SIX
Doug and Samantha's news was not good. The acceleration effect had greatly reduced the time it would take for the complete collapse of the bubble that protected the complex. They now had just over 3842 hours before the temporal generator would succumb and the complex itself would cease to exist. Which meant in just over 22 weeks the last remnants of everything that had once existed would disappear forever.
Sam had been working furiously for three weeks. Each time he came up with a scenario to counter the super colony the analysis of that scenario proved to be completely unusable. There was much about Project: Quantum Leap he had to relearn. Only Ziggy, with her computerized memory banks, was capable of storing all the information effectively. Luckily, as Ziggy's designer, Sam had access to all the information stored in those memory banks.
At times Samantha had to practically force Sam to take a break. He would be working so intently on a particular problem that he lost all track of time. He would work day and night without thought of rest or food. He only relented when Samantha or on occasion Chris would come into the lab and insist that he took a break.
"My great grandmother told me you were the same way while you were developing Quantum Leap," said Samantha, as she and Sam sat in the cafeteria eating a light lunch. "She said there were times when only Chris's great grandfather would be able to tear you away from whatever it was you were doing to get some sleep or something to eat. And even he had trouble at times doing it."
"When I get involved in something I usually become completely engrossed in it. Hours can go by and I won't even notice. It's always been a failing of mine."
"I wouldn't exactly call it a failing. Your work ethic is very admirable. I guess I inherited it from you. I'm very much the same way. I finally had to program Ziggy to refuse to continue to work if she determined I was in need of rest or food. If it wasn't for that I would have collapsed from exhaustion any number of times."
"Sometimes I'd get so mad when Al made me stop working," Sam said. "I knew he was just looking out for me but it always seemed he was interrupting me at a critical point. I'm afraid sometimes I wasn't very nice to him."
"But he stuck around. In his memoirs he wrote you were the best friend he ever had. He missed you very much. But he also wrote that he felt he had accomplished a great deal because of you. Things he would never have been able to have done otherwise. Did you know that he was the only one from the Quantum Leap project who remembered how things had been before you changed the past?"
"No, I never knew that. I don't think our equipment was capable of protecting those on the project from the changes in the past."
"Technically it wasn't. But because he went into the past with you, so to speak, he was able to remember how things were originally and how they had changed. I guess being in the past, even as a hologram, afforded him some protection. And that was what allowed us to start up the project again and view what had happened in the past."
"How so?"
"Well," said Samantha thoughtfully, "the imaging chamber you designed was a perfect viewing portal for past events. We discovered that if we didn't send someone into the past, we could use the chamber to view events as they actually happened. It was a perfect holographic representation of the events as they transpired. Almost as good as actually being there watching the events unfold. By tuning the temporal generator to a specific date and time, we could see things as they actually unfolded. We were able to gather a great deal of information and even solve some of history's greatest mysteries."
"What kinds of mysteries?"
"Well, for one thing, we learned what happened to Amelia Earhart. Her plane developed engine trouble over the Pacific and she crashed into the ocean. The plane sank almost immediately taking her and her companion to the bottom with it. We also learned that there were three shooters in Dallas on November 22, 1963. We never could zero in on the Texas Schoolbook Depository to see if Lee Harvey Oswald was actually one of the shooters, but there were definitely two other shooters in Dealey Plaza that day."
"I always believed that Oswald was the only gunman," said Sam, remembering when he had actually leapt into Oswald on one occasion.
"He might have been one of them but he wasn't alone. We were able to verify at least seven shots that morning. Oh, and we were able to shed some light on the Tunguska event that has mystified the scientific community for decades. I'm sorry. Are you familiar with the Tunguska event?"
"Actually I am," said Sam, smiling slightly. "In the early part of the twentieth century there was an explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Russia. If flattened something like 80 million trees over an area of more than two thousand kilometers. What caused it was not known in my time but the prevailing theory was that a meteoroid or comet exploded a couple of miles above the earth as it entered the atmosphere producing, in effect, a nuclear blast."
"Yes. Well, something apparently did explode above the earth but we were never able to definitively identify exactly what the object was. Unfortunately we were never able to get a clear picture of it. We believe it was a comet with an abnormally high concentration of deuterium underwent a nuclear fusion reaction as it entered the atmosphere producing the blast."
"Deuterium is one of the components of thermonuclear bombs, most notably the hydrogen bomb. If the deuterium in a comet had undergone a nuclear fusion reaction it would have be exactly as if a hydrogen bomb had been dropped on that area. But it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. To cause that type of devastation it would have taken a massive amount of deuterium or some extremely concentrated deuterium. In either case while the immediate impact would have been devastating, the resulting damage around the globe would have been extensive as well."
