CHAPTER 15 – A NEW HOPE FOR HUMANITY
11:19 (Boston Time)
Tuesday, October 18, 2061
C.E.R.N.9 research complex
Near Zurich, Switzerland
The Italian physicist sitting at one of the control stations of the Experimental Fusion Device, or EFD in short, hesitated for a fraction of a second before pushing a large red button on his console. A muffled but still powerful rumble then started at once, while his instruments became alive, with most indicators jumping to near their maximum indicated levels. The physicist, along with seventeen other scientists present in the control room, held his breath for a moment while hoping that the fusion reaction he had just triggered would be a sustained one. A wave of savage joy submerged him when he saw that it was.
‘’We have a sustained reaction! I also read a positive power balance. WE HAVE ACHIEVED A STABLE THERMONUCLEAR REACTION!’’
Loud cheers erupted from the small crowd of scientists at that announcement. One physicist then grinned to the head of the project, a graying Frenchman.
‘’This is a banner day for Humanity, Doctor Charcot. We should put out a press communiqué at once!’’
‘’No!’’ was the immediate response. ‘’Let’s not create false hopes before we could confirm the results of this test. I want us to monitor this initial reaction for a few hours, to see how truly stable it is. Then, we will shut down the reaction and attempt a restart. If that restart proves successful and is also stable, then we will spread the word. Our work today is thus far from finished, ladies and gentlemen.’’
08:27 (Washington Time)
Thursday, October 20, 2061
Oval Office, The White House
Washington, D.C., USA
President Thomas Warren gave a questioning look to his science advisor when he saw the triumphant expression on his face as he entered the Oval Office.
‘’I gather from your expression that you have a piece of good news for me…for a change, Joshua.’’
‘’Damn right, Mister President!’’ replied Joshua Steinberg. ‘’The Europeans just announced that they have achieved success with their experimental fusion reactor. They were able to restart the process a number of times and the reaction proved to be both stable and on the positive side in the power balance. Humanity now has a new, non-polluting power source with a quasi unlimited source of fuel, namely water.’’
Warren sat up in his chair, while a smile appeared on his face.
‘’But that’s great news! That should mean that we will finally be able to retire all the still existing fossil fuel power plants on the planet.’’
‘’Uh, not that fast, Mister President. The C.E.R.N.’s reactor is only an experimental model. The whole process still needs to be thoroughly tested and studied before plans for thermonuclear power plants could even be drawn. That alone will take at least a couple of years.’’
Those last words made the smile on Warren’s face partly fade away.
‘’And…when could we hope to start building such power stations, Joshua?’’
‘’Give it three to four years, Mister President. However, once we start putting in operation thermonuclear power plants, we will then have available to us and the rest of the World a nearly limitless source of power. With that amount of power, many things will become possible, like seawater desalinization plants to provide potable water to countries struck with persistent droughts and carbon reduction plants that will eliminate much of the excess CO2 in our atmosphere, thus reducing and eventually reversing the greenhouse effect that is causing so much of our environmental woes.’’
‘’Damn! I can’t wait to see that! Alright, let’s schedule a full cabinet meeting for next Thursday morning, at which we will discuss how to use that new development. In the meantime, I want you to prepare a presentation on the subject of thermonuclear fusion energy and its implications, along with a list of recommendations on how to use it.’’
‘’I will get on that right away, Mister President.’’ promised the scientist.
