In front of the facility housing the elevators that dropped over three hundred feet down into the subterranean home of the ATLAS detector insider the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva on the French-Swiss border, a pale man in dark fatigues parked his obsidian low-riding, soft-suspension motorcycle. He pulled a thick Churchill cigar with a Maduro wrapper, a steel butane lighter, and a small strip of cedar from his breast pocket. He lit the cedar strip and then used the flame from the fragrant wood to ignite the tip of his cigar. After a few purposeful puffs, the cigar was burning smoothly and evenly. The pale, bald man approached the security station at the front of the building in a cloud of smoke. In the distance, he could see the tall bulb of the wooden Globe of Science and Innovation.

Rather than approach the security station, the man leaned up against the side of the building and vigorously blew smoke out across the parking lot. He waited, but not for long. Soon, a group of scientists, still tired from a long night of calculations, needing to reach the coffee machine as soon as possible, walked by.

“Good day mates.” The biker said in his cloying voice.

“Good day.” The woman in front scowled at the mangy-looking vagrant.

“Hey, hold on a second. Would you all like to have a smoke with me?” The biker asked.

“No.” The woman said, speaking on behalf of the group. She was very clearly annoyed.

Then, they walked through the cloud. They caught the odor. It had a chemical smell to it. The smoke particles touched nerves in their nostrils. Those nerves sent electric pulses to their brains. Then, the man bounced up off of the corner and stood in their way. He was big, broad-shouldered, and menacing. He blew smoke in their faces.

“Are you sure?” He said slowly.

He looked deep into their eyes. The woman thought that the piercing, ice-blue irises were peering into her soul. Then, she started dreaming. The small group approached the security station.

“Welcome Doctor Knutsen, Doctor Powell, and Doctor Rajan.” The guard said politely.

‘Who are you?” The guard said not-so-politely to the biker leading the pack.

“It’s okay Dominic. He’s our guest.” The woman said politely.

“Whose guest?” The guard asked.

“All of ours.” She said in a trance-like monotone. “He’s our guest and he’s your guest.”

Fragrant smoke began to fill the guard booth.

“Oh,” Dominic said. “Welcome, please come in… sir.”

“Thank you Dominic.” The biker said. “You are too kind.”

• • •

Hunter drove north like a bat out of hell.

“Dear, if we get pulled over, it will actually take us longer to get there.” Tiyana said.

“That’s what this baby is for.” Hunter said, patting his brand new radar detector.

“I don’t trust those things.” Tiyana said warily.

“They promised to reimburse me if I get a ticket. They believe in it that much.” Hunter said.

Tiyana smiled, “You only live once. Punch it.”

Hunter looked skeptical, “Really? From you?”

Tiyana just shook her head, “Really. I’m not a downer you know, just prudent.”

Hunter slammed on the gas and sped ahead.

“So, what is this thing again?” Hunter asked.

“It’s a synchrotron. A big one.” Tiyana replied.

“And what’s that?” Hunter asked.

“It’s a big machine that circulates two particle beams in opposite directions and collides them inside enormous detectors.”

“What do they detect?”

“Particles. Tiny particles that make up atoms and elements. The building blocks of existence.”

“How big are they?”

“The detectors?”

“Yeah.”

“ATLAS is the size of a five-story building. It weighs as much as the Eiffel Tower.”

“Is it named after the Titan who holds the earth?”

“No, I mean not really. It’s an acronym.”

“For what?”

“A Toroidal LHC Apparatus.”

“Sorry I asked. Does the acronym really have another acronym inside it?”

“Yep.”

“Particle physicists...” Hunter muttered.

Tiyana laughed in the obligatory amount, but no more.

“The ring that houses the particle beam is seventeen miles long. It’s about five and a half miles from the ATLAS detector where we’re going to the CMS detector on the other side of the ring. That’s how big it is. And the whole ring is made of superconducting magnets cooled with liquid helium to almost absolute zero. The magnets speed the proton beam up to nearly the speed of light.”

“So, why don’t they call it the Large Proton Collider?” Hunter asked.

“Oh, right, well sometimes they collide heavy ions of lead. Actually, they just recently switched it. It will be running lead today. Ions and protons are both hadrons, so that explains the name.”

“What does Ghaelvord want with it?”

Tiyana looked at Virgil. Virgil coughed loudly and then spoke up, “Ghaelvord reads voraciously. He was a student of the Aldenduenum. I was not.”

“I thought you were some kind of savior when we first met you.” Hunter said.

“You put me on a pedestal. Remember, I’m half-human. To err is human.”

“To forgive, divine.” Tiyana finished the phrase. “Can you forgive Ghaelvord, Virgil?”

“For those killed that I loved, I cannot. For the others, I can. He is not immortal. None of us are. A time exists when Ghaelvord will face judgment just like the rest of us. It is inescapable.”

“How can you be so sure?” Tiyana asked.

Virgil smiled, “Trust your heart, but not your instinct. You’ll see what’s written there. There is hope, only not in ourselves.”

Tiyana frowned and looked at Hunter. He only shrugged.

• • •

The quartet finally arrived in the parking lot. They saw a large black motorcycle sitting in handicapped parking.

“Come on!” Hunter exclaimed, gesturing at the bike. “Some people.”

“We have bigger problems to worry about dear, like the tyrannical enslavement of the human race.”

