After five minutes of entering information in the requested fields, a notice appeared on the screen indicating that hydrogen gas was being loaded into the source chamber of the linear accelerator.
Koehler knew that the source chamber was where the electrons would be stripped off the hydrogen atoms, leaving protons with a positive charge. The protons would be fed separately into the linear accelerator, the first in a five-step process of acceleration.
Once the protons were accelerated to sufficient speed, they would be transferred into a booster that consisted of four 157-meter rings. The rings constituted the second stage of the process, accelerating the proton beam to about ninety-two percent of the speed of light. But the acceleration process wouldn’t end there, because once the proton beam made it through the four smaller rings, it would be transferred to the Proton Synchrotron Booster, or PSB, the third stage. By the time the protons exited the PSB, they would be traveling at nearly the speed of light.
Unable to make the beam travel any faster, the system would increase the mass of the protons to twenty-five times their mass at rest. The beam would be transferred to the fourth stage, the Super Proton Synchrotron, or SPS, whose purpose was to increase the energy of the beam prior to transfer into the collider itself. The higher the energy, the greater the collision.
The first four stages would increase speed, mass, and energy. After that, the proton beam would reach its final destination: the collider itself. The Large Hadron Collider resided in a circular tunnel twenty-seven kilometers in circumference, stretching under Switzerland and France.
Prior to the shutdown, CERN scientists had run collisions at eight teraelectron volts, or TeV. But sitting at the CERN computer, Koehler was making the necessary entries to run collisions at fourteen TeV, something previously unheard of.
A chime from the computer caused Koehler to focus on the screen again. A new message had appeared, telling the user that the protons had been stripped from the hydrogen atoms and were beginning the process of acceleration.
Despite the bravado written on his countenance, the German’s stomach was churning, and his palms were sweating. He knew that they were entering untested waters, colliding subatomic particles with a ferocious energy not unlike that experienced in the moments just after the Big Bang.
And he also knew that the Italian priest really had no idea what would happen after that.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
“Who was that?” asked Konstantine without turning around. He was standing just inside the glass door, staring out at the blizzard that intensified with each passing moment. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen snow coming down this hard, even in his native Russia. In fact, the only thing he could see were a few lights in the parking lot, and even those were mostly obscured by the swirling gusts of white powder.
“The Serpent,” replied his partner Boris, tucking the radio back into his jacket.
“And what did he want?”
“The usual. To make sure we were in place and that we hadn’t seen anything.”
“In other words, he’s trying to show Koehler he’s on top of things after what happened.”
“Exactly.”
Konstantine heard a soft click and then smelled the distinct scent of tobacco smoke. He swiveled around and snapped, “Put that thing out now! The German is looking for any reason to put a bullet in someone’s head, and if you set off an alarm, it might be us.”
“I couldn’t care less what he thinks.”
“At least go outside.”
Boris shrugged, mumbling something about Konstantine being paranoid, and opened the door. A gust of flakes exploded into the building as he exited. Quickly flipping the hood over his head, the Russian stepped out onto the walk and took a long draw on his cigarette, letting the smoke fill his lungs. He savored the moment, exhaling slowly. The entire security detail was on edge after the events earlier in the evening, and nicotine was one small way to escape the stress that had settled over the group.
In a fit of rage, Koehler had screamed at the Serpent for what seemed like a half hour. The Serpent had been responsible for scouting and security at the Christmas gala, and yet he had somehow managed to allow the dark-haired woman and her partner to crash the event and cause trouble on the dock. Koehler found it unthinkable that the Russian could have missed the very person he had followed across Lake Geneva.
The Russian took another draw, this time blowing a ring up into the falling snow. He was enjoying his smoke so much that he barely noticed the freezing temperatures.
Two minutes later, Boris used his index finger to flick the butt of the cigarette out into the snow. The red orb disappeared immediately in the midst of the moist flakes.
Reaching down, he lifted up his rifle, which had been propped against his leg, and slung it over his shoulder. Just as he was about to turn around, he spotted a light shining horizontally across the parking lot. He frowned and took a few more steps down the sidewalk. As he drew a bit closer, he could see that it was indeed a light, but he was unable to determine the source.
The Russian continued walking but with his rifle pointed directly ahead. When he was halfway down the sidewalk, he finally determined that the headlights of a car in the parking lot had been turned on. The hairs on the back of Boris’s neck stood on end, because he knew that he and two other members of the security team had cleared the vehicle when they arrived. There had been no one inside, nor was the driver anywhere in the building. The car appeared to have been sitting there for quite some time.
His senses on high alert, Boris fished into his jacket and removed the radio. Pressing a button on the side, he said, “Konstantine.”
There was a crackle and then his partner responded. “What are you doing? Get back in here before you get us in trouble.”
“There is something going on out here.”
“What?”
“Aren’t you listening? I said there is something going on out here.”
“And I’m asking you what you’re talking about.”
Boris realized that he was getting snappy, so he lowered his voice. “Remember the car, the one we examined earlier?”
“Yes.”
“Well, the headlights are on now.”
“That’s not possible.”
“I’m looking at it with my own eyes.”
Boris could hear movement on the other end. Finally, Konstantine said, “I’m looking out the window now, and I see what you’re talking about. Is there anyone inside?”
“I can’t tell from here, but I’m going to take a closer look.”
“Do you need me to come out?”
“No. I’m just going to get close enough to see if anyone is still there. Don’t radio anybody yet. You yourself said the German is ready to shoot someone. Let me find out what’s going on first.”
Boris placed the radio back in his jacket and started moving again. As he left the sidewalk, he noticed that the light only appeared to be coming from one headlight. Was the other one out? Perhaps, but it still bothered him. Something just didn’t smell right. After all, how had it come on in the first place? None of it made sense.
Within fifty feet of the car, the Russian stopped dead in his tracks and frowned. The light hadn’t been coming from the headlights after all. Sitting on top of the hood was a flashlight, partially buried by a gathering layer of snow.
His heart thumping in his chest, Boris tightened the grip on his rifle and swung it around in all directions. Someone was trying to trap him. They had wanted him to come out to investigate the light, pulling him away from the relative safety of the building. But no matter which way he turned, the Russian could see nothing. The storm was reaching its full fury, and visibility was almost zero.