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CHAPTER 11
The Disappearance, as it was called, happened on the border which had been contested by China and India for decades. A contingent of Indian soldiers had not reported back to their base. It wasn't front page news at the time but was carefully discussed by intelligence agencies around the world.
When Dr. Zee heard about it, unofficially, he immediately came to the conclusion that China had developed a spacetime bubble weapon. But instead of the more dramatic and destructive energy shedding of a superluminal bubble, they had discovered the resonance that attached an extra-dimension to normal spacetime. From the description, Zee was sure that the disappeared soldiers were caught in that supra spacetime.
Zee was called to Washington DC and found himself in many meetings with the government and the military. Zee pointed out in the meetings that if the Chinese were this far along then they may also be ahead in developing a space drive. The country, at least at the highest levels, was being shocked into reality.
Harry had gotten his doctorate and taken a job with a Texas university teaching and researching. At the age of twenty, he was the youngest professor at the university. Lauren was finishing up her last semester and would soon be finished with her doctorate. Harry was hoping she would follow him to Texas.
As a young professor Harry had three introductory physics classes to teach his first semester. Since he was teaching the courses for the first time, he had to spend a lot of time preparing, he spent little time on research. One advantage he found to teaching was that he was having to learn the subjects in much greater depth than he did as a student. He found out that it was true, teaching a subject was a great way to learn it.
Harry was so busy he didn't have much time to miss Lauren. But there were moments when a measure of quiet entered into his routine and then he almost always ended up thinking about her. It was during one of these long moments that he decided he had to do something; he had to ask her to marry him.
Once he made the decision, it was as if everything became clear which had been cloudy. He knew he cared for her, but he never admitted he loved her enough to sacrifice his routine. Now, after the decision, he knew he loved her more than enough. The only question was should he say something next time they talked or the next time he saw her.
He wouldn't be seeing her for at least six more weeks, he wasn't sure he wanted to wait that long, at least to ask her. He would do it next time they talked, which would be that evening.
“Hello Harry.”
“Hi Lauren.”
“So, how did your day go?” she asked.
“Well, alright I guess, the classes went well but I've been preoccupied since,” he said.
“You have, about what?” she asked.
“I've been doing some long-term thinking,” he said.
“You have? What a coincidence, I have too,” she said. “I've been thinking about the experiment, Harry, as I've been writing it up for my thesis. We did a lot of work; I mean I think we could have something meaningful in just a few months if we could find a way to work on it again. What do you think?”
“About the experiment?” he said. “I haven't thought much about it to be honest, preparing my lectures has kept me pretty occupied.”
“But you said you had been doing some long-term thinking,” she said.
“I have, but not about the experiment,” he said.
“About what then?” she asked.
“About us, outside of physics,” he said.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I've got my degree, you're getting your degree soon, we can pursue the experiment or not, but there's something even more important than that,” he said.
“What are you saying Harry?” she said.
“I want to marry you Lauren,” he said.
“You do?” she said.
“Yeah, of course, you know I love you,” he said.
“Well, to be honest with you Harry, I've thought along those same lines myself. But I'm not willing to give up physics for marriage,” she said.
“I'm not asking you to,” he said.
“But,” she said, “once I get my degree there is no telling where I might end up as a post-doc, I won't have the same resume you have. I might not be offered a professorship. You know I'll have to search around for a position, and it may not even be in this country.”
“I know all that, we may have to sacrifice some time together, but wherever you end up I'll come to see you between semesters, maybe weekends, and you'll come home as often as possible,” he said.
“I just want you to know what you are getting into my love, it's not going to be a normal marriage, not for a while anyway,” she said.
“Then you'll marry me after semester?” he asked.
“Yes Harry, I will,” she said.
Dr. Zee was not resting well. The reports he had been shown were unsettling. He couldn't believe them. The Chinese communists were using his discovery to maintain their power in China. There were reports of strange disappearances inside the country, just as had happened on the border when an Indian Army platoon of thirty men had disappeared and never been heard from again. The border incident was not known to be deliberate but the reports from the interior were thought to be so.
So far, the disappearances seemed permanent, and that worried Zee also. Had the Chinese discovered some way to keep a bubble from dissipating, thereby maintaining the disappearance region indefinitely?
