Someplace Else

By Kenneth Rowe

Noah is not your typical scientist. Sometimes having an inquisitive mind can land you in places you never dreamed of or would want to. While working with his fellow scientists, Noah stumbles onto a method of transporting matter with just thought. What he didn’t expect was he would be the next experiment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Rowe
• Release date: Mar 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310165429

Kenneth Rowe

Born and raised in Ohio, he left on the wings of the Air Force. He served first as a cop but was later kicked out for not drinking coffee. More training landed him in computer programming where he found a niche that he works in still.He has a wonderful wife, two grown children who make him proud, and four smart and funny grandchildren.

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Someplace Else

Kenneth Rowe

Published by Kenneth Rowe

Smashwords edition

Copyright 2014 Kenneth Rowe

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

First published electronically in 2014 - this edition 2014

~~~~~ Prologue ~~~~~

He’s waited for so long. So long, time no longer has meaning to him.

But now he feels another. One like him. He needs him, to use him, to be alive again. To have so much power and not be able to use it has driven him mad. He knows he is mad and would laugh aloud at the thought if he had lungs to push air or a throat for it to pass through.

He is mad but there is an end. He will leave this place and a whole world will be his to use.

Now he must wait a little longer for the time to be right, the players in just the right place, he will get his release.

But time has no meaning to him, he could wait an eternity.

Chapter 1

The clock radio by Noah’s bed barked to life in the middle of a classic Led Zeppelin tune. Slowly, Noah rolled over and shut it off. Another day. Another day of cubicle life. Yippee! Ok, only about a third of his day was spent at his desk but still it got small. How many days had started like this he couldn’t even remember. Though just out of college for two years now, finishing his PhD at the old age of twenty-three, he wished he’d taken a year off before starting a full-time job. He can still remember his father’s advice. Strike while the iron’s hot. His dad always seemed to speak in clichés and they were always annoying, at least to Noah. Startled that he was falling back asleep while wandering down what-might-have-been road he threw off his covers and launched himself from his bed. Time to get at it.

After a quick shower he threw on his favorite jeans and a loose polo. It was Friday and you could dress down on Fridays. Funny way of building morale, letting techie people dress like they were laborers. Pausing at the cupboard, he stopped himself from reaching down the same old cereal he ate every morning. I feel like doing something different today, he thought, grabbed his jacket and hustled out the door. Out on the street he found he was headed to the corner coffee shop he hadn’t been to since Lucy had left. Pretty, smart, always there with a kind word Lucy. He missed her but really didn’t blame her for leaving. It was odd to fall into the routine that he held when she was still living with him. Well, I guess life does go on, he thought. How fast three months goes by when you spend 13 hours a day at work.

With his pastry and coffee in hand, Noah headed for the garage which served as a safe haven for his chariot from the grimy and dangerous city. As he was walking he couldn’t help but think what the look meant that the girl at the counter in coffee shop had given him. Pity? Curiosity? Could she have remembered him from the Lucy days? He couldn’t decide, but she was pretty enough to find out, he thought. After his current project was put into production, or moved onto whatever they did with his completed ideas, he would be able to take his time with his breakfasts and maybe strike up a conversation with her.

He finished his pastry as he arrived at his baby. In fact he stood a moment in front of it without getting in while he did so. No way would he have gotten in her with food. He had a fleeting thought that if he had treated Lucy with as much care as he did his car, he might have woke up to her this morning instead of the boys of Led Zeppelin.

It was a nice enough day so he decided to put the top down and open his cockpit to the Denver morning. Driving his 1972 Fiat 124 spider always made him smile but with the top down he could almost imagine himself far away in a different world. Lucy used to fuss about her hair getting messed up with the top down but that wouldn’t stop Noah from dropping it on even a marginally nice day. One more nail in that relationship’s coffin, he sighed inwardly.

Reaching the freeway, Noah stretched the legs of his modified sports car. He knew soon the traffic would force him to slow down so he wanted to enjoy the speed while he could. He caught movement in his rear view mirror and hoped it wasn’t a cop. He was surprised to see another car approaching quickly, especially since he was already doing 90! A second looked confirmed it wasn’t a cop; in fact it was a Porsche. Adrenaline blasted through his veins as he downshifted into 3rd gear and mashed the accelerator to the floor. As his impromptu adversary reached him, he shifted into 4th and matched the speed of the beefy German sports car. Smiling he looked over at the other driver and waved. The fellow did not seem amused and pushed his expensive land rocket a little harder. This was all Noah needed and floor boarded his pedal, blasting away. He knew the stock Porsche didn’t stand a chance at matching his speed and was not disappointed when he saw the other car slowly shrink in his mirror.

