Chapter 3 – X-treme Physics
A couple of months later...
Three human figures stood in a well-stocked, well-lit physics laboratory which was located in a fairly quiet block of the United States. The room was not especially wide, but it was fairly long in order to maximise the available distance. The three people wore white lab-coats and insulating protective gloves and were currently involved in preparing for the next test. "What's the power level?" the person in charge of the experiment asked.
Trent, a young sandy-haired laboratory assistant, read a display and answered, "It's up to ninety-one percent charged."
His 'boss' nodded and double checked some power couplings. "I think it's stable enough." She typed a command into her laptop and listened for the confirming beeps. "It's prepared to open the portal when it reaches full power. Masks!"
The occupants of the room donned their darkly tinted face masks. They were uncomfortable but necessary as there was still a chance of dangerous radiation being generated. "Ninety-six percent!" Trent called.
Tammy, a short, dark-haired woman, triple-checked her part of the setup. "All sensors are online and cameras are focussed and rolling."
"Portal parameters uploaded to distortion ring controls," the young woman in charge confirmed. "Ready for power burst."
"Ninety-nine percent." You could cut the anticipation with a cold blunt knife.
"Wait for it..." fingers tapped impatiently on a tabletop. Everyone's attention was focussed on one of the two small rings which sat upright at either end of the laboratory. A tangle of thick electrical windings and coils surrounded each, joined by a web of glowing green coolant tubes.
"Power transfer complete. Opening portal!" Trent shouted excitedly. The rings vibrated slightly and the coils hummed. Due to the careful construction, nothing shook loose or showered sparks. The laptop emitted a long warning beep before an unstable plasma jet shot a short distance away from each ring towards the ends of the room. The blue energy was quickly sucked back inwards, forming a rippling skin on each ring.
"Portal formed!" the head researcher squealed unprofessionally. Collecting herself, she stepped over to Trent and eyed his readouts. "Uh... power draw is low and stable at acceptable predicted levels. Sensors?"
"No radiation bursts," Tammy confirmed from across the room. "Portal is safe and stable. Radio signal traversal confirmed. Experiment can proceed."
Keeping her mask on, the head researcher picked up a small digital thermometer and pushed it slowly through one ring. It instantly dropped out of the other into a padded tray. She followed it with an accelerometer. "Readings?" She returned to her laptop as her female technician looked over the data.
"Four degree temperature drop and 2.3 metre per second velocity increase," Tammy reported.
The news was greeted with a sigh of frustration. "Still too much. My calculations still aren't quite right. Hang on a second... given the increased stability due to the improved dampeners..." Her hands flew over the keyboard as she thought aloud. "Yep, I'm overcompensating for instability. It needs less power to maintain the portal so the extra power has to leak away somehow... This should fix it..." The laptop emitted a series of happy beeps. "Yes, it's stayed open. Tammy, report?"
"No change in stability," was the succinct reply.
The girl resent her probes. "How's that?"
"Three point eight degree temperature drop and no detectable velocity increase."
"Nice! But I'm worried about the temperature drop. It means something has to be calibrated incorrectly." She unconsciously bit her lip as she mentally reviewed the setup. "Trent, grab the tape and measure the distance," she ordered.
Trent retrieved a tape measure from a cabinet and measured from the top of one ring to the other. "Fourteen metres," he reported.
"Fourteen? It should be fifteen! Did you check it before we started?"
Trent looked guilty. "Uh... no."
The girl's eyes narrowed. "How many times to I have to remind you: the cleaner moves the trolleys to check that the floor's clean, ever since you left metal filings all over the place."
"Sorry Cynthia. It won't happen again," Trent said apologetically.
"Hmm, try moving the trolley while the portal is active. Slowly. I want to see if that will fix it. Just don't pull out any cables or tubes," she warned.
"Don't worry, kid, I'll be careful," Trent answered as he unlocked the wheels on a trolley (the origin one, since Tammy was standing at the destination ring).
"Ahem."
"Sorry." Trent still struggled to avoid calling Cynthia 'kid', despite some of the accidents that had befallen him as a result. "Slip of the tongue." He measured the distance again and made a small adjustment. "Fifteen metres."
"You're lucky the rings are too small to fit your head through," Cynthia muttered darkly. "Tammy?"
"Still stable and ready for probes."
"Trent can send them, in case something goes wrong this time," Cynthia instructed, forcing the young man to traverse the room to retrieve the equipment. He did so willingly, relieved that his punishment was nothing worse.
"Probes read stable temperature and velocity," Tammy indicated, her voice not betraying the importance of the achievement. This was because she was dedicated to doing her job properly and refused to show excitement. Plus, it had taken a couple of weeks to get to this point, so it had become routine. Creating a wormhole across the room had become commonplace for her since the first time it had worked.
Trent allowed himself a happy grin and Cynthia could not resist a quick 'happy dance' before getting down to business. "Next test: organic matter. Subject: one tomato." She nodded to Trent who sent the item through.
Tammy took a scalpel to the transported produce and reported, "Subject appears unharmed by transport. Interior is consistent and aroma is normal."
"Great," Cynthia approved. "I'm adding an extra test before we move to live testing. Subject: Trent's lunch."
"My turkey sandwich? But... I need to eat that!" Trent protested.
"I could make it a pound of your flesh if you prefer."
Trent retrieved his paper-wrapped sandwich. "Uh... I guess it should be safe to eat."
"We'll see. Proceed."
Trent surrendered his lunch to subspace and it was soon in Tammy's hands. "Food item appears to have been successfully transported. Its fitness for human consumption will be determined at the next meal break." She sounded serious but her eyes danced with humour.
Cynthia moved on to the real work. "Next test: living invertebrate creatures. Subject: ants. This is the big one, to see if they are still alive on the other side or whether it messes up their nervous systems somehow." She watched intently as Trent checked that the lid of the ant container would stay secure. It was sent through to Tammy who checked it through a magnifying glass.
"They're all still moving," Tammy reported after a careful examination. "Transport was a complete success."
"Final test of this phase: living mammals. Subject: gerbils, unenclosed."
Trent arranged the creatures' cage at the destination ring, ready to receive the travellers. When it was in position he took one gerbil in each hand and walked back to the other end of the room. "Ready to send travellers."
"Portal is stable, cameras are still recording," Tammy confirmed. Cynthia nodded and Trent sent each animal through the event horizon in turn. They immediately dropped into their cage.
"Rodents have arrived. They appear slightly disoriented but unharmed.
Cynthia let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "That's a relief. I won't be fully satisfied until we can send through something more intelligent, but all signs are positive so far."
"Too bad we can't fit a cat through the rings. Perhaps a kitten?"
"Say that again and I'll put your pet snake through."
"We're at thirty minutes. Wormhole will close in eight minutes," Tammy warned.
"Send the gerbils through again and do a few more tests with the probes. We might as well do something while we wait to check that the cut-off period is still the same," Cynthia instructed. "I'll go over the buffer programming while you're at it."
Trent nodded. "Will do, Boss."
AN: Girl Geniuses start young these days. I wonder why that would be? Thanks for the lovely reviews.
Anon reply to ?????: She'll get her own personality of course. And the multiple of their brains I guess.