Martin Read online

  Chapter Four

  I was awoken at six thirty by the alarm sitting on the bedside table. I was instantly wide awake. My head was still spinning around from everything that had been said. I lay there for a full fifteen minutes just trying to gather my thoughts together. I soon came to realise however, that no matter what my misgivings were, I simply could not wait to discover more. I quickly showered and got myself ready for the day.

  Alistair came for me at half seven as promised, and we both started to make our way to the canteen. ‘Tell me, why is the complex full of these amazing over-the-top security doors?’ I asked after going through a second door in as many minutes.

  ‘Two reasons. Firstly, there is the security aspect; the military do not want an invading army - or any terrorists for that matter getting in here. Secondly, the power source that’s down here is…to put it as diplomatically as possible…just a little bit dangerous,’ he answered with a smirk.

  ‘How dangerous is dangerous?’

  We both stopped walking, and then Alistair took off his glasses before he replied. ‘You want to know how dangerous Martin? Well let’s just say that should the thing go up, then so will this mountain, and to tell you the truth, I do not believe for one minute that any of these doors will help to save us. So now you know…sounds a little scary, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose so, but just how likely is that?’

  ‘You mean an accident? Well, it could happen, but I don’t think it will. It certainly doesn’t bother me, what about you? Not scared, are we?’ He finished his question with a broad smile as he thumped me on the back.

  ‘No, not at all…anyway you only live once, and I don’t suppose it’s anywhere near as dangerous as the dreaded drinks machine, is it?’

  Alistair let out a chuckle before saying, ‘I think you’re going to fit in here just fine Martin, just fine. Come on, let’s go get our breakfast.’

  We walked through another couple of doors, and into the canteen. Once we were both settled at the table with our breakfast, Alistair asked me, ‘Well, are you pleased that you finally decided to use up some of that precious free time of yours?’

  I finished my mouthful of toast before replying, ‘I take it that if yesterday was a little weird, then from now on it can only get much weirder?’

  Alistair laughed again before replying, ‘Oh, of that you can be sure – weird all the way!’

  ‘Good,’ I replied. ‘Then yes, I am pleased that I’m spending my time here. I’m still not sure what I’m letting myself in for, but I can't wait to find out more. I suppose you still can’t tell me where this complex is, or anything about that mysterious power source you have down here?’

  “No’ is the simple answer to that. I’m sorry. I’m well aware that you’d love to know, but for now it’s a no-no.’

  ‘I thought so. Okay Alistair, then tell me, why the interest in ‘other dimensions,’ how on earth did you get into all of this?’

  ‘That’s a very good question, and one that deserves an honest answer. I would love to tell you all about it – but we just don’t have the time just now. However, I will tell you this. You see, it all started I guess when I was in my late twenties and I had what I can only describe as…a bit of a…strange experience,’ Alistair replied with a very serious look, whilst slowly moving his teaspoon around the sugar bowl. ‘Tell me, do you believe in ghosts?’ he asked.

  ‘No. Why, do you?’

  ‘No I don’t. However, as I have just said, I did have a strange experience which I won’t go into just now. Suffice to say that if it had happened to someone else, they may well have claimed to have had…a supernatural experience, or more probably, to have seen a ghost. Now, I have never believed in such nonsense, and I never will…’

  ‘So what did you see then?’ I demanded.

  ‘Later Martin. I will tell you all about it when we next go out for a drink,’ he responded with a grin. ‘Anyway, this experience got me thinking as to what really did happen. If it wasn’t a ghost - then what? I deduced that it could have been a Time Traveller from our future who got careless and was seen by accident, but for now, Time Travel only remains a theory, and I for one am not entirely convinced that it is possible.’

  ‘Oh that’s a bit of a shame Alistair, I was rather hoping that I might get to see a Time Machine, tucked away in some dark corner on today’s tour!’

  He gave me his serious look. It was clear that my off-the-cuff remark had not gone down well.

  ‘Anyway,’ continued Alistair, ‘I had recently been to a seminar concerning other dimensions, and it really got me thinking. You see Martin, what we are trying to do, whilst at the cutting edge of our knowledge and technology, is pretty basic stuff really. If it works, then the only thing that would have travelled into the other dimensions is somebody’s thought waves. As I said to you last night, there has to be many other dimensions that are much more advanced than us, so it’s entirely plausible that some of them may have developed technology…enabling them to actually travel between the dimensions.’

  ‘Are you trying to tell me Alistair that if somebody sets eyes on something strange or ghostly, then they possibly might have seen a…dimension traveller?’

  ‘Yes, I think that it’s possible. In fact, I would say that’s what I probably believe, yes - all these ghost sightings, they are people from other dimensions who are seen by chance. So to answer your question, that’s how I originally got interested in all of this weird stuff, and tomorrow, we’ll find out once and for all whether I’m mad or indeed a genius!’

  ‘Definitely Mad. I’ve told you on many occasions that they should have locked you up and thrown away the key. How on earth your poor wife puts up with you I’ll never know. Well, that’s not true, she puts up with you because you’re never home – you’re always working here, drinking in the pub, or out jogging!’

