Dark Energy: The Mortal Fracture

CHAPTER SEVEN: KIM’S CONDITION

Sade’s Cabin - 2010

The morning came suddenly, startling Sade and Wasi with the harsh sounds of the alarm clock. They were still in the living room on the couch where their late night conversation revealed a connection that they both had to Martin’s agenda and control. The truth revealed was not complete, but it at least identified the threats that they faced. This made it easier to trust one another, and easier to move forward with what had to be done before the winter darkness gave way to the birth of the near non-stop exposure to light promised by the polar spring and summer months.

Sade pushed aside the colorful afghan that had kept her warm during the early hours of the day and transitioned back into her work mode.

“I guess we should get going, there’s a lot to do today,” she said cutting through the morning stillness.

“Yeah,” Wasi said as he watched her walk away from him and towards her room.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room. Things seemed different in the cabin. Things were more familiar, more comforting. Perhaps his perception that the homey elements were only a façade had been wrong, and his suspicions about the home were biased by his suspicions of Sade. Before he could draw a conclusion, a mechanical whirl and clank broke through the silence in the building.

“Don’t worry about that,” Sade yelled down the hall. “Things are just waking up around here.”

“Great,” he responded. “I guess I better get dressed then.”

#

Downtown Kabul – 2002

Dust and debris flew everywhere as the sound of a bomb exploding rocked the downtown area of Kabul. People screamed and ran for cover. Before long a civilian entourage of trucks, Hummers, and cars paraded through the town claiming responsibility for the terror and destruction that had just assaulted the city. Men hung out of the window of these vehicles shouting and waving weapons.

Minutes after this raucous brigade of men passed through the city, a military convoy arrived to clean up the damage. United Nations team members, U.S. soldiers, and British soldiers jumped from the convoy and quickly assessed the safety needs of the area. They set up a security perimeter and started to evacuate the injured.

Wasi jumped from the heavily armored vehicle and entered a medical clinic that had been damaged by the explosion. Inside were a number of patients that were injured by flying shrapnel and falling debris. He orchestrated their extraction, but his efforts were cut short when he heard the sound that echoed the horrors of his youth when he worked as a firefighter. It was the sound of a structural collapse. This sound is something that you don’t forget, as it enters the memory found within every cell in your body.

“Fall back, fall back, fall back!” he yelled, commanding his team to evacuate the building. As the last man exited the structure, Wasi moved forward, but before he could leave he heard a voice.

The building moaned and creaked with warnings of its instability and pending collapse. Wasi ignored these warnings and rushed back into the building’s interior to find the source of the voice he heard.

“Ahtaaju Almusa’ada,” the man pleaded as he saw Wasi approach his position.

Wasi motioned for the man to stay still as he examined his predicament. A support beam had crumbled and fallen on him, and a piece of rebar had impaled his chest, staking him to the ground. A large pool of blood pooled under him and Wasi knew that there was no hope for saving him. He squatted down near him and weighed his options.

The man continued to plead, “Ahtaaju Almusa’ada, Ahtaaju Almusa’ada” but the look on Wasi’s face told him that no help was possible.

The building released a belch of pressure as the second story collapsed and shook the lower floor. The radio on Wasi’s pack squelched and urged him to evacuate the building, but he seemed torn about what he was supposed to do. He had lived with the agony of leaving someone behind to die before, and he did not want to add this man’s death to his collection of personal demons.

The man moaned in agony as blood bubbled up from his crushed lungs and spilled out of his mouth. The man made the decision for Wasi and reached for his gun and pointed it towards his head.

“Do what has to be done, my friend,” he said is a thick Arabic accent.

Wasi squeezed the trigger as the support structures for the first floor crumbled and it slowly folded in upon itself.

He rushed out of the building, rejoined his team, and ordered, “Move out.”

The convoy moved forward without Wasi looking back or thinking about the incident ever again.

#

Sade’s Cabin – Winter 2010

Wasi sat at the kitchen table with his shirt sleeve rolled up. Sade sat down next to him and began to gather the biodata that was needed for the security system. This process involved conducting a retinal scan and taking his thumbprint, as well as one other task. She removed a rectangular scanner that had a telescoping probe.

“I just need one more sample,” she said as she smiled deviously at Wasi.

“Where’s that supposed to go?” he asked.

Sade connected the probe to a digital recorder revealing that it was actually a directional microphone. Holding the recorder up to his mouth she offered him comfort, “You can relax, I’m not quite that devious. Just say something that you can remember easily.”

“Like what?” he asked.

