Chapter 46
Klaus took the crystal and placed it on the mount between the two ominous towers.
It looked like he was going to bring Frankenstein's monster back to life.
The equipment was connected to a device on the table.
Small enough to fit into a suitcase, the device had the retro-futuristic look of something from the dawn of the atomic age.
A perfect sphere the size of a grapefruit floated, suspended magnetically amid a hexagonal array of Casimir plates.
The array sat on a stand affixed to a base, loaded with dials, buttons, and analogue gauges.
The heavy power leads snaked to the twin towers that flanked the Vrilkristall.
"You don't want to do this,” Henrik said.
"Of course I do.”
"You don't know what you're dealing with.”
"I know exactly what I'm dealing with," Klaus said, full of confidence.
After he'd freed Giselle's wrists, Henrik approached Klaus.
She clawed at him to stay behind, but he waved her off.
The two goons still stood behind us, blocking the exit.
I muttered to JD over comms, “We’re in a red brick warehouse on the corner of Industry and Avenue K."
I didn't hear a response and wasn't sure if we had lost communication. The network connection could have dropped. Klaus could have had some type of cellular jammer in the warehouse. It wouldn't have surprised me.
Henrik approached Klaus, using the cane to steady himself.
He marveled at a device atop the table. Recognition flashed in his eyes as he stared at the orb.
It had been over a half-century since he'd last seen it.
His weary old eyes looked from it to Klaus.
Henrik squinted hard, trying to see if it was really him—the long-lost scientist. "Where did you get this? "
"Where do you think, old man?"
Henrik scowled at him.
With joyful exuberance, he declared, "It works!”
Henrik continued to survey the man.
Klaus smiled. He motioned to the device. “Take a good look. It’s everything your father worked so diligently for.”
“How did you get this?” Henrik asked, still uncertain.
The evil man’s eyes filled with enthusiasm. "Come with me. The power of the Vrilkristall will allow us to journey across time. Imagine what we could accomplish. Time is ours. We will become like gods.”
“We are only men, and my time is at an end.”
Klaus laughed. “My time is just beginning.”
He flipped a few switches, and the device powered up.
The crystal glowed with intensity, and plasma arced between the two towers and the crystal.
The orb of the time dilation device came to life, and a bluish haze formed around it.
The hum of energy filled the warehouse, and the air smelled sharp and clean, like after a rainstorm.
"I must warn you," Henrik said. "You have no idea what you're dealing with. You have no way to calibrate the device. There must be proper testing.”
"It is you who doesn’t understand. It is now your time to shine. You can be a part of history.”
Henrik laughed. "I have already been a part of history.”
Klaus twisted a dial on the device. The energy of the crystal intensified, emitting a blinding white light. Plasma bolts arced wildly. The flow of energy began to pulse in rhythm.
Concern filled Henrik’s eyes. "You could instigate a gravitational collapse. The negative energy could spiral out of control. You risk instability. There are countless ways this could go wrong.”
"Fortune favors the bold, my friend," Klaus said, intoxicated by the moment.
The glowing sphere distorted the air, like a mirage in a hot desert.
Something was happening, but I wasn't sure what. I knew I didn't want to be around for it.
Henrik lifted his cane. Like a sword, he stabbed it into the chaotic field of energy around the crystal.
Negative energy crackled down the cane and enveloped him like a bolt of lightning. His hair stood tall, and his body twitched and convulsed. He reached his free hand out and grabbed Klaus by the arm, completing the circuit. Negative energy engulfed the two of them, sparking and crackling.
Giselle's eyes rounded, and she screamed with terror.
In a flash, the two men disintegrated before our eyes, vaporized by negative energy, which acted like antimatter.
The energy level of the Vrilkristall kept spiraling out of control, just as Henrik had warned. It grew brighter, and the pulsing rhythm of the energy intensified and sped up.
"I think it's time we get out of here," I said to Giselle.
The two goons turned around and sprinted to the door.
I replaced the pin, securing the grenade, rendering it safe. With the lever depressed, the fuse had never been triggered.
We followed, running toward the exit as the pulse of energy ramped up. We burst outside onto the loading dock, then jumped down to the asphalt below. We sprinted across the parking lot toward the gate.
The goons were already there, unlocking it.
Giselle and I ran as fast as we could, hearts pumping, chests heaving for breath.
KABOOM!
The explosion blasted apart the warehouse, sending a pulse of debris in all directions.
It knocked us to the ground. We hit the hard asphalt.
A blue glow filled the sky.
I sucked in a breath of air, but it was like a vacuum.
Bits of debris rained down.
I finally managed to steal a breath, then pushed off the ground, dazed by the explosion.
I looked Giselle over for injuries. Frazzled and distraught, she was unharmed. I helped her to her feet as the two thugs sprinted away, racing down Industry Avenue.
When I looked back at the warehouse, the structure was gone. Completely obliterated. There was nothing left but rubble and a few bricks here and there where the walls had once been.
It wasn’t the same, but oddly similar to a quantum pulse bomb. That sharp smell of charged particles filled the air. It made the fine hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand tall.
Giselle looked at the destruction, mouth agape, eyes wet with tears. She broke down into sobs, and the tears streamed down her dirty cheeks.
The stars twinkled overhead, and the air was eerily still.
“Stay here,” I said to her, then walked back toward the loading dock.
I climbed the steps, then crossed over a few bricks that were all that was left of the exterior wall.
My eyes scanned the dust and debris. There was hardly anything recognizable left, except for a glowing source of blue light on the floor in the middle of the room.