Return of the Ancients Read Online Free Page B

entire ring, the collision points, the magnetic resonance fields – everything was being scrutinised by both human and electronic eyes that missed nothing. Several technicians continued to tap away at recessed keyboards, or stared intently at graphs, calibrations and rows of numbers scrolling down their screens – but none turned, or even acknowledged the college party in any way. Just as Arn was thinking they were probably bored by the continual parade of tour groups, Harper spoke up softly from the back of the room.
    ‘Excuse the technicians. The new laser acceleration will be test-firing this morning, and as you would expect, it has created a lot of excitement and anticipation. Also, each firing has a considerable dollar cost associated with it, not to mention months of planning and preparation. So the teams are all pretty focused. Perhaps we can chat to them after the firing, and they can tell us about their results. Okay?’
    A few shrugs and bored looks didn’t daunt the bookish scientist, and he continued to point out different areas of the room and their team members, and talk a little more about the role of each section.
    Arn and Edward were at the front, and craned their necks when Harper described to the group where each of the collisions would take place. He finished by telling them that, though they would be observing the test-firing from here, he was also going to take them down to the lowest level where the collider ring was housed – to the actual collision ground zero . Arn heard his friend breathe the word awesommme as they were escorted from the control room.
    They went down in the enormous lift once again. This time when the giant elevator doors slid back they revealed a cavernous room the size of an aircraft hangar, complete with high roof, fortified concrete walls, and little else except for a set of steel doors at the end. They reminded Arn of the type you see on a submarine.
    Harper looked briefly at his watch and then called everyone together. He leaned towards Beescomb and said something softly that caused the teacher to nod and fall in behind the group, perhaps to ensure that no stragglers wandered off. For his part, Beescomb was beaming. The most enthusiastic kid in the group, thought Arn.
    While he talked, Harper led everyone towards one of the submarine doors at the far end of the cavernous chamber. Once Beescomb had corralled everyone in a huddle behind Harper, the Fermilab physicist entered some codes into a small silver keypad, waited until a row of red lights turned green, spun the wheel on the door, and then pushed it inwards.
    The strange smell was the first impression Arn had of the shaft – metallic, sharp . . . reminding him of a short circuit or a smell he encountered once during a plasma discharge display at a science fair. Ozone , sprang to his mind.
    Arn looked one way, then the other – the tunnel stretched away in both directions. Lit to a surgical brightness, it only disappeared as it bent into the start of its four-mile loop, hundreds of feet further away.
    Harper stood like a showman, with his hands on his hips and a proud smile on his face. ‘The Tevatron’s particle collision track . . .’ He opened his arms wide, flat hands pointed in each direction of the tunnel. ‘. . . Runs like this, nearly uninterrupted for miles. I say nearly because the only stop is the collision point where we monitor what happens when we smash the particles together.’
    ‘Where?’ The question had come from behind Arn, but he had the same query. Where was the collision point? For that matter, where was the Tevatron track ? The tunnel seemed to be bare, except for some grey pipes on one side of the wall that looked more like normal basement plumbing. At a minimum, he was expecting some sort of gigantic, reinforced pathway that housed the power of subatomic particles, moving at the speed of light.
    Harper nodded and pointed to the thickest of the grey pipes. Arn nearly groaned; it