Wormhole (The Rho Agenda #3)(101)

The shot shifted to the camera showing the ATACC, gradually zooming out until the massive Gateway Device filled the screen.

“Right now you are looking at the heart of the project, the Rho Gateway Device.”

Pausing momentarily for dramatic effect, Ted continued. “This is the engineering marvel that will create a wormhole, through which the scientists will push the November Anomaly using the stasis field generators. Once the anomaly has been pushed into the wormhole, the Rho Gateway Device will be powered down, closing the wormhole, and eliminating the threat to our planet, forever.”

The lighting in the cavern acquired an amber hue as the PA system sounded.

“Initial stasis field power countdown commencing...five, four, three, two, one. Engaging power.”

There was a brief pause, followed by another announcement.

“Stasis field generator power steady at ten percent on both systems. Commencing one-minute countdown to full power ramp.”

Ted turned sideways, to enhance the camera’s view of his profile silhouetted against the gateway.

“Now it starts getting dicey. This countdown will take us to the point where scientists bring the two stasis field generators to full power. While it’s nowhere close to the amount of power the Gateway Device will use, it’s still more than the total amount of power used by the Large Hadron Collider over the entire course of its operation.”

He found he was sweating profusely. It all came down to this...

Again the loudspeaker sounded out the final ten seconds of the countdown.

“Initiating power ramp...fifty percent...seventy percent...ninety-five percent...stasis field generator power stabilized at one hundred percent. All systems nominal.”

The sound of clapping echoed up from the cavern floor.

Ted smiled, relieved. “You can feel the tension in that applause.”

The PA system squawked. “Commencing one-minute countdown to Rho Gateway power ramp.”

Ted turned back to face the camera. “I have to admit to a little dry mouth. Unlike the stasis field generator power-up, the gateway is going to be ramped to full power without a pause. The scientists will power it up, but they won’t activate it until after the November Anomaly is isolated by the primary stasis field generator.”

As the final countdown sounded, the camera shifted to a tight shot of the Gateway Device.

“Gateway device power ramp initiated.”

Ted felt his hair stand on end, but he couldn’t be sure if it was static electricity in the air or the tension in his body. In front of him, the producer and the camera people had a kind of tension, too, their bodies just going through the motions. They appeared to Ted like poorly designed computer simulations of the team he knew so well.

“Power at fifty percent...seventy-five...ninety...ninety-five...ninety-eight...”

There was a brief pause in the announcements.

“Gateway device power stabilized at ninety-nine point three percent of maximum.”

Once again the sound of applause rang out from the scientists and technicians assembled below.

Ted exhaled. “I know you must be wondering why they’re clapping, since we didn’t get to one hundred percent power. I sure am. For an explanation, we go to Dr. Gerta Freiholt, a physicist from the matter disrupter team. Thank you for taking the time to help us understand what is happening.”

The camera shifted to a white-coated woman with her gray hair pulled back in a severe bun. “My pleasure. As you can tell from the reaction from our ATACC crew, ninety-nine percent power is excellent. The system was designed with a certain amount of tolerance. While we would have loved to hit the one hundred percent target, anything over ninety-five percent is good.”

“That’s good to know. We have a couple of minutes until the next phase. Can you give us a quick overview of what scientists will be trying to do with the stasis field generators?”

“Well, first they are going to use the primary stasis field generator to capture and isolate the November Anomaly. Right now the anomaly is contained by powerful magnetic fields within a vacuum chamber.”

The camera switched to a view of the steel ball suspended a few meters in front of the Gateway Device opening.

“When the stasis field is directed at the anomaly containment apparatus, it will instantaneously cut through all that steel, which will fall away onto the cavern floor. However, the stasis field will move at the speed of light, so before the pieces of the vacuum chamber have begun to move, the field will wrap itself around the anomaly, maintaining the vacuum and preventing any external matter from perturbing the anomaly.”

“What about the metal casing? Isn’t it going to fall right into the anomaly and won’t all that metal knock it around?”

“No. It won’t be able to touch it. Think of the stasis field as a force field that is so powerful that it can repel anything away from the anomaly. Even an explosion couldn’t penetrate it.”

“Sounds like the deflector shields on the starship Enterprise.”

“That’s one way to think about it.”

“So what is the second stasis field generator for?”

“Good question. Once the primary stasis field generator has captured the anomaly, scientists will activate the Rho Gateway Device to create a wormhole into deep space. However, an opening into the vacuum of space would immediately depressurize the facility, sucking out the air and all of us with it. The secondary stasis field generator will form an invisible door sealing off the Gateway Device opening, before the gateway is activated. Once the wormhole has formed, scientists will confirm the far end coordinates to ensure it’s not too close to Earth or within a star. Then they will use the primary stasis field generator to move the anomaly to the gateway, modulating the two stasis fields to allow the first to pass through the second and release the anomaly into the wormhole.”