100-Word Challenge, Day 064-067

CHAPTER EIGHT

Complete spectrum of electromagnetic radiation with the visible portion highlighted (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Okay, bring it forward one picosecond," Evan ordered. His head was locked into a focus helmet that cancelled out all movement, including his breathing and his hear beat, so that he could see things much more clearly than a regular microscope could allow. It was an uncomfortable device, but coupling it with a bank of visible and non-visible light detectors allowed him one of the clearest views of subatomic particle motion available to man. He knew that the reason for the dimensional collapse failures had to do with something in the subatomic realm and Evan would stay strapped into the machine for days if he had to.

"What are you seeing?" Margaret asked as she hovered over his shoulder. A large view screen was in front of her, but it failed to match the clarity of the focus helmet.

""Hold on," he said. "Back up one picosecond." He was silent for a moment. "Okay, forward again." Silence. "That's it. I have found the origin point. Mark the timeline and help me get out of this thing. I need some coffee before I go back in to chart the process."

Margaret typed some commands onto the screen and removed the restraining points from the focus helmet before she asked, "So what did you see?"

Evan rotated his neck about, trying to work out the kinks and was rewarded by a couple of loud pops as everything slipped back into place. He could feel Margaret’s eyes boring into the back of his head. She was as impatient as Aldric was, and that was something new. He was still a little mad at being left to fend for himself a couple of nights earlier, so he took his time with responding. “I found the beginning of the dimensional tear, then went forward in time a little until I found the beginning of the first anomaly,” he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“What was it? What did you see?” Margaret demanded.

Evan had to admit that the fire in her eyes only amplified her beauty. He could understand why Aldric was taken with her. She was attractive on any given day, but he could imagine her in the throes of passion and the picture he summoned was stunning.

“Hello? Evan?” Margaret waved her hands in front of his face.

“What? Oh, sorry,” Evan said. “Spending too much time in that harness makes my mind wander.” He coughed into his hand and smiled. “Now, where were we? Oh, right, what did I see?”