A Heroic Beginning
Chapter 2
“Hey, Tracy.”
The girl smiled. With flaxen hair that cascaded down past her shoulders, Tracy’s hair was always immaculate, never a strand out of place. It was in sharp contrast to Sam’s medium brown hair, which was almost never neatly combed. Her green eyes shone like emeralds; again, quite the contrast to Sam’s plain brown eyes. She was absolutely enchanting, and not just to Sam. Tracy McCormack was one of the most popular and sought after girls at BrookdaleHigh. Not bad for a sophomore. It didn’t hurt that she was best friends with Cordelia Leighton, the heir-apparent to the title of Queen B.
“I know we don’t really know each other, but I’d like to change that. Would you like to grab some smoothies after school?”
Tracy nodded.
“So see you at 3:30 then?”
“Stop talking to yourself. It’s weird.”
Sam turned to see Will Hudson staring at him with a look of mild disgust.
“I’m practicing.”
“You’re practicing being weird, Sam. I’m your best friend and even I’m looking at you funny. What do you think everybody else would think if they saw you standing alone talking to yourself? Don’t bother answering because I’ll tell you. They’d think you’re a fucking loon!”
“Hudson! Language!”
“Sorry Mr. Gates.”
Mr. Gates’ Intro to Physics class was milling about, spread all over the entrance to the large building they were about to tour. Sam looked across the entranceway at Tracy, who was 20 feet away. She was chatting and giggling with the rest of the “in” crowd. Beside her was Cordelia, her boyfriend Andy (Tracy’s twin brother), Ashley Brewster and Brittany Wilson, the other two Queen-Bs-in-training. Sam had had a crush on Tracy McCormack since the first grade. Yet, he never mustered the courage to tell her how he felt or even tell her much of anything beyond “hi.” He did manage a, “Looks like it’s gonna rain” once. That insightful observation got a smile and a nod. It was definitely the coolest moment of eighth grade for Sam. Will had put up with these solo role-play sessions for years and he never spared giving Sam grief about it.
The students of Brookdale High School were set to begin their tour of the McBride Institute of Advanced Science. The students were allowed to tour the Institute based on some honor that the teachers often bragged about and the students ignored. It especially was an honor for the physics students because, if the press was to be believed, and Sam rarely believed the press, a new breakthrough in particle physics had just occurred.
None of this really fascinated Sam. He was a solid but unspectacular physics student and had no passion for the subject.
Sam tried his best to tune out Will’s criticism of his attempts at communicating with Tracy. He had heard it all before and it didn’t make much of a difference in his behavior. He had tried to fight his fear of speaking to Tracy for several years, to no avail. As things stood, he just hoped to one day outgrow his nervousness.
Will continued to harangue him, but a man and a woman standing just outside the Institute entrance grabbed Sam’s attention. The man had an I.D. badge hanging around his neck and was dressed in coveralls. Sam guessed he was some sort of technician, but he couldn’t be certain. The woman had her arms around the man’s waist and he was playfully trying to get out of her embrace. She finally let go when he kissed her. Sam quickly turned away, not wanting to intrude on their private moment.
Sam wondered what it felt like to have something like that, a connection between two people that was, in the words of Huey Lewis, “Tougher than diamonds and rich like cream.” He had no idea if he could have that connection with Tracy. He knew it would take him speaking more than four or five words to her to find out.
The group of students made their way inside looking around at a building that appeared as if torn out of some sci-fi magazine from the 1950s. Their guide told them about the history of the Institute. Apparently, Dr. McBride was a pioneer in the field of experimental particle physics. The Institute was his life’s work and there he and the teams he assembled had accomplished many amazing things. Sam and the rest of his class had no idea what these amazing things were and it would probably take a graduate degree in physics for them to understand it if the tour guide had bothered to tell them. Sam had difficulty paying attention to the guide as Will kept on him about his lack of courage when talking to Tracy.
“Look. I get it. You’re nervous. I mean, you’re you and Tracy is…well…let’s be honest, too good for you.”
“Thanks, Will. You really know how to boost a guy’s spirits.”
“Hey, you know I love you buddy, but I’m only stating the obvious. You’re not good enough for her. That simple fact shouldn’t discourage you from at least asking her out. I mean, she might say yes. Anything is possible.”
“Like the Lake City Bruins winning the World Series?”
“Okay, not everything, but you’re not the Bruins and this isn’t October.”
“Actually, it is October.”
“It’s a metaphor, smartass. Look, you can keep pining away about Tracy in your own creepy, stalkerish sort of way or you know you can grow a pair and ask her out. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“She says no. I get humiliated and my dreams are crushed along with any remaining dignity and self-respect that I once possessed.”
