Gravity Versus Gravity, page 22
Quinn began, “Countering gravitation pull is not an easy task.”
“If it were so, the Borough Council officials would have built such equipment,” Slater said.
Everyone laughed.
Quinn continued, “One way would be to reinforce the rooftop with concrete. We would also need to increase the girth of the walls and seal the windows.”
“Will these actions guarantee neutralization?” Slater asked.
“We would not be sure till the event occurs.”
“How much time will this take?”
“We can complete with a week of intense work.”
Thakur interrupted. He said, “This is not going to work. We are talking about patients, who cannot be shifted. How can we get all this heavy civil work done without shifting them? If we leave them where they are, what about the disturbance?”
Slater looked at other specialists. “Any other solution?” she asked.
“What Quinn is offering is the best solution,” Jeremy said.
Neither Thakur nor Slater was convinced. Jimmy was still afraid to open his mouth.
Joe broke his silence and said, “I can think of only one solution. I mean, a person who can get us the solution.”
“Who?” Thakur and Slater asked together.
“Al from the Swindon Space Center,” Joe replied.
“Do you think he will be free? We have only a week left to go before the event,” Slater said.
“Al had told Sandra a week ago that his work has been rapidly decreasing with the approach of the zero-gravity day,” Joe said.
Joe called Sandra, and after three hours, the meeting continued in the presence of Al. Al listened attentively to what Dr. Thakur had to say about the hospital. He then listened to Slater and others.
“Look,” Al said after everyone had finished, “I’m not a magician. Only a space scientist. While I can predict about the binary comets, the trajectory, and the zero-gravity effect, I can only surmise about what we can do to protect the Hospital.”
“Please tell us a solution. We are dying to hear from you,” Slater said.
“Theoretically, it would be possible to shield anything from the effect of the gravitational pull of the binary comets by creating a strong magnetic field around the object.”
“We put a huge magnet on top of the hospital?” Quinn said.
“Exactly, and on all sides. That is, cover the hospital with a magnet. And be warned, this is all theoretical only.”
“Wait, wait,” Dr. Thakur said. “Won’t that mean that everything which is metallic inside the hospital will get sucked by this huge magnet?”
“Yes, it will if it’s a normal magnet. What we would have is a single sided magnet. The inside would have no magnetic force,” Al said.
“Hurrah!” everyone said.
“I’d like to thank Colin for this idea. I don’t see him. You needn’t have called me if he were at the meeting,” Al said.
Slater looked around. “We did not give him the respect he deserves. He seems to have left,” she said. “But I am glad that Al has suggested a great solution.”
“Too early to feel happy about this. As I said, all this is only theory,” Al said.
“Who will be able to tell about the practicality of this theory?” Slater asked.
“Engineers and scientists at the British Physical Laboratory,” Al replied.
After another two hours, the meeting resumed with two engineers and two scientists from the Laboratory. It was now Al’s turn to tell in detail about the binary comets to the engineers and the scientists.
One of the engineers said, “Since the gravitational pull is slightly more than 1G, it should be possible to make a magnetic field strong enough to nullify the pull.”
One of the electromagnetic experts said, “And we can do this without actually covering the building with a one-sided magnet.”
“How?” Thakur asked.
“To have a magnetic field, you need not have a magnet. We’ll create it using an electromagnet, rather two to ensure that every part of the building is covered.”
“And where will you put it?”
“On the roof.”
The next day, one of the scientists called Slater. “We need your help,” he said. “The workshop which produces the magnets has its orders lined up for another six months.”
“No problem,” Slater said. “Give me the address.”
When the expert had given the address, Slater asked, “How much time does it take to manufacture the electromagnet?”
“About three days if they do it in the normal course.”
“What is the normal course?”
“Services of only three people are required.”
“And if six are used?”
“Then one and a half days.”
“And if twelve?”
“Less than a day of course.”
“Okay,” Slater replied. “The two electromagnets would be delivered to you tomorrow.”
“Not to me. It should be delivered to Chelsea Hospital,” the scientist said, relieved.
When the two engineers and the two scientists reached the Hospital in the morning next day, the electromagnets were already on top of the building. They assembled them, switched them on a few times to check that they were working and had them ready by the evening when Al came to check.
“Good work,” Al said, looking at the electromagnets.
“We would be able to find out how effective they are only when the real action takes place,” the head scientist said.
“Are there any gaps?”
“No, we have tested all parts of the building. It works fine.”
“Then what could be the problem?”
“If at any point of time the binary comets exert more than 1.1G force, there might be problems.”
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed,” Al said.
18
Aaron Bennett was the senior-most Census Officer in East Devon. He was hand-picked by the Census Commissioner to keep track of people and their houses in eastern Devon. After every town and village had been evacuated, he went through his list several times to see that no house had been left. He did not find any town or village that he had not covered.
