‘Built the House of Knowledge in Egypt,’ McGuire interjected, much to Cædmon’s surprise. ‘Uhlemann mentioned it when we were at the cemetery. The Dar ul-Hikmat, or House of Knowledge, was an academic centre of learning with a renowned library.’
‘You’re quite right,’ Cædmon murmured, impressed with the commando’s flawless recall. ‘The House of Knowledge was also the repository for ancient Egyptian esoteric texts that had been smuggled out of Alexandria before the Christian horde destroyed that Great Library. As I’ve already mentioned, I suspect the Old Man in the Mountain, who would have had access to the House of Knowledge, bequeathed a copy of the original Arabic manuscript to the Knights Templar.’
‘Which is how the Templars got a hold of the instruction manual for building ley lines and generating the Vril force.’
Cædmon nodded. ‘While the Templars had the knowledge, they didn’t have the essential component, the pyramidal Grail stone. Had they located the ancient relic and used it to generate the Vril force, in the words of the famed occultist Eliphas Lévi, the Knights Templar would have attained “the secret of human omnipotence”.’
‘Incoming,’ McGuire said abruptly, canting his chin at the laptop computer as it emitted an electronic chirp.
‘Right.’
Using his left hand, Cædmon pulled the computer on to his lap. The incoming email was from Trent Saunders, his old group leader at Five. He quickly opened the attachment and scanned the utility records for the Seven Research Foundation. As he’d hoped, there were two separate accounts: one for the Seven’s headquarters in the penthouse office suite at the Grande Arche and a second electric bill.
‘It seems that their laboratory is located at the Grande Arche.’
‘Fuck!’ McGuire pounded on the sofa cushion with a balled fist. ‘You mean that’s where they’ve been hiding out? I went there three times and nobody was home.’
‘You went to the penthouse suite three times. According to the billing records, the Seven Research Foundation has a laboratory in the basement of the Grande Arche. Most people are unaware that there’s an extensive complex beneath the building.’
‘The Seven would’ve had to obtain construction permits to build their lab,’ McGuire stated, quickly stowing his anger. ‘Can you get me the architectural plans and the schematics for the mechanicals? I need to know where the power lines, air-conditioning and heating vents, and water pipes are located.’
‘Consider it done.’ Cædmon quickly typed an email reply to Trent Saunders and hit the ‘send’ button.
‘Before we move to the next phase of this operation, I just want to make sure that we’re on the same page.’ Eyes narrowed, McGuire stared at him. Cædmon had the distinct impression that the other man was taking his measure. ‘The Seven Research Foundation is a clear and present danger. Is that your take on the situation?’
‘No need to worry; we’re singing from the same page of the hymnal.’
The other man smirked. ‘Glad to have you in the choir. And before you even ask, no, we can’t go to the authorities. Since I’m a fugitive, this has to remain a two-man duet.’
Cædmon let the addendum pass, McGuire having uncannily pre-empted him.
‘How do you propose we combat the danger?’ he asked instead, deferring to McGuire’s expertise as a Special Forces commando.
‘To win the battle, you have to go on the offensive. Now that we’ve got a fix on their location, we can charge the barricade.’ Getting up from the sofa, McGuire walked over and retrieved his plastic shopping bag. ‘Earlier today I bought a few supplies. I always say, “No need for calculus when simple math will do”.’ He hefted a bag of sugar in one hand and a bottle of bleach in the other. ‘Sucrose plus potassium chlorate equals Kaboom!’
Cædmon smiled humourlessly.
‘Götterdämmerung … bloody brilliant.’
73
Seven Research Laboratory
2015 hours
‘My father’s equation is a stunning scientific achievement,’ Dr Uhlemann continued, standing beside the chalkboard. ‘Unfortunately, he will never receive the credit and acclaim due him.’
Staring at the lengthy equation, Kate winced. For theoretical physicists, advanced mathematics was their window on to the world. For everyone else, her included, those elaborate, seemingly never-ending series of numerals, letters and symbols were like seeing ‘through a glass, darkly’.
‘This is a particularly elegant calculation,’ Dr Uhlemann remarked, using a piece of white chalk to underline a section of the equation. ‘Since your father is an astrophysicist, I assume that you’ve heard of frame dragging.’
The last comment caught Kate by surprise. Studying the equation with renewed interest, she nodded. ‘In fact, my father’s research involves the frame-dragging effect of black holes.’
‘Then you undoubtedly know that frame-dragging occurs when a rotating body, such as a planet or a black hole, drags the space–time continuum around itself.’
‘When I was a child, my father described it as swirling a bowling ball in a tub full of caramel, the bowling ball being the rotating body and the caramel, the space–time continuum.’ A silly but effective visual description.
‘That stirring up of space–time was first described by Einstein in his Theory of General Relativity. Amazingly, Einstein correctly predicted the effect eighty years before it was actually observed on X-ray astronomy satellites.’ Dr Uhlemann waved a blue-veined hand in the air. ‘But I digress. To get back on point: when frame-dragging occurs, if the twisting of space is strong enough, it will also twist time, producing a closed time-like curve.’
‘And once you have a CTC, you can travel backward in time.’ A split-second later, befuddled, Kate shook her head. ‘But that’s specific to black holes. How are you going to create a frame-dragging effect in a laboratory setting?’
Still holding the piece of chalk, Dr Uhlemann vigorously tapped the underlined equation. ‘This is the part of the equation where my father proved that a rotating beam of light could create the same frame-dragging gravitational effect as a rotating body. Using my father’s equations, our research team designed a tower of continuously rotating light beams, one stacked on top of another.’
Kate glanced at the hermetically sealed glass enclosure. ‘I’m having a really difficult time envisioning how that is going to turn into a rotating light tower which will then created a frame-dragging effect.’
Stepping away from the chalkboard, Dr Uhlemann walked over to a nearby computer console. A monster in the guise of an old-world gentleman, he held the back of an office chair, motioning for her to sit down. As she did, Kate recalled that Adolf Hitler reputedly had perfect Viennese manners.
‘Engineering a working prototype took years of research and development. At first, we thought optic fibres could be used to build a rotating light tower, but that proved a futile endeavour. We even briefly considered photonic crystals.’ As he spoke, Dr Uhlemann pecked on the keyboard, typing in what appeared to be a coded password. ‘We finally settled on a system of stacked lasers.’ Finished typing, he spun around in his chair and gestured to the four rectilinear columns set in the middle of the enclosure. ‘The prototype that you see before you was constructed using red laser lights. Each of the four columns is lined with twenty-five hundred diode lasers. Are you familiar with laser technology?’
Nodding, Kate said, ‘Most people are unaware that the word “laser” is actually an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”.’