The Bouncing Baby Boy was on its way to end Germany’s attempt at developing an atomic weapons platform. However, Squadron Leader Gibson had been briefed and knew that the mission was so much more than that.
“Expand the doorway, please, gentlemen,” Thomsen said as an assistant started passing out earplugs. It was Himmler who raised a brow. “The sonic wave that assaults the inner ear can be rather uncomfortable without protection, Herr Reichsführer.” He nervously watched as the leader of the SS nodded his head only once.
Below, the technicians were moving about excitedly as the doorway started to expand by hydraulic lines into a more circular pattern that allowed the stainless steel frame, lined with ceramic tiles, to take its shape so the magnets inside the ceramics could negotiate the complex design. The ceramics were designed to hold back the generated heat that would in turn protect the Traveler from being fried alive inside. The Wellsian Doorway was now six times the size it had been when the hydraulics expansion had started. A loud clang was heard as fifty technicians came through an expanded tunnel with an electric cart pulling a long train of what looked like chain-link. The entirety of the chain was one hundred feet in length and looked as if it went from one conductive coil to the next. Once the electric car was in place a remotely controlled arm started pulling the secured end of the chain up until the entire length was only a few feet from the concrete floor.
“All nonessential personnel evacuate the test area,” came an announcement from below as the room was totally cleared with the exception of ten technicians who remained fixated on their consoles. “Connect the light accelerator.”
Himmler stood and went to the window as he watched the most expensive piece of hardware ever developed by German science as it dangled off the floor. The chain itself was constructed out of a hard plastic material that had been “weaved” together, forming a composite of nylon, copper, and plastic to form a new element called rylar, a composite manufacturing system originally regarded as years ahead of the curve in composite technology and would eventually fill the need in the aircraft industry for lightweight materials. In this experiment the material would be used to control the tremendous amount of heat generated by the doorway. Interspaced at equal intervals along this chain was what made the proposition of displacement possible — industrial blue diamonds. Himmler and his SS had spent two years collecting these hard-to-come-by diamonds the world over, stolen from museums that had been ransacked by the German army and raids on South African mining facilities. All together there were fifty-six five-ounce diamonds ensconced in the ceramic cocoon, which resembled large, oblong bluish pearls.
As the observers watched on, the chain was moved to the very top of the expanded rectangle of the doorway. The robotic arm held it there by the manipulations of a trained technician. They heard loud humming as a bracket was lowered from the top of the doorway and the arm hooked the chain to it. Then the arm released that end and connected the opposite end. Now the large diamond-ensconced chain was loosely hanging from the hook as the manipulating arm was moved away. The mood was silent as the robotic arm was moved and stored.
“Stand by for charging of the system,” Thomsen said into the intercom as a wall was raised below to protect the technicians at their controls. They would be shielded by the charging of the doorway when a flood of neutrinos and charged particles of ion were introduced to the conductive chain. Thomsen could see that Himmler was wide-eyed as he watched. Even though he had seen film of the previous tests and its success Himmler was still fascinated as he watched it live. For the success, or for the chance to watch one of his precious subjects lose their lives, Thomsen wasn’t sure. “Herr Reichsführer, when the doorway is fully charged, do not be alarmed when you feel a disorientation as it comes to full power. Its sound waves act as an hallucinogen introduced through the inner ear for some.”
“Is it dangerous to us?” he asked as he once again took a seat to watch.
“Frankly, Herr Reichsführer, we just don’t know what the long-term effects will be.”
Himmler nodded. He really didn’t care since the damnable technology would only be used once and for a singular purpose — his escape from the Russians, or the allies.
The lights throughout the complex dimmed as power was brought online. Five miles down the line, buried deeply underground, were the three large rubber-encased conduit electrical lines that ran in from the Möhne Dam twenty-five miles away. They were heating up so much the rubber casing started to sizzle.
“Preparing to charge,” came the confident announcement from below.
Thomsen, with a final look and nod from Himmler, opened the intercom to the laboratory below. “Charge the doorway!”
A piercing scream filled the air around every man watching the test. Himmler forced his hands to his ears and then he quickly inserted the earplugs that he had forgotten about. As the audio assault continued one of the SS guards bent over and went to his knees as he became violently ill. Himmler angrily nodded that the man should be removed and punished later for showing his weakness.
“Pulse!” Thomsen said, hoping that the final charging of the doorway would also double Himmler over. But the small man held firm and only gritted his teeth at the onslaught of inner-ear sound and minute vibrations.
Below, the charge of electricity burst into the chain and it stiffened to a straight line of two rows as electricity flowed through it.
Thomsen paced to the side of the Reichsführer and leaned down. “The magnets inside the door frame will be charged and the chain, or what we call the particle accelerator, will conform to its designed structure.”
The final charge was sent through the accelerator. Suddenly there was a bright explosion of light as the circular chain rounded and became taut as the force of the magnets inside the doorway distributed magnetism to equal parts of the chain, which brought the expensive links to attention, forming a perfect circle inside the rectangular doorway. As Himmler watched, the interior of the man-made circle started to shimmer. It was as if an invisible wave moved the very air around inside the accelerator as it hung magically in suspended form in a perfect circle where the opposing magnets held it at bay.
“We are forming a man-made current. Just as if we have shot an arrow underwater, the particle accelerator has now forced ions into the doorway. We are seeing this shimmering simply because as of this moment the current and flow have no place to go, or to lock on to, so the entire assault of our time and space remains contained in this laboratory. Start the revolution, please.”
The magnets started to rotate, and then spun faster and faster until there was nothing but a trail of blue light forming the brightest of flares any of the men had ever witnessed. The RPMs increased as even more power from the Möhne Dam was used. The sheer power was pulsing energy into the surrounding air. The chain connected fast, and then released the opposing magnets to the next in line, which made the speed reach incalculable levels. This same design would be used in particle accelerators in the future.
“We are now going to send our signal into the doorway.” Thomsen again spoke into the intercom. “Go to full revolutions on the particle accelerator!”
Below the circular chain of composite material, steel, plastic, and ceramic was spinning at the speed of sound, which was bringing men to their knees. Himmler grimaced and took hold of the arms of his chair to fight the nausea filling his throat. Thomsen didn’t have to explain that this was the closest man had ever come to achieving the speed of light.
A blue haze started to fill the interior of the accelerator as the RPMs continued to multiply. For three hundred kilometers around the Möhne Dam, lights dimmed and transformers blew in almost every town and city. Lightbulbs and fixtures exploded inside the laboratory, making men duck and technicians smile as they felt the power of the very universe strike deep inside the landscape of Germany.