John Cramer - Einstein's Bridge

Alice had a roommate in college who was addicted to the Taiwanese cinema, and she recognized the man’s guttural vocal mannerisms as those of a Chinese alpha male “bossman.” She smiled and looked closely at the newcomer.

“We saw him down in the electronics stack an hour ago, Jake,” George said. “Why don’t you just call him? He always carries a cellphone.”

“I was about to have Sally do that,” said Jake, “but I will bet you that he doesn’t answer. Do you know what he did? He told SDC people that they could tune a test beam through our detector tonight.” Jake took a cellphone from his pocket and dialed. “Sally? This is Jake Wang,” he said into the telephone in a completely transformed voice, urbane and courteous. “Would you please try to reach Herr Doctor Professor Hans Koch? Tell him that he is urgently needed in the LEM counting house. Thank you very much, Sally.” He hung up.

“I don’t think it matters if they tune through our detector, Jake,” George said. “The end calorimeters are rolled back, and we could use a little beam down the pipe to check the veto system.”

Jake froze and seemed to grow larger. “What?” he shouted. “Just who took out the end calorimeters?” He looked upward, as if seeking the source of his cruel fate. “Who gave permission to roll back the end calorimeters! Do I have no one but fools and charlatans working with me on this experiment? Can I not turn my back for one fleeting moment without having someone roll back the end calorimeters? George, I thought I could trust you. What could have possessed you to allow these imbeciles to roll back the end calorimeters?”

Alice turned her head away, suppressing a snicker. She found it hard to believe this performance had not been staged for her benefit, perhaps to deceive her into believing that mad scientists could be found outside late-show sci-fi flicks.

“Jake,” said George, “didn’t anyone tell you that the protection diodes needed to be changed in about a thousand of the calorimeter scintillators?”

Alice noticed that George’s voice was now unnaturally soothing and well-modulated. He sounded almost like a funeral director.

“I’m sure it was reported in the setup group meeting yesterday,” said George. “We can’t start the new run until the diodes are changed, and that means rolling back the calorimeters and working on them. That is what’s going on now.”

“I see,” said Jake. “Somebody must have told the SDC people that our calorimeters were rolled back. That explains a lot. Why can’t my people keep their mouths shut? Why don’t they ask me before talking about our private affairs to other groups? How can I run this experiment when nobody asks me before they do these things?” He gestured again, but the aura of high drama was rapidly dissipating.

“By the way, Jake,” George said, “there’s someone here that I’d like you to meet.”

Jake halted in midgesture and pivoted toward George, then toward the sofa where Alice was sitting. Alice suddenly felt uncomfortable in his gaze.

“Alice,” said George, “I’d like to present Professor Jake Wang. Jake, this is Alice Lang. She’s a professional science journalist here to do a cover article for Search magazine on the important new physics being done here at the SSC.”

Alice started to protest that she was only a freelance writer and had no reason to believe that her story would be a cover article, but she didn’t have the chance.

Beaming, Jake strode around the sofa and took her hand. “Miss Lang!” he said. “I am an avid reader of Search. We are so delighted and honored to have you pay us a visit.” He turned his head sideways and gave her a long look. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

“Uh, why, of course!” Alice said, confused by Jake’s sudden focus on her.

“You have come here to visit us at a time that must have been arranged by the Fates. We are on the brink of the most momentous discovery of our new century. The Higgs particle, the very mysterious and elusive boson that breaks the symmetries that make our wonderful universe what it is, this magical particle is about to reveal itself to us. The great detector below us, which I personally designed, will deliver this new key to understanding God’s Creation into our hands. It must be of great significance that you have come here at just this time, this turning point in the history of science.”

Jesus, thought Alice, he’s trying to write my story for me, right here on the spot. She imagined the reaction of the Search editors to Jake’s hyperbole. “That’s quite fascinating, Professor Wang,” she said sweetly.

“Call me Jake, please,” he said.

“Okay, and I’m Alice,” she said. “Uh, Jake, I heard what you said about, um, disclosing information. I hope you won’t mind if I interview some of the scientists working on your experiment in the next few days. I can assure you that I’ll treat anything I learn as privileged. I’ll also be sure to check the scientific details for accuracy and sensitivity with you before I use them in my article for Search.” Saying this made her feel deceitful, but it was nevertheless true as far as it went.

“Alice, we have a deal,” said Jake, smiling, and took her hand in his very dry cool one. Then he turned, walked over to a man wearing yellow coveralls, and began an animated conversation about computer chips.

Alice looked at George. “Wow,” she said, “so that’s Jake Wang.” She was considering how she could work him into her novel, perhaps in a personal encounter with a giant mutant fire ant.

George nodded, then looked at his watch. “One more thing before I go off to my meeting. Would you be interested in having dinner with me tonight? I’m getting a bit tired of SSC cafeteria food, and I was thinking of finding a nice thick Texas steak.”

Alice pursed her lips and thought for a moment. She was here under false pretenses and should keep her distance. On the other hand, she liked George. “Sure,” she said finally. “I’d enjoy that.”

ALICE FELT EXHAUSTED BUT SOMEHOW FULFILLED. IT had been a long day, during which she had gathered a lot of valuable material, but the sheer visual complexity of the SSC laboratory and the LEM detector had brought her to the brink of sensory overload. Now it was time to relax and chill out after the afternoon heat of Central Texas. She inhaled the delicious smell of steaks grilling on an open fire, leaned back in her chair, and looked up at the building’s barnlike structure. She liked the large overhead wooden beams and ranch-style decor of the Texas Choice Steakhouse.

She looked closely at the fine print on the membership card that George had received from their waiter in exchange for a five-dollar bill. It stated that whereas George Griffin was an official and honored member of the Texas Choice Club, he or she was therefore entitled to all the rights and privileges conferred by this exalted status. Among these rights and privileges was that of ordering longneck bottles of ice-cold Lone Star. George took a long pull from that benefit of his new status and smiled contentedly.

Considering that George must make frequent trips to the SSC, Alice was surprised that he didn’t already have a Texas Choice Club membership. He must not go out very much. Come to think of it, neither did she.

Alice cut another chunk from the thick medium-rare steak, wondering if she’d be able to finish it all. She glanced at George. Might as well get on with the relationship probing, she decided. “You mentioned that your wife divorced you,” she said.

George’s eyes widened momentarily, as if he’d been discovered doing something forbidden. “That’s right,” he said. “Grace, who is British, decided to put herself in competition with physics for my attention, and physics won. She’s gone back to the U.K. now, and I hope she’s happier there.”