Eventually done, Mr Kelly tapped an entry code on to the large metal doors and he smiled expectantly as they swung slowly inwards.
At last, the gaggle of teenagers in his charge seemed to be shaken out of their torpid state of disinterest. A shared gasp rippled among them as their eyes swept up to take in the large spherical chamber, seemingly constructed entirely out of football-sized ball-bearings.
‘As you can see, the entire chamber is lined with charged magnets, which act as a completely impenetrable barrier for any sort of FM radio signals, WiFi signals, electrical currents, atmospheric static and so on, the sort of things that can affect our readings from the test runs.’
He led them into the spherical chamber along a raised walkway, towards a platform thirty feet in diameter. Mr Kelly pointed towards a rather less impressive-looking structure, what appeared to be a polished metal witch’s cauldron with a lid on, six feet across. Wires and cables and broad cylinders of metal descended through the lid into whatever witches’ brew was bubbling away inside.
‘Now that, kids… that’s what this is all about. That metal sphere contains tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investment, and quite possibly represents mankind’s energy future.’
‘That’s the reactor?’ asked Mr Whitmore.
‘Yup. That’s it, the zero-point energy test reactor.’ Kelly smiled and shook his head. ‘You know, it still amazes me that something so small, something the size of a… of a small car could, in theory, provide more than enough energy for every last person on this planet.’
Liam found his jaw sagging open, just like everyone else’s.
‘The tests we’ve run in there have so far produced really quite staggering amounts of energy out of the space-time vacuum pinholes that we’ve opened. The trick is sustaining and controlling the pinhole
… and, of course, containing such huge amounts of energy.’
‘That sounds a little, like… a little dangerous,’ said the blonde girl who’d glanced back at Liam.
Mr Kelly looked at her. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Laura Whitely.’
‘Well, Laura… I guess it does sound a little dangerous. Dr Brohm, one of our leading scientists working on this, likened it to opening a very small peephole and looking on to the face of God himself.’ Mr Kelly forced a laugh at that comment. ‘A little fanciful, I think, but it gives you an idea of how much energy we’re talking about…’
Howard Goodall felt the first bead of sweat trickle down the small of his back as he discreetly eased his rucksack off his shoulder on to the floor. He slowly opened the zip just a little and sneaked his hand inside. His fingers quickly found the screw cap of his thermos flask and he gently began twisting it off.
He could see Edward Chan at the front of the small knot of students gazing in silent awe at the glistening metal container.
Howard wondered how they could all be so incredibly stupid, how mankind was happy to play dice with technology it had no way of understanding. He remembered a lecture at university. His tutor had talked about the Americans’ Manhattan project during the Second World War — their attempt to build the world’s first atom bomb. How, when they first did a test detonation in the deserts of New Mexico, the scientists hadn’t been certain whether the bomb would destroy several square miles of desert or, indeed, the entire planet. But still the reckless, silly fools went ahead and tested it anyway, played dice with mankind’s future.
Just like time travel — a technology mankind was woefully unprepared to be in possession of. He stepped forward, a little closer to Chan, his eyes darting to the heavy doorway of the chamber slowly being swung back into place.
His hand felt the tube-shaped carbon-fibre weapon. It was small, tiny, with a magazine containing six toxin-tipped projectiles. He only had to wound Chan, just get one shot on target and wound the boy — the neurotoxin would finish him in minutes.
This is it, Howard, he told himself. This is the end of time travel.
CHAPTER 18
2001, New York
‘What? Jealous?’ Maddy shook her head emphatically. ‘Jealous of Bob Version Two?’
Sal had a mischievous look on her face. ‘Just asking.’
‘Oh, come on, of course not! It’s not even human… it’s just… it’s just a clone. It’s not even a genuine copy of a human — it doesn’t have a proper human brain!’
‘But she looks very human.’
‘And so does a storefront mannequin, or a GI Joe action figure or a Barbie doll.’
Sal shrugged and grinned mischievously. ‘Liam seemed impressed.’
Maddy had noticed. His eyes had been out on stalks. ‘No different to any other boy, I guess… one thing on their minds all the time.’
Sal giggled. ‘True.’ She spun in the office chair beside the computer desk. ‘So, you don’t… so you’re not jealous?’
Maddy took off her glasses and wiped them on her T-shirt. It was decidedly odd having Bob looking like that, like some athletic-fit catwalk model, some Amazonian beauty. And yes… having something like that gliding beautifully around was enough to make any female feel inadequate, plain in comparison. But then Maddy was used to it.
On the other hand, if Sal was asking in a roundabout way whether she had feelings for Liam… well, the answer was no, not those sort of feelings. Liam was nice-looking, charming in an old-fashioned gentlemanly way, but what she felt for him, more than anything else, was pity, a choking sadness.
Every time I send him through… I’m killing him just a little bit more.
She looked at Sal. ‘No, I’m not jealous. I’m not, you know, like… after him — ’
› Maddy, it is time to activate the return window.
‘OK,’ she replied, turning to face the desk. She began to tap the retrieval coordinates into the computer.
‘But he’s nice,’ said Sal.
‘Sure he’s nice,’ said Maddy. ‘I’m sure he had girlfriends back in Ireland, but… but, I’m a couple of years older than him anyway and… and it’s more like he’s a little brother, or a nephew really, than, you know… sort of boyfriend material.’
Maddy double-checked the coordinates. ‘Anyway… My God, Sal — ’ she grimaced at her — ‘I can’t believe you’re being so personal!’
‘Sorry,’ said Sal, flicking a tress of dark hair out of her eye. ‘Oh… I just remembered! You’ll never guess what I saw in a junk store down-’
‘Just a moment, Sal. I need to concentrate…’
CHAPTER 19
2015, Texas
Liam identified Chan among the students. It wasn’t as obvious as he’d thought it would be. There were about seven or eight who looked oriental to him, and most of them were younger than the other students. But he knew Edward Chan was the youngest here and he zeroed in on a small boy at the front, gaping wide-eyed at the zero-point energy reactor. Seemingly entranced by it.
Becks gently tapped Liam’s arm and leaned towards him. ‘Information: according to the mission data, Edward Chan only has four minutes and seven seconds left to live.’
Liam nodded. He looked around the chamber, trying to identify what or who could possibly pose a threat to the boy. If they were down to four minutes, then presumably the lad’s killer was right here, right now, getting ready to make his move. His eyes darted from Mr Kelly, explaining the machinery and instrumentation, to Mr Whitmore, stroking his sparsely bearded chin thoughtfully, to the two technicians manning a couple of data terminals.
One of them?
His gaze shifted to the students, all of them still marvelling at the interior of the chamber and some of the incredible-sounding statistics that Mr Kelly was reeling off. ‘… equivalent to all of the energy produced by coal, oil, natural gas… over the last one hundred and fifty years…’
One of them? One of the students?
Why not? It could just as easily be one of the students. After all, Liam was the same age as the oldest of them and an assassin would probably have a better chance smuggling himself in as a student than he would a member of staff. After all, that had worked for him and Becks. His gaze wandered from face to face, looking for a nervous tic, darting eyes, lips moving in silent prayer, someone clearly agonizing over the precise moment to strike.