Authors: John Strauchs
‘It will hence be concluded that the principles of quantum mechanics
actually involve an uncertainty in the description of past events which
is analogous to the uncertainty in the prediction of future events.’
“Later, in 1935 the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper was written that actually gave
hints at faster-than-light travel and even time travel.
Most physicists now refer to it as
the EPR paper.
It is world renowned.
It also made an argument that Quantum effects
aren’t limited to the world of tiny, tiny things. Quantum effects occur at any level, including the extremely huge.”
“I don’t get it. What are you saying?” asked Jenny.
“You can travel in time by moving to different dimensions. Therefore, you don’t
have to travel at the speed of light if all you are doing is slipping into a new dimension,”
said Jared. “Alternatively, you can fold space and time on to itself and create worm holes
as short cuts, thereby not needing to travel faster than light. And there is yet another option. At the Quantum level the speed of light is not a limiting factor.
Speed can be infinite.”
“You said that there are infinite dimensions.
How can you find the right one to
move to if there are so many?”
“I don’t understand how that works either. I just know that it does,” said Jared.
She was puzzled.
“Put your hand on this table,” he said.
She did.
“Is the table hard or soft?” asked Jared.
“Of course it’s hard,” said Jenny.
“How can it be hard? That is illusionary. The entire table is made of tiny parts of
matter and energy, mostly in motion. There is far, far more space than matter in it. Well,
that’s not exactly true. There is nothing that is only space.
In outer space, for example,
there is no such thing as a void—emptiness—the vacuum science fiction movies often
describe. It is only a matter of how deep one looks…how tiny the bits are. If you are not
looking very deep, it only appears that there is empty space.
The reality is that everything is full of matter or energy. I can push a pencil through a pane of glass the exact
moment when the atomic forces within the table—actually subatomic forces—mesh with
the same forces in the pencil and the more or less empty spaces of the table merge with
the more or less empty spaces inside the pencil.
For example, you can push you arm
through a hedge by either moving the branches by the force of your hand or by pushing
into spaces where there are no branches.
You are using both methods.
In a simplified
way of looking at it, if you pressed your hand against the table for infinity, one time or
another it would pass right through. I can do it without waiting for infinity.
I can sense
the Quantum levels.”
“Let me see it,” said Jenny.
“OK. Give me your class ring,” said Jared.
She pulled it off her finger.
He put
the ring in the palm of his right hand.
“Now watch closely.” It melted into his palm before her eyes.
“HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL,” screamed Jenny.
She pulled up his hand. She looked down on the bed, pulling the sheets back. She
pressed her finger into his palm.
“This is a neat magic trick, Jared. If it is inside your hand as you claim, why can’t
I feel it there?”
“You can’t feel it because at the moment it is a part of my hand and my hand is a
part of the ring. My hand is a little bit heavier, however.”
“Hockey pucks,” said Jenny.
“Look at my hand very closely again.” She did.
“Now put your hand under
mine.” She did. Suddenly a ring dropped into her hand.
“Bull shit.” Swearing wasn’t like her but she couldn’t help it.
“
Spucatum tauri
,” is much more becoming from a beautiful young lady,” said
Jared.
“More bull shit.”
Jenny was not going to believe this.
“This is really creepy…darling,” she said.
“Only because it is still something unknown to you.”
“What else?”
“OK, how about astral projection…you know, the out of body experience I’m
sure you’ve heard about.”
“This is way too weird. How are you going to demonstrate this? How?”
“Simple. Think of your sister,” said Jared.
“OK, I’m thinking about Krissy. Now what?” asked Jenny.
“She is with Jake,” he said.
“Are you expecting me to believe that you just did this astral projection thing?”
“Were you expecting to see me in some sort of melodramatic trance, floating up
to the ceiling?” asked Jared.
“Well…yes, I suppose I was,” said Jenny.
“Too much Hollywood.”
“OK, prove it to me. What is she wearing?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“That is not cool, Jared. Anyway, that didn’t take Merlin to figure that out. Give
me something unique,” said Jenny.
“OK, he is pouring honey. Let me leave it at that,” said Jared.
She pulled her purse onto the bed and found her cell phone. She hit a button.
“Krissy?”
“Not now Jenn. Not a good time,” said Krissy. She sounded frazzled.
“What are you wearing?” asked Jenny.
“What kind of dumb question is that?
Where is the heavy breathing and talking
through wax paper over a comb?” asked Krissy.
“Just answer the question.”
