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"GRAVITATIONAL WAVES!"

Sreekumar K

" Right, I had read about it in the newspaper. Didn't get to read any journals about it. I am yet to see the connection with all these," said Georges without hiding his annoyance.

"I had also read about it in the New Scientist. It reminded me of the sea of milk that the Indians talk about. Their Lord Vishnu who sustains everything reposes on a snake that floats on an ocean of milk. Lives are supposed to be the waves in that ocean," said Yufi.

"Yes, it is more or less like that. Only that it is an ocean of energy that we live in. We say vacuum, but nothing is totally so. It only means there is no air there. The universe is simply an ocean of energy. What we perceive as forms are only energy in disguise. There is no empty space anywhere and there should not be. Our Babel Project aims at harnessing these gravitational waves just like we use the electromagnetic waves now. These billionaires have bought that technology. The price? Just for now understand that you can buy two Netherlands at that price," said Jeane.

"O, you lost me there! I had almost got it when it again slipped away," said Yufi.

"It is simple. Now we use electromagnetic waves for almost all our communications, from FM radio to our mobile phones. We may switch to gravitational waves,” explained Jeane.

" Such an elaborate discussion and preparation for just this?" asked Yufi.

" This discussion is not just for that. You will get a clear idea about it by tea time,” Jeane expressed his unwillingness to say more about it. .

He had a clear idea about the Armageddon going to hit the earth. If those with him had carefully read through the documents they had signed six years ago, they too would have been scared like him. He had read so carefully through the documents only because he was quite aware of how Patricia operated and how she got things done.

"One more question. My last and final one. How come this technology costs this much?" Georges moved his chair back and faced Jeane.

"My knowledge about that is very rudimentary, only what I put together from some science journals. Though the gravitational waves can travel this far from another galaxy, their amplitude is rather low. Or it is low till they are disturbed further. Even then, it is ten raised to minus twenty or so. One sextyllion, that is. Think of the technology needed to work with them. Think of the level of sensitivity such an equipment should have!” Jeane heaved a sigh.

"When you say hunt, chase and catch, it sounds so simple. But let me ask you, what kind of a trap are we talking about?" asked Georges. "And if you think I won't get it, then leave it. I just asked."

"No, no. That is fairly easy to understand. Think of two pipes 600 meters long joined to form an L. From where they are joined, laser beams are sent to either ends. At the ends they are reflected back. The reflected ray from both ends will reach back at the same time since the pipes are of the same length and the rays are of uniform wavelength. Then, if an unseen wave hits one end of one of the pipes and that pipe shrinks a little, way too little, like the size of an atom, the ray reflected from that end of the pipe will take less time to reach back, since its course is shorter now by the size of an atom or so. Takes less time means slowed down to ten raised to minus twenty or two hundred kilometres per nano second. This is what it means to catch a wave. The difference in their times shows the presence of a disturbed wave,” explained Jeane.

" God, it is worse than the most unbelievable tale I ever heard," said Yufi.

Those sitting at the next table were also engaged in a discussion, though on a different topic. The three of them had also taken part enthusiastically in the morning session, debating on every topic that had come up. Emily and July were scientists but Michael was a far better scholar than either of them. It was no secret that he was always against the project, whatever it was. July could not help prodding him.

“I wonder why you are so irritated about the project. I am sure you know about it much more than any of us here," said July.

“One is a statement of facts and the other is the reason. I am against it only because I know its future. I know my life is in danger for saying this. Crucifixion or bullets were always the reward for truth. Still, I find it hard to speak against my conscience. You can steal meals, but you can’t steal sleep.”

“O, Michael, your poetry is obscure. Tell me if there is any physics in it,” said Emily.

"There is no physics, but there is some biology. Shall I? 'Meals' means food and by extension of ideas, it means wealth. It can be stolen from others. It IS always stolen from others. Since food is not enough in this world, anyone who overeats is stealing someone else's food. A few people steal other people food and a lot of people get looted. That is the way of the world. But sleep is not wealth though it is very precious. Sleep is actually our peace of mind. Like the Indians say, it is the time when we are one with God. And it is God's grace if you get it . It cannot be stolen or hoarded. From the very beginning, because of its clandestine nature, I was never happy about the project. I think it smells of evil. There were sixteen sponsors in the beginning. Now, only five.”

"What about it? Eleven people would have backed out. OK, now I get it. If they got out, there would have been proper reason for that after such a huge investment. You have guessed it right, Michael," said July.

"That is not the point. And I am not guessing. Each time I came to know a sponsor backed out, I bought the latest issue of the Vogue."

"Your poetry is not only obscure, it is cryptic too. I don't see the connection between a fashion magazine and rocket science. What about you, July?" asked Emily.

July was silently looking at Michael as he promptly replied.

“There is a remote connection. I like that phrase 'remote connection'. Now, the Vogue features the death of every billionaire who dies. When each of the secret sponsors was reported as left the project, I also found that one more billionaire had left the world. Not just billionaires, the very rich ones. The Vogue just does not care about any billionaire. There are too many of them. And let me finish, each death was unnatural. True, most billionaires have unnatural deaths. Still!”

July was still looking at Michael with admiration. If brain was the charm of a gentleman, he was the most charming she had ever seen. His book yoking together sociology and environment, The Green Ghost, is a classic on both subjects. She had spent some time with him in Peru to help him finish the book. It was her only honeymoon in life. He was adamant about not setting up a family, though she had tried her best. She still longed for him even though she had not seen him for more than a year.

“I know this. There is a TED talk on this,” said Emily

“What? About their deaths?” asked Michael.

“No, about co-incidence. When two things happen together, our mind tends to connect them as cause and effect. It is our nature. Cum hoc ergo propter hoc. With this, therefore because of this.  In this case, we don’t know whether those who died were our sponsors. All we know is that eleven people backed out and eleven people died. The common factor here is the number eleven,” said Emily and stared at July who was trying to interrupt.

“Not accurate,” corrected July. “They were all billionaires.”

“Yes, but those were not the only billionaires in the world. Like the Vogue believes, there are too many of them now. So, that cannot be a common factor. Not a valid one,” Emily argued.

“OK. I am not pushing it. But what are these guys trying to do? They are trying to put an end to our ability to lie. Our ability to lie is even older than our ability to speak. It is our birthright. Even ants have this. Neil Postman, in one of his books, describes how the use of pesticides lead to the ants learning to use their limbs in communication to mislead their predators,” said Michael.

“I respect Neil Postman. I met him once. But, these researches they carry out in humanities are all unreliable. They even had a research on whether human nature changes when they find that there is no free will. I laughed a lot about that one.” Emilyy started laughing.

“Why is it even funny?” asked Michael.

“How can you say someone is lying if there is no free will. He has no choice. He is absolutely the product of his circumstances,” said Emily suppressing her laughter.

As July listened to their discussion, she felt envious of Emily. She wondered whether he would have said no to Emily if she wanted to set up a family with him.

The discussion went on but July was reminiscing her days with him in Peru. Even as they moved towards the hall after their rather quick lunch, she held his hand and walked close to him. But he was not there at all.

And his face was like that of a man sentenced to death.