"You mean like the meteor impact that wiped out the dinosaurs."
"Exactly. That type of explosion should have sent rippled around the world. It shouldn't have been such a localized event. Even if the comet was vaporized completely from the explosion the resulting shock wave should have spread much farther than it did."
"Well the shape of the comet could have directed the majority of the blast in only one direction. That could have minimized the shockwave. It might have dissipated so quickly that it didn't have a chance to travel farther than it did."
"In that case," began Sam.
His sentence went unfinished. His brow furrowed and he looked like a man deep in thought. Samantha just stared at him for a moment. The look of deep thought was quickly replaced by a look that Samantha could only guess was one of realization.
"Of course," said Sam finally. "That's got to be the answer. Why didn't I see this before?"
Completely ignoring Samantha, Sam got up from the table and hurriedly began to rush out of the room.
"Wait a minute. What's got to be the answer?"
"Have Tony and Doug meet me in the generator room," Sam called back as he was just exiting the room. "We have a lot of work to do."
Dumbfounded Samantha could just sit and watch as Sam disappeared into the corridor beyond.
For three days Sam, Tony, and Doug stayed in the generator room working on equations and calculations. Not even the staff in the room knew what they were working on. Whatever Sam had thought of, his enthusiasm was contagious. Tony and Doug almost immediately became as excited as he was and the three worked apparently tirelessly. After the first day Sam had given Chris a list of supplies he asked the head of security to locate for him. Chris had no idea what they wanted the supplies for but began to immediately see what he could gather for them. Doug told him they didn't need the supplies just yet, he just wanted to know if they were available.
At the end of the third day, Sam asked Chris to gather everyone together in the main conference room. As they headed for the conference room Sam was carrying a stack of papers and the three were grinning from ear to ear. As they entered the conference room everyone was already waiting for them, including a man Sam had never seen before. Bill introduced him as Stuart Porter, a mechanical engineer, who Bill claimed could build anything.
"Well," said Sam, "I'm sure everyone is curious about what Tony, Doug, and I have been working on the past three days. I'd like to thank Samantha for giving me the idea." He explained the conversation the two had been having. "When she mentioned that the meteor had, essentially, a shape charge to it, I suddenly realized we were going about the problem the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Bill asked.
"We've been trying to figure out a way to neutralize the antineutrino barrier blocking the time stream. We'll never be able to do that. Even if we had access to a generator that can generate a neutrino stream it won't neutralize the barrier. In all likelihood it would probably strengthen it."
"Well if we can't neutralize it, what can we do?" Chris asked.
"An explosion is a sudden release of energy," continued Sam. "In a normal explosion, that energy is released in all directions simultaneously. A shaped charge, like the one Samantha suggested works differently. The explosion is focused in only one direction, directing the energy release onto a single point.
"When Samantha mentioned a shaped charge, it suddenly dawned on me that if we couldn't neutralize the barrier, maybe we could disperse it. An explosion large enough concentrated at a single point at the very center of the barrier would be enough to disperse it up and down the time stream. Once the barrier is dispersed, the time stream should resume and everything should return to normal."
"An explosion of that magnitude would have to be massive," said Samantha. "You're talking about a thermonuclear reaction."
"You want to try and use a shape charge on an atomic bomb?" Bill asked. "I'm not sure that's even possible. Whatever we use to try and direct the explosion to a single point would very likely be vaporized when the bomb went off. There wouldn't be any way to direct the energy to a specific point."
"There might be," said Tony. "I had the same misgivings when Sam first mentioned the idea to us. But we think we might have worked out a way to do it. A thermonuclear device operates using regular explosives in conjunction with radioactive material. First, the normal explosion occurs which in turn triggers the detonation of the nuclear material. We can use shape charges to direct the initial explosion where we want. When the nuclear material detonates it will just naturally be directed to that point since like most things in nature the explosion will take the path of least resistance."
"The nuclear explosion will occur very quickly," said Samantha. "How can you be sure it will be enough to disperse the barrier before it overwhelms everything else and expands outward in all directions?"
"That's one of the variables we can't account for," said Sam. "This is only a theory and we have no way to predict what some of the repercussions might be. But we think it will work."
"Okay, I'm not a scientist," said Chris. "But I know you've all said that neutrinos and antineutrinos don't interact with normal matter the way other elements do. How can even a nuclear explosion disperse the barrier when it's not capable of affecting normal matter or energy?"
"A neutron bomb," said Tony. "We believe the detonation of a neutron bomb will cause the neutrons from the explosion to bond with the antineutrinos of the barrier. As they bond, the outward force of the explosion will force the antineutrino barrier to dissipate quickly. Once the barrier has dissipated the time stream should resume its normal movement and time should effectively be restored."
