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Back The Desert of Glass Save as PDF
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

“That’s right.  In ways that should be, for all practical purposes, impossible, but aren’t.”

“And this has to do with the spire in Bolivia?”

“I believe so,” said Townsend.  “And the desert glass in Egypt.”

They continued listening.

“You want to hear it?” he asked, surprised.

“Why not?” answered Rickards.  “We have another two hours.”

Townsend nodded and adjusted himself in his seat.  “Let me begin by saying I believe the spire is real.”

“Yeah, so do we.”

“No, what I mean is I think I know why it’s real.  Maybe not how, but why.”

“Because of quantum mechanics?”

“More or less.  And entanglement.”  He stopped to think before taking a deep breath and holding both hands up in front of him.  “Hear me out on this.”

38

38

“What I’m about to explain to you is going to sound very strange.  Even fantastical.  But the longer I talk, the more sense it’s going to make.  Because these are all provable facts.  You can look them up.”

“Let us have it.”

Again, Townsend nodded, gazing at them through his glasses.  “The quantum world is truly and utterly bizarre,” he stated.  “That is a fact.  Particles like electrons make up most of the world we see around us.  Fact.  And electrons, like other particles, are completely unpredictable in their quantum state.”

He suddenly pointed to Angela, who grinned and said, “If you say so.”  When Townsend frowned, she corrected herself.  “Sorry… Fact!”

“Quantum entanglement is when these particles are created together, interact with each other or exist in proximity such that their quantum states become linked and indistinguishable from one another.  Another fact.”

“When you say proximity, how far are we talking about?”

“We don’t know,” answered Townsend.  “But we know that particles can be bound together in different ways, either when created or sometime afterward.  In fact, the greatest distance these entanglement connections have been demonstrated to date is over eleven miles.  But we’re sure they can and do exist over much longer distances.  Nevertheless, electron entanglement is a fact.  However, the big question here is just how many or how often electrons, the energy particles of the universe, become entangled?”

Angela shrugged.  “How often?”

“It’s not a riddle,” he said.  “No one knows.  But it may be a lot.  It may even be a common occurrence among particles.  And if electrons are a building block of nearly everything, do those entangled connections continue to exist within larger objects?”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“What I’m saying is that we are now finding entanglements everywhere we look.”  He held up the magazine again.  “There are probably millions of electrons in this single magazine.  What does that mean for the magazine if a large portion of the electrons within it are currently entangled?”

“Oh,” breathed Angela.  “I see.”