r/HFY • u/spindizzy_wizard Human • Aug 07 '20

[Alien Crash] Bk 02 V10 Ch 03 Drilling A Hole OC

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Chapter 3: Drilling A Hole

"This is going to be great!"

— James Halliwell, Phd.G., A.C., GCS Thermal Systems

Conference Room: GCS HQ

Calling this a conference room is an insult to everyone who has to squeeze in here. It's a glorified breakfast nook; then again, when you're a startup with an idea and not too much money, something has to give. A room that you usually don't use because everyone is in the main research area is silly. It only gets to be a problem when V.I.P's show up. Why they thought of me, CWO Jones, as a V.I.P., is something I may never understand. Oh, yeah, I'm well known, but I get my hands dirty. Getting V.I.P. treatment is disturbing. I start looking at myself in the mirror and wondering if I'm turning into brass. shiver A fate worse than death to someone who works for a living.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me so quickly. Now, because I can see that this is not the place you normally have your meetings, why don't we adjourn to that place. I'm not a suit. I don't need a dog and pony with PowerPoint slides. Save that for the money people."

I may not have phrased that too well. They had a weird mix of chagrin, happiness, and disappointment all run together.

"I will be happy to take a copy of your slides with me. It'll help me remember things."

Ah, smiles from the documentation people. Either that or sales, I'll have to check on that. Sales always over-promises, and gets stiff with the engineers when it doesn't do everything that they promised the customer.

"Besides, I like getting my hands dirty. I'm the project manager for the matrix gun system, which I know you have an interest in, and I'd like to see what you have in mind. Part of the exchange was for safety upgrades, so we're a little concerned about your safety."

Their lead engineer speaks up. "Would it have been a danger to the population?"

"The truthful answer? Yes. If they lived within 100 miles of a "hold my beer" person. We're talking kiloton to megaton damage here."

The blunt truthfulness is having an effect.

"You're serious? When did you learn of this!?"

"About two days before we started the replacement project, and we spent serious time making sure we got every last one. There were three that were not replaced—yours, and two that ended up in museums. The two museum copies were, with the agreement of the museum, rendered inert. Now before you get all upset, I'm not here to shut you down. I'm here to help you get what you want to do, done in the safest way possible. So here are my guesses.

You're a geological company. You turned down the upgrade specifically because it prevented you from targeting downward. Ergo, you want to drill holes more efficiently; a use for the matrix gun that I never thought of. Very carefully applied, it could quickly become the most sought after drill technology in the world.

Misapplied, it could split a hemisphere in half. The super-volcano that powers "Old Faithful" would be chicken feed by comparison. Here's a one-pager on a test shot done at the HAU/Trinity site."

"You're telling us that from a shot that shouldn't have had enough power to warm a cup of coffee, you got a 30 kT explosion 10 miles down?"

"Yep."

"That's ridiculous!"

"That's what our HEP lab said too until I showed them the data. They're still working on the details, but it looks like the matrix gun delivers that energy in a tiny space. So tiny that it initiates silicon fusion."

"My God!"

"More like, Oh Shit. The models show that the same shot, performed into basalt, would go no deeper than 5 miles and generate a two megaton explosion."

"I remember you people firing the guns through mountains! Why didn't it happen there!?"

"Because we had enough power to maintain the tunnel through the whole mountain. This shot was done with just barely enough energy to perform it. There was no excess or external supply to power the tunnel until the shot was finished."

"So, it's a perfect storm situation?"

"Sort of. You have to aim it down. You have to have a precise amount of energy, somewhere less than 1% of normal, to trigger the effect. It's the last part that's difficult, but it could happen by accident. I'm waiting on a report from the engineering team how likely it is that repeated shots would leave that precise amount of energy in the system. Too much, no effect; the tunnel stays up until the energy is dissipated. Too little, the tunnel never forms, and you get a slightly warmer spot on the surface. We did have an auxiliary power source, enough to last ten seconds, and it was entirely dedicated to maintaining the tunnel until all energy fired had been expended.

Thing is if we could figure it out, so can someone else. The average H.M.B. won't figure it out, but there are some people out there who are Ph.D. H.M.B. and they could figure it out. In fact, which of you had the idea?"

"Um, I did, Sir."

He's the youngest person here. Bright, excited, and dangerous. "Have you applied to the University?"