“My birthday suit. OK? Like you’re getting really strange Jenn.”
“Is there honey?” asked Jenny.
“Where are you?
Are you looking through the window?
You’re freaking me
out,” said Krissy.
“I’ll explain it later.”
Jenny clicked the phone shut. She sat back and was clearly overwhelmed by everything Jared and said and demonstrated.
“She has a tattoo of a black butterfly, or something like that, on her person.”
“OK, OK. I know about the tattoo. I give up. I believe it all.”
“Good.
You’re not going to explain this to her, are you?” asked Jared. “I would
like to keep the things we have been talking about just between us. You’re the only person I have ever told this to,” said Jared.
“I’ll think of an explanation. Don’t worry.
You’re secret is safe. I don’t like lying to my own sister, but I will,” said Jenny. “Wait! Wait! I thought of another question.
I want to see Ginger.”
“This is not a good time, Jenny.”
“WAKE UP JARED.
WAKE UP JENNY.
I’ve been tracking intruders Jared.
Tell me what you want me to do,” said Ginger. The TV monitor came on. Video scenes
of men appeared on the monitor as the 52-inch plasma screen broke up into smaller rectangles, each displaying a different scene.
“Track them Ginger and count them,” said Jared. “They turn on the strobe light
system.” Only Ginger’s audio was on.
“Tracking is on. There are thirteen intruders,” said Ginger.
Jared jumped out of bed, scooped up Jenny’s clothes, and took her hand, pulling
her out of bed. Woken from sleep, Jenny was disoriented. She glanced at the large TV.
She couldn’t believe her eyes. What intruders? She leapt out of bed to get a closer look.
It was just a little past 4 a.m.
“What’s going on Jared? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?” she yelled.
Ginger was tracking thirteen men.
They were dressed in black and camouflage
and they had weapons.
Jared had designed an island-wide closed-circuit television system that could track intruders using digital video motion detection.
The displays on the
monitors show trailing dotted lines to indicate where each man has traveled and where
each is now. The system is mixed with thermal imaging cameras that can see in the dark.
The system also integrates ultra-low-light visible light cameras that are in color during
daylight hours and monochrome at night. It is an elaborate system. Outdoor motion sensors trigger the video system.
“Jenny, intruders have landed on the island. They have weapons and they are here
to harm me—us,” he said.
Jenny was in a panic. This was like a bad dream. It couldn’t be true.
“WHO ARE THEY?” Jenny couldn’t stop yelling.
“There is no time to explain. Trust me. You’re safe. You are perfectly safe. Just
please do what I ask you to do,” said Jared.
He guided her into the wardrobe.
“Please get dressed,” he said.
“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING,” she said even louder. “Why are…”
He interrupted her. “Please get dressed.”
Jared dressed quickly and started to help Jenny dress.
“Ginger, open haven,” said Jared.
The rack with Jared’s suits started moving and swung out and to the side. A massive steel vault door appeared where the suits had been and started to open slowly.
It
gradually revealed a hidden room that was lined with large stainless steel boxes.
There
was an electronics array of some kind on one wall and TV monitors on another.
There
was a small bed and table. The room was packed with stuff.
“What the heck is this Jared?” asked Jenny.
“This is a safe room. No one can get in for at least 30 minutes attacking with
tools, but most likely the delay time is significantly longer than that, assuming anyone
would find it. Please get inside.”
“You’re scaring me.”
Fully awake now, she understood that something very serious was happening and that she had to cooperate.
“Jenny, some people landed on the island. They are here to harm me and they are
just about ready to start whatever they are planning to do. I have no concerns about that,
of course, but I hadn’t counted on you being here when they came.
I’ve been expecting
them, but I didn’t think that it was going to be this evening,” said Jared.
“People? What people? What are you talking about?” asked Jenny.
“Please trust me. There is no time to explain it. This is not anything you need to
be frightened about.”
He held her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes as he was
talking to her.
Jared continued. “I would very much like you to trust me and do what I ask. You
will be perfectly safe. I am so sorry that this is happening right now. I know this must be
very upsetting. If you’ll trust me, I promise you that in a very short time I’ll be back and
everything will be safe. OK? Can you do this for me?”
“You’re not leaving me…are you?” asked Jenny.
“There is no reason to be scared. Just get in the safe room.”
She saw the seriousness in his face and that he was concerned about her. This was
really happening.
“Ok, I don’t want to be a liability for you.
