Qin
Station :
Sol
System :
Over the next
two weeks, the guards shadowed Alex’s every move. He was confined to the lab,
and Sian was locked in the experiment room with guards of his own. Apparently,
Emperor Yin didn’t want the young programmer to do anything foolish, such as
harm himself. Sian was no longer trusted to work on the project independently,
so the final setup was left to Alex.
Checking Alex’s progress every step of the way, Alice never
failed to flash him a condescending smile. The entire time he was setting up
the first trial, Alex couldn’t stop remonstrating with himself. If the
situation hadn’t been so dire, he could have blamed it on his screwed-up physiology
causing him to think with his emotions rather than his logic. A part of him
recognized that he might have wanted to believe in Alice’s change of heart
despite her history.
The game hadn’t changed, just the players. The Kulsat were
still on their way at any moment in the future, and Alex could not hold out
hope that anyone on Earth would be able to crack the code and develop an army
of Kinemats to stop both Chow Yin and the impending alien invasion. For all he
knew, Justine was dead, and no one on the Gliesan home world had any idea what
had happened.
At the back of his mind, he still nurtured the possibility
that he would be able to find a way out of his predicament. He couldn’t give
over to despair.
While he prepared for the first experiment, he kept coming
back to the conversation he’d had with Alice. Her theory that the star beacons
were inter-dimensional devices had some merit, but there was a nagging thought
that it wasn’t exactly the correct answer.
Back on Canada Station Three, when he and Kenny performed
their unauthorized experiments, Alex had been lost in some otherness that he
couldn’t explain. Yaxche had called it a spirit walk, a dream state—though Alex
had not been able to sleep or dream since the moment he’d been exposed to Kinemet
on Macklin’s Rock.
There were so many ancient myths and legends about the
nature of the universe that it was difficult to sift through all of them. One
aspect penetrated them all, however: that there was a level beyond the physical
plane, something to which all humanity could and should endeavor to attain.
The problem Alex had with that idea was how the star beacons
played into it. Were they some kind of bridge to an alternate level of
existence? He found it hard to believe that something so tangible and prevalent
was the answer.
Though he only had Ah Tabai’s very brief account of the
history of the galaxy, it seemed the Grace were a terrestrial species. They
were not gods; they’d merely attained a significant level of scientific
advancement.
If they had created the star beacons, then there had to be
another explanation for how they worked. The words ‘outside light’ kept playing
over and over in his head.
He knew there was some kind of physical explanation for the
star beacon’s mechanism; there was no need to get into the metaphysical or
mystical to find the answer.
Once Alex had completed all the calculations for the first Kinemetic
conversion trial, he informed one of the guards, who immediately spoke into a
communications chip on his wrist.
Within a few minutes, Alice arrived.
Behind her, several workers carted in a large container made
of a transparent thermoplastic. Big enough to fit a person, it was hooked up
with several electronic wires and circuits. A small tube inserted in the back
of the container led to an oxygen tank. The only opening was the door, which
was electromagnetically sealed.
Alex instinctively knew what the container was. “A Kinemetic
damper?”
Nodding, Alice said, “Well, we want you on hand to observe the
experiment, but the moment we lift the damping field in the lab, you would have
the ability to thwart the experiment.”
Sourly, Alex spoke in a low voice. “We can’t have that, can
we?”
Pretending not to hear him, Alice said, “Unfortunately, my
father is attending other business, so we’ll postpone the trial until later
this evening.”
From the small room, Sian watched on through the window.
Alex could feel his despair.
Another person entered the lab. Doctor Naysmith, his
perpetually good-humored smile on his face, gave Alex a nod as he passed by and
headed for Sian.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked.
Alice said, “We need to be sure there’s nothing physically
wrong with him. There can be nothing that will skew the results of the test.”
While the doctor performed a thorough examination of Sian,
Alice ordered the guards to set up the lab for the experiment, placing chairs
facing the experiment room window, and setting up monitors so everyone watching
could follow the progress of the trial. Alex wondered how many people were
going to be there.