There were even unconfirmed reports of a new weapon being tested and it sounded very much like the energy shedding weapon he had been working on. The government wanted him to take charge of a major development project to finish the weapon and find some way to counter the disappearances. The Space Force was also pushing for the superluminal drive.
Zee wanted nothing to do with the project, but he felt he had an obligation to do what he could. He could finish the energy shedding weapon, but he needed someone to take on the other projects and the only persons he could think of that were qualified were Harry and Lauren. Each one could head up a research project. Maybe if they weren't working on the weapon, they would be willing to take on the work. He would talk to Harry first.
“That's right Harry, you would need to start right away,” said Dr. Zee.
“But I've just started by professorship, I would have to immediately take a leave of absence. I don't know how well that will be received by the administration here.”
“I'll do what I can to encourage them,” said Zee. “It's a national security issue now and I think you are best qualified to lead the project. You'll have everything you need.”
“Well, I don't know, have you talked to Lauren?” asked Harry.
“Not yet, I'll be talking to her next.”
“Which one of the issues do you want me to work on?” asked Harry.
“Well, I think that you might be more experienced than Lauren, so I think developing a counter to the disappearance phenomenon might be the best use of your talents and she can continue drive development. You research will be the most pressing issue since we have reason to believe that it is already being used nefariously.”
Harry thought a moment.
“I don't know professor, I'm wary of getting involved with the government again. Maybe I'll pass.”
“Okay Harry, but I want to tell you something before I let you go, something I'm not supposed to share but made a difference to me.”
Dr. Zee proceeded to tell Harry the classified information that he had been shown which caused him to change his mind. When he finished Harry was quiet.
“Okay, but I want two things,” said Harry.
“What's that?” said Zee.
“Lauren has to say yes, and we have to work out of the same site. I think in that way we can share ideas and get results much faster,” said Harry.
“Okay, I don't see any problem with that,” said Zee. “You'll do it then?”
“Assuming my university will allow me to take a leave of absence and Lauren agrees,” said Harry.
Surprisingly, Lauren agreed after Dr. Zee convinced her with the classified briefings, he had also told Harry about. Her idealism had been countered by the stark and desperate reality of events. He then called Harry and told him. Harry was ready and just waiting to hear about his request with the university.
After he learned that his university approved of his leave of absence, Harry first flew home to talk with his mother and to pick up a ring for Lauren.
“Here it is mother,” he said, showing her the engagement ring, he had bought for Lauren that day.
His mother took the ring and placed it on her little finger.
“It's lovely son, I'm sure she'll like it.”
“Once we are finished with this government project I want to bring Lauren back here for the wedding. Nothing to extravagant mother, just you and sis and maybe a few others and whoever Lauren wants to invite,” he said, taking the ring back from his mother and putting it away.
“If Lauren approves son.”
“Of course,” he said.
“I wish your dad could be here,” she said. “I don't think he could be prouder.”
“I wish he were here also mother. He'd be my best man, I'm sure.”
They were both quiet a moment.
“It's going to be safe, isn't it son?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so, Lauren and I will have a lot more help than before, a lot more people to make sure it's safe,” he said.
His mother shook her head yes, but the worried expression didn't change.
Bracken Air Force Base was now the host of all activities having to do with the spacetime bubble projects. Besides those directly involved with the differing experiments, a skeleton support staff was retained. Harry knew this was a precaution because, regardless of what he had assured his mother, any of the ongoing experiments could be dangerous. The military was already trying to minimize casualties.
The projects Harry and Lauren were heading up occupied adjacent tracts of land. While they would mostly work separately, there would be occasion when Harry wanted to test his counter methods to the disappearance phenomenon, and he could use Lauren's equipment to generate the attached dimension. His first goal was to detect the buildup to such an incident while there was still time to prevent it.
Of course, he would use his SCR detector with some modification. Harry began by trying to detect Dr. Zee's activities which were some ten miles away across the base. He wanted to capture the signs of the first moments of the formation of a spacetime bubble which would be the indication that a disappearance event might be imminent. It could also be used to detect the early signs of an energy-shedding event.