“I guess that will work,” she said after clicking the recorder off. “After your security file has been set up, all three of your samples, your voice, thumbprint, and retinal scan, have to match in order to get into the lab,” she explained. “If they don’t, then a series of security responses will initiate.”

“What type of security responses?” he inquired.

“The first responses are merely superficial deterrents, loud sirens, audio warnings, and flashing lights. If you continue then the second round of deterrents engage, including the execution of a high voltage barrier.”

“If that doesn’t work?” Wasi asked.

“If that doesn’t work then there is the terminal security response,” she said, “instant incineration.”

Wasi immediately remembered the pile of ash that had been at the entry of the lab when they first arrived. He realized in this moment that he was up against forces that were far more deadly than he anticipated when he took on this job.

“So it is important that you remember your passphrase and that only you go into the laboratory,” she concluded.

“How long until we can get started?” he asked impatiently.

“It will only take a few minutes to set up your access account. By the time you finish breakfast I’ll have everything ready to go,” she predicted as she placed the biodata samples into a sterile box, closed the lid and escaped to her laboratory.

Upstairs Wasi could hear the mechanical locks click and slide open as Sade entered the laboratory. He could also feel the floor vibrate as heavy doors slid open and stopped against their terminal posts. He ate a bowl of cereal as he waited impatiently for his access to the elusive laboratory wonderland. His wait was short. Within a few minutes he could hear the sound of Sade’s footsteps coming up the stairs and the old wooden door opening.

“Bring down the samples,” she called from the stairwell.

Wasi grabbed the colostrum samples from the refrigerator and headed to the basement where Sade was waiting. Walking him through the steps of entering the laboratory, Sade finally allowed Wasi to cross over the final barrier in their relationship. Looking around apprehensively, Wasi felt as if he was entering the gates of heaven, but in reality he was passing through the gates of hell.

“I’ve set up this computer for you to use,” Sade said as she cleared away piles of papers and equipment from the workspace near the computer. “You should have everything that you need to extract the antibodies from the colostrum. The centrifuge is in the back, slides and basic equipment are in those cabinets and the cold storage containing your ELISA materials is under the centrifuge. Do you need anything else?”

Wasi looked around and thought about what he had to do. “No, I think I’ll be fine. How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to spend a couple of hours at the hospital and then I need to pick up the remaining supplies for the experiments. I should be back early this afternoon. Do you need anything from town?”

“No, but do me a favor and stay out of trouble,” he said as he turned his attention and energy to the work in front of him.

“I’ll try,” Sade said as she left the laboratory. As she passed through the first barrier between the laboratory and the basement, she looked quickly at a hidden surveillance camera and then exited.

#

Wasi seemed oblivious to anything but his work. He removed the colostrum samples from the cold bag and placed them into the cold storage unit. Then he searched through the supplies that were stocked in the cupboards.

He removed a metal test tube holder that contained 16 empty test tubes. He placed these items and a select group of other equipment into the autoclave and started the sterilization process.

As the autoclave sterilized the equipment, he looked around the lab and inventoried everything that was made available to him. His snooping revealed the cameras that were watching his every move. He laughed quietly to himself, mugged for the camera and went about his work.

#

Sade exited her home, locked the door and initiated the external security system. She looked nervously around the perimeter of her property to see if there were any signs that she was being watched or followed. The morning was dark, quiet and still, but the air was heavy, predicting difficult times ahead.

She slowly walked towards the garage and wrestled with the door to pry it from the frozen grips of its frame. Finally breaking the icy seal, the door was freed and she walked into the garage, closing the door behind her.

She pulled a tarp from its perch revealing a security monitoring system. Turning on the monitor she reviewed the four-screen display that was connected to her security system. In the top left screen she saw that Wasi was removing equipment from the autoclave and was following orders like a well-trained dog. She then quickly reviewed the other screens and saw that they were all clear of threats.

Sitting down on a stool she entered a code that enabled her to search for security warnings from the previous month. As she scanned the security codes that were displayed in the report, she identified the time and date when her system was breached. Retrieving the video data she reviewed it and saw that two men had entered the house and hacked into her security system. However, while they were able to disengage the first two rounds of barriers for her laboratory, they were unsuccessful at breaching the third level of the security system. As a result, they were incinerated in a blast of brilliant blue flame and smoke.

“Stupid men,” she said as she quarantined the data file so that it would be hidden in case the files were confiscated in any official inquiry.

Satisfied that nothing important had been breached, she returned the surveillance system to its monitoring mode, turned off the screen and left in her own vehicle.

