The Huntsman
Authors: Rafael
The Huntsman
a novel by
Rafael
Copyright
© 2014 by Rafael
All rights reserved. Except as permitted
under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this novel may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic,
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or stored in a
database or any information storage retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, incidents, organizations and dialogue in this novel are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
To
Shavon
Her
wit, charm, and all ‘round goodness reminds us it’s her world. We’re just
passing through it.
Acknowledgement
I
would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Adam Helfer who
specializes
in
Mathematical Physics at the University of Missouri - Columbia. His white paper
titled,
"The
Physics of Negative Energy Densities", reference# arXiv:hep-th/9811081,
provided the
kernel
I needed to bring
The Huntsman
to life.
More
importantly, when my wild imaginings threatened scientific rigor and
sensibility, he kindly turned a blind eye.
Foreword
Since the
beginning man has gazed toward the stars and wondered what marvels they
contain. But the unimaginable distances laugh at his puny velocities. One day
he’ll discover the natural doorways that can place the universe at his doorstep.
Of
course, doors are two-way devices.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 5
Curiouser
and Curiouser
CHAPTER 15
Cultural Differences
CHAPTER 47
Outside Interference
At
the bell’s ring he rose and strode past the clock without glancing. It had to
be 4:30pm. Singaporeans valued punctuality. His hand grasped the knob but
didn’t turn. Once he did, the life he’d known would end. A deep breath swelled
his lungs. Before the finger on the other side reached the chime, he exhaled
and opened the door.
Two
short men stood on the porch. The shorter one allowed a bright, eager smile to
emerge. “Dr. Ang? Dr. Joshua Ang?” Joshua bowed deep then stepped back to
permit entry. With two hands the shorter one extended his business card Chinese
side up. It identified him as Wei Xuan Chan of Singapore Worldwide Capital. His
eyes beamed. “We are very grateful you could see us on such short notice.” His
colleague extended a card and bowed again. Feng Tan’s gentle voice bespoke good
breeding and gracious manners.
“We
thank you for the opportunity, Dr. Ang. I trust our arrival is not an
imposition.”
Twenty-two
years had passed since Joshua left Singapore. Without conscious effort, he
slipped into equally flawless Mandarin. “Not at all. It’s a beautiful day and
I’ve prepared refreshments on the veranda. Come. Follow me, gentlemen.”
Outside,
the screened enclosure shaded a table setting that transformed precision into
art. Joshua bade them sit noting the surprised and pleased looks the two
capitalists sported. “We have a large Asian population here in Hawaii which
permits us easy access to many of the dishes enjoyed at home.”
Using
tongs, he laid steamed banana leaves on their plates then retrieved an aluminum
tray from a gas-powered outdoor stove. With practiced ease the quantum particle
physicist served barbecued stingray strips seasoned with sambal that he rolled
within the banana leaves. Tea steeped in ginger water followed before sitting
to join his guests. “I gave my staff the day off so we could have our privacy.
Enjoy, gentlemen.” Chop sticks lifted the bite-size chunks and the two nodded
their approval for the delicacy unique to Singapore.
“I
remember fondly the food marts at the Newton Centre and Lau Pa Sat. What did we
call them?”
“Hawker
centers.” Wei Xuan filled in. “These days I patronize them only occasionally.
Tourists make the queues at the better stalls impossible.” They made short work
of the simple dish allowing Joshua to lay plates of almond jelly and sweet
potato cubes soaked in coconut milk for them to sample. Halfway through the
California white that accompanied dessert, Feng turned the conversation to the
topic at hand.
“Are
you personally acquainted with Nicholas Koh?” Joshua shook his head. His
identity as Singapore Worldwide Capital’s Director came to him only after a
series of careful and discreet inquiries made by family members still on the
tiny island. In Singapore, many companies met his criteria for global reach and
deep liquidity but only Worldwide specialized in international transport and
could appreciate his discovery’s implications.
“My
initial contacts with him occurred through third parties, then we had a few
electronic exchanges, and our last communication was the telephone call that
preceded your arrival. Did he provide you the details of our conversations?”
“We
are personal advisors to Mr. Koh.” Feng responded. “Our role is to provide
independent confirmation of a proposed project’s viability. Other than the
contact’s location he supplies us nothing that might bias our assessment.”
Joshua
looked away and scanned across the well-manicured garden’s plants and trees.
“What I’ve discovered will overnight make every transportation form obsolete.