He was talking to his assistant four days before the zero-gravity day, boasting to him about the enormity of his task and how he had accomplished everything.
“I’ve covered every small settlement,” Aaron said proudly.
“And what was the smallest one?”
“Amsell. It had only seven houses.”
“Seven?” the assistant said.
“Yes, we have settlements as small as that.”
“No, we have smaller. I remember when we did the last census, there were at least two with three houses and one is in the moor. The one in the moor may be the smallest settlement that we have in Devon.”
“Really?” Aaron said in surprise.
He ran to his office and went down the list again. Indeed, there were two settlements with three houses. He felt relieved when he found that the two three-house settlements were outside the danger zone. However, the lone house in the moor was not.
Aaron called the three-member DIMA team from London, which had been stationed in East Devon since the last three days.
“Your work is not yet over,” he told Corwin, who picked up the phone.
“Where are the houses?”
“There is just one in the moor. It’s in the eastern border of Moor Park.”
“It would take several hours for us to reach there.”
“Good luck to you,” Aaron said, putting down the phone.
The DIMA team started at once to the moor, which was a good four kilometers away.
“This must be the most uninhabited place in all of UK,” Charles said.
“Yes, seems so. This fifty-square kilometer has the largest concentration of marshes and the thorns,” Amy said.
“I wonder why anyone would live here when all of the UK is so developed,” Corwin said.
“You are thinking your way. Not everyone thinks so. Some people would like to have no contact with anyone. Others may want complete tranquility. There are all kinds of people in the world. Given a choice, some would even prefer to live in Mars,” Charles said.
Corwin stopped suddenly.
“What happened?” Amy asked.
“A thorn tore through my shirt, and one has gone inside my shoes.”
“Forget about them. Keep walking. We’ll not reach even in a day if you stop to take out every thorn.”
After about a kilometer, the terrain changed completely. Marshy land replaced the thorny bushes. The foot path was covered with mushy grass. Where the ground was clear, it was slippery. The feet of all three were sore with pricks from the thorns. As water entered their shoes, the pain was unbearable at times.
“How do you think the occupants of the house in the moor survive?” Corwin said.
“The other side to enter the Park is not as bad,” Charles replied.
“So why did we choose this way?”
“This is the much shorter way. We would have had to go around the entire area to reach there. We’ll reach faster on foot this way than by car from the other side. The last kilometer from the other direction too is only a footpath.”
The team continued. “This must be the most difficult walking that I’ve done in my entire life,” Charles said.
“Thank the zero-gravity event that you have this opportunity. Later, you can boast about it to others,” Amy said.
“Yes, this would surely be an expedition to remember. I’ve recorded the entire journey on my body camera.”
“It’s good that we started early in the morning. If one gets lost here in the evening, one could be lost forever.”
Next, Charles stopped in his tracks suddenly.
“What happened?” Amy asked.
“The track ahead of us may be deep.”
“How much?”
“It may get as deep as four feet.”
“Should we try?”
“We have no choice. If we take a diversion, there is no guarantee that this water body will end somewhere close by. Better to cross here.”
They put their rucksacks inside a plastic bag and held them in their hands raised above their heads. The slope became steeper after a few meters. The deepest part turned out to be more than four feet. They swam through and came out the other end exhausted.
“I can see the house. It’s in the lowest part of the Valley. Someone has really built it to be farthest from people in the UK,” Corwin said.
“I’m famished. The first thing we should do when we reach the house is eat,” Amy said.
“Yes. I, too, am very hungry,” Charles said. “I can see smoke coming out of the house. Maybe the owner already knows about our arrival.”
“Don’t dream of a hot meal. We’ll have to eat our canned food,” Corwin said.
They gathered their strengths and walked towards the house. The house looked as if it had not been renovated for a long time. A cat ran to the rooftop as they approached the house. Several roosters and hens started to run helter-skelter inside the garden. The door was bolted from outside. There was no lock on the bolt.
“The man is out,” Amy said.
“It’s not a man,” Charles said. “It’s an old woman.”
“How do you know?” Amy asked.
“The man who got this work for us is the one who told Corwin about it,” Charles said.
“Aaron?” Amy asked.
“Yes,” Corwin replied.
“How can she manage to live alone here?” Amy said.
“We’ll ask her when she returns,” Corwin said.
“Let’s go into the house and eat something,” Charles said.
“Just look at the condition of this house. We’ll finish off the poor woman’s ration for the month. Let’s take out our cans and eat what we have. We are not going to spend our night here. So, it’s okay to eat what we have,” Amy said.
They took out the cans and started munching whatever they had. After they were done, they spread leaves and branches from nearby trees on the portico and went off to sleep expecting to be woken up by the woman before too long. They had thought that she would be back in an hour or so. They were mistaken. When they got up, it was four in the afternoon, and there was no sign of the woman.