Since the bubble carved out a void in spacetime, small, hard to detect gravity waves were created whether or not the bubble was then accelerated. It was these creation waves that Harry was going to try to find with his detector. The difficulty was that such extremely small wave amplitudes were easily swamped by the gravity waves generated by astrophysical phenomena. But Harry had figured out an approach.
Since he was now able to understand Zee's theory and the mathematics behind it, he was able to come up with a reasonable frequency and amplitude of the creation waves. Using the SCR's tunability he could zero in on the frequency and operate the device at high gain. The narrow bandwidth should keep the SCR from being overloaded with the “noise” of other waves.
Harry asked both Lauren and Dr. Zee to make a note of the exact time they began to create a bubble. Harry would run his SCR throughout the day and compare its detections to their logs to see if he had detected their bubble's creation. For accuracy of timing, they all used synchronized atomic clocks. If it worked, he could move on to suppressing a bubble's creation with Lauren and Dr. Zee's cooperation, of course.
The week had been a nonstop series of early mornings and late nights. The urgency was felt by all. Harry hadn't even had any alone time with Lauren, but he had invited her to spend Sunday with him. He would request a vehicle, and they would go for an outing.
Harry was at Lauren's door the following Sunday, early.
“Oh, hi Harry,” said Lauren, “I'm just about ready. Let me get my things.”
Harry waited while Lauren went into the bedroom of her small base apartment and returned.
“I'm ready,” she said.
“Great, let me help you,” he said, as he took some of Lauren's things and took the opportunity to lean in and kiss her lightly.
They went to the vehicle.
“You've got to be kidding,” she said. “A black van?”
“It's all they had, and it took the Colonel's blessing to get it,” said Harry.
Harry opened the door and helped her climb into the front right seat. He quickly climbed into the driver's seat, and they were off.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You'll see,” he said.
They talked about the experiment, the world situation, the military, and the people on the base.
“Just as soon as I make enough progress to turn the experiment over to someone else, I'll be gone,” she said.
“You really don't like working with the military, do you?” he asked.
“Not at all Harry. I mean; besides the usage they might make of my research, and I do know the argument that when I publish anyone can use it. But besides that, I really want more freedom to choose what I work on. I don't want to be told what my next project will be.”
“I don't want to hang around any longer than necessary either,” he said. “Pretty much the same reason. I mean to a certain extent we have to please whoever is funding our research, but we start with that all important choice of what we research.”
“That's why I don't understand Dr. Zee,” she said. “He seems to have acclimated to this military research and there doesn't seem to be much use for energy-shedding except military applications.”
“Yeah, we'll eventually want to suppress it,” he said.
“You think we can?” she asked.
“I've thought about it, but I don't really have an answer for you yet,” he said. “I mean if I can counter bubble creation, we might suppress its use. But getting back to Dr. Zee. I think he's just caught up in the authority it gives him. Only thing I can figure.”
They continued driving for nearly half an hour. When Harry stopped the van, Lauren thought she recognized the place.
“Is this where we escaped from that house?” she asked.
“Yeah, it's on the other side of the hill,” he said.
“The cinder cone,” said Lauren.
“Right,” he said. “Let's go for a hike.”
Harry began to explain more to Lauren as they walked.
“There's only one thing I remember about my father. At least I associate this thing with a man that I've always assumed was my father. And that was the cinder cone crater in Hawaii. My mother confirms that my father took me there. So, when we escaped from the house and made our way up this hill it brought back the only memories I have of my father,” he said.
By this time, they were two-thirds of the way to the top of the cinder cone. The fir trees were thinning out and the soil underfoot was becoming more obviously volcanic, dark and loose.
“The Chain of Craters area consists of about twenty-five of these cinder cones,” he said, now playing tour guide. “They were formed by magma very close to the surface that erupted about one-hundred, fifty-thousand years ago. At the top we should be able to see a few more of the cinder cones to the south and north.”
They attained the top and Harry continued his talk.
“Cinder cones are really small volcanoes, and they are the most common type on land. Their makeup is layers of loose or welded cinders as well as the volcanic bombs and blocks you see down there,” he said, pointing to an area inside the cone.
“They almost always occur in fields, and each vent erupts only once; geologists call it monogenetic. On average they are less than six-hundred feet tall,” he said, as he pointed in the distance to several more cinder cones.