History, commerce, and societies will change in ways we cannot yet predict.”
His gaze returned to the seated men. As if long accustomed to exaggerated
claims, their expressions remained impassive. Wei Xuan’s next question penetrated
past further preamble.
“Have
you determined a price for this discovery?”
“Five
billion US dollars.”
Neither
man blinked. Joshua relaxed. Singapore’s businessmen handled multi-billion
dollar deals as a matter of routine. Once they saw his invention, the amount
would seem a pittance. He lifted his napkin and dabbed his lips. “Come,
gentlemen. Let me show you what I have for sale.”
The
three stepped around the house to a side entrance. Wooden stairs led down to a
massive steel square framed by solid concrete. He stood before a retinal
scanner and the door rolled outward on noiseless bearings to reveal an
eight-inch thickness. Interior lights sequenced on, casting a gentle glow over
an advanced-state laboratory. Joshua turned to motion they should enter first.
They stepped through the long side of a one-room rectangle. The short-side wall
on the right stood bare except for a floor-to-ceiling, four-sided steel frame
at its center. Black cables extending from the edges snaked along the floor to
connected equipment none of which the two men could identify.
“That,
gentlemen, is what I believe to be the world’s only working model of a
Morris-Thorne traversable wormhole. It permits a person, or anything, to move
from one location in the universe to another instantly—without regard for the
intervening distance.” Joshua paced about the large room flipping switches,
turning dials, pulling knobs. Beneath them powerful generators vibrated the
floor.
“Besides
General Relativity, Einstein’s equations imply the existence of wormholes. His
colleagues however described a wormhole as short-lived. Gravity would collapse
the tunnel before anything could move through it. Along came two physicists, Michael
S. Morris and Kip S. Thorne, who in a famous white paper, proved that
negative energy’s repulsive properties would counteract gravity and keep the wormhole
open. The first problem? Negative energy, though infinite, exists only in the
sub-atomic world. I needed some natural phenomenon that could bridge the gap
between the infinitely small and the world in which you and I exist. An arduous
process of elimination left only one possibility: a black hole. Not the
monsters we see throughout the universe. Tidal forces would crush anything
approaching them. But microscopic black holes fit the bill nicely.
All
black holes emit radiation that would cause them to evaporate. For the ones
typically lurking within galaxies’ centers, the loss is more than offset by the
enormous quantities of matter they consume. Microscopic black holes on the
other hand, aren’t big enough to prevent their winking out of existence within
a billionth, of a trillionth, of a trillionth of a second. Enter the second
problem. How to keep a microscopic black hole stable long enough to do
something useful? Answer. Absolute zero.
At
-459.67° Fahrenheit, nothing moves. The black hole finds itself in a state
where it cannot shed radiation or consume matter. Like trying to breathe in a
plastic bag. The tension caused by the opposing forces cannot last. Something
has to give. In an eye-blink, the black hole creates a pin-point rupture in
space-time. Out pours globs of negative energy. But negative energy doesn’t
want to be in a positive energy world.”
Joshua
stepped out from behind a machine to stand before the two men at the wall gate.
“It moves along a gravity well I created to this portal. In a trillionth of a
second, infinite energies build in a positive energy universe. It has only one
escape. Back through a rupture in space-time.”
Behind
Joshua a circular glow shimmered in waves that rolled out from the center and
to the circle’s edges. The waves stopped and twinkled only along the
circumference. A tunnel appeared that extended into the wall. Joshua’s arm
waved with a dramatic flourish. “And voila! In its wake, a traversable wormhole.”
Joshua
ambled toward a computer terminal and began finger-tapping the screen. Feng
recovered from jaw-dropping shock. “Where does it lead?” Joshua looked up from
the screen and smiled.
“I
noticed on the business cards your offices are located in Singapore’s Ocean
Financial Centre. Believe it or not, the hardest part of this project was
learning where the wormhole’s other end terminated. It was a frustrating
process of trial and error as I would have to record every piece of equipment’s
parameters and settings, open the wormhole, and step through to take a
longitude and latitude reading at its exit point. Over six years a pattern
emerged where I could use the power settings, energy amounts, and gravity well
pointers to control where the wormhole terminated. I often tethered myself to
prevent stepping into oceans, walls, altitude, near-earth orbit, interstellar
voids, and a couple places I had no idea where.”
He
strode from behind the terminal to once again stand before the gate. “With a
supercomputer, I’m sure we could step right into your office. But for now,
we’ll content ourselves with your building’s rooftop. Follow me, gentlemen.”
