Rise Of The New Alpha: moonfall

ide her, her jaws were clamped on Cate's backpack, refus

y back, I'd be back soon. It

ey the command. Cate frowned at the dog, something was scaring the d

ess's ears an

me, girl. S

door whined shut behind her and

the split second their eyes locked, Cate felt an electric tingle that traveled from the top of her toes to her scalp. She felt butterflies in her belly and knew she was blushing, as her suddenly felt hot and tight. He was uncommonly g

ls swarming them, especially due to their looks. They were the playboys and always up to

Cate sighed in relief when she spotted Olivia and Jenny who was behind

ii

le-collider at Omaha. Apparently there was to be a test firing of the new acceleration technology the company had developed – ato

ab visit – a robotic voice would count down to some sort of initiation event, li

look at rows of numbers scrolling down a computer screen. Riveting! It was going to be a far cry from what science fiction wri

headphone so she could converse properly with her friends.

d in the top five per cent of colleges nationally, but looking up into the face of Barkley ma

't become too comfortabl

She rose to her fee

mind Barkley borrowing your stuff fo

she'd spring on Barkley and scratch his eyes out in anger, But

rkley brayed as he waved his

e and you'd end up w

eyed but Cate could feel her anger blossoming. Before Barkley could say something els

at had been stari

ant to say, Simeon?" Bar

name...Simeon,

just leave em all

ley was confident enough that in a fist fight, Simeon wouldn't stand a chance against. Lucas Ba

calate into a heated fist fight. But before Berkley or anyone amongst them could make any further mov

eats now,

and was about to deliver another insult or a stream of unintel

your seat..

phone from the still f

haired boy, Simeon, and jabbed two fingers close to h

s, and then changed his mind and bullocked his way

orry look on his face, shrugge

ey into Fremont high school. He just doesn't fit in. Olivia chuckl

of him" Jenny

m I" Olivi

*

er sleep by the bus dr

onstrous hulking figure that towers above her and was staring down at her with frightening yellow eyes like that of a large cat, while someone was screaming her name in the background. There was an enormous blood-col

hern Lincoln. she yawned and craned her neck to get a better loo

military for sure. She could just make out one

heavy plate and marked with a lightning bolt held in a gauntleted fist.

in the

She snorted. 'It's an armoury. Rumour even has it they have experimental mini-nukes down there – shoulder mounted – like an RPG, but could flatten

out the orders from down

t her, wide-ey

aking that

ead without lookin

isnt it? You've gotta immerse y

hook h

she though

dustrial revolution has paved way for a who

Road and motored towards an enormous three-legged tripod iron sculpture t

as they passed below the weird sculpture. She then said, "it's called Broken Symmetry

er finger as

sculpture. They looked

you can see that all three

ed the sculpture recede for a moment and then sat back

of the deck plates fr

aren't you?" Cate didn't doubt for a minute that it

rts, you know" Jenny raised her middle finger a

briefing that it was the particle collider's main auditorium and Cate could see a tall building looming up in fro

story with the

structure for a secon

ino archit

counted at least two dozen huge beasts before the bus pulled away from them. They reminded her of Jess, her German shepherd back at home but there was something like a primordial mutuality she could feel as she stared at the dog

d no sooner had it stopped than the entire

ferson the bus driver said comically at them, his cheeks spreading in a

and up, but Oli

e it a min

ards where Berkley and

et's give him some space to cool off

ugged. "

girls straddling by his sides and then at Lucas Barkley, who was still seated

d he leaned forward as he passed b

you o

r some moment, Cate thought he'd lean even closer and kiss her cheeks. But he didn't. He wi

ged Cate w

la. You can qui

d his ever present goon

ur cue. Le

ulders and started walking out of bus. As they nea

y for a friend is a noble thin

ticular at Olivia and

e, more of stupidity, I think. I'm

ng scared, but acting anyway." He chuckled. "Or you can think

nervously "O

ing wheel, glancing in the rear side mirror i

ed down and walked a fe

ing at Barkley

ws how to hold a g

, but didn't

ivia. He's seeking for p

eading his way through the milling students a

ing" Olivia giggled, mak

, Ca

chest. Her face felt hot already, while simeon was co

t of something to say in orde

u uncomfortable. I'm Simeon

, you always seem so focused on whatever you're doi

noticed Simeon was also a bit shy

ye contact with him; "Oh, uh, thanks. I guess I j

you, I think. I... um, I just wanted to say I think you're

her fingers and

ut calm... I can be a littl

trying to ease

know... you just seem really put together. And, uh, I've been

... What is it?