11:03 (California Time)
Monday, December 19, 2061
Office of Mars Home Project Manager
Vandenberg Space Center
Robert Lithgow, now 74 years old, was still working from behind the same desk that he had been occupying for 25 years at the Vandenberg Space Center. And by the same desk, he meant that, literally. When the furniture at the Mars Home Project Headquarters had been replaced wholesale by new furniture sixteen years ago, Robert had clung to his old desk, refusing to let it be carted away. That desk represented to him the work of a lifetime and he had vowed to keep it until the project was declared completed…or until he died, even joking that he would prefer to die while sitting behind his desk. Those who worked around him knew that he was only half joking when he had said that, as Robert’s dedication to the Mars Home Project was by now legendary. Robert’s wife of 45 years had even quipped, with a trace of bitterness in her voice, that she had married a project rather than a husband. Robert was thus struck hard by the content of the email he had just received from Li Xiao Peng, the head of the Chinese Space Agency. In it, Peng announced that, due to the Chinese Central Committee’s reallocation of funds towards the planned building of multiple future thermonuclear power stations around China, his country would drastically cut in the next fiscal year the funds previously allocated by China to the Mars Home Project. That meant for Robert the loss of over six billion dollars to the project’s next year’s budget.
With discouragement washing over him, Robert sat back in his chair, his mind in turmoil, as he tried to think of a way to go around that new problem. If China was ready to divert funds from the Mars Project, then other countries may just do the same, in which case his cherished project may just suffer a fatal blow. The worst part was that he could not blame the Chinese for the decision they had just taken. The benefits that cheap, plentiful and non-polluting energy from thermonuclear fusion would bring to China were huge, including opening the possibility to be able to power giant air scrubbing filtration plants that would start to clean the heavily polluted air over major Chinese cities and industrial centers. If that could help to eventually stop and reverse the steady rise in global temperatures, then it would prove to be money very well spent. Finally resigning himself to have to manage as best he could the Mars Home Project on a shoestring budget, Robert opened on his computer the project’s budget file and started looking for items and expenses that he could either cut or delay without causing a major impact on the project. That, however, soon proved to be easier said than done.
17:28 (California Time)
Friday, December 23, 2061
Main lobby of Mars Home Project Headquarters
Vandenberg Space Center
Robert harbored a gloomy expression as he was about to walk out of the large steel and glass building housing the Mars Home Project Headquarters. He should have been more cheerful on this Christmas weekend, but the future of his project still hung in the balance, with more announcements of state funds being cut from the project having arrived at his desk in the last couple of days. He stopped for a moment near the revolving glass doors of the main entrance and mentally kicked himself: Christmas was only two days away and his wife, children and grandchildren deserved better than to try celebrating Christmas with a bitter, depressed man. Taking a deep breath, Robert then did his best to chase away his worries and to regain at least some of the spirit of the holidays. He was about to walk through one set of revolving door when his cell phone rang inside his vest pocket. Taking the time first to pass the doors, he then grabbed his phone and looked who was calling him. He frowned when he saw that it came from the Space-X Corporation, one of the major suppliers of space components for his project. Praying that this was not about some complaint about future contracts cancellations, Robert opened the line and spoke in his phone while walking towards the nearby parking lot where his personal car was.
‘’Yes? Lithgow speaking!’’
‘’Mister Lithgow, this is Richard Vance, owner and CEO of Space-X. Me and other corporate owners have heard about the cuts your project has suffered recently and discussed about them. To make a long story short, Space-X, along with Virgin Galactic, Microsoft, Apple and Tesla Corporation, is ready to help fund the Mars Project, to the tune of eleven billion dollars…for starters.’’
‘’Eleven billion dollars?!’’ exclaimed Robert, not able to believe his ears. ‘’You are serious!’’
‘’Very serious, Mister Lithgow. Many people may feel that your project is no longer necessary due to the recent developments in thermonuclear fusion and its promises of abundant energy, but we still believe that the future of Humanity is in space.’’
‘’Mister Vance, I just don’t know how to thank you and your partners. When could we meet to discuss this in detail?’’
‘’In January, after the long holiday. I understand that you had quite a few rough days lately. Go home, have a nice Christmas and New Year: you need it. Money talk can wait for a couple of weeks. I will call you back in early January to set up a group meeting with you. In the meantime, have a good time with your family, Mister Lithgow.’’
The line was then cut, leaving Robert to stare silently at his cell phone, not believing his luck. He then shouted out loud in joy, surprising the few people around him.