Chapter Forty-Three

 

 

11:57 P. M.

 

DR. HANS WESTIN sat down at the main control panel and checked that his two technicians were at their stations. Glancing at the clock, he operated the series of switches that got the turbines going, up to half speed. At the same time, Jared Duncan, seated off to Westin’s right, pushed the buttons that brought the giant computer and its six monitors to life.

Fifteen seconds later, Westin moved a switch that set the turbines to spinning faster. He was slowly increasing the power to an electromagnetic field—a field that was flowing between the two poles that constituted The Door. The amplitude and valence of the field were controlled by the main computer, which was in Duncan’s able hands. Westin nodded to Jim Hodges, who stood thirty feet to his left behind a console that was connected to a number of speakers about the size of those that people used to plug their stereos into—back when people still listened to stereos. Hodges flipped a switch and from each speaker began to issue a different chant—one in Latin, one in ancient Greek, and the other in Aramaic.

“Bring up Program Alpha,” Westin called, and Duncan quickly complied. “Program up,” he called back a moment later. He had to yell to be heard over the increasing noise of the turbines.

“Execute!”

Duncan pushed two buttons and then pulled a switch. “Done!” he called.