“Good points all, but first, what self-respect?”
“You’re right, I do hang out with you.”
“Ha ha ha. People with real self-respect actually interact with girls. I’ve asked girls out before. It’s not that hard.”
“That’s what she…”
“Don’t you dare!”
Sam smiled mischievously, “And how many have said yes?”
“That’s not the point. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Sure, she could say no. In fact, she probably will, but at least you know you took your shot.”
“I don’t know, Will.”
“Oh come on, you fucking pussy.”
“HUDSON! LANGUAGE!”
“Sorry, Mr. Gates!”
While Will kept badgering Sam, their tour guide brought the group to the the Exotic Meson Generator, the “pride and joy” of the McBride Institute. Waiting to greet them was none other than the Institute’s founder, Dr. James McBride. Will was about to launch into another spiel until a glare from Mr. Gates silenced him. Both he and Sam listened politely as their tour guide introduced Dr. McBride.
“Thank you, everybody,” McBride said. “I’d like to welcome you all to the McBride Institute. I’m sure you’ve had your ears talked off about the things we do here at the Institute. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give credit to my fellow researchers here. The building might have my name on it, but it’s these people you see all around you who truly make this place special. Now, I promised Mr. Gates that I would show you our golden goose, so to speak, the Exotic Meson Generator.”
McBride then turned his back on the class and led them to a set of stairs. To the left of the stairs was a corridor that led to a metal door.
“Down that corridor and past that metal door is the Generator Room,” McBride said. “We all can’t actually go in to the Generator Room. There’s a lot of sensitive equipment, which means expensive, in there. So we try to keep the number of people in there down to a minimum. However, you can get a good look at the machine in the Observation Hall, which is right up here.”
He then led the class up the stairs and through a set of double doors, which led to a large room with windows on the right side.
As the tour group filed in, they caught the first sight of the machine through the windows. The Exotic Meson Generator was a massive machine, much larger than any of the students could have possibly imagined. A wide assortment of pipes, wires and tubes fed in to the machine. The center of the machine was a transparent horizontal hourglass. Several technicians hovered around the machine, monitoring its status and making sure that it was functioning properly.
“Well here it is,” McBride said. “The Exotic Meson Generator creates different types of exotic particles depending on the inputs. Recently, we’ve made several discoveries that hold a lot of promise. These particles are some of the building blocks of the universe itself. What is most exciting is that we might have found a new particle that can help serve as a new source of energy - we call it Energon.”
McBride was beaming as he discussed his discoveries. As he went on and on, the pace of his speech continued to pick up. He almost squealed with delight when he talked about Energon, but he managed to calm himself.
“Of course, we have a lot of work to do before we confirm it. It’s definitely an exciting time to be in the field.”
McBride’s giddiness was not getting through to the students. They were not indifferent to his talk, but they were overcome with awe. They all gazed at the machine in wonder. Even Will, who usually had some wisecrack about everything, just stared at the machine. Sam was the only exception, not because he wasn’t impressed, but because something else had captured his attention, and it wasn’t Tracy.
Something in the Generator Room didn’t seem right to Sam, like a piece was out of place. It wasn’t something with the machine, as it appeared to be working fine. But something about the workers around it seemed odd. Really, just one of the workers was out of place. The difference was almost imperceptible. All of the workers looked busy and attentive, each one at his or her own station, virtually cut off from the rest. Yet one of the workers was more deliberate in his actions than the others. He navigated the stations, going from one to another in a robotic-like fashion, and always moving very quickly. This behavior was probably normal. Sam had no idea what typical behavior in the Generator Room usually was. But the fact that the worker kept looking down at his wrist, seemingly checking the time every 15 seconds, really seemed odd to Sam. It was certainly possible that he was timing an experiment or some aspect of the machine, but wouldn’t scientists and technicians working on a multi-billion dollar particle generator use something more precise then a wristwatch in which to monitor time? Sam didn’t know, but it still seemed strange. He shook off the odd feeling and returned his attention to McBride.
However, Sam wasn’t the only person to notice something was off. After leaving one of the computer terminals near the machine, the Odd Worker made a beeline right for the exit at the opposite end of the Machine Floor from the Observation Hall. As he made his way to the exit, another worker, left alone in his isolated workstation, noticed the odd worker and intercepted him right before he reached the exit. Sam could barely make out what was going on between the two, but there was some kind of commotion. The Odd Worker kept trying to head out the door, while the other worker blocked his way.
Then, things went bad, very bad. Suddenly and without warning, the Odd Worker drew a small silenced pistol and fired two shots into the man in front of him.