It was a sunny day in New york. The white paved streets snaked through the city, light
traffic humming along, heading for various destinations. From an Earthquake two
hundred years ago, historical buildings such as the Statue of Liberty were gone. In its
place was a large oblong building. The parking lot outside it was new black pavement, the
lines fresh, bold. There was a fence around the edge of the island, save for a gate at the
north side, where a bridge extended to the mainland. The fence was twelve feet tall and
was topped by shimmering barbed wire. It was the United States thermological center and
was in the business and development sector of the city, which was the most
technologically advanced sector. The farther away you went from the development sector,
the dirtier everything became. Finally once you got into the center of the city, the area
looked like it had undergone a bomb experiment. There were burned out buildings and
the streets were pockmarked and cars were rusting all along the streets. This part of the
city was for the poorer citizens. Those who earned less than fifteen thousand dollars a
year. The people who earned more than that lived in the area directly around the business
and development center. They were the people who earned from fifty thousand dollars to
the millions. These people were the ones who worked in the development centers. They
worked in restaurants, office buildings, medical research centers. science centers,
museums, schools, and government buildings.
The difference between rich and poor was so great that most of the poor couldn’t
even afford to pay their electric bills. The rich however would hold evening parties
almost every day. They spent thousands of dollars on electric every few weeks and never
seemed to run out of money.
This story starts in the house of a wealthy young scientist who has recently
graduated from MIT who has hooked a job at the United states Thermological Research
center. He had come from old money and had received this important job only as a gift
from his parents who were both politicians. He was a mediocre scientist and his superiors
didn’t like having him around the equipment, but his parents had fought for his placement
and he had received it. Now, he was in the heat studies wing of the center and was being
assigned the most inane order he’d ever been given.
To handle the worlds increased energy needs, some moron had suggested drilling
to the center of the planet. This would give humanity unlimited resources. The scientific
community had thought that this was a grand idea and so had assigned a team of scientist,
including our you graduate, to devise a way to drill the long and very hot distance to the
core. Our scientist, Korey Cochran, was a thermo biologist, a scientist who studies how
living things react to heat. It was a relatively new study area, due to the recent probe
missions to Venus and Mercury. The probes to Mercury had never survived, melting into
a gas as it was nearing Mercury’s atmosphere, but not before it recorded some interesting
facts. One such fact was that there were smallish protozoans living on the surface. These
protozoans were basic organisms, but had revealed that certain organisms could
withstand even the hottest temperatures.
Korey had been assigned to this ludicrous experiment to see if there were such
protozoans in Earth’s core. Since it was highly improbable that Korey would find anything,
the other scientists felt that this was a perfect opportunity for Kory to get his feet wet. They
could not have been more wrong.
<><><><><>
It was early in the morning, and Korey had just awakened, eager to get ready to go
to the lab. The drillers were going to break through later today and he was expected to be
there at the lab when they did it. He was surprised that the drillers had survived the trip
down in the first place.
A special machine had been made to drill down to the core while keeping the
drillers alive and hauling the drilled rock up tot he surface at the same time. The drilling
platform was connected to the surface by a pipe, circulating liquid nitrogen which cooled
both the drill head and the people inside. The platform was shaped like a giant
Earthworm. It was made of a specialized new material which was flexible yet could
withstand the enormous pressures that were constantly present under Earth’s surface. At
the front of the “worm”, there was a massive drill head, which churned through the rock
and left it red hot after its passage. The inner walls of the drilling platform were cooled by
liquid nitrogen and left the crew in compartments which were a balmy 130 degrees
Fahrenheit. Once the drill broke through to the core, it would disconnect from the rest of the
platform and fall into the core, leaving the platform in place like a plug in a sink. From
there, the scientists would be able to study the core in detail and test the materials to see if
they are conducive to use as fuels.
Korey arrived at the laboratory and found it filled to the other scientists already
assembled. He took a place beside the head scientist and looked at the viewing screen. All
it showed was a spiral of red rock and the rear end of the drill spinning, its sides red hot.
He turned to the Head scientist, a guy named Vito Palmer.
