Chapter 8

John sat at his desk in his laboratory at the University of Texas. He examined the blueprints that he had created for his device very carefully. He then examined the part that he held in his hand. Using the calipers, he double-checked the dimensions for a third and final time. He was now satisfied that all parts were within the tolerances specified in his design. He assembled the device and held it up to examine the final product. It was about the size of a walnut and cost close to two hundred dollars to manufacture. He had the parts for ten such devices. Quantity production of the devices would drop the manufacturing costs down to two dollars per unit.

He stared at the device for a long time wondering if it would work as his calculations had suggested. His calculations stated that a considerable amount of heat would be given off, but very little dangerous radiation. The atomic particles would be absorbed by the device itself. He expected very little gamma radiation to be generated at all. It looked too good to be true and as a good scientist, he doubted his own predictions.

He removed the top half of the device and looked down into the well that was in the base. He put in two milliliters of liquid from a small flask, and replaced the top half of the device. He didn’t tighten it because he was unwilling to start the fusion reaction yet. He took the device over to his laboratory bench and set the device gently on it.

The calorimeter was assembled and ready for use. He had already tested it three times. The first time was to calibrate it and the second two times were to make sure that the calibration was accurate. He checked all of the connections again. Everything was fine and there was no reason to delay the experiment any more.

He licked his lips in nervousness, this was the part that he dreaded. He picked up the device and put it in the vise. He started screwing the top down using the torque wrench to monitor the torque on the bolt. The pressure inside the well climbed dramatically with each turn of the bolt. When the torque wretch read the desired value, he quickly removed the device from the vise using pliers to hold it. It was already getting hot. He set it in the water bath of the calorimeter and sealed the calorimeter.

He watched the readout of the calorimeter with single-minded focus. The temperature kept climbing. His device was generating heat at an incredible rate. When the water temperature within the calorimeter approached boiling, he opened it to allow heat to escape and to protect the expensive equipment from being damaged. The water began to boil. He dumped the water with the device into a larger bucket containing water, and let the device start to heat that container.

He went to his computer and looked at the computed results. His little device was producing almost 5.2 Kilowatts. It was producing sufficient energy to run fifty-two 100-Watt light bulbs. If his calculations were correct, it would produce that energy for approximately six months before starting to degrade. At the end of a year, it would be producing half that amount. Of course, increasing the pressure in the cell at that point would return the energy production to the original level. At the end of two years, the reaction would die. The death would be a result of the materials having been consumed by the reaction.

He grabbed some tongs, fished the device out of the water, and carried it over to the vise. Fastening it in the vise, he used a wrench to remove the pressure in the well. Once the pressure driving the reaction had been removed, the device started cooling down. He smiled as he waited for it to cool down enough that he could touch it. It took far longer to cool down, than it had taken to heat up. After some minutes, it was cool enough for him to disassemble it.

He went over to his desk and examined the papers in front of him. There were three sets of papers. He signed one of them, and set it aside. To the other, he added a couple of numbers in blanks left on one of the pages. He stood up and got his cloak. Putting it on, he stretched to work some of the tension out of his shoulders. Returning to the desk, he picked up the three sets of papers. As he walked to the door, he grabbed his walking stick. Rover followed him out of the office.

He strolled down the hall to the office of his former adviser, Dr. Drake. Rover followed him unconcerned and uninterested in anything except getting back to the lab to finish his nap. As John walked, he hummed a little tune to himself. In fact, it was hard for him to maintain a walk. He wanted to run down the hall screaming, “I did it!” However, he kept himself under control. He even stopped at the photocopy machine and waited his turn to make a photocopy of the papers.

Reaching his destination, he knocked on Dr. Drake’s office door. He was given a gruff reply, “Can you come back in an hour?”

John cleared his throat and answered, “No. I need to see you now.”

Dr. Drake opened the door irritated at the interruption. “John, I like you, but get lost. I have a lot of work to do and I can’t spare the time. Come back tomorrow.”

“Fuck that, sign this.”

Dr. Drake staggered back as if he had been sucker punched. He reacted angrily and asked, “What is it?”

“A nondisclosure agreement. You have to sign it before I give you a paper.”

Dr. Drake grabbed a pen and scribbled his name on the form. He handed the form back to John and said, “Now go.”

John smiled as he handed Dr. Drake a copy of his paper. He turned and headed to the University’s Patent Office. As he went, he shouted, “Remember, you can’t tell anyone.”

John had almost reached the end of the hall when he heard a loud scream behind him. “John, where are you? This is fucking incredible!”

John laughed aloud as he knew that Dr. Drake had read the important page of his paper. He turned to see Dr. Drake bolt out of his office. The elderly man looked up and down the hall. Spotting John, he ran to the young man shouting, “Nobel Fucking Prize!”

Other people emerged from their offices to see what caused the commotion in the hall. They were greeted by the sight of Dr. Drake waving a paper as he ran towards John. Rover started to growl until he saw that John was completely unperturbed by the man’s behavior. When he reached John, he grabbed him while asking, “Can I see it?”

John replied, “Let me drop off the patent application. Then I’ll bring you into the lab and you can see it for yourself.”

Dr. Drake followed John on his errand. It was quite a sight as John walked down the hall followed by Rover with Rover followed by Dr. Drake. When they reached the office where he was to drop off the patent application, Dr. Drake banged on the desk until the appropriate attorney came out to deal with the issue. The patent attorney had received his undergraduate degree in physics. Hence, he had a good grasp of the significance of the patent application that John handed him. He read it several times very carefully and then said, “Congratulations. Your paperwork is excellent. I don’t need to touch this at all. I’ll get it filed by the end of the week. You’ll be able to hold a press conference in two days time.”