Neither one moved. “Come. It’s perfectly safe. And for five billion dollars you’ll
have to give Mr. Koh irrefutable proof the device works.”
Wei
Xuan gathered himself and took a few hesitant steps forward. Joshua turned and
walked into the gate. Behind him the two men looked around wide-eyed. Air
seemed to surround them but appeared distorted as if by funhouse mirrors. They
took two steps and the third landed them on a rooftop where Joshua waited with
a smile. “Welcome to Singapore, gentlemen.”
Eyes
bulging wider, the astonished men looked around. Like silent sentinels,
familiar skyscrapers surrounded them. Tugboats from Singapore’s bustling harbor
blared in the distance. Looking down from the edge, a sea of ants scurried to
and fro along Collyer Quay. Wei Xuan turned to Joshua unable to hide the awe
washing over him. “You have a deal, Dr. Ang.”
Back
at the lab Joshua offered the men, still trying to recover their land legs,
glasses containing three-finger scotch pours. Neither declined. Two gulps
drained the brown-gold liquid. Feng remained quiet, contemplative. Years
before, Joshua had made his first entry as an eager, curious scientist. He
returned in Feng’s mood, well aware the world he knew had ended. They didn’t
know it yet, but the airline, shipping, aerospace, rail, and commuter
industries would shrink to local service only before disappearing altogether.
Society would undergo tremendous upheaval. Earth had evolved a species poised
to colonize the stars. Wei Xuan found his voice.
“We
will need a copy of the plans and blueprints to verify we can independently
duplicate the project.”
“Of
course.” Joshua marched toward a sturdy cabinet, unlocked it, and returned with
a nine-inch thick sheaf of clasped papers. “This contains all the information
you’ll need to produce a working JA device.”
“JA?”
Joshua smiled.
“Joshua
Ang. It supersedes the Morris-Thorne device.” He removed a single sheet from
the stack’s top. “I’ve listed five accounts located throughout the world and
their access codes. Next to each is an amount totaling three billion US dollars
I want as a good faith deposit. I will release these papers when I receive
confirmation the monies are deposited. The National University of Singapore has
world-class physicists and engineers that can independently verify the plans
are complete. I will then expect final payment. Its distribution is also on the
paper. When the banks confirm receipt, I will transmit electronically the
initial settings for wormhole generation.”
“I’m
sure you can appreciate the need for absolute security. Is this the only copy
of the plans?”
“The
only printed copy. The laboratory’s computers contain backup copies.”
Wei
Xuan’s hand reached inside his jacket and emerged holding a silenced automatic.
Joshua felt as if a sledgehammer slammed his chest twice. He fell flat on his
back. Wei Xuan bent down and placed a third bullet in his head.
*
* *
Joshua’s
eyes fluttered open. He looked about but had difficulty focusing. Something
about the empty concrete room seemed vaguely familiar. He wondered why he found
it so hard to think. Thoughts oozed like oatmeal. Arms and legs wouldn’t move.
He didn’t feel any pain but nothing worked. Joshua shifted his eyes left and
right. His head lay in a pool of dried blood. His own? He tried to shout but no
sound emerged. The concrete wall before him stood bare except for a floor-to-ceiling
rectangular outline. Where was he?
The
air began to shimmer, formed a glowing circle, then tunneled into the wall.
Inside, a two-legged creature covered with iridescent feathers appeared. Its
round head with owl-like black eyes sat above a black beak, ten-inches long,
that tapered to a sharp point. Flush against either side of its chest, what
appeared to be clenched fists protruded from under a fold of feathers. When it
emerged the head brushed against the ceiling. Feathered folds around its trunk
opened to reveal wings with a black, leather-like underside. They draped from
its arms which spread bat-like and terminated in three-fingered hands with an
opposable fourth. Its arms folded back along the torso and when the wings
creased around, once again only the clenched fists jutted out.
Neck
and head bobbed pigeon-like as it moved about. Every few steps, the animal bent
low to the ground and ingested a huge volume of air. It stopped at Joshua’s
feet, leaned down, and inhaled. The creature sniffed twice more then unfolded
its arms. Underneath spread wings, Joshua had the impression he lay within a
tent. The owlish fiend pressed one hand against his chest while the second tore
off his arm at the shoulder. It switched hands to rip the other free. Joshua
felt nothing but watched in horror as the mangled holes gushed blood.
