Chapter 6: Revelations

Three months later.

Time: Sunday May 31, 2048 8:42 AM

It was late springtime in Funchal, and the sun was bright and halfway between the horizon and vertical in a cloudless eastern sky. Megan Lopes had been up since sunrise at 5 AM and had just returned to her apartment after attending a church service with her husband. She locked the door and decided to indulge herself with another shower, in spite of just taking one yesterday evening after returning from her honeymoon.

She washed quickly in the delightful hot and clean water. After a full year at her new island home, her mind would still sometimes compare the current luxury with what it was like to take a shower in Texas. But not today. She would start her new job at Madeira tomorrow, and her mind was much more agreeably engaged.

After she showered and changed into some loose clothing, she prepared a 10 AM brunch for two and then enjoyed reading a book and sunning herself on the corner balcony.

She had fallen in love with Alvaro's three-bedroom condo when she first saw it a year ago, and now she was co-owner. It was spacious and luxurious, very well appointed and perfectly located, adjacent both to Madeira University to the east and the prime downtown commercial district of Funchal to the west. The condominium complex was on oceanfront property, and the views of the Atlantic below, the garden campus to the east, and the mountains to the north were superb.

Megan wondered if her fiancé would want to go for a stroll on the oceanfront walkways after brunch. The rest of today was the last big block of free time on their schedules until next weekend. She looked at the clock as she sipped her ice tea. The time was already after 10 AM and it was unusual for Alvaro to be late, even by a few minutes.

Megan closed her eyes and thought that her future life now appeared so idyllic, she should start to worry. Real life just doesn't get and stay this good. She had completed her one-year commitment to Porto Santo and had married her true love on May 23rd. Their honeymoon had been be one glorious week of frolic in a secluded mountain cabin.

Megan was somewhat surprised on March 1st, the day after Alvaro accepted her proposal, when he suggested they return to being celibate until after the wedding. But now she was so glad he did. The wait seemed very long, and there were times during the engagement Megan felt physically frustrated and impatient for sex with her future husband. But the pent up impatience caused the honeymoon to be intensely erotic, their sex together explosive. She was very glad they had waited.

And now they were back at the capital. Megan thought she had a perfect career before her. She would work even-months at Madeira in the farm areas at the foothills of the mountains, and odd-months at her old job at Porto Santo. As much as possible, Alvaro would work in a second office at the Porto Santo energy complex and live with her even during the odd-months.

There was a distinctive knock on the door which Megan recognized as Alvaro politely announcing his presence, and then he let himself in. "Hello dearest," he called out. "Having a nice day?" He saw the dining table by the bay windows laid out with a fine assortment of food. "Ah, looks good!"

They kissed and sat down and chatted about their friends while they ate. Alvaro had a small envelope in his pocket that he had brought with him, and he laid it on the table by his side as they finished their meal. Megan eyed it with a raised eyebrow. "Is that what I think it is?"

Alvaro nodded. "Once I hand it to you, you're legally responsible for its safekeeping. I'm required to review the rules with you."

"Okay. I can take it off and place it beside me when I shower or sleep or get sexy with you, but it never leaves my immediate presence. Never. I go swimming, it swims with me. I get married again, it goes under my wedding dress."

"Oh, you're in a playful mood this morning! Pray continue."

"And if I can't find it, there is a thirty-second rule for searching for it. Then I contact Energy Security immediately, no exceptions. Only afterwards do I continue my search."

Her husband nodded. "In all seriousness Megan, don't be ashamed about calling in and finding it three minutes later. I've had it happen to me a few times. Just follow the rules, even if it's your tenth call of the day." He sighed. "It's not that much of a burden in practice. You get used to it after a while." He slid the envelope over to her.

"Oh, I don't mind. The policy at Ft. Hood wasn't much different." Megan opened the envelope and took out the security badge and stared at her new photo ID. A large shimmering holographic E had been added, and the entire badge was a medium shade of green. "Well, as Kermit the Frog once said: It's great to be green!"

Alvaro looked puzzled. "Kermit the Frog?"

"A puppet character from long ago. I saw him as a young child, when there was still public television in the U.S."

"Oh."

Megan unclipped her current citizen ID with a white background and replaced it with the new badge. "Should I just destroy the old one?"

"No. Hand it in to building security downstairs. They're authorized to document receiving and destroying a standard citizen badge."

"Okay. And this new one will get me into the green-badge areas?"

"Yep. The guards will run your ID through the system the first time through, but once they get to know you, just a personal inspection of your badge and face will do."

"Okay." She paused for a moment. "This might actually help me in my job on Porto Santo. There are stables at the Energy Department site. Now I might be able to treat a horse there in an emergency."

"I raised that point to the committee handling your case more than six months ago. It did generate some sympathy."

"But not enough."

"No. I should have issued my ultimatum to Congress last year."

"Oh Alvaro, I don't know. Who knows how that might have played out before I had built up my reputation as a useful and loyal citizen? Let's just be thankful I have my green clearance now. Which means," she added with a meaningful smile, "that you can finally tell me about your job!"

"Yes. Not here of course. But I thought I might show you my office today."

Megan nodded and got up from the table and offered her husband her hand. "Let's go."

It was short drive in their hydrogen / electric hybrid car but also a steep one. After driving about thirty minutes on winding roads, they were about nine kilometers from their condo and also 1500 meters higher. They found the research area of Madeira's energy complex deserted, though the greater site was still very well populated by security and operations personnel.