The traffic started picking up so he slowed to a manageable speed and in short time came to a crawl with the other 20,000 commuters on the same stretch of highway. It wasn’t much further until he got off the highway, but Noah still hated moving along at a snail’s pace. It wasn’t nice to his baby. 15 minutes passed until he finally was able to take the familiar off ramp to his job.

Like every day for the last two years he searched up and down the almost-full rows of the parking lot trying to find a spot to put his baby that wouldn’t subject it to any amount of danger. As usual, he found a suitable spot out in the east lot that only nuts like him used. I should know that this is where I’ll park, Noah mused, I do this every day. Not worried about rain thanks to the perky forecaster on his favorite radio station, he left the top down. He thought about grabbing his shoulder bag then changed his mind and headed for the door. With his little sprint down the highway, he had made himself early. Not too unusual for him but after leaving here only seven hours previous, it didn’t seem right. Oh well, he thought, a couple more weeks and he could sleep a full eight hours if he wanted. Not that he would. After putting a new project to bed there always seemed to be some celebration or other to go to that would last until the next big project was in full swing. Noah was an engineer but not one of your run-of-the-mill engineers. He didn’t work with electricity or chemicals or rockets. Nothing as simple or normal as those, though most projects usually involved one or more of these other fields. He was a metaphysical engineer.

He worked in a special projects division for the government. His company had secured the contract he currently worked on for over 20 years. It is quite unusual for a government contractor to get such a long contract, but the work they did was also unusual and not one frequently competed for. Noah’s education was surrounded by a core belief that everything is made of lifeless, non-experiencing energy. Viewing existence this way opened his eyes to the possibilities of how one could move and change their surroundings just by realizing them in the new way. It was, to use one of his dad’s sayings, thinking outside the box. His current project involved the mass production of a new propulsion system of his design that was basically nothing. At least that was the joke in the office. To explain it to his bosses he had to simplify it to a point where it sounded as though it was a tube of air. The forces inside the tube were way beyond the paper pusher’s capabilities to understand but, because in theory it worked, they dubbed him a genius. It was not a moniker that he couldn’t have earned for himself if he ever bothered with tests, but that wasn’t his style.

Hi Jenny, he said to the sprightly receptionist.

Hi Noah, Jenny said. How’s the Fee-odd?

That’s Fiat, and it’s fine, thanks. See ya later.

Jenny was always nice to him and he thought she may have something for him but she wasn’t his type. Then again it may just be that she was nice to everyone and he was being a little egotistical. He mulled this over as he walked on, down the grey halls that led into the bowels of the complex where Special Projects were bunkered. From the outside the casual passer-by would never have imagined how big the complex really was. It was generically named the Land and Space Data Facility, though most of those who worked in its depths just called it The Hole.

It was still pretty early so he stopped by the break room for a refill on his coffee. After a sip to ensure it was as bad as usual, he headed to his cubicle, or as workers all over the world called them his cube. He looked at the various knick-knacks he had collected in the last couple of years, his eyes resting on an Easter bunny whose belly held a picture of Lucy. I should get rid of that, Noah thought, while waiting for his pc to run though its start up. As Max Planck’s picture filled his screen, Noah sat down to check his email. After sifting through the usual jokes and security notices he shut his work station down and headed over to the lab.

Today they were testing his team’s transportation prototype attached to a sled. It would travel down a tunnel to a point four miles under a mountain to see how the design held up to stress by moving objects of different weights. It would move by thought from a controller, tapping into the part of the brain that normally was used for sub-conscience thought. Noah’s co-worker, Jim Schlosser, was the chef behind this connection. He was initially part of the team that had mapped all of the brain’s functions and was considered the top mind in his field about minds. He joined Noah’s team after spending an afternoon with Noah.

Jim liked the fact that Noah got what he was saying. It was pure theoretical science but Noah had gotten just as excited as he when he had explained his vision of the link between thought and a physical substance.

To Noah it was just another project but to Jim, it was almost equivalent to a knight’s search for the Holy Grail.

To capture energy of thought violated so many accepted truths but opened the universe to the willing mind. And Jim had a willing mind. It was Noah, though, that made the physical connection. He created the substance to which thought could connect. Oddly enough it was one of his side projects that he had worked on that led him to the discovery. He was helping a chemical research team go beyond the wall they had hit in developing cyclic ozone. Ozone is a molecule made up of 3 oxygen atoms (O3 instead of O2). It surrounds the earth and acts like a whole world sunscreen to keep us from frying in the sun. But cyclic ozone kinda makes a circle and not a chain. Previously it had never been created but in theory it could work and could possibly be a tremendous source of power. Noah came up with the idea that maybe it happens in nature and we just never see it because it breaks down too easy. He thought maybe the ozone created by a lightning strike was initially cyclic and later separated because of air pressure.

