Matthew Putland

Prologue

CERES, 2051

The clock on the wall said it was almost four in the morning, but Heather felt the most alert she’d ever been in her life. She was on the cusp of something monumental and she wasn’t going to miss a second of it.

The research facility at CERES was in complete lockdown, with only eleven senior researchers allowed in the collider observation room. The rest of the staff had been sent home hours ago.

A voice echoed over the intercom. ‘T-minus twenty seconds.’

Heather turned her chair towards the bay window. She could see the collider below, a giant ring of metal and magnets that stretched for miles. It was dark and silent now, but soon it would be alive with energy.

She rubbed her eyes, which had become increasingly itchy and bloodshot throughout the night. She glanced back at the other researchers, all of whom were staring intensely at the collider. They had all been working on this project for eighteen months. She had given up everything for this moment. Her sleep, her social life, her sanity. She just hoped it would be worth it.

‘Fifteen.’

The room had definitely suffered from their presence. Its once-clean carpet was now splattered with coffee stains. The desks and control panels were barely visible beneath all the accumulated clutter, ranging from charging pads to the office mascot ― a succulent plant called Debbie ― whose appearance had become rather wilted now.

‘Ten.’

Heather saw her fellow researcher, Ray Soyinka, hurry over to the tablet table positioned in the centre of the control room. Its large interactive screen, originally designed for quick access to research, was currently being used as a high-tech coffee table.

‘T-minus five seconds.’

Ray shuffled through the dozen or so mugs on its surface, locating hers and taking a quick gulp of her now lukewarm tea.

‘Three.’

‘You ready to make history?’ Heather said, feeling her hands begin to shake.

‘I hope so,’ said Ray, grinning nervously as she sat back down at her station.

‘One.’

Nothing happened.

At least, nothing that Heather could hear or feel. But she knew that inside the collider, something extraordinary was happening. Two tiny tachyon particles were racing faster than light, travelling so quickly, that in the time it would have taken Heather to snap her fingers, the particles would have travelled the earth over seven times. If it had been a normal room, the particles would have quite literally broken the air molecules in front of them. That was why the collider chamber was not a normal room. It had been designed as a vacuum, completely empty except for the lightning tachyons now whizzing past. Its curved walls stretched out of sight, reaching forty metres high to the ceiling. A fully coated collection of gleaming magnetic panels shimmered on the walls, reflecting the tachyon light so effectively that the entire collider looked brightly lit even though no lights were on.

The group of scientists watched from their tiny control room, the specialised protective glass shielding them from the blinding light emanating from the particles.

The voice spoke again. “Releasing anti-hypertritons.”

This was it. The moment of truth.

Heather held her breath as she watched. Suddenly, a blinding flash of light erupted from the ring. She felt her skin burn and light fill her vision, no matter where she turned, no matter how much she fused her eyes shut.

Gradually the brightness dimmed, until just a glow remained, encouraging Heather to risk a glance.

She gasped.

In the middle of the collider, was a sphere. It hovered motionless, its edges blurring with the surrounding, stretching and morphing the environment. The centre shifted between darkness and light, as if every colour on the spectrum was funnelling through that one point in space.

It was like a portal to another dimension. A dimension of swirling colours and shapes that changed every second. A dimension that defied logic and reason.

Heather heard someone vomit behind her. She ignored it.

‘Readings show it’s stabilising,’ said Ray, her voice shaky. ‘No high levels of radioactivity, just low gamma radiation. I… I think we’ve done it?!’

Heather stumbled backwards, almost falling over her co-worker who was hunched over the bin. She barely registered this though, with her eyes unwaveringly fixed on the object. She took a long shallow breath before turning to Ray. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said. ‘This is going to change everything!’

CHAPTER 1

Lightning news,

Nine months later

‘Not another one,’ sighed Lucas, as he heard the warning siren blast over the building’s intercom. ‘Come on, one more point, then we’ll go.’