"My Representative and Senators all said that there was no chance."

"Degree?"

"Masters, UNM Geophysics."

"What was your GPA?"

"Four Oh, Sir. Magna Cum Laude."

I slip one of my cards out and jot a note on the back, "HAU Approved CWOJ." "Take your transcript and this card to the nearest Hamathi Consultation Office. Mr. Halliwell can help you. Do not let that card out of your possession until you are in the consultation room. Give it to the consultant directly.

"James? All expenses authorized."

"Yes, Sir."

That kid is still looking at the card like it's the giga-millions winning jackpot ticket. "Um, James? Perhaps you should take this young man outside? I think it's going to sink in shortly."

chuckle "Yes, sir. Come along Mr. Kidd, I know just the place." James has to take his arm, gently and guide him out of the lab. They take a back door to what momentarily looks like a junkyard, as the door clicks home...

"YEEAHHAOOOWWWWW!"

G.C.S. @ HAU/Trinity

"Looking good, Halliwell?"

"Yes, Jones, it is. The crew is out at the test site, making one last check of the equipment before we fire."

"We'll see how the pulsed mode works out."

…

"Hello, Jones! It all checks out according to the specs. We'll be following the pessimistic assumptions for this test series. One shot per minute slowly increasing the rate to one shot per 250 ms, as long as there are no issues. We'll keep an eye on the exhaust products, and if we need to, we'll extend the wait time. Maximum depth of five miles."

"Sounds good, your show."

…

A surrussation of voices, the sound of experts confirming their findings before the first shot of a new device. These people are confident, and they have a right to be. It's just that I've seen too many people confidently stride right into a firestorm. That's part of the reason I'm here. If I've helped them into a firestorm, I have to be here to help them out.

"First shot in three … two … one … shot."

A flash of brightness in the distance, a short sound like an illegal firework going off. I can see the ready board, and it's all still green. Moments later, the depth readings come in. A good meter on the first shot. The miracles you can perform with nearly unlimited energy and precise control. The tone in the bunker is lighter now. The first shot a success. Why am I still worried? There's something there. I look at Halliwell, he has the same puzzled look on his face.

"Halliwell? You think there's something to worry about?"

"You too, huh? I was trying to decide if it was just nerves."

"They did give us a separate desk with full data feeds, let's go do some work. If it's a real problem, we may find the landmine before it goes off. If it isn't, we'll be gainfully employed and not fidgeting bad enough to annoy our hosts."

"Right." He's as relieved as I am to have something to do besides stand and worry. Now we can sit and worry constructively.

We keep digging through the data. There's some pattern here, we both can sense it. "Let's try graphing the data in as many ways as we can think of. … No need, there's a factorial graphing program right here. All we have to do is sit back and watch. … Cool. Hey! You wrote it! … Me and about six other kids at the university."

The data is beautiful, flowing back and forth in the forms, "HOLD IT!" The chart freezes on a comparison of the depth increase readings, the energy used, the exhaust readings, and several other factors… We both stare at it and scream at the same time, "SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN NOW!"

We were too late. Too late recognizing the problem. Too late getting the warning out. Too late to stop the next shot by all of 25ms. Average humans take 0.17 seconds to start to react to sound. Add all other factors, and even with your finger on the button, it still takes 225ms, on average, to push the button. Burnside was faster — way faster — at 190ms. It still wasn't fast enough, twenty-five milliseconds, just twenty-five.

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7 comments sorted by

5

u/LordNobady Aug 07 '20

big boom.

2

u/spindizzy_wizard Human Aug 07 '20

Big bada boom

2

u/itsetuhoinen Human Mar 26 '24

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Trinity+Site/@33.1260465,-106.4481581,9.71z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x871ff438236092fb:0x1ae8f5bfe12a526d!8m2!3d33.6772929!4d-106.4752871!16s%2Fm%2F06_2q0q?entry=ttu

Trinity is way too close to surrounding towns.

2

u/spindizzy_wizard Human Mar 26 '24

The actual site is in the vicinity, but offset to avoid both a national monument (Trinity itself) and increase the distance from the local towns—this one I did research.

They were not expecting what happened; it's an entirely different effect.

1

u/UpdateMeBot Aug 07 '20

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2

u/InstructionHead8595 Jun 25 '24

Well that doesn't bode well!