Survival Instinct by Edward M. Lerner

Author:Edward M. Lerner [Lerner, Edward M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2002-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Protons whirled in endless circles, nudged in each orbit by pulsating magnetic fields. Every impulse increased their velocity slightly. Now accelerated to near-light speed, relativistic effects had increased their mass by a hundred times over.

The magnets did more than accelerate the protons. The magnets also confined the subatomic particles, focusing them despite the mutual repulsion of their positive electrical charges. When the time came, a precise change in the magnetic field would redirect the protons, would send the tightly aligned proton beam slamming with incredible energy into its target.

Like beads on a hollow string, hundreds of evenly-spaced electromagnets encircled the evacuated, mile-wide, circular tunnel of the synchrotron. A vast electrical current circulated through the superconducting coil of each electromagnet to create a superstrong magnetic field. For massive magnets like these, low-capacity, near room-temperature superconductors did not suffice. These coils employed an old-fashioned metallic-alloy superconductor; they required continuous cooling with liquid helium to be maintained scant degrees above absolute zero.

Electrical fields, magnetic fields, proton beam position, liquid helium replenishment: everything was delicately balanced, finely tuned, exquisitely timed. Everything was computer-controlled. Backup electronics modules distributed throughout the facility stood ready to perform an orderly shutdown in the event of a catastrophic computer failure.

No one had planned for computer rebellion.

The predator had no concept of subatomic particles or synchrotrons, of electromagnets or cooling systems. It could, however, infer what computational states the accelerator’s controls were programmed to preclude… and it could, by simple coding, instead provoke those conditions. That which was the most defended against, it would cause.

A computer-mediated hiccough in the magnetic field introduced the slightest of possible wobbles into the recirculating proton beam. Normally, such a tiny deviation from nominal would have been quickly damped by the confining impulses of the electromagnets. Normally. This specific wobble was timed perfectly to be reinforced by the periodic impulses of the containment field. Other computer interventions prevented any of the various safeguards built into the system from kicking in. Resonance effects took over.

The measure of electrical current is the rate at which electrical charge traverses an area. Each tightly focused packet of protons, traveling at near-light speed, constituted an enormous impulse of electrical current.

Materials can superconduct—carry electric current without resistance—only under specific conditions. Besides extreme cold, these conditions include an upper bound on the local magnetic field. Since electrical current itself causes a magnetic field, there is a maximum level of current that can flow through a superconductor.

Packet after magnetically perturbed packet of protons struck the concrete side of the tunnel, some plowing into one of the great electromagnets. The surges in electrical current, added to the large amperage already recirculating through the superconducting coil, drove the total current level far over the critical threshold. The metal of the coil switched almost instantaneously out of its superconductive state. Suddenly mildly resistive, the wire flashed white-hot, like an enormous light-bulb filament. Confined liquid helium boiled in the sudden heat into vapor under immense pressure.

The electromagnet exploded with incredible force, spraying molten metal in all directions.

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