As the Light Dies (6 page)

“
Yes, yes but how on earth have you managed to extract the antimatter, and how do you stop it from decaying not to mention keep it stable thereafter
?”
asked David Smith barley managing to keep his emotions in check, he was absolutely amazed at what he was hearing knowing that a collection of the best scientists in the world worked round the clock globally, trying to figure out how to extract antimatter, and how to store it afterwards to prevent it from decaying, and as of yet despite all their combined knowledge and expertise no one had been able to take a single step towards doing either.

“
Here
,”
said Lars gesturing to Sven
,“
I feel like
I’
ve done all the talking and this part of the project is mostly down to you
.
”

Almost blushing Sven stood forwards
.“I’
ll take it from here
,”
he said.

“
On the bottom rung of the coil we have a complex extraction system that removes the antimatter on collision from the accelerator and deposits it safely in to a storage chamber. First of all we create an intersecting magnetic field immediately after collision, so soon after the collision that the magnetic fields almost literally intersect at the same time as the initial collision, it all happens very fast. Then the antimatter gets caught in the middle of the reacting magnetic field and stabilises there just the same as it does in the containment canister Lars just handed round. The antimatter sits there in what looks like midair for less than a nanosecond and by using polarity reversal the antimatter is pulled out of the collider and into a tall cylindrical tank that is completely zero atmospheric that uses magnets again, to keep the anti matter from touching the sides.

Once in there we lower the antimatter down to the bottom where at the last second the magnetic power is ramped up for a nanosecond giving the antimatter a little push and at the last possible moment a hatch opens in the bottom of the tank allowing the antimatter through in to our permanent containment chamber below, which again uses permanent magnetic fields to keep the antimatter from coming in to contact with the sides which would of course be utterly catastrophic because as most of us know antimatter and matter completely cancel each other out.

So it must be stored permanently suspended in mid air but of course without the air, and without ever coming in to contact with anything, not even a dust mote! That i
s
unti
l
we want to extract energy from it
.
”

The Defence Minister butted in
,“
If it ca
n’
t touch anything then how the hell can it ever be used as an energy source? All yo
u’
ve done here is create an extremely hostile substance, yo
u’
ve created a bomb damn it
!
”

Sven held up his palms
,“
Please, give me a minute to continue,
I’
m jus
t
gettin
g
to that part
,”
he said
.“
What do you think the facility runs off
?
”

Sven waited for an answer but none came. He continued
.“
To carry on trying to produce antimatter using conventional power from the grid would cost tens of millions of pounds every single cycle, not to mention go against the very core of what we believe in
.
”

“
WHAT!
”
blurted David Smith
,“
yo
u’
ve extracted and harnessed power from antimatter. It simply ca
n’
t be done
,
it just can’t!”

“Impossibl
e
,”
said Andrew Lincoln shaking his head.

“No
,
it ca
n’
t be done, i
t’
s physically impossible
!”
came another voice, and then another.

The Defence Minister seemed to be enjoying the negativity, he added
,“
I
t’
s the most dangerous and volatile material
,
only jus
t
known to man and you think you can harness it
!
”

The Norwegian Prime Minister spoke up then making himself heard as he worked his way to the front
.“
I agree that this is all ver
y
excitin
g
everyone
.”
He overemphasised the word exciting for good effect
.“
I
t’s
extremely exciting
,
and I must confess to being a little uneasy and a little sceptical up until a moment ago, but
I’
d like to hear the facts first, all of them, before I make any judgement. So if everyone could just please let the ma
n
talk
,
let him explain what it is they do here and then when we all have the full picture we can move on to asking questions tha
t
actuall
y
count without constantly second guessing and jumping the gun
.
”

Silence fell over the group.

Sven smiled at the Prime Minister and nodded in thanks and continued.

“
The process we use to convert this elusive material is literally the reverse of how we move the antimatter from the accelerator to its storage chamber. W
e’
re able to remove up to one hundred micrograms at a time using magnets to separate and remove the antimatter. Then using polarity reversal again i
t’
s moved in to the sphere shaped energy exchange chamber where we hold it in the centre and release an extremely fine mist of purified micronized dust, like a vapour, and when the two substances meet they react instantly, producing photons which are effectively light protons
,
pure ligh
t
an
d
VOILA
-
the purest form of energy known to mankind is produced, absolutely one hundred percent efficient and one thousand times more powerful than nuclear energy. Just pure ligh
t
and hea
t
along with it, lots and lots of heat, and the rest is simple, you can turn any number of turbines or light up any number of photovoltaic cells, the choice is yours. The facility runs on both forms, albeit ninety percent comes from our turbines given that were limited by space down here, so i
t’
s more economical to utilise turbines but given the space photovoltaic cells could work just as well with far fewer moving parts
.
”

As he finished, he and Lars were both smiling like excited children in a sweet shop.

