The Origin of F.O.R.C.E.

Heinbaum hunched over one of the workbenches in his laboratory, his beady eyes peering through a magnifying glass clamped to the bench top. The object of his scrutiny was a coil of wire wound into a complicated spherical shape. The wire in the coil had been made from a thin extrusion of the silvery porcelain material used by the Chrysallamans to house the bubble of energy in their power modules. The spherical coil was about an inch in diameter and looked like someone had taken five double helix strands of DNA and shaped them into a ball.

At the moment, Heinbaum was using a pair of specialized needle-nosed pliers to make some small adjustments in one area of the coil. His movements were slow and deliberate. He’d spent the better part of four months winding the double helix coils of the sphere, and he knew how delicate the spacing in the helices needed to be. He was so concentrated on his work that when the quiet of the lab was shattered by the slamming of the entry door, he practically jumped out of his skin.

“How’s it going, Doc,” McPherson proclaimed as he sauntered through the door.

Lifting his face away from the magnifier and dropping the pliers, Heinbaum glared at the grinning, red-haired Scotsman.

“My delicate work was proceeding at a measured pace until you rudely interrupted me.”

“Oh, Doc, relax,” the big man replied. Thumping Heinbaum on the back with his burly hand, he proclaimed, “You know, I’m gettin’ kind of worried about my old pal.”

Gesturing with his chin at the sphere, McPherson said, “You’ve been cooped up in this lab too long playing with your ping pong ball. You need a break.”

Pushing his glasses back up his nose, Heinbaum retorted, “The only break I need is the one where you go away. Permanently.”

“Aw, Doc, if I didn’t know you really cared, I’d think you didn’t like me.”

Frustrated by his inability to get rid of McPherson, Heinbaum crossed his arms and remained silent.

McPherson was well-versed in manipulating Heinbaum’s massive ego. The greasy-haired physicist was extremely intelligent and loved to let everyone around him know just how brilliant he was. Remembering how Heinbaum claimed in their first meeting many years ago that his IQ was higher than Einstein’s, McPherson knew asking the man to explain his work was a sure way of getting him to talk.

Ignoring the crossed arms, McPherson asked, “Why don’t you tell me about your ping pong ball. What’s it supposed to do?”

True to form, Heinbaum eased back, smiled and replied, “I’ll be happy to tell you about my discoveries. Explaining my work in such a way it will be meaningful to a person with such a low IQ may be difficult, but I’ll try my best to make it understandable.”

“You’re a peach, Doc.”

“Remember how you used the electromagnets to open the alien power module?”

Receiving a nod from McPherson, he continued, “The more I thought about the underlying physics of the magnet’s effect on the power module’s porcelain shell, the more I considered the possibility the opening of the alien module wasn’t caused by the opposing poles of the magnets reacting to each other. I theorized the possibility the module was forced open by the absorption of energy from a previously unrealized source.”

Pausing a moment as if he was considering the best way to describe his findings, Heinbaum continued, “I developed my theory based upon a curious manifestation. You’ve read about a phenomenon called the northern lights?”

When McPherson shook his head, Heinbaum explained, “You know, streaks of light high up in the air. Atmospheric discharges of colored lights which people see in the skies over Alaska and some other places. Glowing mists in valleys no one can prove came from flashlights or campfires.”

Heinbaum was getting excited, and he began pacing the floor. “I believe those lights are generated from waste energy. Eliminating lightning as the power source for the lights, I surmised they were the result of atmospheric discharges of energy created by the movement of the Earth.”

“You mean static electricity caused by friction?”

“No, the energy is from something more esoteric than mere static electricity.”

When the weaselly scientist didn’t explain further, McPherson nodded his head toward the workbench and asked, “What’s the ping pong ball got to do with it?”

Heinbaum glared and retorted, “It’s not a ping pong ball, you idiot.”

Exasperated, Heinbaum explained, “It happens to be a specially designed coil of the alien porcelain material configured to absorb or tap into my theoretical energy source and concentrate it into usable power. I was in the process of making some final adjustments to my design when you interrupted me.”

Grinning like an opossum, McPherson wrapped one of his arms around Heinbaum’s shoulders and declared, “Doc, you know what good friends we are. I’m here to help in any way I can. Just tell me what you need and quick as a wink, I’ll fetch it for you.”

Heinbaum knew he wasn’t going to get rid of the big oaf, so resignedly, he replied, “Please gather up Cunningham and get him over here. I need a few things for the apparatus I built to test my theory.”