“We’ll wait till five and then we’ll leave the woman to her fate,” Amy said.
Amy, Charles, and Corwin kept looking in all directions. When it was quarter to five, Charles took out the notice about the zero-gravity event. He took out a piece of paper and scribbled some instructions for the woman. In the end, he wrote, the best option would still be to leave this place whenever you can. He folded the notice and slipped it under the door.
When it struck five, Charles got up and said, “Futile effort, it seems. All of us went through a lot of trouble, but we may not be able to save this old woman.”
“Let’s wait for half an hour more,” Amy said.
“I cannot risk your lives. We are not familiar with the terrain. Returning at night would be dangerous. From six in the morning, we have one more place to secure. Besides, anything urgent may turn up.”
The three DIMA officials got up to leave. Just as they came out of the gate, they saw a silhouette appear some distance away.
“That’s her,” Amy said.
“If it’s not a bear,” Charles said.
The old woman was walking slowly. Amy, Charles, and Corwin waited patiently.
“I wonder if she has seen us from the distance,” Amy said.
“I doubt,” Corwin replied. “Her eyesight must be poor.”
After fifteen minutes, the old woman reached the wooden gate. As she opened it, she looked at the DIMA officials sitting in her house. She had seen them only then. She froze and stood at the gate.
“She is mistaking us for intruders,” Charles said. “Both of you wait here. I’ll go to her.”
Charles walked up to the old woman. “Good evening,” he said, opening the gate.
The woman looked frail. Her face was full of freckles, and her eyes were almost closed. She had a hunch. But she was carrying a large bag on her shoulders.
“Good evening,” the old woman said. “What brings you here? I hope you don’t want to take away my land to build something.”
“Nothing of that sort. We are here because we are expecting a zero-gravity event.”
“A what?”
“Let me help you with the bag first,” Charles said, taking the bag from her. He held her hand and led her towards the house.
“A zero-gravity event. We have binary comets, which are very close to earth. After four days, debris would go up in the sky. It would fall in this region. It’s dangerous,” Charles said to the old woman.
“I’ve been living here for more than fifty years. I’m not going anywhere.”
By this time, Amy and Corwin had joined Charles and the old woman.
“We are not taking you forever,” Charles said. “It will be only for a few days.”
“We’ll then bring you back to your place,” Amy added.
“And what about my animals?” the old woman asked.
“We’ll take them, too,” Corwin replied.
“And what if my house is indeed destroyed?”
“We’ll build it for you.”
“Even then I’m not willing to leave this place,” the old woman said, entering her house. Amy, Charles, and Corwin followed her. They sat down at various places.
“Have you eaten something?” the old woman asked.
“Yes, while we were waiting for you,” Amy replied, looking at Charles and Corwin.
“Nevertheless, I’ll make some tea.”
While the old woman made tea, Corwin whispered to Amy and Charles, “What do we do? I doubt if she is going to agree.”
“Yes, it will not be possible to convince her. She has been here forever and will not go anywhere no matter what,” Charles said.
“How many people from DIMA are here?” Amy said.
“Three,” Charles replied.
“And how much does she weigh?”
“Fifty kilograms at best.”
“Well I should not be explaining anything further,” Amy said with a smile.
The old woman brought tea and cake, which Amy, Charles, and Corwin drank and ate with delight.
“She is trying to win us over,” Amy said.
“She’ll not succeed,” Charles said, sipping the tea.
Corwin went out of the house and called the Control Station.
“The old woman doesn’t want to leave,” he said.
“We have sent a pickup truck. It’s waiting on the other side. You’ll have to walk one kilometers up the valley.”
“We cannot. The woman will just not go. Besides, she has animals, and she is not ready to leave them. Can’t the vehicle come to this place? We could then simply load her and her animals.”
“No, there is no way that the vehicle can go further. It has reached as far as possible. Either it will get stuck in the marsh, or the tires would be punctured by the thorns.”
“Send a helicopter then.”
“All three helicopters are on duty. It’s also difficult to land in your location. Let me see what I can do.”
As night fell, Corwin said to the old woman, “Okay. We are leaving. However, we would be in our vehicle one kilometer from here. If you decide by morning that you want to leave with us, please let us know. We are leaving one wireless set with you. You have to press the black button and say that you are ready.”
They opened the door and exited.
“Are you going to wait till morning?” Amy asked.
“Are you serious?” Corwin said. “We have no alternative but to wait somewhere near. When the woman goes off to sleep, we’ll carry her.”
After about thirty minutes, the roar of a helicopter could be heard. Corwin took out his wireless.
“I’ll be above the house in a few seconds. We’ll drop a rope. Come up along with the woman and her things,” the pilot said.