“
Very impressive
,”
said the Norwegian Prime Minister nodding and the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland came forward and asked
,“
What do you plan to do with this new found energy source
?”
Before Lars or Sven had chance to answer the Norwegian Defence Minister butted in.

“
This could be a formidable weapon! It would be absolutely catastrophic in the wrong hands
!
”

“
No
,”
said Lars
,
“N
o
weapons
,
eve
r
! We want to save the planet not aid its mindless destruction. With this we can completely eradicate the need to burn fossil fuels ever again and with continued development we hope that one day our cars and trucks and so on will also run on this power, or at least on cells charged by the release of energy from antimatter
.
”

The group were silent for a moment as they considered what Lars had just said, then Andrew Lincoln asked
,“
Can we see the main storage chamber
?
”

“
Just what I was about to ask
,”
added the Defence Minister.

“
Certainly
,”
said Sven
,“
follow me
.
”

Sven lead them along the foot path passed various humming machines and equipment and down another stair way and then stopped by a wall that was clad in steel covered with thick rounded off rivets and lined with portholes it almost resembled a cartoonish submarine!

“
Please
,”
said Sven waving towards the line of portholes sunk in to the thick steel.

The group approached the small round windows. The glass was so thick embedded in to the three feet thick steel that it was like looking through a narrow tunnel.

“
Holy Christ
!”
said David Smith the first of the group to look through one of the portholes. He was followed by Jade Anderson crying out
,“
Oh my God
!’
and then
,
“Holy shit boys what have you done?”
from the Defence Minister as he backed up.

Once everyone had caught their glimpse in to the unknown through the portholes they all backed away like the Defence Minister and looked at Lars and Sven!

They were afraid of what they saw!

Lars could
n’
t understand it. He thought that they should all be amazed!

Last to peer through one of the vacant portholes while he fished out and cleaned his glasses, the Norwegian Prime Minister looked and his eyes widened, and fear started gnawing away at his bones like a hungry rat!

The antimatter suspended within the chamber that had them all so concerned was the size of a large exercise ball!  It was black and shiny, and it rippled and quivered as it hovered in mid air suspended in its magnetised metal box. Some thought it looked alive as it quivered and rippled for no apparent reason as though it felt cold in there. The thought of it being alive, feeling something, unsettled them and some could
n’
t bring themselves to take a second look.

Looking to the Norwegian Prime Minister Lars asked
,“
Wha
t’
s wrong sir
?
”

“
That looks like an awfu
l
lo
t
of the stuff considering how hostile you say it is! Given that you say you only need a minute amount to power so much, do you really need such an amount stored up like this
?
”

Lars said
,“
Our reason for having created a stockpile and stored up so much is to prove that we ca
n
an
d
safel
y
.
W
e’
ve stored more than this in the past, we can store large quantities safely and because i
t’
s, its own energy source we can store it indefinitely without ever fearing a dip in production levels
!
”

“
So you have room in there to run a couple of cycles and let us see the transition from collision site to storage
?”
enquired David Smith, the only one who still seemed excited by it all.

“
Yes
,”
said Sven
.“
That was our aim, although granted you wo
n’
t see much. It will only be a tiny spec dropping in to the containment chamber, but if yo
u’
re quick yo
u’
ll see it, and then yo
u’
ll see the larger globule react as it draws in the smaller one. Ther
e’
ll be a tremor of ripples visible that will run across the surface of the sphere of antimatter as they join. W
e’
re all set to go if yo
u’
re ready
!
”

“Well I’d love to see it,”
said David
.“
I want to see history in the making
.
”

Lars smiled
.“I’
m glad you feel that way. This has taken an enormous amount of time and effort and money
.”
Lars glanced over the group waiting for the go ahead from the majority, there were people here he did not want to upset.

They hovered by the portholes taking second looks then quietly discussed amongst themselves what this could all mean. Lars gave them the time they needed; he did
n’
t want anyone to feel pushed, not with his current company. After a few minutes some of the guests came forward to ask more questions, some wanted to talk through the whole sequence again. The Defence Minister bombarded them several times expressing his dislike to the situation, making Lars wish the Defence Minister had
n’
t made it in today.