‘We need to leave,’ said Ezra, picking up the shuttlecock and walking over to the bags. ‘No point risking it.’

Lucas followed him to the side of the badminton court. ‘You’re only saying that because it’s match point.’

Ezra smirked. ‘No, but it is a happy coincidence. Suppose we’ll have to call it a draw.’

‘You always do this,’ Lucas protested, watching the other players rush to the exit. Some looked nervous, some annoyed. ‘You just can’t handle my stamina.’

‘I don’t control the weather,’ said Ezra, stuffing his racket into his bag. ‘And respect your elders, I’m not as young as I used to be.’

Lucas snorted as they headed towards the exit. ‘Elders, you’re only nine years older than me. You’re still in your prime.’

‘Not with the state my back’s in,’ said Ezra, groaning as he saw the stampede of gym-goers in the reception area. The staff were trying to calm the anxious mob, who were pushing and shoving to get out first.

The car park was a mess of honking and shouting. They ran over to Ezra’s car, pushing against a sudden gust of wind, and chucked their bags onto the backseat before climbing inside.

‘We’re always doing something when these stupid warnings go off,’ Lucas complained as the car’s display flickered to life. ‘I bet it won’t even be that bad.’

Ezra murmured in agreement, typing on the central interface. ‘Do you think I can use auto?’ he asked. ‘Or should I just drive?’

‘They say drive manually in storms,’ said Lucas, peering out of the window. He could see the sky darkening above them.

He turned on the radio as Ezra drove out of the car park. ‘A severe weather warning has been issued by the MET office,’ announced the broadcaster. ‘Please remain indoors as we expect a grade eight lightning storm within the next few minutes. This is our tenth severe weather warning of the month, so remember to follow all safety procedures issued by the government and, as always, stay safe.’

Music filled the car after the broadcast, attempting to drown out the thunder rumbling in the distance.

‘Better hurry up,’ warned Lucas, peering through the misted window. The rain was falling harder by the minute. ‘Do you think we’ll make it back?’

‘I’m going as fast as I can,’ said Ezra. ‘The storm hasn’t even started yet.’

As if on cue, lightning struck in the distance, a lonely flash in the dark clouds at first. Then another, then another. Within seconds, lightning lit up the sky, raining down from the clouds, each flash moving closer.

‘Bloody hell!’ shrieked Ezra, swerving as a lightning bolt hit the road ahead. ‘Do you think we should pull over and wait it out?’

‘Keep going,’ shouted Lucas. ‘We’re nearly back!’

They turned down a street of houses into Daysmill Close, zigzagging through a maze of cul-de-sacs and winding roads, designed to squash as many houses on top of each other as possible. Matlock was a lovely town to live in, Lucas thought, but it wasn’t great when you were in a hurry. The steep hills and small roads, whilst adequate for its days as a quarry mine, were now less than perfect with modern cars and hundreds of more houses.

The wind was fierce, with litter flying past the windscreen. The recycling point had obviously fallen over again ― the council really needed to storm-proof those things. The sight of swirling rubbish, along with frequent lightning strikes, hinted at a particularly ominous evening.

‘You can stay at mine if you want,’ Lucas offered. ‘Take Heather’s old room until it passes over.’ He knew his parents wouldn’t mind. Ezra was dating his sister and had been for almost a decade. When Heather had still lived at home, Ezra had been over so often he could have called it a second home. Even after she moved out, Ezra sometimes stayed for dinner, taking the spare room instead of driving back late.

‘Thanks,’ Ezra said, keeping his eyes on the road. ‘But I’ve got to help my dads with the horses. They go crazy in this weather.’

‘What, the horses or your dads?’ asked Lucas.

Ezra chuckled. ‘Both to be fair.’

Rain was bouncing off the pavement as Ezra parked outside the apartment building. Lucas jumped out and grabbed his bag before frantically sprinting to the entrance, not even looking back to thank Ezra for the lift.

