Broken Symmetry

11. Spin Down

“They told me you would be here,” Reichen said, the sweat moistening his mustache. “I demand to know what’s going on.”

“Whatever do you mean?” asked Ray.

“I mean, here I have been told that you’re running one more beam, against orders, and you’re waiting for it to pass underneath your feet.”

“That’s right, Mr. Reichen,” Kristin interjected.

Reichen swiveled around to face her. “You realize what kind of trouble you’re in, doctor? You’ll never get another penny from the DOE. Your career in high energy physics is over.”

Kristin shrugged. “How melodramatic of you. It was going to be over, anyway, once you killed the SSC.

“But it’s not over, Mr. Reichen. And you’re right where we wanted you.”

Reichen looked around nervously. There were a few other scientists, but they were gathered at a spot a few yards away, chatting among themselves.

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Kristin said, “since you showed us that Mohammed wouldn’t come to the mountain—”

A loud rumble began to shake the earth under their feet, and a sudden wind gusted up. Reichen looked frightened. Kristin smiled.

“We figured we’d bring the mountain to Mohammed,” she finished.

The din got louder. “What the hell’s going on?” Reichen roared.

“You didn’t believe that the other universe existed,” Ray said, as the air around them filled up with sparks of light and the scenery began to wobble. “I thought you might want to tell them that yourself.”