“ How long have you guys been standing here,” Korey asked, seeing that they
were glued to the screen. On scientist graced him with a “ be quiet” wave and mumbled
something about 3 o’clock. Korey sighed and turned back to the screen which was
showing some very interesting sandstone. It was pretty boring and Korey could have slept
in and not missed the breakthrough.
Korey was just about to fall asleep standing up when a young scientist named
Sheri Noble, her voice rising to a earsplitting squeak exclaimed,
“ They’re braking through. Look.” She nudged Korey hard in the ribs and pointed
towards the view screen. The red tinge seemed a little brighter, but it hadn’t changed
screen and letting out little “oohs”, and “ahhs.” Korey was about to scream when the rock
in front of the drill head started to crumble and crack. The drillers applied more power to
the drill and it whirred even faster, it sides an unhealthy red. Korey could imagine the
noise that that drill was making and his teeth gritted involuntarily. The rocks crumbled
and fell away into very bright red light. The scientists stared in amazement and the core
revealed itself. It was a sight worth a trillion dollars. The core itself was hollow, it inner
space being filled up with brilliant balls of fire. The flames formed intricate pattens and
shapes, billowing out, and contracting into a solid looking ball. The flames were moving
swiftly around the core in a definite circular pattern, following the curve of the walls, as
they swept around in a huge cure. The center of the “cavern” was filled with a boiling
bubbling sphere of liquid fire. It convulsed and contracted in a steady beat. All of the
wisps of fire were swirling around that central sphere, spinning into the center and
whipping out again, their flames brighter than ever. A thermometer beside the window in
which the camera was looking out of had burst its top, the liquid mercury splattering the
corner of the widow. It was starting to bubble and hiss like cooking oil.
Someone broke Korey’s concentration by poking him in the ribs. It was Sheri.
“ Come on. We’re going down. Are you coming or what?”
“ Yeah, why do you always have to poke me in the ribs?”
She didn’t answer, but grabbed his hand and hauled him out the door, eager tog
get down to the drill site. For being only 5’4”, Sheri was surprisingly strong and he allowed
himself to be pulled out the door. Finally, He shook her loose.
“ Knock it off already.”
They followed the other scientists down the hall and headed out into the sun of
midsummer. The drill site was located near the city Lake Ontario which had been built in
the drained lake. The drill site itself was as big as a football field. There was a giant super
cooled building which housed the actual tunnel, with smaller buildings and pipes radiating
out from it like some big octopus. The scientists arrived in their helicopter and walked
towards the drill tunnel, with all manner of crates and boxes. the inside of the central
building was hot,the air hazy and choking. There was an elevator which had been bolted
onto he side of the hole, making it possible to travel from the top to the bottom. the
scientists entered and rode the elevator all he way to the drill. It got exceptionally hotter
as the scientists went down, and after what seemed an eternity, they arrived at the bottom,
the huge hulk of the drilling platform resting at the opening. a hatch opened as the
scientists got out of the elevator and a big burly man motioned them over. They entered
the main part of the drilling platform and moved down its length. Korey looked at the
dirty gritty metal around him and wiped a hand across his forehead. It was really hot here
and he was surprised that the drillers didn’t get dehydrated. They finally arrived at the front
view ports and crowded around. It was a sight that Korey would never forget. The wisps
of flame weer still swirling around the central sphere. Now however, a few had drifted over
tot he general area of the drill pug and billowed and contracted around it, Korey looked at
the flames and he seemed to get the impression that they were studying him as much as he
was studying them.
“ This is amazing Sheri said as one of the flicks of fire billowed against the
window, its ends curling back, then it flitted away, heading into the center.
One flame in particular; caught Korey’s eye. It was billowing near the left corner
of the window. It was dimming as he watched, then another joined it. As soon as the other
flame joined it, the first flitted away for the enter, where it brightened itself. The second
took up a post in the exact same place as the fist. There it billowed, not moving and
waiting it seemed.
A thought was raising itself in Korey’s mind. It seemed as if the wisps of fire were
sentient, alive. They seemed to be moving in a definite pattern and when one left a
position around the hole, another moved to take its place.