After a few moments he said, “Anyway, I wanted to bring you here to a place that has a special meaning for me, and I hope that now it will have a special meaning to you.”
Harry removed the engagement ring from his pocket, kneeled on one knee and said, “I know we already talked about it, but I kind of wanted to make it official.”
He opened the case and held the ring up to her.
“Lauren, will you marry me?”
“Yes Harry, yes,” she said looking at the ring on her finger.
Their work was too uncertain to set a date for the wedding, but they started sharing as much time as possible together. If Lauren's research went as well as Harry's, they would be married very soon.
“That's right Dr. Zee; I am now detecting both Lauren's and your experimental bubbles. I've even been able to estimate the size of the initial bubble to a high degree of accuracy, as you may have suspected when I requested more information from you and Lauren,” said Harry who was discussing his results in a meeting with Dr. Zee and the military, ironically it was taking place in the room where Harry was first interrogated.
“So, you think you are ready to move to the next level and try to quench the bubble before it can be used?” asked Dr. Zee.
“Yes, I believe I am ready, and I have already discussed this with Lauren. She will create the bubbles that I will then try to dissipate. We should have results by the end of next week,” said Harry.
Harry did have the results by the end of the following week, but they weren't exactly what he had expected.
CHAPTER 12
The world was becoming an even more dangerous place as news reports of a new, terrible weapon circulated. Nothing could withstand the weapon that Russia was said to be testing. It was a new kind of weapon, based on the new physics of extra dimensions. Some news outlets said that Russia wasn't the only one developing this new kind of weapon, that the United States and China were also racing to acquire such capability.
The fact that the work going on at Bracken Air Force Base was in the news didn't alarm anyone on the base, but the results of Harry's test did. He was presenting the results at a meeting attended by Lauren, Dr. Zee, and the military. Also at the meeting was the science adviser to the President.
“So, Harry it looks like what you found could affect all our experiments?” said Dr. Zee.
“That's correct,” said Harry, “but I should say it is what Ms. Cauley, and I have found.”
“Yes, of course,” said Dr. Zee.
Harry absolutely wanted Lauren to get some of the credit for the discovery, after all, she deserved it.
“Yes, this was a joint experiment with Ms. Cauley, and she was responsible for much of the interpretation of the results,” said Harry.
“The anomaly that caught our attention is in what we have come to call the relaxation time of the spacetime bubble. This is simply the time it takes for the bubble to dissipate once we created a second bubble to interfere with the first bubble's integrity.
“This is a graph of the relaxation time of the bubbles that were used in the experiment. These were created by Ms. Cauley's equipment, the uniformity in bubble size is shown here,” said Harry, pointing to the two graphs that were being projected by his Emmie for the others in the room to see.
“As you can see the size of the bubbles was almost uniform upon creation amounting to a difference of less than point-one percent. But what we call the relaxation time is not uniform but over the period of the tests and the creation of twenty-three spacetime bubbles, increased by an unmistakable amount of point-five percent. Some kind of new physics is definitely happening here.”
“What do you think it is Dr. Stimson,” said the science adviser.
“Well, anything I say at this point would be highly speculative,” said Harry.
“Please speculate,” said the President's science adviser. “No one will hold you responsible Dr. Stimson if you are wrong.”
“Well, after discussing it with Ms. Cauley, we think that a polarization of spacetime occurs upon the creation of a bubble and that the polarization is cumulative,” said Harry.
“What do you mean by polarization?” asked one of the military personnel.
“I mean that spacetime becomes more susceptible to spacetime bubbles as more and more of them are created. Here, look at this,” said Harry as he projected another graph.
“Ms. Cauley had to adjust the power input to create the same size bubbles as the experiment went along,” he said. “She had to adjust it down. If what we've discovered holds up, it means that any use of spacetime bubbles will leave spacetime susceptible to spontaneous transitions. That is, bubbles will start appearing in heavily used areas without being prompted.”
Harry finished and someone asked what it meant.
Dr. Zee spoke up, “Well, if Harry and Lauren are right, and of course it needs verification, then it would be irresponsible to use spacetime bubbles in any manner, even in a commercial setting.”
“But why?” said the person.