  ‘And, as I have told you on many occasions, that’s precisely why we do get on so well. We never see each other!’ We laughed together for a few moments before Alistair urged, ‘Come on, we’d best hurry up and eat. We both have a lot to get done today.’

  We finished our breakfast and Alistair returned with me to my room. I would have about half an hour before he would again come for me to begin the tour.

  At exactly nine o’clock Alistair came to collect me. I had been here for less than twenty-four hours, and it was already clear to me that everybody did things almost to the minute; nobody was ever late for anything, and that was going to include me. I was having to adjust very quickly. I wasn’t really used to this, at least not since my retirement eleven weeks ago.

  We started our journey through the tunnels and security doors. Although I was very excited and looking forward to my new day, I had to admit to myself that I was just a little apprehensive as I was not really sure what I was letting myself in for.

  ‘Well Martin,’ said Alistair, ‘this is it, the final door and then we can go in - into Room 101!’

  ‘Room 101?’ I repeated back to him. Even though Alistair had said it rather tongue in cheek, I nevertheless understood what the true significance of Room 101 really was.

  ‘I’m afraid Martin, that we mad scientists do have a warped sense of humour. So, because we are dealing with people’s dreams, and you could even argue, people’s subconscious, then as a bit of a sick joke we have nicknamed this Room 101, the place for all your worst nightmares!’

  ‘Oh thanks a bunch Alistair,’ I replied, ‘that has really put my mind at rest for the day to come.’

  ‘Nonsense, man,’ he boomed, ‘if it were up to you this room would have been called something far worse!’ he finished with his now familiar chuckle, followed by yet another firm pat on my back. The door to the room opened with a hiss. ‘Come on, come and meet the crew,’ he said leading me through the door.

  This was where I had first started my adventure, the room with all the incredible machines. Looking around, I also noticed that several scientists were at various workstations all looking v
ery serious, as though they were on some sort of a mission. When I had first seen this room, I had never really looked at the people or the machines in any great detail. All I had was this impression of an expensive laboratory filled with amazing machines. Now, for the first time, I actually began to really take in everything that was around me. I still had the same feeling as when I first arrived, as if I was a small boy in a huge toyshop.

  My eyes were immediately drawn to the strange and futuristic large cylindrical console that lay directly in the centre of the room. However, my attention was very quickly diverted to my right, where there was a fairly large off-white contrivance that I guessed to be about thirty feet in length and about twelve feet in height. It certainly looked very unusual. At its centre was the ‘dentist’s chair,’ I recognised it straight away - just as Davila had promised I would. I could only assume that it probably was a genuine dentist chair, because it certainly looked like one. The head of the chair was directly underneath the centre of the contraption, the name of which I had been trying to remember since I had walked through the door. Then it came to me. This must be the ‘Trans-Scopic-Transponder,’ or the ‘TST’ - whatever that really meant. From the head of the chair to the underside of the machine above was a gap of about four feet, so I logically assumed that the ‘Helmet’ would be there somewhere, but I was unable to see where it was.

  I was remembering what Davila had said about the machine, and trying to piece it all together. She did say that this part of the machine was boring and uninteresting, and to a degree, I suppose I could see what she meant. To the right and left of the chair, there were a couple of monitors, a few rows of lights that were all off at the moment, as well as several different types of switches. I could see that underneath one of the monitors was a workstation of sorts, which included a keyboard and a microphone. However, directly above the chair was a large display, which was currently inactive, four very small monitors, and four protruding black pipes that looked rather odd.

  I was just beginning to realise that this was the machine that I was going to be ‘plugged’ into when Alistair, who must have been watching me standing and staring for a minute or two, slowly waved his hand in front of my eyes to get my attention.

  ‘Anybody in there?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m not sure, Alistair,’ I replied. Then I pointed to the TST machine. ‘So that’s where it all happens then?’

  ‘If you remember from last night Martin, that is the machine that we developed during our first phase of the project. You lie in the chair, we hook you up, the helmet is lowered, you go to sleep, and finally we can get a lock onto your dream wave patterns. Pretty neat eh?’

  I was listening, but still staring at the machine. ‘What are those pipes dangling down over the chair?’

  ‘Come on I will show you,’ he replied as he led us both towards the machine. We stopped near the head of the chair.

  ‘Is this a real dentist’s chair?’ I asked with a grin.

  ‘It certainly is. It’s perfect for our needs, and also very comfortable. If you’re lucky, we can also do a couple of fillings for you whilst you’re off visiting other dimensions!’ answered Alistair with a chuckle before adding, ‘but of course we will have to charge you extra!’

  ‘No, I think I will stick with my own dentist, thanks all the same. And besides, my dentist does have a rather nice female assistant!’ I said grinning.

  ‘If you’re sticking with your dentist because of the nice assistant, can I remind you that we do have our very own Davila,’ replied Alistair with a cheeky smile and a wink.

  ‘And there I was thinking that this was going to be a professional tour of the equipment and facilities. Of course, I should have known better – shouldn’t I?’

  He started to laugh a little before saying, ‘Come on Martin admit it - you do like her, don’t you?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Davila, she’s single you know, and I saw her giving you the eye yesterday when she asked you about the ‘incident’ at the party. So what about it?’