Without releasing his grip on the scientist’s shoulders, McPherson looked around and shouted in an earsplitting volume, “Walter, where are you? Doctor Heinbaum needs you over here right now.”

“Coming.”

Looking down at Heinbaum, who grimaced in pain every time the big man squeezed his shoulders, McPherson said, “Found him, Doc. He’ll be here in just a sec.”

Cunningham had been 45 years old when he was assigned to work with Heinbaum. He was now 12 years older and his dark brown hair had streaks of gray. He was an expert machinist and had constructed every odd device the Doctor called for in his myriad of experiments on the power system of the Chrysallaman flying saucer.

It took the three of them only a few minutes to complete the setup Heinbaum required for his test. The coil sphere was placed in a special cradle from which two, thin wires of the silvery porcelain material threaded into a block of copper capped with a telescoping antenna Cunningham had cobbled from a portable AM radio. The apparatus was completed by aligning two horseshoe shaped electromagnets in clamps fixed at the north and south poles of the sphere. A single wire of the porcelain material fed from the center of the sphere into a hole drilled in the end of one of the cylindrical black crystals developed by the Chrysallamans to focus the heat beam and cutter ray.

Walter and Heinbaum had grown to like each other over the years, and Walter had no reservations about commenting on the Doctor’s work. “Just exactly what type of energy do you expect to tap with this sphere gizmo?” he inquired when they completed the setup. “You’ve been tinkering with it for months now.”

Nodding in agreement, Heinbaum replied, “You are correct. Several years ago I abandoned my attempts to open the fusion reactor powering the saucer. I frankly saw more promise in the effect of magnetic flux on the silvery porcelain housing of the power module. At first I didn’t understand the underlying physics of my observations, but after I was able to duplicate the porcelain-like material and test its molecular properties, I discovered some rather peculiar qualities inherent to the substance.”

Thoughtfully rubbing his chin as his eyes roved over his device, Heinbaum continued, “You know the Earth spins on its axis once every 24 hours. Not only that, the Earth orbits around the Sun once every year. Thus there is a spinning velocity and an orbital velocity. Correct?”

Both Cunningham and McPherson nodded, so he continued.

“I’m sure you feel like you’re standing still listening to me talk, correct?

“Naturally,” Walter replied.

“Believe it or not, you are currently moving at a speed of about 1.088 miles per hour due to the spin of the Earth on its axis.”

McPherson snorted, “Doc, the speed of sound is 761 miles per hour, and I don’t hear any sonic booms.”

Heinbaum smiled and for the first time since he met the big Scot, patted him sympathetically and replied, “You poor cretin. I think the gun oil has permeated your skin and migrated to your brain.”

Pausing a moment to enjoy McPherson’s angry look, Heinbaum continued, “I haven’t told you the best part yet. Remember the spinning Earth orbits around the Sun once every 12 months? Would you care to guess how fast the Earth is moving in space as it orbits the Sun?”

Cunningham replied, “Go ahead and tell us, Doc. You’re on a roll, and I think you got McPherson so tongue-tied, he can’t get any words to come out of his mouth.”

Smiling, Heinbaum said, “The Earth upon which we’re standing right now is hurtling through space in its orbit around the Sun at a speed of 66,000 miles per hour.”

Looking at Cunningham with a sad look, McPherson said, “I knew it, Walter, the Doc has finally gone over the edge. Only a long vacation in the psych ward will have any chance to cure him.”

“Actually, Lieutenant, Dr. Heinbaum is probably correct. I tend to agree with him.”

Scanning the apparatus, Walter inquired, “I think I see where you might be going with this. How much does the Earth weigh?”

“Weight is not the answer. Mass is. The mass of the Earth is somewhere around 6 and a half sextillion tons. A conglomeration of rock, water, trees, buildings, everything on and in the planet.”

Pausing to enjoy McPherson’s bewildered look, Heinbaum said in a pretentious tone, “The Earth is very heavy, you military moron.”

The withering glare from McPherson let Heinbaum know he’d just stepped over an invisible line of tolerance and was about to be picked up and thrown across the room. Lowering his eyes, Heinbaum cleared his throat and mumbled, “Sorry, Lieutenant, I let my enthusiasm get away from me. My apologies.”