"There's no way to be sure the explosion will cause the neutrons to bond with the antineutrinos," said Samantha. "Theoretically it's possible. But your calculations would have to be very precise. A miscalculation in even a minor part of the equation and the bonding wouldn't occur."
Sam handed Samantha several papers. She looked them over stopping occasionally to read them. The papers were covered in handwritten equations which neither Bill nor Chris understood. After a moment Bill looked at Samantha.
"Well?" he asked.
"The math looks good," said Samantha. "And I have no doubt it's accurate. It could work."
"Well I'm not a scientist either," said Stuart, who had sat quietly throughout the entire exchange. "I assume you brought me here because you need me to construct the casing for this bomb."
"Exactly," said Doug, handing Stuart several sheets of paper. "Here's the design we've come up with. Chris has already checked and tells us that we have all the materials on hand to construct it. And we have the explosives in one of the storage rooms."
"I've wondered about that," said Sam. "Why are there explosives on site? They shouldn't have been needed for time travel experiments."
"Once Project: Tic Toc was shut down," said Chris, "the facility was initially turned into a storage depot for the military. Its eight hundred levels underground was perfect place to store items without taking up space at other facilities. Many of the items that were stored here were on the lower levels and pretty much forgotten about by the military."
"Well there is one problem I can see," said Samantha. "It looks like Sam's plan just might work. The only thing is the only nuclear material we have runs the reactor that powers this place. Including the temporal generator. Without it the generator will shut down and we'll lose our protective bubble. And we all know what that means."
"There is a risk," said Sam. "We've estimated we'll need to use about half the fuel from the reactor for the bomb. We can still run the generator, if even at a reduced rate, on half the fuel, including the temporal generator. It will cause the protective bubble to be reduced in size by about sixty percent but it will still be intact."
"And more than likely accelerate the expansion process for the barrier," replied Samantha. "We only have about seventeen months left before the bubble collapses completely. I can't even begin to guess how much time we'll lose with this plan if it doesn't work."
"As I said, there is a risk. We'll only have one shot at this. If it doesn't work we won't have the time or material to come up with another plan. But it's the only thing I've been able to come up with that stands any chance. As I see it we really don't have any choice. If it doesn't work we'll simply be accelerating the inevitable."
"Well we can all have some consolation that when the end comes it should be very peaceful," said Tony. "Once the protective bubble collapses we'll all just cease to exist. One second we'll be here the next we'll just simply be gone. Doug and I agree with Sam. This appears to be our only option."
"What's the worst case scenario?" Bill asked.
"Well," said Sam, "the neutron bomb may not react the way we predict. It's likely the explosion will 'leak' through various places in the timeline. We have no way of knowing how that will affect it before the barrier. But if our calculations aren't precise the worst case scenario is that the explosion will actually reinforce the barrier causing it to grow at an exponential rate. If that happens the barrier will envelope the entire complex immediately. We'll all cease to exist and the barrier will continue to expand through the timeline."
"Consuming everything in its path," Doug added. "Even the timeline before the barrier will be consumed and within a short time the timeline will cease to exist altogether. Everything that has ever existed will cease to exist."
"It seems to me that's going to happen anyway," said Chris. "This attempt will simply accelerate the process."
"Essentially, yes," said Sam. "Tony, Doug, and I feel this is not only our best option but our only one."
"Well, it would seem we have a decision to make," said Bill. "We all know the risks and the benefits of this plan. We all have to decide for ourselves if the benefits are worth the risks. I know what my decision is. But each of you has to decide for yourselves."
Everyone in the room looked around at each other. After a moment most of them began to nod their heads. Clearly everyone agreed with Sam, Tony, and Doug. Bill sighed.
"Okay," he said finally. "Stuart, how long before you can construct the device?"
Stuart looked over the plans Sam had given him. "At least two weeks. Maybe a little longer. I'll need some help with it. And there's the nuclear material it's going to hold. I'm a mechanical engineer. I don't know anything about handling nuclear material."
"I'm going to take care of that," said Doug. "I'll have to work with Samantha so that we can remove the material without interrupting the power output of the reactor. It's going to be a delicate process."
"Tony and I are going to fine tune our calculations for the explosion," said Sam.
"Well, it looks like we have some work ahead of us," said Bill. "I'll inform the rest of the complex of our plan. Chris, I want you to coordinate with Sam and Tony and move everyone up to the highest levels of the complex. Once we've reduced the reactor output the protective bubble is going to shrink. I want to make sure everyone is well within the bubble once it shrinks."
The group broke up to begin the work that they all hoped would restore the time line.