  ‘I can’t believe you. You’re supposed to be showing me around, and the only thing on your mind is matchmaking! Yes, she is very agreeable - but that’s as far as it goes, well for now anyway!’

  I got another good slap on the back before Alistair replied with a laugh. ‘Only joshing, but I think she likes you all the same. Anyway, where were we? Yes, you wanted to know about these leads, they’re not pipes as you suggested.’

  Alistair, serious again, explained. ‘As you can see, you can sit or lie in the chair, and these leads are then attached to your body. Two are placed on the temples of your head; this is so that we can monitor and record your brain activity. One is placed on your chest to monitor – your heart and the final lead is attached to one of your fingers to check your blood pressure. This is done so that we can keep an eye on the health of the subject throughout the whole process.

  ‘Why does the subject’s health have to be monitored – I thought that it was all pretty much straight forward - with no possible danger?’ I demanded to know.

  ‘I myself have insisted that all subjects be monitored before, during, and after each experiment. Not because it’s in anyway dangerous or for that matter life threatening, it’s simply because this is all so new. We need to know, purely on scientific grounds, what actually happens to the subject throughout the whole process. However, to put things in perspective Martin, to date we have had two hundred and sixty four different people in the machine, some of them on more than one occasion, and so far, we have yet to detect any side effects whatsoever. We still monitor everybody so that we collect as much data as possible, and of course at the end of the day, we are ensuring that the subject will never be in any danger.’

  Alistair paused before adding with a wry smile. ‘So, to answer your question, I can assure you that there is no danger throughout the whole process – absolutely none.’

  ‘Fine - okay so tell me, where’s the helmet then?’

  ‘You cannot see it while the machine is inactive, it’s hidden up there behind that panel,’ Alistair said, stretching and pointing behind the panel directly above the head of the chair. ‘Once you are in the chair, the helmet is activated and is then automatically lowered over your head, but don’t worry - you’ll get to see it a little bit later on.’

  As Alistair finished talking, we were both distracted by somebody approaching us from behind. We both turned around to see a serious-faced man standing about three feet away. He was staring directly at us. Judging by the white overall he was wearing, he must have been one of the project scientists. He was Asian in appearance, just less than six feet tall, with short black thinning hair. He looked to be in his mid thirties.

  ‘Good morning Alistair,’ he said very formally before looking directly at me, ‘and you must be Martin, I assume.’

  ‘And good morning to you Paul. Yes, please let me introduce you to Martin,’ replied Alistair. ‘Martin, this is Dr Paul Adams. For his sins, Paul has been with me for the last three years and has somehow managed to put up with me for all of this time. Isn’t that right?’

  ‘Well I guess that like everybody working here, I was pretty much sane before starting to work on this project, but now…no, that’s not true Martin. It’s been good fun working on this,’ he answered, standing with his hands resting on his hips.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you,’ I said shaking his hand. ‘So tell me, what is your specialist field of work?’

  I could see Alistair standing to my right with an air of being the proud father. It was now very clear to me, as Davila had told me during the lecture that this was without doubt, his project.

  ‘Like everybody concerned with the project Martin, we all get involved to some extent with all aspects of the work here,’ he answered. ‘However, to answer your question directly, my field of work has been mainly with the TST machine – so you are standing beside my work,’ he said whilst indicating to the machine that was directly behind us.

  �
��Will you be working here when I am doing the experiment?’ I asked.

  ‘I will indeed, in fact that’s why I have come over,’ he replied. Then, turning his attention to Alistair, he added, ‘I am going to need Martin back here at 11:30 to go through the preliminaries.’

  Alistair glanced at his watch before quickly answering, ‘It’s about a quarter to ten, that gives us about an hour and a half. Okay that’s not a problem, we will just have to speed up the tour a little Martin. Fine. Let’s finish up here for now and move on.’

  Alistair motioned for us to move off, whilst he gave his assurances to Paul that he would return me on time.

  ‘Come on Martin, I’ll show you to the Central Hub. I clocked you drooling at it when we first walked in,’ he said with yet another good slap on the back.

  ‘Tell me Alistair, what did Paul mean when he spoke of the preliminaries?’ I asked.

  ‘I will let him tell you all about it as we really have to move on. So later Martin, later, don’t worry, you’re not going to miss anything. Anyway here we are, the Central Hub.’

  This contraption certainly looked fantastically impressive, and to my mind, it certainly would not have looked out of place if it were sitting on the bridge of some exotic space ship – even though I had no idea of its function or purpose. The whole thing was about seven to eight feet wide and stood about twelve feet high. It was generally cylindrical in outline and had bits of technical wizardry placed all over it. At the top it had four evenly spaced, huge rectangular wide screens arranged. You could therefore see at least one of the screens from anywhere in the room. They were all angled down, and currently inactive – just like the rest of the machine.

  ‘It’s…it’s amazing Alistair. What on earth is it?’ I asked.

  Alistair grinned before answering, ‘It’s what we refer to as the Central Hub, and it’s from here that we monitor all aspects of the experiment throughout the entire process. You could say that this is our control centre.’

  ‘Tell me, why is the machine effectively four sided?’