Since no one seemed to be paying attention to him, Alex took
a step toward the lab door, but a sharp-eyed guard spotted him and snapped his
weapon up, the barrel of his rifle pointed at his head.
Alice snickered. “Perhaps you would be more comfortable
waiting on the other side of the lab. Lie down on your cot and get some rest. You
don’t want to miss the show.”
Feeling as helpless as he’d ever been, Alex retreated to the
cot and sat down, but there was no way he was going to get any rest. Inside, he
was far too frustrated and angry.
He willed himself to think about something else, and came
back to that nagging sensation that had been haunting him since CS3.
How could something be ‘outside light’?
Light was simply electromagnetic radiation. Human senses
could only detect a relatively small band of its wavelength.
Was Ah Tabai talking about the absence of light? If so, then
how did that relate to being in a photonic state? Did the star beacons negate
the effects of the quantum drive?
Alex shook his head. That didn’t explain anything. The travel
between the star beacons was, as far as he knew, instantaneous.
What about the opposite end of light? Gamma rays were at the
top of the spectrum. The galaxy was flooded with their bursts, whether from
black holes or hypernovae. Many of the corresponding frequencies in the Song of
the Stars were charted among the gamma wavelengths. It was these frequencies
they were going to use on the sample of Kinemet and change its physical
properties to the point where, once bombarded with hydrogen photons, it could
properly irradiate a person, in turn altering their physiology where they
became sensitive to light and all things in the electromagnetic spectrum.
Was there something beyond gamma rays? Some high-energy wave
that had previously been undetected, which was somehow used to create the star
beacons, much as a Kinemat was created? When Macklin’s Rock had traveled
through Sol System at near light speeds, the readings Justine’s crew had taken
of the star beacon they’d dubbed
Dis Pater
was off the charts.
What could possibly produce that much energy?
The thought vanished from his mind when he realized someone
was standing over him, a personable smile on his face.
“Doctor Naysmith?” Alex said.
“And how are you today, young man?”
Frowning, Alex glanced over at Sian. “How can you pretend to
care, when you know he could die from this experiment?”
The perpetual smile on the doctor’s face wavered for a
fraction of a second. He cocked his head. “From my understanding, he could
live.”
Looking up sharply, Alex stared into the doctor’s eyes.
Doctor Naysmith said, “Everyone has the right to medical
treatment. Now, your checkup has been overdue. If you will permit me, I would
like to scan you.”
His first impulse was to continue haranguing the doctor, but
then Alex realized he would only be wasting his breath.
The doctor pressed a sensor against the side of Alex’s neck
and looked at the readout on his holoslate.
“Hmm,” Doctor Naysmith said, for the first time looking
concerned.
“What is it?” Alex asked, wondering if the time away from
the influence of Kinemet was starting to drain him.
“Your blood pressure is a bit high.”
Laughing involuntarily, Alex shook his head. “Is that it?”
“Well,” the doctor said, reaching into a pocket of his lab
coat and withdrawing a hypodermic gun. “According to my records, your diet is well
within guidelines. It could just be the stress of the day, but there’s always
the possibility of hypertension. I’d like to inject you with a micro-monitor.
It will record your blood pressure over the next twenty-four hours and send the
results to my lab.”
Without waiting for consent, the doctor pressed the tip of
the gun against the inside of Alex’s wrist and pressed the trigger. Alex let
out a short cry and rubbed the spot until the pain dissipated.
Putting the hypodermic gun back in his pocket, the doctor
said, “If the area becomes irritated, let me know.”
Alex looked up as Alice approached. She glanced back and
forth between him and the doctor. “Everything all right?” she asked.
The doctor gave her a warm smile. “Right as rain.”
“Good,” she said, and looked at Alex as she pointed to the
glass cage. “My father will be here soon. It’s time to start.”
∞
When Alex realized he was pacing like a caged animal in the
glass encasement, he willed himself to stand still. He watched as Alice and
several technicians set up for the first trial on Sian.
