They finish the assembly and Anil carefully places the Titan prototype on top of the post. The beam hits the zirconium shell and a crackling sound fills the laboratory. Smoke rises from the contact point.
Tom covers his mouth. “The reactor isn’t anchored down. This is very unprofessional!”
Beth nervously taps her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Tom. We’re normally much more polished than this.” She points to an associate. “Fei, get that unit stabilized. Hurry!”
7:12, 7:11, 7:10…
Anil scans the clock and slumps. “I still haven’t connected the batteries to the reactor.”
“You take care of that,” Austin says. “We’ll do the rest.”
Anil grabs spare wire and connects the nodes to form a circuit. He takes out his laptop and opens a program showing the power flowing from the reactor. The indicator reads “0 Volts” with a flat line at zero. “Dr. Sanders, the batteries are ready. I’m tracking the output now.”
Austin looks over. “On a laptop? Isn’t it easier to use your smartglasses?”
Anil blushes. “I don’t have any. I sold my pair…”
Beth overhears the conversation. “That’s unacceptable. Everyone on the team should have them.” She hands him her glasses. “Take these.”
Anil looks at her offering. “Are you sure, Dr. Andrews? I don’t want to impose.”
“I have four pairs at home. They are yours now.”
Anil bows. “Thank you, Dr. Andrews. I’m deeply appreciative.” He takes the specs from her and places them on his face.
3:43, 3:42, 3:41…
The door barges open and Diego enters, frantic. “Sorry I’m late! I have the titanium.”
Austin points. “Give it to Tom. We only have three minutes!”
Diego scans the laboratory with a confused look. “Who the hell is Tom?”
Tom runs over and grabs the titanium from him. He rushes to the robotic arm and jumps on a chair, nearly losing his balance and dropping the package. Austin catches him before he falls.
“Ninety seconds left,” Beth screams. “Inject the titanium!”
Tom powers on the Cyclotron and an electrical roar fills the lab. He opens the canister and takes out a pea-sized glass sphere, placing it in the robotic arm. With a few taps on the screen, he loads the titanium into the port.
Austin stomps his foot. “Hurry and anchor down the reactor. We need contact now!”
“We’re almost done!” Fei shouts.
The Cyclotron arm inserts the titanium ions into the steel track. The laser temporarily disappears when the robot covers the injector port, and it reappears as the arm retracts. As it collides with the accelerating titanium ions, a sulfur-like smell emanates through the room.
Fei and the team scurry to mount the reactor. It wobbles as the beam makes contact with its zirconium shell, sending black smoke in the air. Hissing sounds intensify and people cover their ears.
“Is it supposed to be this loud?” Austin shouts over the noise. His heart races as the room shakes with an oscillating thunder. Flashes of light reflect off the melting zirconium and bathe the room red.
34, 33, 32…
Beth holds onto a desk, screaming, “I have a bad feeling about this!”
15, 14, 13…
“Let’s get out here!”
She dashes from the laboratory and sprints down the hallway toward the parking lot, stopping to look back for her team. Seconds later, they emerge from the lab. “Where’s Anil?” she shouts.
Austin looks back. “He’s still in there!”
“Shit,” she whispers as her heart beats through her chest. Suddenly Anil appears. She turns and runs frantically to the loading dock.
3, 2, 1…
A flash of electricity strikes the building and a massive explosion hurls people into the air. Beth jumps and falls headfirst towards the ground, reaching out her hands to break the fall. She lands hard and cringes when her shoulder slams into the concrete.
Flames rip from the ceiling and a wave of heat blasts outward and sets trees ablaze. Debris rains down on Austin. “The building is on fire,” he shouts. “Keep moving!”
Writhing in pain, Beth crawls on her hands and knees and looks back to see the building’s roof collapse as an inferno consumes the facility.
Tom shields his face from the heat. “The Cyclotron’s destroyed! What have you done?”
“Everyone, get away from the laboratory!” Austin shouts. He rubs his forehead and sees blood on his hand, then removes his cracked smartglasses and pulls glass shards from his face. “This is a disaster!”
Beth clutches her shoulder. “Did we all make it out? Where’s Fei?”
She clutches her leg in pain. “I’m here.”
Sirens blare in the distance and helicopters approach the scene. Beth turns to Tom. “I’m sorry about this. We didn’t know this would happen. We’ll pay for the damages.”
Tom turns white. “It’s a disaster! What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you catch the gravity wave?”
Beth turns to Anil, who lies on the ground staring at his laptop screen. “Have you found anything?”
“Yes,” Anil says. “Take a look at this.”
They crawl around him. Austin bites his lip in pain as he squints at the laptop. “What do you see?”
Anil points to a spike. “My app recorded an energy surge at the moment the gravity wave struck.”
“Did the reactor work?” Beth asks.
“It looks like it. All five Tesla batteries were charged instantaneously at the moment of impact before they exploded.”
“How much power did we create?”
“Six thousand volts in less than 1 nanosecond.”
“A nanosecond?”
“That’s right—10-9 seconds. If the reaction lasted for two full seconds, it would be the largest generator on Earth.”
Austin’s jaw drops. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
“Yes,” Anil cries, “we have finally solved nuclear fusion!”
PART 3
19.
ABOARD THE USS Hawkeye space shuttle, Captain Lionel Mercer runs a system update and checks a navigation panel. He looks at Earth fading in the distance, its northern hemisphere illuminated by the Sun.
His boss, Colonel Abe McNair, sits next to him in the cockpit. “Why are you so busy, private?”
“Excuse me, sir?”
“You’re always working. Why?”
“Just making sure we’re on track for Mars.”
Abe laughs. “The ship’s A.I. is smarter than you, so relax.” He unbuckles his seat belt and drifts, weightless. “Seeing this is your first time in space, I need to give you some pointers.”
Lionel stares at a display analyzing data. “Yes, sir, I’m listening.”
“First off, you need to chill. This is a marathon, not a sprint.” He takes out a packet and squeezes an espresso droplet, aiming it towards the younger captain. “You take things too seriously, Lionel. Do you want to burn out in two weeks?”
“No, sir.”
“Then relax and have some fun.”
Lionel turns to find a brown liquid morphing in front of his face. “What is this, Colonel?”
“Drink it.”
He opens his mouth and swallows the droplet, signaling with his thumbs up. “Tastes great, sir.”
Abe bursts into laughter. “Are you kidding me, private? That’s the worst brew I’ve ever had.”
“In Denver, people will wait in line for this. It tastes pretty good to me.”
“You’ve never had Philz?”
“What’s that?”