  ‘It’s designed like that so as to give us maximum flexibility,’ he answered. He was once again wildly gesticulating with his glasses in his hands. ‘You see, most of what we do can be monitored from any one side, and whoever is doing the monitoring can leave the Hub and check up on other pieces of equipment, whilst at the same time keeping an eye on the large screens above.’

  ‘Do the other three screens display the same information at the same time as the one that’s currently in use?’

  ‘They can, and it has often been used like that. However, should we proceed with the experiment with you tomorrow, then we will actually be using all four of the workstations and displays for real – for the first time.’

  ‘Don’t tell me Alistair, you’ve never used it for real before, not until I get plugged into the machine - now there’s a surprise!’ I exclaimed in dismay whilst giving him a good long stare.

  ‘You really are the most damnable person Martin, you really are,’ retorted Alistair, who had very quickly lost his cheerful manner. ‘With you there’s always questions - questions…not to mention your constant general mistrust of what we are about.’

  ‘Oh come on Alistair, let’s be real here. After everything that I’ve been told - other dimensions, no wait - meeting another one of me in another dimension, I think I have been more than reasonable so far. I mean, when you stop and think about it, most people would have walked away after yesterday’s meeting, or more probably would have ridiculed both you and Davila. Would you not you agree?’

  Alistair stood there rigid as a rock, staring straight ahead of himself for a few moments before he answered, ‘Of course I know that you have been reasonable, and you know it. It’s your prickly line of questions and your remarks implying that we are setting you up…you know just what I mean.’

  ‘Try looking at it from my point of view,’ I replied. ‘I will be the first person to go through the whole process of going into the other dimensions, and now you start to tell me that some of the equipment has never been used before. I think you see my point, don’t you?’

  Alistair, once again with his serious looking mood glanced at his watch, saying, ‘Okay, it’s coming up for ten to ten. Let’s take a quick break - and I do mean quick - and grab a coffee. How’s that sound?’

  ‘Good idea.’

  Alistair then led us both out into the corridor where a drinks machine stood, and we each grabbed a cup of coffee.

  ‘I hear what you’re saying Martin, so let me quickly explain,’ said a much more relaxed looking Alistair. ‘You already know that all going well, you will be the first person to have their thought patterns transmitted through into another dimension. Now, because that part of our work has never actually been done before, for the very same reason, it has not been possible to use some elements of the monitoring equipment on the Central Hub – for real. You do get my drift, don’t you?’

  I finished the last of my coffee, and after throwing away the plastic cup, I replied, ‘Don’t get me wrong, I do understand what you’re trying to explain to me, and on reflection I suppose I did speak my mind too soon…nevertheless, all I was doing was expressing my concerns.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ said Alistair with a slight smile. ‘Come on, we have only got about an hour and a half left before I have to take you back to Paul. Do you remember from last night what Davila said about the other machine?’

  ‘Other machine?’ I repeated.

  ‘Oh come on Martin, the MDT, the Multi-Dimensional-Transponder,’ said a very excited looking Alistair.

  I stood there thinking for a moment or two, and then it all came back to me from the lecture. ‘I do remember now. She told me that she could not describe the machine, but that it would be the most amazing sight I would ever see. Is that what you’re going to show me next?’ I answered, suddenly feeling very excited.

  ‘I was rather beginning to fear that we had told you too much at once, and that you were not taking in everything towards the end yesterday,’ said Alistair with a glint in his eye, adding, ‘but I can see that I was obviously quite wrong, and yes Martin, that’s what we are going to see now.’

  ‘This MDT, is it really so incredible? I enquired eagerly.

  ‘Absolutely, no question about it,’ he replied as he motioned for us to go back into the lab. ‘This is going to be a one-off visit for you I’m afraid. However, I would just like to point out that both Davila and I had to work very hard to get permission for you to have just this one look.’

  We were back in the lab now, and we stopped just in front of the Central Hub. Each time I set eyes upon this incredible machine, I had the feeling that I was looking at some sort of device from the future, and I could not help myself from constantly glancing at it with childlike fascination.

  ‘Tell me Alistair, why the secrecy with the MDT? And, why was I nearly not allowed to see it?’

  ‘I will tell you, but not just now,’ replied Alistair as he motioned us past the Central Hub. We now stood directly in front of a rather strange looking machine, fitted out with the now familiar array of large screens, keyboards, rows of lights and indicators. I noticed for the first time since I started my tour of the lab that this device, whatever it was, was alive with active flashing lights. Sitting at one of the keyboards in front of a monitor was a scientist with their back to us. Whoever it was, and I could not work out if it was a man or a woman, they never once turned their attention towards us, so I guessed that they must have been wrapped up in whatever they were doing.

  ‘At last Alistair, you have something in here that is actually switched on. I was beginning to worry!’ I said whilst trying to work out if any of the indicators made any sense to me, which of course they did not.

  ‘And for good reason’ stated Alistair very proudly, and with some excitement in his voice. He removed his glasses and continued, ‘The MDT is effectively active all of the time, even when it is not transmitting, hence the reason for this contr
ol panel being live just now.’

  ‘If this is just the control panel, where then is the MDT itself?’ I asked looking around the lab.