Her husband's office in the research building was spacious and secluded, overlooking a small inner courtyard. Megan blinked when she saw the private sleeping area. "I remember something from our Ft. Hood date. I asked you where you lived, and you looked a little pained before you mentioned your condo in Funchal. That was one of your misdirections, wasn't it? This was the place you considered home."

Alvaro nodded. "Yes. Thank God the times for lies are over." He walked over to a safe and opened it and pulled from the bottom something that looked like an oversized flashlight. "I've thought a lot about how to explain this to you. I decided to start with a demo." He handed the device to his wife with a playful grin on his face.

Megan hefted it. "Looks like a heavy-duty flashlight. Wow, it's very heavy. Four D-cells inside?"

Alvaro shook his head no. "This device contains our first two prototypes. Megan, allow me to officially introduce you to Coke and Golem."

"Prototype of what?" The continued playful smile from Alvaro was the only answer she got. Megan shrugged. "Okay. So you named the flashlight Coke and Golem?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know ... Cute names I guess. Where did they come from?"

"From two prototype computers, way back in the last century. I'll tell you the story sometime."

"Yeah, I'd like to hear it." Megan examined the heavy device for a moment. "Can I turn it on?"

"Sure. It's a fully functional flashlight."

She switched it on and shined a bright beam around the room. It was easily visible, even with the windows and the sunlit courtyard outside. "Wow, a huge amount of light, more than I was expecting."

"Tunable up to about 75 Watts from Golem. The reason it's so bright is that we're using high efficiency white diodes. Examine the device more closely."

"Okay." A moment passed. "I must admit, it's very heavy. I think I also feel a slight resistance when I try to turn it. Is there a gyroscope in this thing?"

"Excellent guess Megan. In reality, there are two high-precision turbines inside, running the length of the cylinder."

"Turbines?" Megan frowned. "Husband, that makes no sense. You use a turbine to convert an external source of momentum into rotational energy. But this flashlight is self-contained." She played another moment with the device. "The bottom can be unscrewed. May I?"

Her husband nodded. Megan unscrewed a cap and then stared in fascination at the very familiar pattern of round holes. Out the back end of the cylinder was a single, ordinary looking Madeira wall outlet. Megan looked up at Alvaro. "Is this what I think it is?"

Another nod. "Yes, the outlet is courtesy of Coke, European and Madeira standard, 230 volts, 50 Hertz, nice sine waves."

Megan raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She looked around and saw the room's air conditioner at a window. She paused for a moment to think.

The outside temperature was about 24C, about as warm as it ever got here in the mountains. The room felt quite comfortable. There was no need for air conditioning. Still ... She walked over to the unit and considered. The air-conditioner was unplugged, its cord lying tucked invitingly against the wall.

It was a large unit and with Madeira's gentle climate easily capable of cooling the large office. Megan knelt and plugged the cord into the cylinder's socket and, hearing no objection from Alvaro, turned the unit on.

It started up immediately. Megan held her hand near the vent until she felt a large amount of very cold air blowing into the room. She turned to her husband with a very puzzled look. "I'm assuming this isn't a cheap trick, that there isn't another power source for the AC."

"No. I give you my word. Reality here is just as it appears."

Megan nodded and laid the heavy device on the floor by the AC. She then stood up. "This is very, very impressive. What's the load on the flashlight?"

"You're running the compressor on high. I would guess about five Amps."

"And what's the maximum load this wondrous flashlight can handle?"

"Thirty-four Amps usable, 7.8 kW. Coke also uses about fifteen milliamps from Golem to start itself."

"Start itself?" Megan frowned and stared at the setup for a moment. "I'm flabbergasted, I really am. I know this isn't a SNAP generator. It's cool to the touch, and generating a hundred times the power of what a SNAP this size could do. What kind of batteries can deliver this kind of performance in such a small package?" She looked at the clock in the room. "I should have timed this of course, but I'm guessing at least two minutes. Every additional second makes this more and more impressive."

She reached for the flashlight to hold it again. "May I?"

"Sure. It's safe."

She nodded and picked up the flashlight. It was more difficult now to change its alignment. "Wow. I still hear nothing, but the gyroscope must be really spinning now! And the flashlight is not getting warm at all. In fact, if feels even cooler now than it did before. Yes, definitely, I can feel it pulling the heat right out of my hand. Very strange." Megan blinked. Alvaro's earlier words had finally sunk in. "7.8 kilowatts?! I could run my house on this?!"

"That's right. And not a gyroscope Megan, a turbine. It's rated at 2500 RPM, and probably spinning about 350 RPM now."

"Yes, you mentioned that. Alvaro, that makes no sense. The flashlight is not coupled to an external source of momentum. Tell me the punch line!"

"Punch line?"

"How long can these miraculous batteries run the AC?"

"There's no time limit. The AC will run for hours, weeks, years. Eventually it will break, but it won't stop from a lack of power."

Megan grimaced. She was watching her husband's eyes and saw his complete sincerity. "Oh no..." she whimpered, almost crying. She felt wobbly and placed the device back on the floor. "May I sit down?"

"Oh gosh yes! Sorry Megan!" A few seconds later they were sitting on a nearby couch.

She felt better after a moment. She shrugged and frowned. "Perpetual motion Alvaro?"

"It does give that appearance, doesn't it? But the energy and momentum of the universe are being conserved. The flashlight is running on dark energy."

Megan gave a small explosive laugh that sounded like a hiccup. "I know a bit of the concept. I've tried to understand your papers the best I could. That's the cosmological force that's pushing the universe apart."

"Pulling the universe apart. Dark energy has a positive energy density but exerts a negative pressure."