He helped develop a laser that could create the molecule and have it retain its true nature. It worked well but it had a curious and dangerous side effect. It had to be kept in a vacuum and contained in an electrically shrouded state. The vacuum was expected to maintain the integrity of the cyclic state but after a few weeks of study they finally figured out why it would explode. It appeared that it picked up on the energy emanating from the minds of the persons around it and would explode because that is what they were thinking it would do. To stop this it needed to be surrounded by electricity at all times or a strong magnetic field. Now they were going to use it by letting a little thought in.

Though he was early, most of the team had beat Noah in, a select crew of workaholics, and the test was almost ready to begin.

All set Wally? Noah asked the mechanical engineering

Team chief.

We have green on all systems sir.

Noah still had a hard time having a person twice his age call him sir, but the one time he asked Wally to forgo the sirs led to a 45 minute lecture. His boss, who had overheard, expounded to great lengths on the requirements to have the scientists receive respect above the rest of the team so no questions are asked at critical times. It made a strange kind of sense but Noah gave up easily enough because it really didn’t matter that much to him. And, being the recipient of Anson Marsh’s attention and more to the point, his breath, would make anyone just do as he was told and not question anything in his presence.

That’s great, Noah said. Has anyone seen Dr. Schlosser?

Not yet sir, but I’ll let him know you’re looking for him if I do.

Thanks Wally, I’ll look around.

Wally walked off, heading to check on some last minute details, Noah was sure. He stood on a balcony in the rear of the test facility. To his left he saw the benches that he’d worked at putting thought to paper to something physical.

That’s exactly what it is, thought to physical, Noah mused.

You’re much too young to be talking to yourself Noah.

Noah spun around to see his new friend and co-worker stroll through the doors.

Yeesh Jim, you scared the piss out of me.

Sorry, at least it was me and not sir-stink-a lot,

Jim chuckled, might have been a delay in the test if he got wound up.

Noah laughed out loud. Jim thought the same as he did but was much more vocal about it.

It all looks good-to-go on my end, how ‘bout you?, Noah asked.

It’s a go as far as I’m concerned. I was ready last night! Jim enthused.

He was obviously excited about the test and it reminded Noah of how he was during the test of his first project here at the complex.

Well there’s nothing stopping us from giving it a shove a little early, what do you say? Noah said as they started walking towards the control center.

The testing was being conducted in the same room many projects used as they progressed beyond their smaller labs. It was approximately the size of a soccer pitch and in fact the floor was even painted green. Noah remembered when he first saw the room, it felt like walking into an indoor stadium. All he needed was a ball, a pair of goals, and cleats.

Along the far wall was the tunnel that the sled would travel. At one time it held the world’s largest klystron tube. Unbeknownst to the world at large of course, it was used in an experimental linear accelerator. This project failed. It was supposed to create molecular pictures on a tungsten target but ended by melting the target at such a fast rate, it simply ceased to exist. Vaporizing was the consensus since there were no remains to test and only a brief spike in heat was detected. As many failures go in The Hole, the scientists were disgusted but the government was overjoyed at the discovery. One just never knew when one would need to make something cease to exist. There were rumors in the halls that there was now a backpack sized model somewhere.

As they walked up to the control panel, Wally was just coming out of the tunnel. He walked over and stated, all clear, no personnel in the tunnel or on the tracks.

Let’s do it then, said Noah.

He spoke into the microphone in front of him to the Air Force F15 pilot sitting patiently in the control module, You ready Major Bailey?

Yes sir, came the reply.

What am I, an admiral or something? thought Noah.

Well, maybe a ship’s captain on a journey to the unknown, Noah said to no one.

Whadja say? Jim asked.

Nothing, just thinking out loud again. Maybe we should get me a padded room ready just in case. Here we go, said Noah, we’ll start small and work our way up. Major, you may proceed to full acceleration for one fourth of a mile then shut down.

Major Bailey’ heart rate jumped as his thoughts were directed to the sled and the material inside. No physical connection was made between the major and the sled but from his special helmet extended a transmitter that would send signal to a receiver on the sled that would in-turn pass to the special gas located in the cylinder.

In the time it took Noah to think about this process, the sled disappeared.

Shut Down! Noah yelled, amazed at himself for having the ability to think so coherently after the disappearance of nearly three months of work.

Status, asked Jim, looking with concern at Major Bailey sitting slumped in his command chair. The technicians were frantically checking and rechecking their readouts as a medical team was checking over Major Bailey.

He’s asleep, one of the med techs said. He’s completely exhausted but healthy.

That brought a round of deep breaths being let out.

Jim looked over to Noah to see if he had heard but swallowed his unasked question like a dry aspirin.

Noah stood looking at him with a goofy grin that, which on Noah always meant something brilliant was about to be born to the world.

It’s there, was all he said.

What’s there Noah? Jim