  ‘It’s located behind the control panel Martin, in its own chamber. In a minute or two we are going to go in for a quick look,’ Alistair said, pointing at the panel with his glasses. Wait here, I’m going to get us both authorisation.’ He walked to the control panel and then spoke into the wall phone that he had just picked up. He walked back to me after replacing the handset.

  ‘If I wasn’t here, would you need to phone for yourself?’ I asked.

  ‘Absolutely, and for good reason. It will all become clear as we go along.’ Alistair stopped talking as a uniformed female soldier walked directly towards us.

  ‘Good morning Dr Longman. Is it just the two of you to go in?’ she asked in a very formal manner.

  ‘It is, yes. Good morning sergeant, and how are you today?’ replied Alistair.

  ‘I’m good, Dr Longman, thank you. Shall we?’ she said motioning us towards the right of the MDT controller.

  It looked to me as though were going to stand in front of a bare metallic wall. However, I soon realised that at closer inspection you could just make out the outline of one of those heavy duty pressured round doors, except that this one had a few flashing lights and indicators on it. If you did not stand beside it, you would never know of its existence. With a soldier in uniform beside me, it did cross my mind that it may have been deliberately done like this, like a sort of camouflage.

  ‘Whenever you’re ready Dr Longman,’ she stated very firmly.

  ‘Martin, to gain access through this door, we need to firstly show our ID badges to the ID reader on the door, get them authorised on the sergeant’s card reader, and then once again on the ID reader on the door. I will go first,’ said Alistair.

  He showed his card to the reader on the door and a red light came on accompanied by an electronic beep. The card was then scanned on the sergeant’s card reader, and he then repeated the procedure at the door. This time I noticed that the light now changed from red to green.

  After I had gone through the same procedure with my ID card, I noted with interest that the sergeant herself had to go through the same process with her own card.

  ‘Do you know sergeant, when I had my fancy job in the city, we had the very same security procedures, and that was just to get in and out of the lift!’ I said with a smile.

  She looked at me, and then turned to Alistair.

  ‘Do what I do, just ignore him,’ said Alistair, giving me a dirty look.

  She again looked in my direction and this time shook her head. She then walked a few paces to the door which now opened, accompanied with the recognizable hiss of air.

  I decided not to add any further remarks in the general direction of the sergeant, who clearly had no sense of humour and needed to get out more. The three of us then stepped through the doorway into a somewhat darkly lit chamber. The door closed with a hiss behind us, and for a few moments it was very difficult to see whilst my eyes adjusted themselves to the general darkness.

  ‘So this is it Martin, the MDT. We will stand here for a few moments until our eyes get used to the low level of light. In the meantime, I will tell you a little about the machine itself, as well as the chamber that we are in,’ stated Alistair.

  I could see already that the sergeant had remained very close to the door, whilst we had walked on another thirty feet or so.

  ‘When you can see it, the top half of this chamber is perfectly spherical, and, I do mean perfectly spherical, with the MDT lying directly at its centre. How’s your eyes now?’ he enquired.

  ‘It’s still pretty dark, but I can see a lot more now. Is that weird globe thing there in the middle the MDT?’ I asked, pointing at whatever I was looking at in the centre. Although it was pretty dark, there was something about the globe that was definitely very odd, but I could not work out what it was. I had also noticed since coming into the chamber that there was a rather odd hum that seemed to come and go, and as far as I could make out, it was coming from the globe.

  ‘Yes, that’s the MDT, come on I will take you right up to it,’ he replied leading me towards it. The closer we got to it, the more surreal it seemed to get, in a way that I really could not explain. Now I realised why Davila did not want to describe it to me. We now stopped about five or six feet in front of it.

  I estimated that the globe was at least twenty feet in diameter, and as we stood there, the globe itself seemed to have some sort of unnatural presence about it. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck starting to rise – this was definitely more than just a little spooky.

  Now that we were this close, I began to realise what was strange about it. The globe appeared to move imperceptibly both up and down, as well as back and forwards, and as it did so, a very faint hum came from the dome itself, of that I was now sure. I could also work out that the hum changed in pitch whenever it changed its position.

  I also began to realise why I had felt that the globe was a little weird as soon as I had seen it from the back of the chamber. As I began to see more clearly, I realised that the globe was actually pulsating with different dull colours, which appeared at random, in different shapes or swirling motions all over different parts of its surface. It reminded me of a child’s toy ball I had once seen that changed its colours when you squeezed it in your hand. The globe seemed to be alive, possessing a life force all of its own.

  ‘You’re very quiet Martin. Nothing to say. No silly remarks? Alistair enquired.

  I had completely forgotten that he was right beside me for a few minutes whilst I stood in awe at this amazing sight. Davila was not wrong, trying to describe what I was now looking at would not have done it justice at all.

  ‘Alistair, what the hell am I looking at, and how on earth does it seem to just…float there?’

  ‘The heart of the MDT is actually the globe Martin. You probably would not have noticed in the low light, but if you look closely at about knee height, you will see that the MDT is completely surrounded by a large containment ring. It’s the ring that not only maintains the position of the MDT at all times, but also levitates it so that it is literally floating off the ground.’

