Andy McDermott - The Midas Legacy

‘I’m sure we’ll manage,’ said Nina, though she was forced to admit she had already had those exact concerns about the future.

‘But there’s no need for you to manage . You can be secure.’

‘It is not a full-time job, Nina,’ said Mikkelsson. ‘We usually meet only two or three times a year, whether here or in America.’

‘Kind of a stockholders’ meeting,’ Lonmore added. ‘We get an update on how the Legacy is performing, and vote on any proposals. Which we still need to do, by the way.’

Olivia waved a hand to shoo away the suggestion. ‘It can wait. This is more important than some fool idea to invest the Legacy in a hedge fund.’ Her frown at Lonmore told Nina who had put forward that idea.

Mikkelsson gave her a wry look. ‘I think we know which way you will be voting, Olivia.’

‘I’ve been very clear about this for years. Putting the Legacy in the hands of the piranha pool that calls itself Wall Street is a sure-fire way to see it vanish before our eyes.’

‘It’s already vanishing!’ Anastasia said. ‘Especially after so much was wasted .’ She glared at Lonmore.

‘What my family does with its share of the Legacy isn’t your concern,’ he replied, more flustered than angry.

‘It is when it goes beyond your share—’

Mikkelsson tapped on the table. The noise was not loud, but it still silenced the argument. ‘That is enough,’ he said. ‘Perhaps Olivia is right that this can wait. After all, Nina still wants answers. For a start, I imagine she is curious to know how the Crucible can possibly turn mercury into gold.’

‘The monks didn’t go into specifics, beyond it being some kind of nuclear transmutation,’ said Nina, glancing at the strange crystal sphere. ‘They didn’t need to, I suppose; they already knew the process worked, so the “how” part didn’t matter to them.’

‘It matters to us, though,’ Anastasia said. ‘Fortunately, we have a nuclear physicist who’s worked it all out.’ She gave her father an admiring look.

‘I am not merely a diplomat,’ Mikkelsson told Nina, seeing her surprise. ‘To be an effective negotiator in a matter as complicated as nuclear proliferation, it is necessary to understand all aspects. Governments are by their nature devious and secretive, especially about their nuclear capabilities. But by knowing as much about the technical aspects as their scientists — and certainly more than their politicians — I can determine if they are trying to deceive us.’

‘So you know how the Crucible works?’ Nina asked.

He nodded. ‘Much of it is theoretical, as I have not seen the process for myself. I based it upon the accounts of our ancestors when they visited the Midas Cave. But the physics are sound. Did the monks know anything about the process by which the natural reactor functioned?’

‘Yes, they told me that much. Rising water starts a chain reaction in the uranium deposits. The neutrons it produces hit mercury atoms in the Crucible and cause them to transmute into gold. When the uranium gets too hot, the water boils off and the reaction stops.’

‘Was the reaction as violent as Valmar described?’

Eddie had been half listening from the pool. ‘Enough to shoot down a helicopter, so yeah.’

Mikkelsson appeared impressed. ‘A very rapid process, then. Much faster than Oklo…’ He mentally filed away the new information, then continued: ‘The water acts as a neutron moderator, initiating a chain reaction. Under normal circumstances, it would also absorb the neutrons that are released.’ He stood and rounded the table to Nina’s position, peering into the Crucible’s gem-like interior. ‘However, I believe that this acts as a neutron reflector . Neutrons can penetrate its outer shell, but once inside, the majority are trapped.’ He reached for the crystal. ‘May I?’

Nina hesitated before replying, overcoming an unsettling feeling that allowing anyone else to touch the Crucible would somehow end her control over it. ‘Sure.’

He carefully lifted the artefact. Holding it up to the daylight, he turned it to examine the reflections within. ‘Intriguing,’ he remarked at last, returning it to its container. Nina felt surprisingly relieved to have it back.

‘So does it match your theory?’ Olivia asked Mikkelsson as he sat again.

‘It does,’ he replied. ‘The internal facets somehow reflect the neutrons back inwards. When the Crucible is filled with mercury, this greatly increases the odds that a neutron will collide with an atom of mercury-196. This isotope occurs naturally in liquid mercury,’ he explained to Nina, though she noticed that Petra was also listening intently, as if taking notes. ‘Since it is only present in very small quantities, an attempt to transmute mercury in a nuclear reactor would not produce much gold, because most of the neutrons would not strike any mercury-196.’

‘But because they’re reflected back into the Crucible and pinging around in a small space…’ said Nina.

‘Precisely. As the chain reaction continues, more and more neutrons enter the Crucible, but then find it hard to escape. At a certain point, they reach a critical state of their own — causing a neutron burst of such intensity that it cannot be contained. Any remaining atoms of mercury-196 that have not already been transmuted now do so, even if they are not inside the Crucible itself.’

‘So that’s why the cave walls were covered in gold?’ said Lonmore.

‘The mercury vapour inside the cave is also partially composed of mercury-196,’ Mikkelsson confirmed. ‘It too is transmuted by the neutron burst. Those atoms in contact with a surface become bonded to it.’

‘That’s what happened to Midas’s daughter,’ said Nina, remembering the faceless figure in the cave. ‘She was in there when the reaction happened. Fried by radiation, boiled like a lobster or coated in gold and suffocated: however she died, it wasn’t in any good way.’

‘Are there any good ways?’ asked Sarah quietly.

‘If you have lived a good life, you can die a good death,’ said Mikkelsson. ‘But I hope none of us will have to worry about this for some time.’ He glanced at Olivia, who as the oldest in the room by some margin was not enthused by the thought. ‘The question now is what to do about the Crucible.’

An animated discussion broke out around the table, the members of the Legacy clearly having strong — and differing — ideas. Mikkelsson tapped on the table again. ‘One at a time, please. Spencer?’

‘The answer’s obvious,’ said Lonmore. ‘We go ahead with my hedge fund proposal, and let Wall Street work its magic with the full remaining value of the Legacy. Only now, we have security. If we need more gold, we can have it. We can make it.’

‘Using what?’ demanded Olivia. ‘This place is a geothermal plant, remember, not a nuclear reactor.’

‘And the Midas Cave is on the other side of the world,’ Anastasia reminded him. ‘We can’t just drop by whenever we need more gold.’ She leaned towards the crystal. ‘There is another option. We sell the Crucible.’

Both Olivia and Lonmore regarded her in disbelief. ‘What?’ he gasped.

‘You can’t be serious,’ said Olivia.

‘I’m entirely serious. How much would a nation state, or even some ultra-wealthy individual, pay for the ability to produce unlimited gold? We could name our price. The Legacy would be secured for ever.’

Olivia shook her head. ‘That is unbelievably naive, Ana.’

‘It’d also be a one-time deal,’ Lonmore pointed out. ‘With my proposal, we keep hold of the Crucible—’

Nina couldn’t hold in her own opinion any longer. ‘Excuse me!’ she said loudly, waiting for all eyes to turn to her. ‘Hello, hi. Can I point out a few things? Firstly, the Crucible is a priceless archaeological relic, not your personal ATM. Secondly — and I could have gone with this first, as it’s the biggie — it’s not yours to use!’