He closed the door behind him and shook as much water out of his messy hair as he could, before climbing up the stairs. The building had a lift, but he rarely used it since he lived on the third floor. The bottom two floors had been converted into climate refugee accommodation years ago, as part of an environmental promise by the previous government.

Scanning his hand, the front door opened, letting him squeeze into the narrow entrance of his family’s apartment. He dropped his bag by the shoe rack before walking down the corridor. ‘I’m back,’ he said, peering into the lounge.

The room was small but cosy, with a huge L-shaped sofa taking up most of the space. It faced the television display above the fireplace, where a holographic fire roared in its grill. Framed photos of his sister’s graduations sat proudly on the mantle, shadowed by the dim light of the room.

Glancing across the sofa, he saw his parents cuddled up in the corner, watching the news. The screen flashed with images of flooded streets and parched fields, while the reporter’s voice droned on.

‘These tropical storms have brought some relief to the UK, after a record-breaking three-month heatwave. But they also pose a serious threat of flash flooding, especially in agricultural and coastal areas…’

‘Will Ezra’s farm be in danger?’ asked Emily, wrapping her fluffy blue dressing gown around herself.

‘They’ll be fine,’ reassured Lucas, trying to untie his laces by the door. His mother hated him walking into the lounge with his shoes on. ‘They have a vertical farm[1], remember.’

His mother jumped. ‘Lucas, gosh, I didn’t hear you come in.’ She took in his dripping-wet appearance. ‘Do you want to get changed before you sit down?’

‘Meanwhile, in Europe, the heatwave shows no signs of abating,' continued the reporter. 'Germany, Spain, Italy, and the South of France have been under MET Office Red Warnings for four months now. Last week, Sicily recorded a staggering 59.8C. The forecast predicts no relief until October.’

‘Oh, how horrible,’ said Emily. She looked over to Lucas who had walked past her and sunk into the far end of the sofa. She frowned. ‘You sure you don’t want to get changed before you sit on the sofa, you’ll get it all wet.’

Lucas groaned as he removed his sodden jumper. ‘It’s fine Mum. It’s just water, it’ll dry.’

‘Bit of water never hurt anyone,’ said Andy, stretching to return his steaming cup of tea to the table. ‘Apart from these floods obviously.’

Lucas watched his dad munch on a shortbread biscuit before taking a sip of his evening tea. He had a knack for eating without spilling a single crumb. For this and many other reasons, he wasn’t exactly a thin man.

The co-host continued in the background. ‘Debate in Parliament continues after the release of the annual Well-Being Index ranking last week. For the first time, England has fallen outside of the top ten WBI nations. Opposition is calling for more to be done by the current administration.’

‘Is there anything less depressing on?’ asked Lucas, wiping his eyes. His contacts were beginning to sting from the rainwater. ‘Fancy watching a film or something?’

‘What did you have in mind?’ asked Andy.

‘How about Fallen Paradise?’ suggested Lucas. ‘It’s a classic.’

‘We watched that recently,’ moaned Andy. ‘How about Back to the Future ― the remake, not the original.’

‘Shh, both of you,’ said Emily, putting her feet up on the sofa. ‘This is important. You need to know what’s going on in the world.’

‘And now for our science update, we hand over to Alexis.’

‘Thank you, Aki,’ Alexis said. ‘This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first Ares Mission to Mars, and we thought we’d take a look at how the Valles Marineris Colony has grown over the decade. Our correspondent Mark Robinson interviewed NASA’s administrator, Dr Elizabeth Zimmerman, about this and more.’

Lucas half-listened to the interview. It wasn’t that he was disinterested. On the contrary, he’d been avidly learning about the missions since he was a kid. He’d just heard it all before. His mind instead drifted to what film they could watch that night.

Then something caught his attention.

‘Thank you, Dr Zimmerman. We now return to our breaking news story of the day. The technology company CERES has announced a revolutionary breakthrough in tachyon and antimatter research at its collider facility. The details of the discovery are still unknown, but its CEO, Dr Samantha Cheng, has said that the lead researchers, Dr Heather Stokes and Dr Ray Soyinka, will reveal their findings to the world at CERES this Saturday. The discovery has already sparked a frenzy on social media, with some insiders calling it the most historic achievement in human history.’