  I was listening to Alistair, but my attention was constantly fixed to the slowly moving and pulsating globe. I was just beginning to wonder why it was only now that I had noticed the changing patterns and colours, and not when we had first entered the chamber, when Alistair spoke again.

  ‘You would have probably noticed by now that the closer we get to the globe, the more colourful and agitated it gets.’

  ‘You must have been reading my mind, as I’m sure that it was completely dark when we first arrived,’ I answered.

  ‘That’s because it does not like us here in the chamber at all, and this is as close as we can actually get to it,’ said Alistair.

  ‘You mean it doesn’t like you!’ I quickly said.

  ‘Well, that would not surprise me at all! No, you see Martin the whole machine is ultra sensitive to all forms of electricity, no matter how minute, which is part of the reason that it’s completely isolated in here.’

  ‘So why does it not like us then, if it’s electricity that upsets it?’ I wanted to know.

  ‘Everybody has a very slight electrical charge about them, so the closer we get, the more it upsets the globe’s own natural balance. To answer your next question Martin, if we get within about three feet of the globe, the transference of energy from the globe to you will be enough to stop your heart - for good. So this is why we will approach no further!’ said Alistair with a bit of an uneasy chuckle.

  I bent down on one knee to get a good look at the base of the globe, and sure enough, it was indeed floating about six to eight inches off the ground. I also noticed the containment ring for the first time, and as I looked more closely, I could tell that as the globe floated, it was actually gently humming as it moved back and forth.

  �
�Impressive stuff, isn’t it?’ asked Alistair.

  ‘What can I say…it’s amazing. Did you design this?’

  ‘I was part of the team, yes. Now that I’ve got you all excited, I’m afraid Martin that our time is nearly up and we must start to make a move. Before we do go, I bet you haven’t noticed another interesting feature of this chamber have you?’ he said, rubbing his hands, clearly looking forward to telling some other little gem.

  ‘Come on then, what have I not noticed then?’ I replied.

  ‘Look around you Martin, what do you see? Look slowly and carefully.’

  I did as he suggested, but all I could notice was the dark chamber, with the faint outline of the sergeant by the door. I turned to Alistair and shrugged.

  ‘Look directly above the MDT Martin, and you will notice that as the light catches the top of the chamber, it shines a little strangely.’

  I looked up, and after focusing my eyes for a few moments, I did see the strange glimmer, but nevertheless, I still did not appreciate what was so special about it.

  ‘You see Martin, this must be one of the most expensive chambers ever built into a mountain…the whole place is lined with seven inches of pure gold.’

  ‘Seven inches of gold? Bloody Hell! It must have cost an absolute fortune Alistair. Why line it with gold?’

  ‘You are already aware that the MDT has to be completely isolated, and that’s why it’s located here in this mountain. The gold lining is effectively the last line of defence to shield it from Cosmic Rays, as well as about eighty seven percent of Neutrinos. Additionally, it also acts as a very good heat shield, which is very necessary as it gets extremely hot in here once it’s operating at full power.’

  ‘Neutrinos - I’ve heard about them. Don’t they come from space, but have no mass…or something?’

  ‘In a manner of speaking yes, but that’s for another time. I will give you just another few moments to look at the display of colours, then we really must leave.’ Alistair replied whilst trying to see the time on his watch.

  We both stood there, just looking at the globe. It was mesmerising. You felt that you were somehow standing just above this now swirling tempest, and that you were at any moment going to fall into it. I was actually beginning to feel as though I was being drawn into it.

  From out of the corner of my eye my attention was then distracted by a very faint outline of somebody walking towards me from behind. They stopped and stood about three feet directly to my right. I assumed that it must be the sergeant to escort us out of the chamber. I turned to greet her…but there was nobody there. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rise, and instantly I could feel my heart starting to race. I looked all around me; there was absolutely nobody, there never was.

  ‘You okay Martin? You seemed a little distracted there,’ enquired Alistair.

  ‘Distracted…did you…did you see somebody just now?’

  ‘No, why, did you?’

  ‘I don’t know Alistair, it’s all a bit strange. I thought the sergeant had walked up beside us. I looked around, and nobody was there…it’s okay, just forget it. It was probably just a trick of the light,’ I said, trying not to discuss it any further. However, I knew I had definitely seen something, but I did not know what. Fearing that Alistair would consider me as mad or probably worse, I certainly did not want to discuss it and decided that it was more sensible to just shut up.

  Alistair patted me on the back. ‘Come on, it’s time we must leave,’ he said, guiding me back to the doorway.

  ‘Everything all right, Dr Longman? Ready to leave?’ the sergeant asked as we reached her.

  ‘Yes, thank you, we’re all done in here,’ he replied.

  The three of us had to go through the same procedure with the IDs to get out of the chamber. The door closed behind us, and the sergeant very formally bid us farewell.

  Alistair again glanced at his watch before saying, ‘Not bad, not bad at all. It’s eleven twenty, just in time to get you over to Paul.’ As he finished talking, we both saw Paul coming towards us from the Central Hub.

  After greeting each other, Alistair asked Paul, ‘How long do you think you’ll need Martin?’