Though the young programmer was in the experiment room on
the other side of the laboratory, Alex could see the worry on his face. He didn’t
blame him. There was an even chance that Sian would suffer an agonizing death
by being subjected to the Kinemetic radiation. Going through all of his
calculations in his head once more, Alex could not think of any way to eliminate
one or the other of the two sequences. The trial was the only way.
When Alex had been exposed to the Kinemetic radiation on
Macklin’s Rock, he’d been partially shielded by the electromagnetic barriers in
the TAHU, which was specifically designed to protect against the numerous
radioactive waves floating through Sol System. If not for that shielding, Alex
knew he would have died as his parents had, since the Kinemet had not been
primed before activation. It was a cruel truth.
Absently, he scratched at the spot on his wrist where Doctor
Naysmith had injected the micro-monitor. When he looked down, he saw the skin
had turned a faint shade of red. It was probably caused by the rubbing and
scratching.
Alice stood in front of the communication panel on one wall,
her hands balled into fists and resting on her hips. She exchanged a few heated
words with whomever was on the other end, but Alex couldn’t make out what she
was saying through the glass.
Finally, she turned to look at Alex, and then a moment later
strode over to him. There was an intercom system set up on the encasement, and
she pressed the button to turn on the microphone. Her voice came through the
speaker set high up on the glass wall.
“Well, it looks as if we’re going to have to start without
His Highness.” She did not attempt to hide her bitterness. “We’re to record the
trial for playback later. I can’t imagine what is more important right now.”
“Why not postpone?” Alex said.
She gave him an irritated glare. “No. We’ll do this now. It
will only take a few more minutes to set up the recorders. I’ll have a monitor brought
up here so you can follow the progress of the trial. If there is any anomaly,
you will let us know right away.”
“Of course,” Alex said with a terse nod.
Alice narrowed her eyes. “Do I need to remind you that any
trickery will earn you swift punishment?”
Though Alex did not want any harm to come to Sian, the
logical side of him knew this trial was necessary. Once the procedure for
creating a Kinemat was ascertained, they could begin creating a defensive force
against the Kulsat.
“I know what’s at stake,” Alex said. “You don’t have to
threaten me.”
A look of annoyance crossed Alice’s face, showing Alex that
she didn’t completely believe him. Someone who had gone through what Alice had
would most likely never lose that level of paranoia.
As the Emperor’s daughter walked off to oversee the last-minute
details, Alex found himself scratching at his wrist again. The skin was turning
bright red. He wondered if he should get the doctor back into the lab to have a
look. Instead, he made a conscious effort to thrust his hands in his pockets
and not scratch.
After fifteen more minutes of prep, Alice and a technician
wheeled a monitoring station over to the glass cage and positioned the screen
so that Alex could see the readout. The display showed a score of diagnostics,
including Sian’s vital signs, the ambient temperature in the experiment room,
the luminosity, gravity, air pressure and content levels. From his first
summary glance, Alex couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“All right,” Alice said through the intercom after one of
the technicians gave her thumbs-up sign. “Alex, we’re going to bring in the Kinemet
sample now, so we’ll be turning on the damper in your encasement. The shielding
will cut off all electromagnetic waves, including the speaker system. If you
feel the experiment needs to be aborted before the priming, knock on the glass
three times. Once I engage the priming sequence, there’s no turning back.”
Alex nodded that he understood her. She took a few steps
away and sat down at a nearby workstation.
A minute later, he heard a slight hum of the electromagnetic
shielding indicating the Kinemetic damper was engaged. He saw Alice press another
command on her console, presumably to disengage the lab’s damper.
A technician wheeled a trolley, with a sealed container
resting on top, through the main door. It must be the Kinemet. Though it was
very close, Alex could not sense the radiation from the metal. Just knowing it
was there sent a sensation of longing through him. It’d been days since he’d
been in the presence of the Kinemetic radiation. Like a junkie, his entire body
ached for it.