Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson [9]
Arcas watched, filing away images to transmit back to the worldtrees and all the other green priests. The trees were more interested than he was.
"Activate!" said the head technician.
The torpedo device used ancient Klikiss technology to distort, ripple, and then tear a yawning hole in the fabric of space. The maw of the wormhole tunnel was wide enough to engulf the superdense star.
Arcas muttered to the treeling, describing every step of the process—until even he became speechless as the new wormhole literally swallowed the blazing neutron star, like a pebble falling down a drain.
The torpedo generator gave out, its energy exhausted, and the wormhole slammed shut, sealing space-time without leaving a mark in the emptiness that had held the exotic celestial object.
"There. It is done." Arcas looked to the technicians, who began to cheer wildly.
The gauzy remains of the gaseous accretion cloud drifted away like wispy scarves, no longer held in place by chains of gravity.
Like a bomb of unimaginable magnitude, the neutron star hurtled toward Oncier.
7 MARGARET COLICOS
Louis adeptly jostled the other observers so he and Margaret could get a ringside seat for the planetary implosion. Basil Wenceslas stood beside them. "We'll know within moments," he said. "The green priest says the wormhole has opened on the other side. The neutron star is on its way."
Dr. Serizawa, his bald head slick with perspiration, looked from the observation window to the recorders and interviewers. "The receiving end of the wormhole is anchored at the gas giant's core. When the superdense star hits Oncier, it'll be the most titanic burst of energy mankind has ever unleashed." Then he added quickly, gesturing again, "But don't worry, it'll take hours for the shock wave to travel through the layers of the atmosphere. We're far enough from Oncier that we'll suffer no effects."
The incredible mass of the neutron star arrived at the gas giant's metallic core like a cannonball, adding enough mass and energy for ignition. Serizawa saw the readings and cheered. Sunken probe buoys sent pressure, temperature, and photonic readings, displayed as violently jumping patterns on the screens. His technicians waved their hands in triumph. Though Oncier's outer skin remained as calm and placid as before, titanic changes were convulsing through the innermost layers. Basil Wenceslas applauded, and the dignitaries followed suit.
"The neutron star is much tinier, but vastly denser, like a diamond inside a marshmallow. Even now, Oncier's material is falling inward." Serizawa looked at his readings, then at his chronometer. "Within an hour at most, it will achieve the density necessary to begin hydrogen fusion, the energy-transport process used in any normal star."
Margaret squinted at the spherical fingerpainting that was a soon-to-be sun, yet Oncier was so huge that although the neutron star had slammed into the core, she could see no immediate change. Markers and detectors had been deployed at various cloud layers, where they would sense the shockwave of outrushing radiation.
Margaret leaned forward to kiss Louis's weathered cheek. "We did it, old man." The two archaeologists had done their work at the beginning; now they could sit back and watch the end results. Cosmic chaos was even now occurring in the depths.
"So, Doctor, just adding all that weight is enough to start the planet burning?" asked a media rep standing behind her.
Serizawa replied, "Actually, it's mass, not weight. But no matter. You see, the sudden transfer of the neutron star to the planetary interior gives it an immediate negative energy—potential energy, actually. To obey conservation laws, a huge influx of kinetic energy is required, which appears through wormhole thermodynamics as heat. That touches off the reactions to inflate