  ‘Probably for only about forty-five minutes. However, if you want Alistair, I can keep him for a while longer and go over some of the workings in a little more detail.’

  ‘Good idea. Tell you what, I need to speak to Davila about something. If you can keep Martin until, say twelve twenty, or half twelve that would be great,’ replied Alistair. I could see that something was on his mind - he was clearly trying to conceal some concern.

  ‘Fine by me, see you later then,’ answered Paul as Alistair quickly marched off.

  ‘Was it something I said, or did you upset him in the chamber?’ asked Paul, looking slightly puzzled.

  ‘Nothing to do with me.’ I responded.

  ‘Okay, let’s get you over to the TST,’ he said guiding me past the Central Hub and over the dentist’s chair.

  ‘What I want to do with you Martin, as I mentioned before, is to just go through some of the preliminaries before this afternoon’s session. In a few moments, I want you in the chair so that you’re nice and comfortable, then I’m going to attach these leads to you so that I can get initial readings, you know, blood pressure, heart beat etc. Essentially, all I’m doing at this stage is making sure that you are in perfect health, rather than finding problems during the middle of an experiment. I’m sure you know what I mean?’

  ‘Sounds okay to me.’ I replied.

  I had to admit to myself that although I was taking in what was being said to me, and what was going on around me, I was nevertheless continually thinking about what I had, or had not seen back in the chamber. I did not feel that I had been ‘spooked,’ but all the same, it was a hell of a strange experience, and it continued to play on my mind.

  ‘Right, get yourself settled in the chair, and we’ll get things started.’

  I did as instructed, and once seated, asked, ‘Tell me Paul, do I get my teeth polished, in addition to the standard check up?’

  ‘I’m afraid there’s going to be no time today. Maybe some other time,’ he quickly replied. ‘I’m going to put the chair back just a little, then get these leads attached…just try to relax,’ he said with a friendly wink and a smile.

  The chair reclined a little, and then he attached the leads: one on my chest, two on my temples, and one to the end of a finger. I was asked to just sit still and relax during the whole procedure, which he said should take around thirty minutes. I sat back and relaxed as Paul had instructed, and I now closed my eyes. In fact, I was so relaxed that I felt myself dozing off on more than a couple of occasions. Once again, my head was in utter turmoil from what had been said and from what I had seen and experienced. I was thinking about the MDT and was getting somewhat confused. I was not sure if it was the globe that was part of the enormous power source down here, or was that something else again? I had been told so many new and almost unbelievable things that it was difficult trying to piece it all together. I was also finding it difficult to think logically in any way whatsoever about the shadowy person that I had seen inside the chamber. I started to remember what Alistair had said at breakfast about his strange experience, and his daft theory that if you had seen something ghostly, then it could have been a dimension traveller. Is that what I had seen, and if I had, why had Alistair not seen it?

  My wondering mind came sharply back into focus as I heard Paul say in a relaxed manner, ‘How are we doing Martin? I know I did say ‘relax,’ but I began to think that you had actually fallen unconscious for a while there!’

  I opened my eyes just as he was beginning to remove the leads from me. ‘Fine thanks, this chair is very comfortable just as you promised. Gosh I must have been tired. Well I feel quite good now,’ I replied, feeling as though I had been in a great slumber.

  ‘Well Martin, you’ll be pleased to know that as expected you are in perfect health, and more importan
tly, we have now laid the foundations for getting your thought wave patterns recorded this afternoon, so we’re all done for now.’

  ‘Great, can I get out of the chair now?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes please do.’ And after glancing at his watch, he added, ‘We still have fifteen to twenty minutes before Alistair comes back for you, so if you want we can just chat for a while.’

  ‘Fine by me…do you mind if I pump you with some questions?’

  ‘Of course not Martin, ask away.’

  ‘Alistair said that my visit to the MDT, in spite of the fact that it was a short visit, was to be my last. What’s the big deal?’

  I could see Paul standing, looking rather thoughtful; he was clearly thinking what to say before he answered, ‘There are a variety of reasons for that, and I’m sure you’ll understand when I say that I cannot go into most of those for now…that said, I do know why this was probably to be your last visit. You see, when you went into the chamber, the MDT was inactive. Now, all going well, and we are going to do the first run with you tomorrow, the MDT will obviously be active. It takes around ten hours to get the MDT up to its full operating power, and after each run it then takes around a further seventy-six hours to fully power down. That’s nearly four full days to power up and to then power down again, and during this period anybody that went into the chamber would be instantly vaporised.’

  ‘What do you mean by vaporised?’ I wanted to know.

  ‘In that there chamber Martin, we have the world’s most perfect murder weapon, and I do mean perfect! It’s very simple: you lock somebody in, you turn the machine on, and when you open the door four days later, there is no trace of that person whatsoever – absolutely nothing; no DNA trace, nothing. So be careful, just be a little wary if you start complaining about the canteen food to the chef!’ chuckled Paul.

  I had noticed that unlike both Davila and Alistair, Paul did not get at all animated when he was discussing or describing something. Instead he would have a serious or a jovial expression, and would usually stand with his hands on his hips in quite a relaxed manner.

  ‘Tell me, is it really possible that the machine be switched on, whilst somebody is still in there?’

