Austin notices fissures on the walls. “This place is not safe for you.”
Anil’s voice cracks. “…I know, Dr. Sanders. I’ve been trying hard to find a new residence, but the rents are expensive on the higher floors.”
“What?” Prisha asks, sitting upright. “Is that why we can’t move? You said the leasing office won’t break our contract.”
“…I’m sorry, Prisha, that’s not exactly true.”
“You lied to me?”
Austin leans forward. “Anil is trying to protect you. He doesn’t want to see you upset.”
“I’m worried all the time,” Anil laments. “I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night. All I think about is our financial situation. I’m stressed every day looking for a new place to live.”
Austin’s eyes swell with tears. “One day you might wake up underwater. That’s how I lost Matthew.” He breaks down and cries. “My son was with my parents in Marin and I lost all of them to the Flood. It came without warning. That was ten years ago.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Sanders.”
“It devastated me. They were in a beach house when the ocean crashed in and saw them again.” He sobs. “It’s my fault. I ignored the rising water level. Every day I think about Matthew.” He wipes his tears. “I don’t want that to happen to you.”
Prisha cries. “It is very difficult for us. I fear for my life every time the room shakes.”
“We’ve never had so much stress,” Anil says. “I’m looking for a second job and I haven’t found any opportunities.”
Austin looks down. “You are a dedicated father, Anil. I don’t want to see you suffer like this.” He reaches out a hand. “Please come stay with me at my condo in San Francisco.”
Anil bows. “Thank you, Dr. Sanders. That is so considerate of you.”
“We have to look out for one another. Our common humanity is all we have left.”
Anil looks at Prisha with concern. “I am grateful, but my wife must stay in bed for the rest of her pregnancy. She has a dangerous condition that gives her high blood pressure. It isn’t safe for us to travel far.”
Austin nods. “I understand. Is there another apartment available here?”
“Yes, but the rent is expensive.”
“I will pay it for you. Please move immediately. It’s troubling to see you two live under such duress.”
Prisha sheds a tear. “This means so much to us, Dr. Sanders.”
“That’s the least I can do.” A tidal wave shakes the walls. “You should move immediately. Let’s go to the leasing office right now.”
Anil holds his hands together. “We are so thankful, Dr. Sanders. Will you be our child’s godfather?”
Austin tears up. “Yes, of course, it would be my honor. Have you decided on a name?”
“We have,” Anil says with a smile. “She’s Lumi, short for ‘luminous.’”
“That’s a wonderful name. Like a ray of light. Lord knows we need more sunshine in this world.”
“Absolutely.”
“It will be an honor for me to be Baby Lumi’s godfather. I’ll protect her like she’s my own.”
“We are blessed to have you,” Prisha says.
“Of course, now let’s go to the leasing office.”
Anil takes a deep breath. “It is freeing not to have to worry about our living situation, especially with the uncertainties at work. I hope our jobs are secure with the new CEO. Will he be a good leader?”
“About that,” Austin mutters. “Beth isn’t giving up just yet. She wants to fight back.”
“So she’s still in charge?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“What can we do to help her?”
Austin pauses and contemplates. “Let me ask you this, Anil. How much deuterium do we have left?”
“Almost all of it. We used only a small fraction for the experiment last week.”
“Excellent.” Austin sits on a chair and rubs his chin. “What if we could fuse all the deuterium and tritium atoms we have? How much electricity would that produce?”
“You mean if we built a large-scale reactor?”
“Yes.”
Anil grabs his laptop. “I’ve run those calculations before. Assuming we exhaust our supply, our fuel will generate 500,000 gigawatts of power.”
“Wow, that’s a lot!”
“Yes, the equivalent of 250,000 coal-fired plants.”
“And it wouldn’t release a single atom of greenhouse gas?”
“Correct. It’s 100% clean energy.”
“How long will it take for the atoms to fuse?”
“About an hour.”
Austin’s brow rises. “That would be the longest nuclear reaction in history.”
“Precisely.”
Austin stands. “I know how we can save Beth and keep our jobs. Not only that, it will help us win the War and save Earth from extinction.”
Prisha and Anil look at each other.
“It’s time to execute Project Titan,” Austin proclaims. “We have to scale up and build an industrial reactor. It’s the last hope for the planet.”
“I agree, Dr. Sanders. I’m ready to help.”
“Is there a countdown from Barnard’s Star?”
Anil logs onto the JPL portal. “Yes.”
“When does it end?”
“In five days.”
Austin stares off. “Can we capture the incoming gravitational wave and trigger a 60-minute fusion reaction?”
“Five days is not a lot of time,” Anil says. “This time we’ll need to reach steady-state. The temperatures must stay at 100 million degrees for an hour.”
Austin chuckles. “You mean destroying a particle accelerator isn’t steady-state?”
“No. The reaction last week lasted a nanosecond. The challenge is holding that temperature and fusing the deuterium and tritium until our fuel exhausts.”
“How do we do that?”
“We need a gravity engine that will catch the wave and stably convert it to heat, keeping the laser temperature at a constant 100 million degrees.”
“That’s very complicated,” Austin says. “How will we figure it out?”
Anil shows his blueprints. “Our A.I. already has.”
“Ah!” Austin makes a fist. “Foxtail saves the day.”
“Correct. I ran simulations in our machine learning software and it designed the optimal schematics for the gravity engine. We have a working model. Take a look.”
Austin stares at the sketches. “This is brilliant. How many trials did Foxtail test before it came up with this one?”
“Decillions. There is no way a human could design something like this.”
“The power of A.I… I will inform Beth that the plans are ready. What do we need?”
“To build it in five days?” Anil’s eyes widen in excitement. “Materials like zirconium, titanium, and neodymium, not to mention an army of engineers and builders. This is a monumental task. Can we pull it off?”
“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Let’s go for it.”
“I’m in, Dr. Sanders.”
Austin pauses. “I remember Beth saying that the world’s largest laser is at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.”
Anil points. “That’s correct. It’s called the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, not far from here. It has a 500 terawatt neodymium beam.”
“Impressive. Can we transport it?”
“No, Dr. Sanders, it’s much larger than the Cyclotron. Moving it is impossible. We will have to construct the gravity engine within the facility.”
“I see. So we build our machine into the laser?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Let me circle back to Beth and communicate our intentions. It’s full steam ahead on Project Titan. We will meet in Livermore.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Austin gestures. “But first, come with me to the rental office. I want you to move to a new apartment right now.”