The living room went silent.

Lucas looked at his parents. They were dimly lit by the table lamp, but he could guess their expressions.

‘Did they just say ― Heather Stokes ― as in our Heather?’ Emily asked.

Andy put down his tea cup. ‘Well, she does work there, and her PhD was on tachyons or something like that. We should know, we helped proofread her paper enough times.’ He snorted. ‘Not that I ever understood what she was talking about. Has she mentioned anything about this to you Lu?’

Lucas shook his head. ‘Nothing at all. We haven’t spoken in ages.’

Andy turned to his wife. ‘Should we call her?’

‘She might be busy,’ Emily said hesitantly. ‘But we could leave a message... ask Merlin.’

Andy looked up at the ceiling speaker. ‘Merlin, call Heather?’

‘Of course, Andy,’ Merlin replied cheerfully. ‘I can call her work phone or personal phone; which one would you prefer?’

Andy looked at Lucas again. ‘Err... which one?’

‘Call her work phone,’ Lucas said quickly; he knew she always answered that one.

‘Calling now,’ Merlin said; then he added: ‘I’ll put it on the screen.’

Heather’s icon appeared on the TV display; it rang for a minute before cutting off.

Another voice came through: ‘Hello Andy; I’m sorry but Heather is currently in a meeting; if you would like to leave a message, I can pass it on to her.’

‘Oh, hello Athena,’ Emily said brightly; she recognised Heather’s personal AI assistant. She stood up from the sofa: ‘Oh erm... what should we say, Andy?’

After recording the message, they tried distracting themselves by preparing dinner. They finally sat down to eat their food on the sofa, when Merlin’s voice cut through the silence. ‘Heather is calling. Do you want to answer?’

‘Yes!’ shrieked Emily, almost sending her tray of food flying.

The TV switched to video mode and Heather’s face appeared on the screen. She looked pale and weary, but managed a faint smile when she saw them.

‘Oh honey, you look exhausted,’ Emily blurted out before stopping herself. ‘How much sleep have you had?’

‘Thanks Mum, you all look lovely too,’ grinned Heather, her voice low and croaky. ‘Sorry I kept you waiting. I guess you’ve seen the headlines.’

‘Seen them? We’ve been glued to them!’ Lucas exclaimed. ‘What did you do, Heather? They’re calling it the greatest discovery in human history!’

Heather rolled her eyes. ‘That’s our PR team for you. They always overdo it. Listen, I wish I could tell you everything, but I can’t. I’m under a confidentiality agreement from the UN, and if I break it, they’ll sue me to oblivion. But I did get you all passes to the press conference on Saturday at CERES. You’ll be the first ones to hear the whole story.’

Emily gasped. ‘How exciting! What time do we need to be there? What should we wear? Do we need to bring anything?’

Heather laughed. ‘Relax, Mum, you don’t need to bring anything. Just get here by eleven and I’ll meet you at the gate. CERES arranged a HyperLoop ride for you if you don’t want to drive from Audenshaw. Ray’s family is coming too, so we can give you a tour of the facility together before the conference.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ Emily said. “It’s about time we met them.’

Heather yawned and rubbed her eyes. ‘Sorry, I’m exhausted. I’ll have Athena send you the details, but don’t worry Dad, they have food and drinks there.’

Andy chuckled. ‘Well, I like the sound of that.’ He leant forward, his expression suddenly serious. ‘I think you need some sleep kiddo, you look like you might fall over.’

Heather hesitated and then nodded. ‘I’m fine, Dad. I just...I just need some rest. Trust me, everything will make sense on Saturday.’

[1] A vertical farm is what it sounds like. You grow crops vertically instead of on one ground level. This allows you to grow the same number of crops in a fraction of the space, saving land and resources.