“ I’m picking up air in there,” another biologist said. “It’s super hot, but
breathable.”
“ Hey guys,” Korey said, “It looks as if these things are alive.”
Somebody snorted, but no one else said anything.
“ I’m serious. They’re moving in complex patterns and it looks almost as if
they’re guarding the drilling platform.”
“ Okay Korey, now you’ve lost it. They’re a direct effect of the gasses and the
extreme heat. There is nothing living about them.” That was Sheri, who happened to be a
chemist.
“ No, look. When one leaves the windows, another one takes its [place. Every time
one leaves. Those patterns they’re making aren’t a effect of the gasses, I don’t care what
you say. They’re alive.”
“ OK, let’s say that they are alive. Why is there air down here. The drill tube seals
it of so that there is no contamination. Why is there air?”
“ Well, I could take a guess, maybe it’s the volcanos and stuff. They’re connected
to the core, right. So that might explain why there is air down here.”
“ It seems pretty far fetched, but what ever.”
<><><><><>
It was almost a month later, and Korey had been at home for a week, letting some other
thermo biologist study the candles. He was sitting over a bowl of cheerios on morning
when he hit upon a very ludicrous, but possible idea. It sent him racing out the door, his
cheerios softening in the bowl. He ran into he sun and didn’t stop running, not even for a
taxi. He made it to the front gate of the Thermological research center and flashed his ID
at a guard as he raced around the barricade. He burst into the laboratory where the
scientists had watched the breakthrough and ran up to Sheri who had just arrived, her
purse still in her hands.
“ Sheri,” Korey said, totally out of breath, “ i might be able to catch one of those
things.”
“ What?” She looked at him as if he’d just lost his mind, but he repeated his idea
and waited eagerly for her reply.
“ What have you been drinking?”
She was totally missing his point and Korey turned and ran to Benny, another
chemist, who was crazy enough to believe him. There, he repeated hi idea and Benny sat
for a moment, then a wide mischievous grin spread across his face.
“ Wow, it might work. Where’s Johnny?”
Johnny, the old grouchy microbiologist who happened to be the head guy on this
escapade, was sitting in front of a computer looking at a bunch of figures.
“ Johnny, Korey has come up with a brilliant idea.”
Johnathan Calderan glanced at him, then turned back to the computer screen.
Benny pushed the power button and the screen flicked off.
Johnny turned on Benny, “ What do you want?”
“ Korey has come up with a brilliant idea.”
“ What?”
“ We might be able to catch one of these torch thing.”
Johnny burst into guffawing laughter which quickly digressed into into a fit of
coughing.
Once he had sufficiently recovered, Korey said, “ It might be possible, seriously.”
Sheri had by that time drifted over and after an initial snicker, she said, “ How are
you going to go around catching one.”
Korey then proceeded to explain his plan and after a long while, he got everyone
to agree with him and he had permission from Johnny to use whatever means he felt
necessary to result int he capture of one of the fire beings.
<><><><><>
It was several months before Korey’s plan was ready to be tested. Over that time,
Korey’s idea was getting some national attention. since the breakthrough, reporters had
been allowed down to the drilling platform and much of the nation and in fact much of the
world was watching the events unfold. Many of the more powerful and wealthy nations
including China, Japan, and Israel had begun there own digging, hoping to capitalize on the
world’s greatest recourse.
Already, Alex Dane, the president, was arguing with both Japan and China over
who owned the core. The argument was heated and there was the possibility of war.
It was late in October when Korey’s idea was finally lowered into the core.
His idea was a giant horseshoe shaped sack made of poly thermoplast, a new heat
resistant webbing, held together by ribbing. Korey had it layered, making a sandwich of
the material. between the layers, he had injected liquid helium and had put a sensitive
trigger in the back of the sack. He had attached a strobe light to the back, right above the
trigger.v the strobe light would attract the creatures, and the sudden change in temperature
would trip the trigger and the ends of the horseshoe would snap shut, trapping one of the
creatures inside.
As of the last few months, Korey had been subject to countless interviews and TV
appearances. He was getting phone calls in all hours of the night and say, being asked
for interview and finally, he’d begun turning down the requests.