  ‘No is the honest answer to that Martin. Due to the very nature…as well as the obvious dangers of the MDT, there are failsafe mechanisms built in at every level of what we do. A good example of that is the Central Hub; it becomes active as soon as the door to the chamber is opened. As soon as you opened the chamber door, I was able to see from the display that three people had entered, and I could also see exactly where everybody was standing. You cannot activate the MDT if anybody is in there: the inbuilt safety features will not allow it. It’s as simple as that. So you don’t need to worry, you’re quite safe!’

  That was interesting. Paul just stated that according to the monitors, there were only ever three people in the chamber. So what the hell was it that I saw if it could not be picked up on their equipment?

  ‘So what’s it like in the chamber when the MDT is active?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s a little difficult to describe as nobody including myself has ever seen it at anything like full power, but to give you an idea, when it is running at full power, the whole globe will raise itself to a height of four feet. The light show it will display will be pretty damn fantastic as well. It will be glowing different shades of swirling blue colours, whilst from its entire surface it will be emitting terrifyingly bright and powerful blue and white arcs of light. I suppose to best describe it would be that for all intents and purposes it would look very much like a ferocious lightning storm. It would be very beautiful, but unfortunately you would not live long enough to enjoy the spectacle. Regrettably, It’s not something that can be filmed or recorded in any way, as no electrical equipment is allowed in, and anyway, any devices such as cameras just would not survive in there for any length of time.’

  We both turned to see Alistair coming towards us. ‘Looks like your lunch ticket has just arrived,’ said Paul.

  ‘So how’s my patient? I hope you have a fine and healthy specimen for me Paul!’ announced Alistair as he greeted us both.

  ‘Of course I do,’ replied Paul. ‘Yes no problems at all, and we’re all ready to go through this afternoon’s work.’

  ‘Good, we’ll go for lunch and see you back here for 14:30. That’s right, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes Alistair. I’m going to have Sarah working with me this afternoon. Do you know if Davila will be dropping by for the session? Haven’t really seen her much over the last day or two.’

  ‘I don’t think so, but you can be sure that she will be here for the main experiment tomorrow. Any problems?’ enquired Alistair.

  ‘No, not at all, just asking,’ he replied.

  ‘Good, after lunch then,’ said Alistair. After saying goodbye to Paul, we then started to make our way to the canteen and hopefully some lunch – I was famished.

  As we walked to the canteen, I was convinced that something was playing on Alistair’s mind, so I decided to ask. ‘And what about you Alistair? You look deep in thought. Everything okay?’

  He did not reply, and as we were about to get our food, he finally said, ‘Everything’s just fine, just fine. If I do look deep in thought, it’s because we have only about twenty-six hours left before your run tomorrow. We have a lot to sort out and finalise. So yes, I am deep in thought. Anyway, now to more important matters. Let’s sit down and eat!’

  We ate our lunch mostly in silence before Alistair asked, ‘So, now you have seen and know a good deal more, what are your thoughts?’

  I pushed my plate away and took a sip of water before answering, ‘My thoughts? All over the place Alistair - just all over the bloody place! This feels…completely surreal. It’s as if I’m in the middle of some sort of strange dream, and all this, the complex, the MDT, you, Davila, all of it will just disappear when I wake up. Do you know what I mean?’

  ‘I guess I do, but you’re here and this, I can assure you, is all very real, and tomorrow, all going well, we are going to start getting some answers - at long last. Now, I know that you must be feeling a little like one of those explorers of old, not knowing what they were going to discover next. Understandably, you must also be more than a little apprehensive about the first run tomorrow, but I can assure you that I, myself, am feeling very apprehensive about the first run. Seven years…seven years Martin, if my machine does not work, if those other dimensions do not exist…then it’s me that is going to wish that none of this is real – and that all of this will disappear…’

  It was only now that I realised that in spite of Alistair’s general relaxed manner here in the complex, he was without a doubt very wound up, and in fact, on reflection, he was probably very stressed out as well as terrified that he could find himself a failure: seven years’ work, all for nothing.

  It got me thinking: if all of this did not work out, what would happen to Alistair and Davila, not to mention everyone else connected to the project? Who were backing the project? The government? The military? What would they do? What was their real interest in all of this?

  On the other hand, if this did work out and somebody, maybe me, were actually able to somehow to connect to other dimensions, what then? What did the project’s backers want to really achieve? I decided that for now, it was best for me not to worry too much about the motives of Alistair and Davila’s masters – whoever they were. Anyway, I would have my fun and excitement, and in a few days I would be home and back to normality. That had been my plan from the start and so far, as far as I could tell, it was working out pretty much okay.

  When I stopped to think about it, how many other people were going to have the same opportunity to do what I was going to do? Just now, I was feeling not only extremely lucky, but also very privileged that I had been gifted this once in a lifetime chance.

  We would finish lunch, and then, at last, I would have my first real experience with the TST. I kept forgetting its full name…Tra
ns-Scopic-Transponder. Why they called it that I’ll never know. Another meeting with Alistair and Davila in the evening, then on to tomorrow. That’s when the real fun would begin – I just could not wait for tomorrow.