Core Beliefs - Chapter 23 - The Scientific Grind.

Core Beliefs – Chapter 23 - The Scientific Grind

Matt rode with Chris to the farm and found food waiting on the table. Marcy had made a habit of having something cooked just in case anyone needed to munch.

Eldridge had just finished breakfast. Matt asked how the planting went, concerned if enough rain had fallen.

“I think the seed’s in good shape,” Eldridge said. “It’s towards July that I worry the most.”

“How’s Doug behaving?” Matt asked with a chuckle.

Eldridge smiled. “That boy has been a really good inspiration around here. The little one, Emily, tells me all the time about him showing her something in a book and helping her with homework. She don’t hardly turn on the TV no more, and she says she is having more fun readin’, and if she don’t read it right, then she can’t answer the questions he asks her.

“Elvin says he is the coolest guy he has ever met, even if Ellie does like him. They were throwing the football last night, and he was showing Elvin how to turn his hands to catch the thing every time.”

Eldridge paused and looked at Matt. “Most of all, it’s Ellie he’s done the most good for. I never seen her feel so good about herself. She smiles all the time and stands up straight and speaks her mind a whole lot more.”

“I hear that Ellie may be tops in her class?” Matt asked.

Eldridge blushed and ducked his eyes to the ground. “I don’t know where she got it except her momma is real smart, too, but she studies hard and learns and seems to do good on all them tests.”

“Have you thought about her going to college?”

“If that’s what she wants,” Eldridge said, “Marcy and I will do whatever it takes to make sure she goes.”

Matt saw grim determination etch onto Eldridge’s face.

“I’m sure she will go,” Matt said, “and the only question will be where.”

“Matt, I really like the way you have faith that things are going to work out.”

They shook hands, and Eldridge headed for the barn.

Matt saw a truck winding along the fence line and figured it was Chris or Doug headed back to the house. It turned out to be Doug.

“Where’s Ellie?” Matt asked.

“She’s in school. Won’t be home until almost five. They have some after-school classes, and she is working on French.”

“I’m sorry, I should have realized,” Matt laughed, “but you have to admit you two have been hanging out together.”

“Uncle Matt, she is really special,” Doug hung his head. “I like her a lot better than the girls I dated in high school. They were snobs, and the only things they really cared about were how they looked, and did they have the latest fashions, and were they dating the best-looking, richest guy. To tell you the truth, I got sick of the whole scene.”

“Let’s sit for a minute,” Matt eased over to the porch steps, and Doug joined him.

‘This may be the only chance I get to counsel this young man,’ Matt thought to himself.

“Doug, I cannot express how much you have impressed me. Your mom and dad have to be very proud. I just have a couple of things I would like to share, and then you can do with them whatever you want.” Matt smiled at his nephew. “First is that you are not just smart; you are intelligent, and there is a difference. Smart people know stuff. Intelligent people understand how to apply their knowledge effectively. Smart people strive to demonstrate to the world what they know. Intelligent people watch the world around them and are constantly learning what it will teach them.”

Matt paused, making sure that Doug understood. “I know you took a year off from school to, kind of, find your way, and that’s not a bad thing. I also know that you have been a wonderful help to Chris, and we could not be ready to move into this phase without you.” Speaking earnestly, “What I want you to think about is how valuable you would be if you continued training your mind and abilities. Doug, you could be one of the most outstanding people I’ve ever met. That’s the real question. What do you want? Because no matter what else happens, you have to live with you, and I want nothing more than for you to be happy.” Matt wrapped his arms around Doug’s shoulder and squeezed him.

Doug groaned, “Dad said you were a real smart guy.” He paused for a second and added, “I think you’re pretty intelligent, too.”

They laughed, and Doug remembered, “Oh, damn! I’m supposed to get some more cable from the barn and get back to the silo.” Matt went with him, and the two men set three spools in the truck and headed to the silo.

***

Matt, Chris, and Doug were still in the Silo when Joe, Charley, and Dr. Kumar arrived from Kansas City. Charlotte told Marcy that this was too big a crowd to cook for, so she, Jacob, and Janet picked Marcy up in the afternoon and went around town picking up a variety of things. They drove in a few minutes behind Joe.

Marcy quickly had Elvin and Ellie set up sawhorses and place boards to make tables. Joe, Suchet, and Charley helped get chairs from the house, and Eldridge strung a line of the construction lights between trees.

Charlotte asked Eldridge if someone could drag the little boys out of the bunker.

“Those fellows are like a mess of moles,” Eldridge chuckled. “Don’t stick their heads up for much of nothing.” Eldridge tossed the pickup keys to Elvin, and the teen headed off to fetch the Subterraneans.

Twenty minutes later, everyone gathered around the makeshift table, digging in and having a good time. Joe noticed Ellie and Doug next to each other, talking and laughing. Joe glanced at Ellie and realized how much more alive she seemed and how mature Doug was acting. The entire Coblentz family looked much better dressed than last October.

‘Right!’ He remembered Charlotte telling him that she had dragged Marcy and Ellie to a beauty shop and then clothes shopping for everyone.

Conversations carried on for a while, but then Chris announced he still had things to do in the silo. He and Doug packed up to head back. Charley joined them, and quickly, the three were off.