ybe, you'd want to hang out som

, I'm not really sure. I mean,

g big. Just... you know, talking. I think it'd be fun" Simeon said, flashing Cate his disarm

like talking. Just not... always

hink it's easier to talk when i

. So... um, when

g for a moment; "How about... Saturday afternoon? We could go to that li

hot chocolate. I

I thought you might like it.

s fine. I think... I

hen. I'll be the one trying to

hiding behind a book, pretendi

then. Just in case" Simeon grinned, making Cate t

I'll loo

ooking forward to it

ee you,

tice she was still grinning from ear to ear before Jenny ta

it too?" Olivia ask

her friends with a con

; "deja-vu, jenny! Like Cinderella and prince charm

turned

glass slippers

ridiculous

laug

two. let's

*

owards the main entrance of the huge building. Cate was surprised by

rely above a whisper but yet her voice st

ng his way towards the milling group of st

?" Cate asked. The man rep

but they're below ground, just under your feet. Like

is outstretched hand, and held out his other hand for the paperwork. He quickly scanned it,

nd began sniffing pockets, bags and fingers. Some of the girls squealed, and Cate reached down to pat one of the largest dogs, the dog stared up directly a

lepathic communication being passed on from the girl, cate, to the guide dog. But after a discreet signal from it's t

e security detail. In those few seconds they were among us, they searched f

ow that Feynman is breeding some of the best and smartest guard dogs in the entire world: increased

as though he was giving a speec

n the Tevatron project. I'd like you all to follow me to the theatre

, but blomgren held up hi

annot be late; the project has cost about a billion dollars, and is being mo

ate knew the head scientist had gotten his message

stole a glance over her shoulder to lock eyes with Barkley glaring with his small eyes at her and her two friends. Olivia stuck out her tongue a

heatre darkened and Erwin blomgren's voice

man....quite a u

ows raised and an ironic smile indic

rican physicist, mathematician, and engineer. Some of his most well known contribution to the science community includes Path Integral Formulation, which is the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics that provides an alternative to the tradit

. Blomgren lectured them on the beauty of theoretical and Quan

h excitement. This was his field and he's revering

early days

e, accelerators, and too

or as he continued talking; "Altho

of a ruby red cylinder – glass-lik

and light, and are virtually indestructible. Our friends down under at Australia's Macquarie University found that their optical properties far surpassed anything

us part

ons were thrown randomly at Mr. Blomgren

? Can w

hands down, looking at the misch

our deposition – the result, after cutting and polishing – a lens of perfect, consistent clarity. And, at US ten million d

seconds, the red glow reflecting on his shiny face as we

ve come a

eatrically to motion

e we are

d against a backing soundtrack of birdsong and soft music. It faded out

ile trip nearly 50,000 times per second. The objective was to smash those particles together at a rate of almost two million collisions each second. Cate nodded in the dark, scribbling notes without looking down at the page. Cool, she thought. She turned her head to the left and saw the presentation screen reflected in Olivia's glasses that she pulled out of her backpack and perched a

ook over her shoulder to where Barkley and his f

y unaware of what's going on around them. Cate shook her head and wondered how Barkley had been able to get admitted into Fremont high, one of the most reputable high

ion between physics and astrophysics, and how their project would assist in solving the mysteries of dark matter throughout the universe. A crude drawing was attached to the lower corner of the image – a rough car

in Cate's head, as the lights came up in the amphitheater

*

idor, before being shown to a set of large steel doors. Behind them, he

enough to fit ten elephants – or twenty

rear came the familiar voice of Barkley. He clenched his nose for dramatic effect

ends behind h

ley, with a mischievous glint

e someone n

worth scowled from under his brows, but didn't say a word. Even Simeon who was

ting Olivia a clear you-are-reall

*

and a blooming anger. He watched the back of the thr

nt of his friends and t

't take i

of a way to take them down a peg or two before

*

p the rear to ensure no solo explorations took place. After being ushered through another door, Cate's expectations soared. She was

o

everal technicians continued to tap away at recessed keyboards, or stared intently at graphs, calibrations and rows of numbers scrolling down their screens – but none turned, or even ack

itement and anticipation. Also, each firing has a considerable dollar cost associated with it, not to mention months of planning and prepa

and he continued to point out different areas of the room and their

e them down to the lowest level where the collider ring was housed – to the actual collision ground zero. Cate heard her friend, Olivia, breathe the word awesommme as they were escorted from the control r

lse except for a set of steel doors at the end. They reminded Cate of the type you see on a submarine. Dr. Blomgren looked briefly at his watch and then called everyone together. He leaned towards Hemsworth and said something softly that ca

had corralled the teenage school-kids in a uniform huddle behind Dr. Blomgren, the Feynman physicist entered some codes into

as metallic, sharp . . . reminding her of a short circuit or a smell s

prang to