When the big man’s jaw remained set in a hard frown, Heinbaum turned to Cunningham, and said, “The energy source I believe can be tapped with my power coil is the kinetic energy of the Earth. Kinetic energy of any object is the energy it possesses due to its motion. The energy it took over 4 billion years ago to initiate the daily spin of the Earth’s 6 and a half sextillion ton mass and maintain it is frankly so enormous the only way to explain the number is with mathematics. Add to the spin energy the additional energy it took to orbit the Earth around our Sun, and you have an enormous amount of innate kinetic energy present within the mass of the Earth measurable only on an astronomical scale. I theorize my coil of the alien porcelain material, under the influence of a magnetic field, will allow me to tap into that vast pool of kinetic energy.”

With an amazed look, Walter said, “My God, I see what you mean.” Suddenly a frown lined his lips, “Doc, I don’t think we should test your apparatus inside this lab, even inside this building.”

Gesturing, he continued, “We have nothing in this design to dampen the energy flow if your coil works. The machine could literally blow up in our faces.”

Nodding, Heinbaum’s close-set eyes narrowed and frown lines creased his forehead. “I have to agree with you. My calculations tell me the flow of power from the coil to the black crystal should be enormous. The purpose of the electromagnets is simply to create a magnetic flux field around the coil enabling it to absorb the kinetic energy. The strength of the electromagnetic field isn’t critical to the rate of power absorption. I’ve concentrated my calculations on the absorption and release, not control of the energy once it is released.”

Gathering up his lab notes, Heinbaum ordered, “Get the device ready to transport. I think the safest thing we can do is activate it in the open desert where the only things it could destroy are a few boulders and a cactus.”

***

The top-secret military installation housing Heinbaum’s laboratory was located in the Nevada desert over 125 miles outside Las Vegas. It featured a 2 mile long airstrip and three steel hangars, each large enough to house three B-29 Superfortress bombers wing-tip to wing-tip. All other facilities of the base were buried underground at a minimum depth of 50 feet below the desert surface. The base was located in a large, flat valley ringed on all sides by jagged mountains ranging in height from 5,000 to 6,000 feet..

Mountains to the north and west were about one mile distant while the mountains to the east and south were over 3 miles away. Access to the base by land vehicle was limited to a concrete roadway which snaked through a tunnel bored straight into the solid rock of the southerly mountain range. The tunnel was 90 feet wide and 40 feet high at its apex, and its entrance was guarded. Hydraulic, retractable stanchions of solid steel, 1 and a half feet thick and almost 5 feet tall when fully extended, blocked the tunnel entrance.

The afternoon sun was hot and bright in a cloudless, blue sky as Cunningham and McPherson wheeled Heinbaum’s apparatus out of one of the hangars, across the tarmac of the Nevada base and into the sand dunes north of the runway. Heinbaum led the way, picking his steps with care to avoid filling his shoes with loose sand. All the men wore long sleeve white shirts and wide-brimmed hats. Dark, wraparound sunglasses reduced the sun’s glare to a tolerable level.

Teddy bear cholla cacti grew in large patches. The cacti were covered with whitish-golden spines an inch long, and you steered clear of them unless you wanted to spend the next half day pulling the double barbed spines from your clothes and skin. A path meandered through the cactus patches, leading toward the northerly mountain range. The desert was littered with stones ranging in size from pebbles all the way up to gigantic boulders larger than a house.

After walking about 1,000 feet into the desert, the path began to angle toward a boulder the size of a two story house. Heinbaum called a halt and pointed, “I believe this spot is far enough from the hangars to provide a margin of safety. I want to position the equipment so the output of energy, if there is any, will be directed at that large boulder.”

The location he indicated was on a relatively flat area of sun-bleached rock. The house-sized boulder was around 50 feet away, silhouetted by the northerly mountain range one mile beyond. Cunningham connected the wires leading from the electromagnets through a bayonet switch to a 6-volt lantern battery. Closing the switch would power the magnets clamped in place at the north and south poles of the sphere.

Heinbaum measured the distance from the ends of the electromagnets to the coil ball making sure the coil was centered between them. Next he pulled the telescoping AM radio antenna to its full length and stood back to admire his handiwork.

McPherson had proven to be an expert at weaponizing the alien technology. He had created the focused heat ray housed in a flashlight. His battlefield experience told him long, slender metal poles attached to a weapon were a disaster waiting to happen. Long appendages made it difficult if not impossible to maneuver the weapon in close combat situations.

Staring at the telescoped radio antenna, he asked, “Doc, what’s the purpose of the antenna?”