“Not the first all-nighter,” Charlotte said. “They’ve got air mattresses on the top floor of the control room. When they get too tired, they crawl into their man cave and sleep.”

Suchet was exhausted from his trip. He and Joe had hotel rooms not far from the Elsberry house. Matt and Charlotte, with the kids, drove back to town.

Matt called Ling, and they talked for almost thirty minutes before she was interrupted by her pager.

He hit the sack before 10:00. ‘I’m getting up early and going for a walk.’

***

Wednesday morning, 6:15, Matt woke fresh and clear-headed. Wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and his tennis shoes, he was out the door. Matt didn’t keep track of time; he just focused on maintaining a good pace and remembering where he was and how to get back to the house. At 7:20, he stepped back on the porch and knew he had done well. He was sweaty and out of breath and could tell that his body had responded. Overall, it felt good. It took about twenty minutes to clean up, change, and grab cereal and milk from the kitchen.

Matt asked Charlotte if she was coming to the silo.

“No, I need to spend time at the house. I’d be a spectator in the silo, standing around and probably in the way.”

By 8:20, Matt was on the road. He knew that Joe and Suchet were driving straight to the farm.

He pulled up to the front of the Coblentz home. Eldridge and Marcy were doing chores, chickens to feed, and hay for the cows. Matt thought farm life was truly a never-ending set of tasks, but he noted that these people were also truly happy.

Ten minutes later, Joe and Suchet pulled in. Eldridge said he would take everyone down to the silo, and they headed out. The size of the crowd surprised Matt, Chris, Doug, Charley, and Ellie were already there. Evidently, Ellie had walked down just after dawn and was busy helping Doug with some last-minute programming.

Seemed Eldridge had called the school and arranged for Ellie to miss. He told them she was working on a science project.

Chris welcomed the new arrivals. He and Suchet descended the spiral stairs to the lower level of the control room. Chris was showing Suchet the fully assembled beam generator. They emerged carrying the unit and, with Doug and Charley, headed for the silo to get it in place.

The rest of the morning was a slow process of checking each sensor, monitor, data link, computer interface, power supplies, and video systems. They ran dummy simulations to confirm that the data links and computers were responding properly. At about 4:00 p.m., Chris declared they were ready.

While Ellie, Doug, Suchet, and Chris had worked frantically through the day, Matt, Joe, and Charley had just stood or continually hustled out of the way. Mostly, they watched. Matt realized again that Charlotte had probably shown greater wisdom.

Suchet and Chris conferred and announced that they would start the re-creation test the following morning, Thursday, at 9:00 a.m.

“Don’t be surprised if it takes a few days just to get back to where we were before,” Chris said. “If we pull this part off, who knows how long it will take to analyze and understand the data.”

***

The next morning, the same seven people gathered in the control room. Chris and Suchet began by going through a long list of checks, with Ellie and Doug confirming much of the instrumentation.

10:00 a.m. Suchet said, “I think we are ready to start.”

Chris opened a binder with the systematic procedures. “15% power to the capacitor bank,” he said.

Matt felt like he was in the command center of a nuclear submarine or even a spaceship. There was a tangible excitement, and the atmosphere was electric.

Doug, sitting at his computer terminal, clicked his mouse and brought up a screen. He keyed a few strokes and hit enter. “15% input and activated.”

“Confirming power applied and level at 15%,” Ellie said a few seconds later.

“Capacitors charging.” Suchet stared at another terminal in the room. Thirty seconds passed before Suchet added, “Charging complete.”

“Reduce input power to the capacitor bank to 5%,” Chris instructed, checking off a line in the procedure book.

“Open the circuit to the beam generator,” Suchet instructed.

“Power connected to the beam generator,” Ellie responded.

Systematically, they went through a tedious and precise process of increasing the power to the beam generator, monitoring, and recording the data. Suchet was bouncing around from terminal to terminal as the raw data streamed across the screens.

As the day wore on, the electric atmosphere and excitement had resolved into monotony and routine. By 3:00 in the afternoon, they had reached 75% power.

To Matt, it appeared that nothing was happening.

As the time approached 3:30, they were at 80% power, and Ellie called from her terminal, “Variance, I have a data variance.”

Suchet and Chris rushed to her terminal and watched the data stream for several minutes.

“Stabilized at the new levels,” Chris said, “I recommend we continue at a slower rate.”

Suchet concurred, and for the next hour, they raised the power levels by fractions of a percentage point, pausing each time a variance appeared.

The core crew had now been working non-stop for seven hours except for desperate dashes to the bathroom.

Matt, Joe, and Charley had finally found something to do. Making sure that the “Fantastic Four” at least had water to drink.

“Let’s shut it down for the day,” Chris said. “We are getting too tired, and the risk of missing something significant is getting dangerously high.”

Suchet agreed, and in ten minutes, they had the power off and the equipment secured.

***

Matt slept fitfully that night, realizing the next day would possibly prove the efforts of this dedicated group were all for nothing, or they were really on their way to something special.

The thought repeatedly passed through his head that, after all the work, they might find that destroying the beam generator and the records was the only logical outcome.

“Can I really let this go?” he whispered in the dark of the room. It took several minutes of soul-searching and an emotional tug-of-war before he reached a resolution. “If there is no good in what we find, then it has to go.”