Tuesday, 14 April 2009

• And Take a New Angle

  (Chapter Three of The Great Xanga Round Story. The previous chapter is here. The table of contents is here.)

  The darkness had lasted a long time.  The darkness and that high, thin sound, which had just stopped.  Once, he had calculated the frequency.  He had forgotten it.  It didn’t matter.  Nothing mattered now.  There was nothing before the darkness. 

  This was odd.  Something different – gray instead of black.  A sudden shaft of light pierced and blinded him before sunglasses were slid over his face to help with the glare.  Men clad in black jostled him to his feet.  Uh, they have guns, he thought shakily.  A walk so brisk the men almost carried him brought him to an elliptical room in which were two men in business suits.  “Now,” said the one, “who are you?”

  Such a puzzling question.  Why would he be anything before the darkness?  “I… I don’t know,” he mumbled.

  “Are you quite sure?  It’s vitally important information.”

  “I’m sure.  Very sure…” he trailed off as the angle the man’s tie made with his coat caught his eye.  A forty-two degree angle.  There was something about forty-two degree angles… his theory!  Only a few more tweaks were needed, and he would have a practical application of Plandyve’s theory of angle relativity – an application that would allow him to reach the speed of light almost instantly while bypassing all the implications of general relativity.  And only light energy was required.  All he needed was a few mirrors and a few more calculations! 

  “…though you cannot tell us your name, we would like your help on a little theoretical business we’re working on,” the man with the tie was saying.

  “I am Gregory Merkin.  I can’t think on theoretical work with men with guns all over the place.  Can they go?

  “Take him.”

  “This doesn’t seem to be working as well with him as with the others,” the tieless man commented as Merkin’s guard removed him from the room.   “Why can’t we just force him to finish his calculations now and use them ourselves?”

  “Because as weak as he looks, our psychologists see indications that Merkin has a strong personal moral code, and as long as he remembers his identity, he will not be under our control.  A man who can move and maneuver at the speed of light who is not under our control could be very dangerous to our plans, very dangerous indeed.”

  Gregory Merkin remembered as he was plunged once more into the darkness.  “You need to forget who you are.” They had tried four times now, and not succeeded yet.  It was his angles that had saved him, bringing back his memory.  Well, he could feel angles as well as see them, couldn’t he?  Gregory began to trace the right angle between the wall and the floor.  No, it was only eighty-nine degrees.  Next time, he would pretend he didn’t remember, pretend to cooperate.  If he could only get as far as a phone and call the police… but they would think he had killed the girl in the deli.  He was on his own.  And that was a very frightening thought.  When this is over, I am going to apply for the Boston job and never enter a small town again.  Quiet life, indeed!

  The high-pitched sound slipped again into Gregory’s cell and grew to a thought-shattering whine.  He knew it was meant to disrupt his coherency.  1760 Hz.  This time, I will remember.

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