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Back The Desert of Glass
Chapters (84)
  1. BY MICHAEL C. GRUMLEY
  2. Prologue
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. 63
  66. 64
  67. 65
  68. 66
  69. 67
  70. 68
  71. 69
  72. 70
  73. 71
  74. 72
  75. 73
  76. 74
  77. 75
  78. 76
  79. 77
  80. 78
  81. EPILOGUE
  82. II
  83. III
  84. IV

“What?  Oh, yeah.  Someone at the back of the plane fell down and had trouble breathing.  They were fine after one of the attendants found their medication.”

Angela stared at him as he sat.  “Really?”

He nodded.  “A little excitement, but everything’s fine.”

She turned to a slightly bewildered Townsend and then back to Rickards.  “Why were you back there?”

Joe smiled and held up a fist filled with tiny bags of pretzels.

“You’re kidding.”

“What?”

“You stole those while someone was having a heart attack?”

“Not a heart attack,” he corrected.  “Fell down.”

***

Angela and Townsend were still staring at Joe as he ate his pretzels, silently shaking their heads when he offered them some.

“Did you sleep?”

He shook his head.  “Unfortunately, not.”

“You’ve just been sitting here the whole time?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He chewed and swallowed, then looked over while opening another miniature bag.  “And thinking about this desert of glass thing.”

Angela blinked and followed his gaze to Townsend.

“Ready to give us the full story, Professor?  You conked out pretty quickly.”

The older Townsend reached beneath his glasses and wiped at one of his eyes.  “Uh, sure.”  He paused a moment, gathering his thoughts.  “But to explain this, I’m afraid we need to delve back into quantum mechanics a bit more.”

Rickards smirked.  “Maybe I’ll get some sleep after all.”

***

“What you have to understand is that the fundamentals of the world we live in rest entirely upon a smaller world that truly makes no sense.”

“We remember,” said Angela, who glanced back at Joe’s loud chewing.

“Niels Bohr once stated, ‘Anyone who hasn’t been shocked by quantum theory, hasn’t understood it.’  Because it truly was Einstein’s nightmare.”

“Einstein’s nightmare?”

“Everyone’s nightmare, really,” corrected Townsend.  “To this very day.”

“Not a single person has figured it out?”

The older man grinned almost condescendingly.  “Figured it out?  My dear, no one even understands it.  Quantum mechanics is so strange that most of it was completely ignored for much of the twentieth century.”

“Ignored?  By who?”

“Everyone.”

“Why was it ignored?” asked Rickards.  “I thought you scientist guys lived for this kind of stuff.”

“We do,” Townsend replied. “Normally.  But figuring out the quantum world is not like solving any old puzzle.  It would be more akin to solving the puzzle.  Of everything.”

“It’s that big?”