“Because remember that a spacetime bubble is a void in spacetime. That is, it's not a vacuum, or I should say, it's not even a vacuum. If spacetime were to become susceptible to spontaneously creating these bubbles then there is a good chance that one would appear in an area already occupied by matter, say the Earth, and the result would be utter destruction of that matter,” said Dr. Zee.
“That may be so,” said the military officer that had spoken before. “And we can put a moratorium on such research. But how do we stop other countries from pursuing this research. The reward is ultimate control over your adversary.”
“Once we confirm Harry and Lauren's results we publish them openly. Scientists in other countries will verify them and put pressure on their governments to stop,” said Dr. Zee.
“I'm afraid you have more faith in a scientist's persuasive powers than I do,” said the military man. “And I have no faith at all in some of our adversaries. They may figure the risk is worth the gain.”
The meeting broke up and Dr. Zee spoke with Harry and Lauren.
“Okay, let's get together tomorrow morning and see if we can definitively prove your findings. Then we can let the politicians take the initiative,” said Zee.
They spent a week repeating the experiments and by the end Dr. Zee agreed that the effect Harry and Lauren had found was real. He flew to Washington to present his findings directly to top government officials. Harry and Lauren found themselves without any project and they decided to visit her parents in Delaware and plan the wedding.
It had been decided before Zee left for Washington that Lauren would write up the results of their tests showing spacetime polarization and present it as her thesis for her doctorate. It was in Delaware at Lauren's parent's house that they got a call from Dr. Zee. They were both listening.
“I'm sorry Lauren, you can't publish the results,” said Dr. Zee. “The government has decided to make anything to do with the tests top secret. You can't even discuss the experiments with others.”
“What about convincing other countries to drop the research?” asked Lauren.
“Apparently, the government doesn't seem worried,” said Zee. “Or perhaps they are going to handle it another way. I don't know because I have also been kicked out of the loop and am to no longer do any research in the area.”
“This is so strange professor,” said Harry.
“Sometimes the government doesn't make sense Harry. At least they won't tell you enough about their thought process to have it make sense,” said Dr. Zee.
“Maybe the government and sense don't belong in the same sentence,” said Lauren bitterly.
When they had finished the call Harry said, “I'm sorry honey, I don't know what to do.”
“It's okay,” she said. “I'll get my doctorate; this just makes it a bit harder. Besides, we've got something more important to do.”
They kissed.
In the backyard of his mom's house the wedding reception was winding down. The large yard had been decked out with ribbons and flags, the sun had been accommodating, the sky blue. No more than two dozen people had been present including Lauren's parents and Harry's sister and now there were just five. Dr. Zee had been invited but he hadn't shown up, Harry hadn't heard from him since the air base.
“So, what will you two do now?” asked Lauren's father.
“Lauren and I plan to take a few days to honeymoon in the mountains not far from here and then we will be driving back to Texas where we will stay in my apartment until we can find something better,” said Harry.
“Lauren, how will you finish your studies?” asked her mom.
“I'll transfer to Harry's university and find a thesis adviser. I should still be able to finish in a semester or two, at the most.”
“Well, you know that if we can help out in any way, let us know,” said her father.
“That goes for me too,” said Harry's mom.
After they had finished putting away the chairs and tables and helping cleanup a bit more Harry and Lauren left. They had a trip of about sixty miles to make before they reached their rental up in the mountains east of his mom's house. They pulled in after dark.
Late the next morning they ate breakfast, packed a lunch, and took a hike on one of the trails in the national forest that bordered the place they were staying. They got back late in the afternoon, neither one felt like fixing a meal, so they decided to go into the nearby town to eat dinner.
Harry noticed when they walked into the diner that almost all the people were crowded around the bar watching the TV. He and Lauren took a table near the window away from the bar and waited for the waitress.
After waiting a few minutes, Harry asked the man at the next table what was so interesting on the TV.
“I don't know, something about China,” he said.
Harry didn't pursue it further, the man didn't seem to be interested. Finally, a waitress came over to their table.
After ordering their drinks Harry asked, “Something going on?”
“Yeah, the TV reports that contact has been lost with a large portion of east China,” said the waitress.
Lauren looked at Harry.
“You don't think?” she said.
“I hope not,” he said.
“Let's see what's on the net,” she said.
