

  Jenks took in a deep breath in anticipation of countering Virginia when she cut short the debate on the morality and safety issues.

  “Initiate power sequencing.”

  Jenks was caught off guard as he saw the glass wall that had appeared in front of the station turn a darker shade as it reacted to the electrical charge coursing through it. This was another engineering feat coordinated by the Group. The brightness of the doorway’s discharge could blind those watching from their tech stations.

  All the technicians felt the flow of power as the energy supplied by the S6G power plant
of the Los Angeles announced its arrival at the doorway. The LED lighting lining the rectangular outer frame flared to life, informing them they had acceptance of the electrical flow from the Los Angeles to the doorway.

  “Initiate surge protection for Los Angeles,” Virginia said into the extended and flexible microphone. “Okay, let’s bring lasers one through seventy-eight online.”

  The room was illuminated as not quite half of the powerful lasing system became active. The straight lines of bluish-green light slammed into the lead-lined wall at the back of the test area. The soft metal started to melt as the light beams began to heat up.

  “Master Chief, how is the propellant element in the collider?”

  Jenks leaned over his console and studied the interior-mounted camera and spied the most precious part of the collider—the basic element in the universe—electrons.

  Jenks leaned back. “Europa says the collider is online.” His eyes went to Virginia and it told her that the master chief was still not comfortable. He understood the design and the theory behind it, but for some reason Jenks was terrified of this machine. Virginia knew he had good reason to fear not only the technology, but the philosophic ramifications.

  “Coolant charge?” Moira asked, trying to get Virginia’s attention away from the doubting Jenks. Moira was watching the glass above them and the people in the observation room. She locked eyes with Colonel Collins, who was watching her closely, enough so Moira felt pressed. Since the disappearance of young Ms. McIntire and the Israeli woman Anya she had felt the pressure to assist while she still had the credibility to do so.

  “We changed out the coolant lines inside the collider. We installed the much more efficient heavy metal coolant. The collider should never reach beyond critical mass as long as the metal cools the system. Nothing to leak.”

  Moira was amazed at how efficient this group was in understanding a science it had taken her thirty years to comprehend. These people took the technology in stride without missing a beat. If she had had people such as these she would have succeeded with her true goal years ago. The Traveler shook her head in amazement.

  Virginia took a deep breath. “Europa, are we ready to initiate revolutions?”

  “Power at thirty-four percent. Test initiated at zero one twenty-six hours and thirty seconds. Ready to begin, Doctor,” said the sexy voice, who seemed to be back to her old self thanks to Morales.

  “Thank you.” Virginia turned and looked up at the observation suite and the face of Niles Compton, who nodded that she had the go-ahead. Her gaze lingered for longer than necessary as she wondered for the thousandth time if what they were doing was morally right—they already knew it was highly illegal. She nodded and then turned her attention back to the console in front of her. She looked at the plastic cover over the start button and she reached out and lifted the clear protector. Without ceremony or another cautious thought, Virginia slammed her hand down on the switch.

  “Initiating revolutions. Europa, power to remaining lasers, please.”

  “Power initiated, Doctor,” Europa said, and then went silent.

  The air was immediately sucked from the room and for just the briefest of moments it was as if the staff on the main floor felt the vacuum of space erupt inside. It passed after only a moment and then the world of building 114 exploded with bright blue and green light. The spinning doorway started revolving at tremendous speed as one magnet sent power to the next, creating a speed that only Europa could keep up with. The cylindrical light formed into a solid tunnel of blue and green and the doorway’s opening slammed into the lead-lined wall in the back and then an incredible thing happened. It was like a wave of water breaking upon a surf wall. The light actually bent, straightened, and then settled. The magnets inside the cylindrical collider screamed as the air inside was pushed aside at light speed. Finally the mercury coolant was sent into the collider and the loud scream was silenced.

  Every hair on every head and arm shot straight up before settling.

  The Wellsian Doorway was now open, to what dimension was anyone’s guess.

  * * *

  Eyes went wide and just as Henri Farbeaux entered the room the very air beyond the window came alive with energy. The effect was so powerful that Farbeaux felt the tug as the magnetic field momentarily gave all men and women in range a fit of anxiety the likes of which had never been experienced.