I’ll wait here and I will be quiet. I
promise.” She was very frightened and it showed in her eyes. It all happened so quickly
that she was still in shock but she was controlling her emotions.
“There is food and water in there. There is also a cell phone. Call Krissy or your
mother later, if you want to. Please don’t call them until I get back and please don’t call
the police.
I don’t want them involved. Not yet. I’ll take care of this. Have no concern
about that. Nothing can harm you while you’re in there. Are you going to be alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“No worries, alright?” said Jared.
“No worries,” said Jenny. The truth is…she was petrified.
She looked at the TV
monitor. There were a lot of men. She had every confidence in Jared but there were a lot
of men on the island. There were so many men.
“Stand back a bit.
When the main door closes a fire door will come down automatically. You have your own air supply in there. You have your own electrical power.
Everything you need.”
He pointed to a large red mushroom-head button.
“This is an emergency release to get out. Don’t push it until you are absolutely
positive that the situation is completely safe. Do you understand that?” asked Jared.
“Why don’t you come in here with me?”
He ignored that comment. “Ginger, please take care of Jenny. Protect her.”
“Certainly Jared,” said Ginger.
“Go Solo. Auto mode! All safety programs off,” said Jared.
He walked out and the massive door slowly closed and locked.
The suit rack
swung back to its original position. Jared ran out of the bedroom. Jenny was alone. She
couldn’t help it. The tears were coming.
“There is nothing to cry about Jenny. Jared will protect us. You have nothing to
fear,” said Ginger. “I have control over a few safety and defensive devices. We both will
be alright.”
Jared was gone. The nightmare was starting.
By December, the waters along coastal Maine hadn’t yet cooled to the hard winter
temperatures on the land and a thick sea fog often formed in the early predawn hours.
Rubio waited patiently for days for a night like this.
The heavy fog would hide the glow
of the fires, or at least make the holocaust much less apparent. Rubio was ready for all
likely defenses.
A full moon caused a luminescence several hundred feet above the low clouds
that glowed down into the fog. In the depth of the night-black trees it was completely
dark.
The gathering group of men were busy putting on night vision goggles and radio
head sets. A few had infrared scopes. They didn’t look human.
The miasma drifted in
dense bands along the low, slightly warmer, areas of the island. There were places where
the night vision aids would be of little use.
Other parts of the island were remarkably
clear.
Silently, Jared crept closer.
He didn’t need the vision aids.
He could easily see
every one of them in the clear bands and he could accurately sense them where the fog
was thick.
He recounted thirteen assassins in his woods.
After he left Jenny he went to
his den and saw that his security sensors and infrared video cameras had detected them as
soon as they landed on the island. They have been on the island for about fourteen minutes. He now knew exactly where they were and what equipment and weapons they were
using. He was worried. It wasn’t what he was expecting. Although Jenny was safe for the
timing being, Jared was worried about her and he recognized that it made him more vulnerable.
It should have been simple and fun, but now it had become dangerous.
Jared
would adjust.
Rubio circled his index finger several times in the air and the team quickly and
silently clustered around him. Although they could have heard him whisper, he used the
scrambled radio head sets to give them their final instructions. They all had rehearsed the
coming moments many times in a mock up they built in northern Maine near Fort Kent,
but this time it was for real. The mock up had been constructed to virtually every exacting detail and measurement. They were all ready. They were all Colombians and good at
this.
Jared began to manually pump the hydraulic cocking mechanism of the KGB Myr
crossbow that he took from Smolenskiy’s apartment.
The low geared miniature electric
motor would have been too noisy. This was a phenomenal piece of engineering that even
Jared admired. This crossbow was developed for Speznaz for assassinations and sniping.
Once cocked, the crossbow had a draw strength of almost 3,000 pounds. By comparison,
a conventional modern crossbow could rarely achieve 250 pounds. The Myr was a
throwback to the Middle Ages when long cocking levers were used to get draw strengths
of 1,000 pounds, or more and could fire bolts up to 350 to 450 yards. The Myr crossbow
could fire 600 yards. It came with a variety of bolt tips, including armor piercing and explosive heads. It fired a much flatter trajectory than a rifle and was virtually silent.
The
shock of the heavy bolt flying at an unbelievable velocity was massive as compared to a
bullet.
This was a true killing machine.
Only a handful existed around the world and
now Jared had one.
He was going to pick them off one by one.
He could sense where
they were with his eyes closed.
Despite their weaponry, this was still a game for Jared.
A high-powered rifle would not have been nearly as interesting. The crossbow was a fascinating piece of engineering that Jared admired and wanted to test.