#

Wasi carefully measured out the first round of colostrum samples and poured the rich fluid into the sterilized test tubes. He then capped the tubes and placed them in the centrifuge. As the timer ticked down the remaining ride for the liquid, he worked on preparing the slides that would be used for the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays, or ELISA.

#

Anchorage General Hospital – 2010

Sade entered Kim’s room cautiously not knowing what to expect. They had been through a lot together and they had both been in this position of peril before. However, it was still difficult to deal with the mortality of a friend.

#

Antarctica – 2004

A man, known as Necalli, pushed Martin out of the way and cut the wound around the metal shard that was protruding from Sade’s abdomen. As he pulled at the metal his eyes fell upon an anomaly inside the exposed cavity. Necalli’s progress was arrested by this discovery and he looked over at Martin. “Did you know?”

“Know what?” Martin asked as he looked into the open wound.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“We don’t have a choice. We have to continue, it’s the only way,” Martin directed in a state of shock.

Kim entered the room out of breath from the emotional exertion of the moment.

“Did you find it?” Martin asked frantically.

“Yes,” Kim responded as he handed him a bag of medical supplies. “My god, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. You didn’t say it would be like this,” Kim stammered.

Martin cut away Sade’s clothing to expose the wound in its entirety. He doused his hands with rubbing alcohol and pulled on a pair of sterile gloves and a mask.

“Take this,” Necalli instructed as he handed the metal shard to Kim.

Kim took the bloody shard and waited for further instructions. Martin looked back at him and shook him out of his paralysis, “I need the pediatric supplies from the back.”

“Why would you need…?” Kim looked down at the open wound and could see a slightly distended uterus pulsing with fetal movement.

“Get it!” he ordered.

Kim dropped the metal shard and rushed to the back room. He rummaged through the supplies for the pediatric emergency kit that had been packed away. He always thought that this medical kit was pointless as there were no minors allowed at the research center and it was against policy to allow pregnant women to winter over at the research station. Fortunately, the organization that funded the camp required the kit to be supplied “just in case.”

Fishing out the pediatric kit, he rushed it back to Martin.

“Here,” he said panting as he handed it to Martin.

Kim watched Necalli and Martin’s skillful movements, which were so well-orchestrated that the surgery seemed almost rehearsed. Trying to get his mind off the horror of the moment, Kim thought about the man that was helping to save Sade’s life.

Necalli was a bit of a recluse at the camp. He referred to himself as a self-described Mexica, a modern equivalent of Aztec. He was quiet but intense and carried the physical markers of his race, including a dark complexion, a stoic face, and unusually proportioned fingers. Professionally he was an archeologist, however, at the Center he also functioned as a medic, which was not unusual. People at this remote post normally served more than one function because the residents of this ice nation were isolated from the rest of the world and they had no lifeline to call when things went wrong.

Unable to keep his attention away from what was going on in front of him, he returned his attention to the desperateness of the situation. Martin cut through tissue, removed its contents and handed it over to Kim.

Wrapping the little body in a towel, he walked out of the room. Necalli dropped his instruments, jumped up and ran after Kim. Taking the bundle from him, he instructed, “Let me do it. You need to go help your friend.”

Kim returned to assist Martin with the rest of the surgery. Sade lay unconscious and pale, as if death had already taken possession of her body. Kim struggled with his conscience, trying to make sense of what had happened.

He wondered why Sade hadn’t told him that she was pregnant before they left. She must have been at least four months along when they flew down. If he had known he would never have agreed to this, he would have never let Martin talk him into it, but now it was too late. He looked down at the blood on his hands and he knew that things would never be the same again.

#

Anchorage General Hospital – 2010

Kim was awake and still on a ventilator because of the damage to his trachea. The hospital had set him up with a computer so that he could communicate easier with others. As Sade grabbed his hand and sat down next to him, he noticed the marks on her arms and neck and typed out on his computer, “Rough night?”

Sade smiled and said, “Nothing I couldn’t handle. How are you feeling?”

“A bit chewed up,” he typed jokingly.

“You always know how to make me laugh. Why is that?” she asked.

“It’s a gift. Did you have a talk with him?” Kim asked.

“Yes.”

“?”

“We continue our work and hope we find what we’re looking for before Martin terminates the project.”

A nurse walked into the room with a tray of medical supplies. “Good morning, Mr. Kim.”

Kim smiled at the attractive nurse and pushed Sade off the edge of his bed. He smoothed down his hair and straightened the blankets that were pulled around him.

“Okay, I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t give the staff here too much of a hard time.” Sade moved towards the nurse and whispered to her, “Watch out for this one. He may look harmless, but he can be a dangerous man when he wants to be.”