  The flickering light beyond the glass had a surreal quality to it as Jack and Niles stepped closer to the glass. They heard Virginia call for an increase in electromagnetic flow to the collider as it started to spin faster and faster as the magnets started firing, forcing the tungsten steel that made up the walls of the collider to send the spinning doorway from one magnet to the next, firing at incredible speed so fragile that the timing had to be controlled through Europa for the instantaneous calculations that had to be made in microseconds. The laser system created a funnel that hit the lead-lined wall, but due to the low flow of power at only fifty percent, reaching arms of the doorway were held captive inside the confines of this dimension. The effect was spectacular and one of the more frightening either Jack or Niles had ever seen. The lasers created a tunnel-like effect that painted a bright picture of spinning fluorescent lighting. The tunnel would pulse every ten seconds and a bubblelike sphere would slam into the reinforced wall as it sought to break free of the power restraints forced upon it by Europa. This was a caged animal that did not like being controlled.

  “We have a power loss on magnet’s fifty-six and seventy-one. Europa is compensating with power to magnets fifty-seven and seventy-two,” Jenks called out as the effect of the open doorway started to change the very air around them. Papers rustled and the flooring shook and then stabilized as the collider brought itself back into balance with the assistance of Europa.

  “You must explain to me about this Europa someday,” Moira said as she listened to the Marilyn Monroe voice synthesizer.

  The rattling of equipment stopped as the doorway settled into a steady hum and the artificial wind calmed to a light breeze as if the air conditioners were on.

  “What is the main core temp?” Virginia asked.

  “Collider housing is at three hundred and forty-five degrees and holding, far below minimum safe.”

  Jenks heard the technician say “safe” and he huffed. “That’s a hopeful euphemism.”

  “Knock it off, Harold,” Virginia said as she tried to concentrate on the doorway and the effect it was having on the immediate environment. She did not care for the instability of the air near the spinning doorway. It wasn’t just the effect of the powerful collider spinning in the opposite direction of the particle accelerator creating the false wind they were feeling, it was the smell. It was like they were breathing old, very damp, stale air from some place other than their immediate atmosphere.

  “Status by station,” Virginia said into the microphone as she slowly lowered herself into her chair.

  “Los Angeles, engineering, reactor is optimal and power cables are holding, Doctor,” came the calm voice of the civilian propulsion specialist onboard inside the old submarine’s engineering spaces. “Power output at forty percent and holding.”

  “Electromagnetic halo is holding, two units down, and the compensation is holding,” called out one of her nuclear specialists monitoring the power flow through the hundreds of magnets lining the collider.

  “Damn right it is,” Jenks said, as the new design was his contribution to what he now knew was madness.

  “Go or no go is an acceptable turn of phrase, I believe,” Virginia said without looking at Jenks. His being unnerved by a scientific experiment was starting to get to Virginia’s psyche. It was the master chief’s natural engineering skills and his inability to respect a very dangerous science that made her apprehensive.

  “Collider is functioning at expected parameters,” called out a nervous female technician as she monitored the X ray–like view of the spinning particle accelerator that enhanced the m
agnification inside the round collider by ten thousand power. The view was controlled through Europa and her electron microscope underneath Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

  “Dr. Morales, are you ready to initiate signal search?” Virginia asked.

  “As ready as we’ll ever be,” Morales said from his monitor.

  Virginia Pollock tried to swallow her fear as Moira saw her face as she studied the spinning blue and green lasers as they created and animated a circle of spectacular light against the lead-lined wall. She closed her eyes and spoke. “Initiate power upgrade to sixty-five percent, please. Okay, let’s target our initiated point for dimensional signal disbursement.”

  “What is that?” Jack asked Niles as they watched from above.

  “In order to disburse the signal into as many directions and dimensions as possible, Europa will bounce the signal off the surface of the moon and have it bounce back to Earth; after all, we can narrow one parameter down as to where Mr. Everett is: Earth. Once the signal is brought home, so to speak, it will again disburse into all dimensions and start its search for the corresponding return signal from the escape pod.”

  “Right, I should have figured that out myself.” Jack smiled and looked at Niles, who only nodded in appreciation of Jack’s limited imagination when it came to quantum physics.

  Inside the engineering spaces of the USS Los Angeles the propulsion engineer from General Dynamics, although he didn’t know what was going on inside the building, frowned as he eased the power setting forward on the reactor core.

  “Sixty-five percent power flow.”

  “Thank you, Los Angeles.” Virginia, for one last time, turned and looked at Niles Compton. He looked at Master Chief Jenks and saw his frown. “Permission to open the doorway for signal acquisition search?” Niles nodded. “Make sure your target settings are at zero. Contact satellite transfer and get them our signal net. Let’s slam this baby into the moon and see if this dog will bark.”