Lauren asked her Emmie for the latest news on China. The Emmie summarized:
Reports are coming in that a larger part of north-eastern China has become quiet. The Chinese government in Beijing refuses to issue any confirmation of the reports. It's believed that the United States government has satellite proof of the reports but will neither confirm or deny at this time.
Nearly thirty-million people live in the affected areas. One of China's busiest ports has been affected.
“An accident?” asked Lauren quietly.
“I would think so,” said Harry.
“What should we do?” asked Lauren.
“We should eat,” said Harry, “they'll contact us if they need us.”
After dinner they returned to their rental and once Lauren was asleep Harry got up and looked for any more news about the Chinese incident. He found it but he also found another news article about a giant explosion in the northern reaches of Canada, a place called Yellow Feathers. As usual the news was more speculative than instructive, Harry went back to bed.
The following day, while Lauren was out shopping in the town, Harry found another reference to a massive explosion in western Russia, a Siberian town named Gorbilisk. Speculation was that something had happened at a Russian nuclear facility. Again, the article was more hearsay than fact.
But Harry was beginning to suspect a link to these incidents. And that link was probably the experiments he, Lauren and Dr. Zee had been pursuing. Harry wished he could talk to Dr. Zee. It was later that evening when Lauren got back that she told him of the disappearance in North Korea.
“The whole northern half of the province is supposed to have disappeared Harry, maybe more than a million people. They've disappeared just as we did.”
“They're other incidents Lauren, in northern Canada and Russia, described as tremendous explosions by the news agencies. Sure sounds like spacetime bubble manipulation. I wish I could reach Dr. Zee,” he said.
“Maybe we should go back to the university Harry, see what they know,” she said.
“We've only got three more days Lauren. Why don't we turn off the news and enjoy our time together. Soon enough we'll have to face whatever is going on out there,” he said.
“Okay,” she said as they hugged.
Without the world's interference they were able to spend the last three days of their honeymoon relaxed and discussing their future together. The long walks on the mountain trails where they rarely met another hiker calmed and fortified them. The sun became exhilarating, their sleep more peaceful. It was with a sense of loss that Harry packed up to leave the last morning.
“We should get us a place like this as soon as possible and spend a month a year unwinding from all our work,” he said to Lauren as they packed the car.
“I agree. As soon as I get my degree and start teaching, we should have enough income to do it,” said Lauren.
They drove without listening to any radio and they were in western Tennessee just before the Mississippi River when they had to stop. There was a detour in place. They had to turn off the interstate and take a state road to the south. Once the traffic had cleared out Harry stopped.
“I want to see what's going on,” he said to Lauren.
Harry brought up his Emmie and searched. There was a news site with the following:
Authorities have not released any more information than the interstate is closed. They are routing all traffic down to a second bridge across the river. They are not allowing anyone, including reporters into the area. The state will hold a press conference at 7 pm Tonight.
“Any news?” asked Lauren.
“Nothing, really,” said Harry, “beyond what we've already seen. Later this evening they will be releasing more details.”
Harry folded the Emmie and drove on.
Because of the delay of the detour, it took much longer to drive to Harry's university in east Texas than he had planned. They didn't arrive until after dark, both of them were tired.
“Let's just unload enough to get through tonight sweetheart,” said Lauren. “I'm too tired to unload it all and put it away.”
“Agreed,” said Harry.
Once in the apartment, Lauren was in the shower when Harry realized it was well past eleven. He unfolded his Emmie to look for any updates on what they had encountered earlier. The news was shocking, even to someone who understood its origin.
All over the country there were areas which were “disappearing,” and the description was much as Harry would expect. The land was still there in the sense that there was no clear boundary to these regions, rather as you approached one it became more and more apparent that something wasn't quite right. Reporters and interviewees described it as something was “off.” The light wasn't quite right, or the vegetation seemed strangely alive, it was just as Harry had described in his report of what he and Lauren had experienced. But now there were at least half a dozen of these areas in the United States alone, the question in Harry's mind was, why?
By the time Harry finished the news reports it was late. In the bedroom Lauren was already in bed and seemed to be asleep. Harry undressed quietly and slipped into the bed beside her. Whatever was ahead of him, he was very glad to be with the woman sleeping there.
Note: Null Infinity will be released this Saturday, September 20.