<><><><><>
I was late on the morning of October 28 when Korey arrived at the core, his
unsightly contraption hanging in a specially constructed airlock. He walked up to the
driller who was in control of the giant winch which held Korey’s trap.
“ That trap will only last a few seconds. I’m counting on one of those things
getting into the trap immediately, so once it’s in, pull the trap up quickly.”
“ OK, um... How do you know that one of these things will come into the trap?”
“ I’ve been studying these things or a while and I think they’ll come to to the
light.”
Withing an hour, Korey and the rest of the scientists were crowded around the
front view ports, their eyes following the “living torches”.
They heard the airlock open and Korey’s horseshoe dropped into the core, its outer
layer already beginning to melt, globs of poly thermoplast falling into the boiling fire in
the center.
One of the torches swirled, its edges curling like burning paper.
It moved swiftly into the horseshoe and billowed around the spotlight. Suddenly,
the open end of the trap contracted and the ends touched, sealing themselves.
“ Now!” Korey yelled, the instant the trap sealed shut.
The trap was yanked away from the core, pieces of it falling away. It was pulled
into the airlock and the outer doors closed, trapping the creature inside. Korey turned and
headed for one of the side windows which looked in on the airlock.
the creature had spread out thin, all of its edges touching the walls. It looked like a
haze, pulsing at him.
“Korey, look!” Sheri yelled to him. she was still at the front windows.
He returned to the front windows and peered through, just as one of the pulsing
orbs of fire, slammed into the window. He jumped back, startled, as another hit the
window, its center dispersing.
“ Alright everyone,” Johnny said sternly, “ lets get this one up to the lab. Lets go
people.”
<><><><><>
The trip up tot he surface was slow and Korey was eager to get back to the lab.
Finally, they arrived and watched as the half melted thermoplast sack was lowered into a
heat resistant chamber. They watched as the creature melted it way out of the sack and
formed a semisolid sphere in the center of the room. Johnny went immediately to work,
his computer humming as he opened up files and prepared to make a series of tests.
Jorey stood in front of the window, watching the creature. it was pulsing furiously
now. It was also dimming. The change was slow, but Korey noticed it.
“ Hey guys, it’s dimming.”
Sheri and Benny rushed over, but the other were crowded around Johnny. Korey
looked back in and the creature had turned to a dull orange color and its pulse had
slowed and finally stopped.
The creature’s death was slow, it form dimming, until it was nothing more than a
brown haze in the center of the room. Finally, it went out like a whetted match, a little
smoke blowing out form it. The room was quiet for a few seconds, then Johnny cursed
and slammed off the screen on his monitor.
All of a sudden, the ground shook, the floor shifting beneath their feet, the glasses
and beakers falling off the shelves, shattering on the floor. A load roar filled their ears and
Korey and Sheri ran out of the room, following the sound. They arrived at the front door,
and looked out onto smoke and fire raging through the city. Sirens had begun blaring, but
were cut off by the load roar. The ground beneath their feet shifted so much that Korey
had to grab a railing to keep from losing his balance. The sky had darkened with smoke
and Korey heard Johnny run up behind him.
“ Lets go. We have to check on the dig site.”
Their helicopter lifted of and Korey looked down into the city, fire and liquid
magma spouting out of long cracks in the streets. In the city, it was pandemonium.
Several buildings had collapsed and several re had caught fire, fire pouring out of the
windows. They thudded overhead and headed West, towards the dig site. What thy saw
when they arrived was enough to make Korey blood run cold.
The hole where the drill was had become a funnel for spurting flame. the fire and
lave spouting hundreds of feet in the air.there were rivers of magma running away from
the site, torching grass and trees as it flowed over the ground. The ground was still
shaking and trees were beginning to topple, their leaves catching fire and sending acrid
smoke into the air. They turned and raced away, not wanting to endanger themselves. It was
at that point when a towering spout of flame flew into the air, enveloping the helicopter
if fire and boiling liquid. The helicopter exploded, chunks of it falling with the lava.
Gender:
Points: 8231
Reviews: 214