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“If we stop looking at the creation of star systems and more at what happens when we control it, then we might be onto something,” he said, his eyes still on his notebook.
Grace stopped in her watch over the coffee shop and looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean, control it?”
He looked up from his notebook with too-bright eyes. “I mean, if I took the lenses developed for RED and modded them to not observe but contain, then we could have a stable environment to observe pulsar waves. I’d make them fit together, like a mirrored cage that would contain the black hole. Then, whenever we need energy, we just open it up and take what we need.”
“But that-” She shook her head as she turned over his words. What he proposed was part of a growing trend in astrophysics. She’d attended more than one talk with Lou. Harnessing energy was next on Lou’s list of items to explore, once she had satisfied her research on pulsar waves. The woman would support Anton’s plan. Undoubtedly it was all a part of her supervillain metamorphosis, and Grace didn’t want to go there. Yes, what Anton proposed was doable, and growing ever more so by the day in the science world, but there was a darker side to it all.
You didn’t just pull energy from a black hole using the method Anton described—youfocusedthe energy. Most of the research she’d heard concentrated on focusing said energy right into a bomb capable of destruction. She didn’t like this. Didn’t like it one little damn bit.
She did her best to not slap Anton’s journal away from him. Upon pain of death she had to keep this far away from Lou and her big science brain. Lou had finally found her footing in the science community. She was respected for her work on gravity wave sources, and Grace aimed to keep it that way, which meant Anton and his talk of harnessing a black hole needed to be put on ice. She stared back at him. This was going to take fortitude. This was what she’d been training for, while managing the labs and her science horde. A true test of her science-wrangling skills.
“Anton, that isn’t safe,” she began gently.
He frowned but kept scribbling on the page. “It would be, if I designed it.”
She rubbed her hands together and tried to choose her next words with care. Glancing toward the barista, who stacked her coffee trays with a deft hand, Grace aimed for nonchalant when she said, “Do you have time for something like that? I mean, with regrouping from RED?”
“This is the ultimate regroup. This is bigger than RED, Grace... this is next-level stuff, and I don’t know why I didn’t think about doing this before. I mean, Lou and I joked, but I just realized that I was using the lenses all wrong. She’s going to love this.”
Grace’s heart rate spiked at him mentioning Lou. Shit. Shit.Shiiiiit. “Love that you’re talking about controlling a black hole? Oh, I have no doubt. But don’t you think making sure RED makes it to the public in its original form is the best play? Not…not this?”
Containing a black hole meant unlimited energy, but it also brought risks in terms of who controlled it and who didn’t. Grace didn’t trust the people at the top to not abuse the power of a black hole. She repressed a shudder, thinking of the power something like that would give people who already wanted for nothing. Anton, it appeared, had a different mindset.
Where she saw risk, he saw opportunity.
“This is bigger than RED. It would mean unlimited energy. We could just take what we need, when we need it. What’s not to love about that?” He turned his earnest gaze on her and she felt her resolve crack. Just because she didn’t trust the people with control over a black hole didn’t mean she didn’t trust Anton.
“I could give it away,” he said, making her look back at him in surprise. “We’re talking free energy. It could warm countless homes and power cities, Gracie. Think about it. All for free, and it’s clean energy.”
“You would give it away?” she asked, and the bright smile he gave her thawed and melted away her reservations. If he didn’t seek to use it for anything but giving to others? Then it would be safe, wouldn’t it?
“Of course I would. For what other reason would I be talking about this?” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to let Lou blow anything up. I promise.”
“Are you sure?” She asked him even as she knew he would follow through on what he was saying. She should have known Anton wouldn’t keep it for himself. That wasn’t the man she was falling head over heels for.
“Even I know better than to do that,” he replied, looking back down at his notebook again. “I did clean the labs after her last science escapade. Don’t worry. You and I are on the same page here.”
She laughed and caught one of his hands in hers. “That makes me happy. I was-”
“You were worried. I know. I get it,” he said and raised her hand to his to press a kiss to her knuckles. “You can trust me not to let this go south. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course,” she answered without hesitation. She blew out a sigh and then squeezed his fingers. “What do you need to make this happen?”
He rubbed a hand across his jaw. “My research on the workings of star formation and black holes has been focused on making sure others can see it. I need more data to really know what I’m getting myself into. I won’t be able to design the lenses if I don’t get more.”
She perked up. “You need data? I have plenty of data.”
“You’d give that to me?” he asked, eyes widening in surprise.
“We’ve got oodles of readings, if that’s what you’re after. Tons. So much that we’re running a clearance sale. Here.” She reached into her bag and rooted around until her fingers closed around the familiar edges of her tablet. “Take this and gimme your phone.”
“For what?”
“Just gimme.” She made grabby hands for the phone until he dropped it into them. She tapped out a quick note and then handed it back to him. “You’re welcome,” she said with a wink.
“Cocobeanju1ce?” he questioned, looking down at his phone in confusion. “What is this?”
“My password to unlock the data files on there. Username GMunoz.” Grace hopped up from the table when she saw that the coffees had reached the appropriate stack level. “Now, come on and help me get these to the labs before the science horde goes off the rails.”