John smiled and said, “Thank you. I don’t think I’ll do the press release thing myself. I’m sure the University has a good public relations person who can handle it.”

Dr. Drake was bouncing on his toes. Frustrated, he interrupted, “Let’s go back to the lab. I want to see it!”

John laughed and said, “I better go. He’s getting anxious and I’d hate to see him have a heart attack.”

The trip back to the lab was performed in a different walking order. Dr. Drake led the way, followed by John and Rover walking side by side. Dr. Drake had to stop often to wait for them to catch up. As John walked, he realized that he had just done another great service to the Goddess.

At the lab, John unlocked the door and let his visitor into the room. He went to the desk and held up the parts for the device. He assembled it as the elderly man watched carefully. He removed the top and placed two milliliters of the liquid into the well. He replaced the top. Once that was completed, he turned to Dr. Drake and said, “I need to set up the calorimeter.”

Dr. Drake replied, “Let me do it.”

In a few minutes, the calorimeter was set up for another experimental run. John double-checked the work and decided it was fine. He asked, “Do you want to calibrate it?”

“No. I just want to see it work.”

John set the device in the vise and tightened it in. He took the torque wrench and screwed the top bolt into the well until it read the proper number of foot-pounds. Taking the pliers, he grabbed the device and released it from the vice. He carefully set the device in the water bath of the calorimeter. He closed the calorimeter and turned to watch the meter.

Dr. Drake whistled, “John, it really works. Look at that temperature rise.”

John waited until the water was nearly boiling and then opened the calorimeter. He used the pliers to remove the device from the water and took it to the vise. In a few seconds, he had the pressure removed from the well. He looked up and asked, “Well, what do you think?”

“John, you have succeeded. I saw the parts go together. I set up the calorimeter. I saw it heat that water to boiling.”

John walked over to the computer and hit a button. In half a second the result appeared. He smiled, “5.17 Kilowatts.”

Dr. Drake shook his head and said, “Such a simple thing. So what are you going to do, now?”

John looked serious for a moment and then answered, “I’m going to head over to the mechanical engineering department and see if they can design a nice generator for it. We need to convert the heat to electricity somehow.”

“Good idea,” replied Dr. Drake. He added, “Thank you for letting me be the first to see this.”

“My pleasure.”

John spent the next four hours with a group of mechanical engineers. They each had signed his non-disclosure agreement. They worked out the details of a very simple alternator that should produce electricity with an efficiency of 81% of the theoretical value. The device that John had designed was incorporated into the design of the alternator, which actually made it smaller. An argument, quite heated at times, led them to decide that it would be better to incorporate four of the fusion wells into the alternator. The finished device was approximately the size of a shoebox with poles sticking out the top. In short, it looked like a pint-sized automobile battery with a radiator built into it. When constructed it should produce 110 volts AC at 16 kilowatts.

They agreed that the resulting design was to be patented under all of their names. The basic design would be documented appropriately for patenting, tomorrow. They would build a prototype of the alternator, and test it out. One of the engineers knew a custom engine shop where they could get the main block built. John agreed with the plan and promised to return the next day to review the patent application and sign it.

John stepped outside and looked around. Rover’s tail swished back and forth in agitation. It was nearly evening and the sky was filled with clouds that hung low to the ground. The wind blew his cloak out and his hair back. The clouds were moving fast. He could smell in the air that it was going to rain soon. He needed to get to his Jeep.

As John walked, he tried to mentally calculate how many of the alternators would be required to power a typical household. He decided two would suffice for the basic electrical wiring in the house. A third set up to produce 220Volts AC could be used for electric air conditioner, heater and water heaters. The number of uses and sizes for the alternators was huge. He realized how much money would result from the patents that he had set in motion.

He stopped abruptly, an act that caused Rover to bump into him. Rover looked up at him and then sat down on the sidewalk. John pricked his finger and drew a drop of blood. He flicked it to the ground as he stated aloud, “I swear that ninety-five percent of the moneys earned by me from this invention shall be used in the service of the Gods and Goddesses.”

As soon as he finished swearing the oath, three large bolts of lightening struck the ground around him. Rover jumped six feet in the air at the sound. John dived to the ground in shock. John and Rover stared at each other in shock for a full minute. John lamely spoke to Rover, “I guess they are going to hold me to that oath.”

They stood up and ran to the parking lot. They were safely in the Jeep before the clouds cut loose with a pounding driving rain. John pulled out of the parking lot slowly since the wipers could hardly keep up with the sheet of water that washed across the windshield.

He had just turned the corner out of the university when he noticed an elderly lady lying on the sidewalk. He pulled the car over to the curb, much to the irritation of the other drivers, and stopped the Jeep. He got out and headed over to the woman. The cloak, with its hood up, kept him dry even in the blowing storm. When he reached her, he knelt down and asked, “Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Oh, I fell down. I think I broke my hip.”

John nodded and said, “Hold on.”

He ran back to his Jeep and opened the back door. He pulled out his backpack. Rover looked out the open back door. He wasn’t going to let John close it.

John returned to the woman. He removed the tarp that was attached to the bottom of the pack. It took him several minutes to set up the tarp in his basic tent configuration to keep the water off her. He pulled the blanket out of his backpack and laid it over her to keep her warm. He realized that he had a couple of chemical hand warmers that someone had given him as a gift. He broke open one and activated it. He handed it to her while saying, “Use this to help keep you warm. Let me get some help here. I’ll be right back.”

He ran across the street to one of the stores. He burst in and shouted, “Call 911. We need an ambulance.”

He hesitated only long enough to see that the clerk in the store had picked up the telephone and dialed the number. He raced across the street narrowly avoiding being hit by a car. The driver honked his horn and shot him the finger. John crouched down at the entrance of the tent. “Help is on its way.”