Winking slyly at the nurse, she left the room to pursue other necessary objectives.

#

Antarctica – 2003

Kim arrived at the Antarctica Research Center with Sade. It was the first winter that both would be spending at the center and on the ice, and they were not used to the cold. Both were bundled up in massive snowsuits, hats, face masks, boots and other winter paraphernalia. Kim was eager for the darkness to arrive so that he could gain access to the one resource that was only sparingly offered to him back in the states. Here, however, he would be offered months of total darkness and pure access to space and time.

The bulk of his research efforts were focused on the concept of dark energy, or the invisible force that was causing the universe to expand at an accelerated rate. This revelation was only recently discovered and it contradicted the previously held theory that the universe’s expansion was slowing down. What Kim found so intriguing was that dark energy wasn’t a constant force, but one that could be manipulated and one that could manipulate other seemingly constant factors, such as time and gravity. In essence it seemed to be what could only be described as intelligent.

As Kim and Sade walked through the threshold of their new home away from home, they were met by a young man in his late twenties with dark hair, green eyes, and elfish characteristics.

“Hello, I’m Martin Fierson, I’m the welcome committee for new arrivals.”

“I’m Eisla Sade and this is Carl Kim,” she said as she shook his hand and tried to peel off enough of her winter wear to reveal her face, but all she could manage was to uncover her mouth and eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you two. I suspect all of this is going to be a bit overwhelming for the first few weeks, but you will get used to it,” he said as he guided the pair down the hall. “If you have read the manifest for this place already, then you know that we have quite the auspicious collection of residents. We have astrophysicists, Nobel Peace Prize winners, archeologists, computer engineers and a few notable members from the medical community. However, unlike the real world, we do not stand on ceremony around here for professional accolades. Everyone is equally important and everyone has at least two roles, one professional and one functional. For example, this animal here working on the heating system is an award-winning geophysicist.”

Martin stopped in front of an open door. “This room is yours, Kim. Go ahead and settle in. I’ll give you your job assignments tomorrow after breakfast.” Martin turned his attention to Sade, “Your room is this way,” he said as he left Kim in his room and escorted Sade to her quarters.

Kim peeled off his winter wear and extracted the most valuable possessions from his luggage, his telescope and his camera. These two instruments would give him the connection to the one thing that he thought he wanted most in life, the origins of physical existence.

#

Laboratory – Sade’s Cabin – 2010

The day had come and gone and Wasi wrapped up his work by placing the prepared antibody extraction serum into the cold storage. He shut the door and set the temperature to -20 degree C. Since there was nothing else that he could do right now, he went back upstairs and got something to eat.

While his first intention was to just sit at the table and have dinner, the solitude offered by the empty cabin beckoned him to have a quick look around. He walked over to a large bookcase and started looking through its contents. There was an eclectic collection of science books, novels and photo albums. He removed a large blue photo album entitled “Antarctica” and he brought it back to the kitchen table.

As he ate from his bowl of leftover stew, he thumbed through the pages of the photo album. He saw photographs from the Antarctic Research Center that contained Sade, Martin, and Kim. At first glance it seemed like the three were happy in Antarctica and that they were excited about their work and their adventure. However, as Wasi flipped from the front of the album to the back of the album, he noticed that the expressions and physical appearance of the three changed from youthful and bright, to worn and dark. It was clear that something happened during their second winter on the frozen continent that changed all three of them. Unfortunately, none of the captions seemed to indicate what that event was.

Wasi’s intrusion was cut short by the sound of Sade’s vehicle skidding down the driveway. He rushed to put back the album, but as he placed it back on the shelf an envelope fell from its pages. It looked like it contained the negatives for the album, but when he looked inside the envelope he found a sonogram dated 2004-9-15 and it had Sade’s name on it. The absence of any photographs of children in the house contradicted his findings that Sade was a mother, but he didn’t have time to solve this dilemma as Sade was walking to the door. He quickly put the sonogram back in the envelope, slid it into the album and pushed it back into the bookcase just as Sade entered the cabin.

“Sorry, I’m so late, but I had the chance to get something that will help us out a lot.” She walked into the kitchen and placed the biological materials labeled “Human Tissues – Biohazard,” into the refrigerator.

“So, how’d things go here?” she asked.

“Good, the serum will be ready for incubating in the morning.”

“Great,” she said as she opened a can of diet soda and took a drink.

Wasi jokingly pointed to her drink and remarked, “You know that stuff will kill you.”

“I’m not that lucky,” she remarked. “Any problems today?”

“None,” was all he said.

#

To be continued...