Son of Tesla

SON OF TESLA: Chapter 50

"THIS PLATFORM IS ISOLATED from the floor by a series of vibration-absorbing buffers," Petar said as he and Brodham pulled Jem's limp body from its seated position against the wall of the oscillation chamber.

Brodham lifted the boy as easily as he might a bouquet of flowers. Jem's face was pale, his arm clammy and cold against Brodham's neck. Out of habit, Brodham checked the Timex on his wrist. All the years on the agency had taught him the importance of always knowing the time. It was 5:14 P.M. They hadn't even been in the room for fifteen minutes. The gunfire and shouts in the main chamber came and went in intervals. Brodham didn't know how many men Samil had called to their deaths. Didn't want to know. It seemed as if every few minutes a fresh round of rifle fire cut through the air. Inside the oscillation chamber, the sounds were dim, muffled. Even the occasional louder crack of a fragmentation grenade came through the walls as nothing more than a dull pop.

What kind of commander continued to send reinforcements against an enemy that didn't seem to be able to die?

More importantly, what kind of enemy couldn't die? What kind of animal could withstand that kind of barrage?

Brodham had spent his whole life understanding things to be a certain way. They worked because they worked, and they never stopped working. The sun always rose in the east and set in the west. The seasons came and went. The universe was ordered and purposeful.

In the space of three days, that order had abandoned him. He felt as if he were caught in a strong tide and, no matter how hard he swam, the shoreline kept receding into the distance.

"If the buffers aren't connected, the oscillations could build a sympathetic resonance with the building and crush us."

Brodham laughed, actually laughed. Everything Petar said was just so sublimely ridiculous. The laugh came out raucous and unwelcome in the soundproof room. He realized Petar was staring at him.

"Did I say something?" Petar asked.

Brodham burst into a fresh round of laughter. "You have no idea," he managed between cackles. He realized he sounded absolutely insane and tried to hold it in. It only made it worse.

"Bill." Petar turned to him awkwardly, Jem still slung between them. "Are you okay? Should I be worried?"

Brodham released a fresh wave of laughter. It felt so good, like each outburst cleared his head a little more. He suddenly realized that he hadn't laughed since Robert's funeral. Six long years ago. The thought sobered him slightly, and the cackles trailed off.

"I'm fine, Petar. Really. I'm dandy. Hop up there and I'll hand him to you." His face was split by a broad grin. Petar eyed him uncertainly, then roped Jem's other arm around Brodham's neck so that he held the boy in a bear hug and climbed onto the platform.

"Mind if I ask?"

Brodham hefted Jem off the floor and Petar caught him under the armpits. He moaned feebly. Brodham looked at Petar thoughtfully. "Ever feel like suddenly everything makes sense?"

"A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times may have changed the destiny of nations..." Petar said.

"...and hence the energy of a single thought may determine the motion of a universe." Brodham finished.

"You did your homework."

"Your dad's a hell of a subject."

Petar heaved Jem into the center of the platform and laid him gently on his back. He knelt and brushed a lock of hair off the boy's gleaming forehead.

"Still with us, big guy?"

Jem mumbled something. Brodham didn't catch it.

"That's right," Petar said. "Homeward bound." He stood and walked to the back of the platform. A small, wheeled cart stood to the side under the towering mess of cables. Petar pushed it over to Jem and began connecting a series of thin wires to him with velcro straps. After that, he stuck three electrodes to Petar's forehead with miniature suction cups.

"Alright, Jem, I need you to do something for me, and it's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. Can you hear me alright?"

Jem nodded. Brodham felt a wave of pity for him. He looked so helpless lying on the floor of the platform.

"Okay, here it is: I need you to stand up."

Brodham didn't think the boy could even blink on his own, let alone stand, but with a grunt and a powerful shudder, Jem turned onto his side. Petar's hand was on Jem's shoulder to steady him, but Jem shrugged it off and pushed up onto his elbow. His eyes were still closed, head bowed, golden bangs dangling and brushing the platform.

Another grunt from deep inside his chest and he sat back on his knees. Brodham was reminded of a Muslim praying at salat. Then his head whipped up and his eyes were open, staring at Brodham. They were startlingly white, especially in the glow of the fluorescents. His lips parted and his teeth clenched. His eyebrows furrowed into a "V" between his eyes. He lifted a knee off the floor and slid a foot into its place, then shakily rose all the way to his feet.

He was breathing heavily. Brodham could actually see the thump of his heartbeat through his thin T-shirt. His arms were spread slightly, palms out. Red and black wires hung from his fingers and coiled up to the little cart beside him.

"Badass," Petar whispered to him, then went to the edge of the platform and dropped down to the floor.

"This is it," he told Brodham, striding purposefully to the bank of computer monitors. "You might want to step back."

Brodham didn't have to be told twice. He backpedalled until he felt the smooth surface of the wall behind him.

Petar sacrificed five seconds to double-check the readouts on the monitors, then pressed a single key with firm finality. The computer beeped and a quiet, rhythmic hum sounded from behind the platform's rubber walls.

Brodham felt himself tense, but nothing else seemed to happen. Petar stepped over to him.

"It has to build the resonance," he said softly, as if the operation were a religious ritual, "to 76.344927 Hertz. That's Jem's main body frequency. The platform is going to align every one of his atoms to that frequency."

"And then what?" Brodham asked.

"And then Jem will have sympathetic resonance with the interstatic breach."

Something heavy slammed into the wall directly behind them.

"How long will that take?" Brodham asked nervously, turning to look at the wall.

"Hopefully not too long," Petar said.

The wall shook again.

A long, spidery crack forced its way up from the floor.

Thanks for reading my story! Please VOTE and let me know what you think of it so far, then check out Chapter 51!