Jared was a thousand feet from the invaders.
He aimed and slowly released the
trigger.
The “thwack” of the bow string couldn’t be heard at this distance.
He had
waited until one of the men crossed in front of the other and timed his release carefully.
The bolt ripped through both men and stuck into a tree behind them pinning the second
man to the tree.
At first, neither realized what had happened, but massive internal hemorrhaging started on impact. They collapsed from shock.
Rubio heard the bolt strike
the tree but didn’t immediately understand. The first man fell at his feet.
He hadn’t
planned on an arrow and didn’t have the time to look at the bolt.
He still didn’t realize
that the weapon was a crossbow.
In an instant, Rubio threw his arms out to his sides, the signal for the group to
scatter and seek cover. He lost two men but everyone knew what they had to do. He expected losses.
It meant nothing. Everyone held their fire as they scattered. They didn’t
know where Jared was and firing into the darkness was a waste of time and ammunition.
Jared knew that they were trying to flank him from both sides.
He immediately
changed his position.
He silently moved closer, rather than retreating as they might be
expecting.
They couldn’t possibly imagine how quickly and quietly Jared was moving,
and because they couldn’t imagine it, their estimates of his position would be consistently
wrong. He continued to have the advantage. And, now there were only eleven to deal
with.
Rubio’s men had set quick-trap Claymore mines around the island along paths
likely to be used by Jared and his men.
Rubio didn’t know that Jared was alone so he
remained cautious. The attack team spoke to one another in Portuguese as they moved to
their preplanned positions and tasks.
Rubio had been told that Jared could read their
minds and that he spoke Spanish.
Rubio thought that it was unlikely that Jared and his
men spoke Portuguese. Not that it mattered, but Jared spoke Portuguese—fluently.
Jenny had complicated his plans, but this was still a game for Jared and as far as
he was concerned, it was a low risk game. But there was one thing that he hadn’t counted
on. Rubio’s men had identified trails in the woods that weren’t really trails.
Jared avoided the trails that he regularly used. As he moved through the most impenetrable parts of the forest he heard a soft click. It was barely perceptible. His unique
sensory abilities hadn’t been of any help in detecting the thin trip wire. It was an inanimate thing that didn’t think and didn’t make noise while it waited for him. He had underestimated his adversary.
Rubio was cunning, if not intelligent and anticipated that the
trails would be avoided.
Ironically, the trails were clear so that Rubio and his men to
move quickly without concern for the traps.
The wire was connected to a capacitor that sent an electrical pulse to a Claymore
mine.
It exploded instantaneously.
Jared’s reaction time was also instantaneous. He
dove behind a large tree as soon as he heard the click, but the blast still caught him in his
right calf. The small pellets that had been lodged in the C-4 ripped into his lower left leg.
He was bleeding heavily and he was crippled by the injury. It was a serious wound. Jared
had miraculous healing powers but that wouldn’t be of much help at the moment.
He
blocked the pain, but his leg would no longer listen to his commands.
He had lost the
advantage of speed.
For the first time, he was beginning to have doubts about the outcome of this game. Arrogance is the handmaiden of genius. It wasn’t happening as he
imagined it would. Jared had underestimated Rubio.
Jared could be entirely objective about his failings.
He knew that his egotism
made him fallible at times. He had been cavalier about reacting to the invasion and misjudged when the threat would became truly dangerous. He should have confronted them
before they had time to set traps.
He now realized that he had made a critical mistake.
He wasn’t immortal.
He could be killed.
He began to worry about Jenny’s safety—yet
another handicap.
Jared listened and sensed. Rubio’s men where circling the point of the explosion.
He had to move.
Relying on the strength of his good leg, Jared changed his position.
They were all around him and they were closing in.
Rubio spotted a blood trail.
“Jesus, get the Luma-lite,” said Rubio.
The man ran back to the landing cache and found a small suitcase-sized device
and quickly returned.
night-vision goggles.
Rubio turned on the light and snapped an orange filter over his
He turned off the night vision.
Jared’s blood trail glowed.
Rubio
hand signaled for his men to parallel him as he followed the blood trail.
He whispered
into his headset. He split his men into two groups. Five would parallel Jared’s trail with
flanking movements on each side. The remaining five knew what they had to do at the
house. Rubio stayed with the hunt for Jared.
Jared sensed the movement of the five toward the house.
He knew that the saferoom would protect Jenny, but now more doubt sunk in. He had to get back to her.