Four decades.
She put the thought out of her mind, reminding herself that even now the Emperor would be so intimately involved in the final setup for the physical test of her theories that he couldn’t spend idle time wondering about her even if he wanted to.
The test, while simple in nature, involved many critical aspects other than the application of her equations. There was the tuned pair of singularities, for example. Rice’s files had indicated that they had already been prepared and were being held in stasis, and that would occupy many of both the Imperial and Sarpan scientists.
There was also the coordination of the ships. It was critical that each be in place at precisely the correct distance, at the exact moment required, when the singularities were inserted into the artificial stars created for the test. Adela had no doubts, however, about Fain’s abilities in that regard. From the reports that awaited her when she woke up, she’d learned that Fain had become one of her project’s staunchest supporters, and had taken it upon himself to learn a great deal of the scientific principles involved in the effort.
And then there were the two artificial stars themselves. The test was being undertaken on a scale that would make the parts involved seem almost microscopic compared to a real sun. It was not normally possible to create a G-2 star of the size needed for the test, and keep it functioning at the reduced size for very long, of course: The stable, sustained reaction needed to simulate a star would quickly dissipate in space. Utilizing the marvelous shield technology of the Sarpan, however, a star could be created and contained—a “bottled beam” was what some of the younger researchers had jokingly dubbed it—for the amount of time required for the test. Once the test was concluded, the test site would be evacuated and quarantined and the two mini-stars and the tiny singularities they contained would be allowed to dissipate once the timed shield generators expired.
But for now, the formation and containment of the two test stars was critical, and Javas would be in constant realtime link with Bomeer and Fain to ensure that everything was going properly—
Adela stopped dead in the corridor.
The shield containments for the mini-stars were powerful; they needed to be to contain the fury of the constant fusion reactions occurring within them. But the test that was about to take place was based on her old equations, and the singularities being used, as she’d just recalculated back in her cabin, were too big. Had the increased energy levels that would be released by the breeder star during this test been taken into consideration?
She spun about and started jogging back toward her stateroom, her mind racing. I’ve got to look at the values for the shielding for the mini-stars, she thought desperately. She overtook the ensign she’d chatted with moments earlier, and he started to say something to her, but she quickly left him puzzled as she rounded the corner and increased her pace to a full run. One point nine one… almost double the amount of energy they’re expecting. Surely they’ve recalibrated the shielding. But then—if they hadn’t set up a new model—reconfigured with the new values, as she had done—they might not even be aware of how much greater the release would be.
“System!” she shouted the moment she burst into her cabin. She had already pulled the handheld from its belt pouch and had flipped the cover open. “Redisplay most recently viewed file! Cursor on and feed the statistics to my handheld.” She had changed the values for almost everything in the new model to achieve an energy transfer ratio of one to one. The one thing she hadn’t needed to alter was the value of the shielding containing the two mini-stars; they were the same as the values intended for the test that would begin soon.
The playback started immediately, and she stabbed the light pen at the image the moment the two stars and their associated readouts were added to the display, the numbers she highlighted going directly to the unit in her hand. She turned away from the image and tapped frantically at the keypad, ignoring the playback as it continued unheeded behind her.
In her haste, she hit several wrong keys, causing the handheld to beep angrily at her. Adela closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to breathe more slowly. She swallowed drily and entered the required commands again, more carefully this time. It took a few seconds to get it right, and then another moment for the value she was looking for to appear in the unit’s tiny readout. She gazed at it for only a split second, then, muttering fearfully under her breath, cleared the machine and ran the same commands over the figures again, being extremely careful to hit just the right keys. Again, the same value as before appeared in the readout.
“Dear God,” she whispered, feeling her throat tighten. She sank back against the arm of the chair, letting the handheld fall clattering, forgotten, to the floor.
Chapter Thirty-One
Javas, Emperor of the Hundred Worlds, sat in the holograph viewing chamber that was the very heart of his personal quarters on Luna. His father had enjoyed a similar chamber on Corinth and had often programmed it to display a peaceful Earth forest, spending many long hours there strolling through the projected greenery. Javas had never realized it while his father was alive—he had, he admitted regretfully, never even been interested in how his father had lived during those earlier years—but recognized now that the forest being displayed was the backwoods that surrounded Woodsgate. The file for the display was in the Imperial computer, and Javas had literally stumbled upon it years after Emperor Nicholas’ death.
The sounds of birds and the creaking of the tall trees in the wind above his head filled the chamber and he looked up, squinting when the branches parted enough to allow a shaft of holographic sunshine to pour through the leaves. There was a soft thump to his left that caught his attention and he turned in time to see an acorn roll beneath a pile of leaves. He looked up for the source of the acorn and met the eyes of the gray squirrel that had let it slip from its paws.
The file had been enhanced, he noticed: There were trees and wildflowers here that had never seen a misty Kentucky morning, but it was all so very real. The sound of the boughs rustling overhead, the scent of dry leaves beneath his feet, everything. For some reason, Javas felt very close to his father right now; closer than he’d felt in years.
I wish you were here today, Father, he reflected. A major part of your dream will come true today.
Emperor Nicholas had been right all along. In the many years that had passed since his father had sent him to Luna, officially putting the project in motion, so much of what he’d predicted had come to pass. Technology had been reborn. The worlds had drawn closer together in pursuit of his joint goal than they had been in centuries. The Empire’s strength had grown, and that strength was respected by the Sarpan, ushering in a new era of peace and cooperation with the aliens.
Even the test that was about to take place was a sign of their progress. Although flawed, it illustrated better than anything else the advancements they had made, and the results would point out the exact areas that needed to be reworked. And he was certain that Adela would have no trouble, once she was home and in realtime contact with the test site, reconfiguring the equations to their best advantage.