Doc pointed down at the dark water. “Eighty years ago physicists thought the building blocks of matter were the proton, electron, and the neutron. They also knew about three other particles: the photon, neutrino, and positron. But there was a problem. The protons in the proximity of the nucleus, holding equal charge, should repel each other, but they didn’t. It was a Japanese scientist who found the reason, and he was awarded the Nobel for his brilliance.
“He came up with a new force to keep the protons in place, which required a new particle, which he called the meson. He determined that the ratio of the force in this new particle was inversely proportional to its mass. This made the meson two hundred times larger than the electron.
“Once the theory was out there, lots of scientists started looking for mesons. One of the best ways of doing that was to study the sun because it puts out the strongest electromagnetic field in the solar system.”
“Sort of the way Eddington proved Einstein’s relativity right by studying eclipses,” Kirk said, causing Doc to take a couple of intellectual superiority steps backward.
“I had a really good teacher,” Kirk explained, seeing Doc’s surprise. “Everyone needs at least one really good teacher, even someone from Parthenon, Arkansas. He liked giving us weird information ’cause he knew some of us liked it.” Pads didn’t, Kirk recalled. He’d learned early on to keep the little nuggets to himself or else Pads probably would have kept him from even going to school. It was only because of the free lunch that Pads allowed any of them to walk the three miles to the small schoolhouse.
“That is true,” Doc agreed. “I went into physics because of a high school teacher.”
“So we got something in common there,” Kirk said.
“We have the team in common,” Doc said.
“That too,” Kirk allowed.
Doc stared at him for a few moments. “All right. Back to the physics. What they found was that it was more than just the meson. There were two particles: one had the strong charge with little mass: the pion. The other had a lot of mass but little charge: the muon. Both are very unstable and decay rapidly when separated. The muon decays into three particles: an electron, a neutrino, and an antineutrino. Discovering this was the start of particle physics, which opened the doorway to what you just referred to: quantum mechanics and special relativity as well as Einstein’s energy-mass relation.
“Which brings us to the Rifts,” Doc said. “For some reason, as they form, they start emitting muons. And the muons decay in a weird way. Which is why I came up with my multiverse theory. I believe that this difference means the rules of physics on the other side of the Rifts are different than our rules.”
“Can I ask you something?” Kirk said.
“That’s why we are here,” Doc replied.
“What happens to the Fireflies if the Nightstalkers aren’t around to destroy them?”
“They are very destructive, depending on what they occupy. Before the Can, the Nightstalkers had to focus on police reports, news reports, anything that indicated a strange occurrence and then go investigate.”
“Maybe we’re pissing them off, opening Rifts into their world,” Kirk noted.
“Maybe,” Doc allowed. “But we live on our world.”
“Not arguing with you, Doc.”
“The Can gives us thirty-eight minutes of warning that a Rift is starting. It picks up activity, but we can’t locate it for thirty-eight minutes. At that point, there’s enough activity that one of the other Cans picks up activity, which starts us in the right direction. Then, after forty-six minutes, we can triangulate and pinpoint the exact location.”
“Not much time.”
“It’s why the Protocol for getting to the Snake, loaded, and airborne is thirty minutes,” Doc explained. “And there’s something else,” Doc added. “Another reason we take this so seriously. Why the Russians might even be more worried about the Rifts than us.”
“And that is?”
Doc glanced at the young man at the computer. “Let’s head back up. It takes a while.” Before he walked away, Doc picked up the thick stack of printouts.
They went back down the tunnel and got on the elevator.
“Tunguska,” Doc said.
“And that is?”
“A place in the middle of Russia. Where there appears to have been a nuclear explosion before there were nuclear weapons. In 1908 something went off; most think it was a meteor exploding in the air, just before it hit the surface of the planet. It blew with a thousand times the power of the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima and took out eighty million trees.”
“That’s a lot of trees,” Kirk said as the rock walls surrounding the elevator raced by.
“Yes, it is,” Doc said. “The kicker, though, was when the Russian Can went online. They picked up very, very faint traces of the exact same type of weird muonic activity from Rifts still emanating at Tunguska. Right in the center of where that blast occurred.”
“That’s not good.”
“It is not.”
“So the Rifts can develop into something very bad,” Kirk summarized.
“Ms. Jones believes so. She thinks there is a possibility that a Rift can become a Portal. She thinks that what was forming on our last mission was a case where a Rift was changing, trying to grow. Trying to send something else through. Something that might have come through back in 1908 and caused the Tunguska explosion. Or the explosion might even have been a Portal failing.”
They both swayed as the elevator abruptly slowed, then came to a halt. Two Support guards were waiting, one sliding open the gate to the elevator, the other maintaining security. They walked down a hallway, out a door guarded by two more contractors, and then into a massive hangar, burrowed into the side of Groom Mountain. It was quite the contrast as Doc got behind the wheel of the old beat-up Jeep and drove them out to pass by the most advanced aircraft being tested in the world.
As Doc pulled into the growing darkness, Kirk looked over at him. “You know, Doc, in Sniper School, they’ve got a real problem in their recruitment program.”
“What is that?”
“They’ve got to select individuals who can do two contradictory things. Shoot another human being on nothing but an order. And also not shoot on order. Lots of people can do one or the other, but it’s a rare man who can do both.”
They passed through the Area 51 rear gate, heading toward the Ranch.
“I imagine so,” Doc said. He glanced over. “I also imagine there is a reason you bring this up.”
“It occurs to me, no offense intended,” Kirk said, “that you’re just like one of those people we go after who open up Rifts. You want to figure the Rifts out, too. What’s causing them, what’s on the other side. It’s just that you’re smarter than those other scientists.”
“How so?”
“You’re doing it from the inside. All those printouts are important to you. The Can is important to you beyond simply being an early warning device. It’s a research device.”
A muscle on the side of Doc’s face quivered. “I’m not a traitor.”
“I wasn’t saying you were,” Kirk said. “I’m saying you’re doing it the smart way. Takes a unique man to do that. Perhaps that’s what Ms. Jones saw in you.”
CHAPTER 11
Burns shifted position. Some of his wounds had not quite healed, a terrible itching that just wouldn’t stop. He peered through the night-vision scope at the Chapel Hill dog park. It was empty, and a lone flickering light cast long shadows across the hard-packed couple of acres.
The doctor’s headlights were like searchlights in the night-vision scope as the car pulled into the empty parking lot a hundred yards away. Burns tracked the doctor as he scurried to the gate. The reticle in the sight had the man’s head perfectly framed.