Heinbaum had learned to respect the Scot’s expertise when it came to practical development of the alien tech. In fact, it had been McPherson who solved the electromagnet trick of opening the power modules, so despite his impatience to begin the experiment, Heinbaum explained, “The antenna acts as the initial receiver of the kinetic energy from the space surrounding it. The electromagnets cause the coil to draw energy through the antenna, funneling it into the coil where the helix design configuration concentrates it into usable power.”

Pointing to the single, silvery porcelain wire emerging from the center of the small coil and connecting to the black crystal, Heinbaum said, “Once the kinetic power is concentrated by the special double helix configuration of the coil, it flows out along this wire to the emitter crystal.”

Frowning at the black crystal which was aimed at the house-sized boulder, McPherson asked, “What do you expect is going to happen when you power up the electromagnets?”

Heinbaum hesitated for a moment. Rubbing his chin, he said, “Based on my calculations, the size of the battery powering the electromagnets is relatively unimportant. The battery simply has to be powerful enough to energize the electromagnets which in turn enable the coil to absorb and concentrate the kinetic energy funneled from the antenna. The length of the receptor antenna is important. The longer the receptor antenna, the more surface area is available to absorb surrounding kinetic power. I can calculate how many yotowatts of kinetic power are inherent in the spin and orbital velocities of the mass of the Earth, but I can’t tell you without experimentation how large an antenna is necessary to funnel some portion of the kinetic power into the coil.”

Nodding his head in understanding, McPherson looked at Walter and warned, “Keep your fingers on the switch. You may have to cut the power fast.”

“Will do.”

“All right,” Heinbaum said. “Let’s get this experiment started. Activate!”

Walter pressed the bayonet switch home.

Instantly, a white-hot lightning bolt, 12 inches in diameter, spewed from the black crystal and obliterated one-half of the two story boulder. Perhaps obliterated isn’t an adequate description of what happened. One-half of the solid rock boulder disappeared in an explosive flash of incandescence so bright the men were flash-blinded. The disappearance of the rock was so complete not even dust remained in the air where the rock had been. The 12 inch thick beam of white light was filled with sparkles that winked on and off and flowed in dazzling swirls. The beam of light blazed toward the mountain range a mile away. A penetrating low hum could be heard from the light beam as it flashed across the desert.

Walter frantically opened the bayonet switch to turn off the electromagnets, and the light beam cut off along with the low hum. The three men were stunned, their mouths hanging open in disbelief. None of them had expected such a monstrous release of raw power. McPherson walked to the spot where the massive boulder had been and waved his arm in the empty space as if he thought the boulder might still be there.

Walking back, McPherson said, “There’s not even a pile of dust where the rock disappeared. It’s all gone. Just gone.”

Narrowing his eyes at the apparatus, McPherson glanced at Cunningham and asked, “Do you happen to have a pair of wire cutters in your tool kit?”

Walter rummaged around and tossed his wire cutters to McPherson. Grasping the top of the antenna, McPherson cut it off near its base leaving only a half inch where it connected into the copper block. Heinbaum started to protest, but seeing the look in McPherson’s eyes, he decided not to say anything.

McPherson handed the cutters back and re-aligned the apparatus so the emitter crystal was aimed at the center of the remaining part of the massive boulder. Motioning the Doctor and Cunningham to move behind him, McPherson grabbed the bayonet switch and pushed it on again, keeping his fingers positioned so he could flip it off if necessary.

This time, a 2-inch wide stream of the swirling white light filled with sparkles blazed from the black emitter crystal and bored a hole the same width through the huge rock. Rotating the wheeled cart, McPherson cut a line, 2 inches wide and several feet long in the solid rock. He then opened the switch, cutting off the magnets.

After a moment of silence, McPherson turned to Heinbaum and said with a big grin, “Heiny, I think I love you.

With those words, McPherson wrapped his arms around the scientist, picked him up and kissed him full on the mouth. Heinbaum was so startled, he didn’t say one word.

They learned the next day a 12-inch diameter hole had been drilled into the solid granite of the mountain range one mile beyond the obliterated boulder. The hole had bored 1,700 feet into the mountain before Walter had shut off the power to the magnets.

Further testing revealed it was the length of the receptor antenna that controlled the strength and width of the power beam. Any battery with a charge sufficient to power an electromagnet could be used to activate the helix coil.

The uncommon collaboration between Heinbaum and McPherson had led to the discovery of an unlimited source of power. They didn’t need the fusion reactor of the Chrysallaman saucer any longer.