“Bigger problems are not a license to be inconsiderate.” Hunter replied condescendingly.

Tiyana rolled her eyes as they all got out of the rental car.

The group ambled up to the security station.

Hunter read the sign and asked, “What’s CERN?”

“It’s the European Organization for Nuclear Research.” Tiyana said.

“What does CERN stand for?” Hunter asked.

“Something else. It doesn’t matter.” Tiyana said, frustrated. “They changed the name, but not the acronym, a long time ago.”

“Particle physicists...” Hunter remarked again.

This time no one responded.

“What’s that smell?” Hunter asked as he cocked his head and lifted his nose to the air.

Virgil sniffled, “I hope that it is not what I think it is. Inure your mind to it.”

“Inure your mind?” Tiyana asked. “What does that mean?”

“If you feel an outside influence, then resist it. Resist it hard and fast. It will happen in a moment if it happens.” Virgil said.

The others in the group nodded quasi-understandingly.

When they reached the guard post, Hunter spoke up, “Greetings. We are here on special business. We need to get inside. This is Tiyana Price, chemical engineer. We are her associates. Doctor Price has been called in for a special project.”

Tiyana waved and smiled. She wore a lab coat and brought a copy of her curriculum vitae, but otherwise lacked credentials. The coat and CV were all that she could find on such short notice.

“No one gets in today.” The guard said.

Hunter waited for an explanation. None came.

“Hello?” Hunter said.

“Yes?” The guard asked.

“Why is no one getting in today?” Hunter asked petulantly.

The man spoke roboticly, as if he had memorized this speech and was reciting it from memory rather than delivering it off of the top of his head, “Dangerous radiation levels appeared after a bad quench. According to safety protocols, no one gets in today.”

Hunter turned and whispered to Tiyana, “What’s a quench?”

She whispered back, “It’s when the beam becomes unstable and they have to dump it. Sometimes, things can go wrong with it.”

“Right,” Hunter said, turning back to the guard “in fact, that is exactly why we are here. Doctor Price here is a radiation specialist. She has been called here to analyze the situation. Maybe there was a mix up in your records.” Hunter’s tone became as serious as death, “It is absolutely critical to the safety of this facility that Doctor Price gets in immediately.”

A scowl broke out across the guard’s face, “No one gets in today.” He said in that same robotic, memorized tone.

Virgil elbowed Hunter. Hunter turned and saw Virgil gesture toward one of the windows of the facility. Hunter looked. He had to squint, but he saw it. About three floors up, there was a vent. A thin, misty tendril of smoke wafted from the vent and drifted out into the outside air where it dissipated. Virgil gave him a knowing look. Hunter turned back to the guard. The guard’s eyes looked unfocused.

“Oh, I see. No one gets in today.” Hunter said solemnly.

“No one gets in today.” The guard repeated.

Hunter turned and put a hand on the shoulder of Tiyana and Virgil. He led them back out into the parking lot and around the corner of the building.

“What now?” He whispered loudly through his teeth.

“We found Ghaelvord.” Virgil said. “We must stop him before he completes his plans.”

“How long do we have?’ Hunter asked.

“Minutes, hours, possibly a couple of days at most.” Virgil replied.

“Virgil, we can do this.” Tiyana said.

Virgil gave her a knowing nod. “Let us go then.”

They approached the station again. Virgil raised his staff this time and chanted, “batseko lithus ab stasis fold.”

The staff vibrated and turned grey. The tips of the caduceus lit up like embers. In the blink of an eye, Virgil touched the points to the guard’s chest. The guard turned grey and stood paralyzed in front of them.

“Will he be okay?” Hunter asked.

“He’ll be fine.” Tiyana replied.

“How do you know?” Hunter asked.

Tiyana gave her husband a wink. She patted the guard down and found a keycard. They used the keycard to enter the facility. Inside, they saw scientists milling about as if nothing was happening. The acrid smell of the smoke became thicker inside the building. As they followed the signs and walked through hallways and down staircases and through lobbies, Hunter looked into the eyes of the scientists there. They were unfocused. The staff ignored them as they ambled through the building. Eventually, they reached the gates to the elevators that dropped three hundred and thirty feet down the colossal shaft to the ATLAS detector. The shaft was drilled large enough to lower enormous pieces of the seven thousand ton detector down into the vast underground cavern. The elevators were only a tiny piece of the shaft’s girth.

The light-emitting diode displays showed a scrolling message. It scrolled through in English, then French, then other languages.

“Beam in operation. No entry.”

“What does that mean Tiyana?” Hunter asked.

Tiyana studied the LEDs and the security gates.

“I don’t think we’re getting through.” She said.

“What?” Hunter asked. “Why?”

“It’s the safety measures.” She said. “no one can be underground in the tunnels or caverns while the beam is running. The radiation levels are too high. They have state-of-the-art access control gates to keep people out.”

“So, the beam is running now?” Hunter asked.

“Yes, I think so.” Came the reply.

“Well, we need to stop it. How do we do that?” Hunter asked.

“If we break in, then the interlock system should turn the beam off and dump the payload.” Tiyana said.

“Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.” A sinister, but familiar, voice said.

Hunter looked up and saw an olive-skinned man with bright yellow eyes dressed in crimson robes walking in front of the access gates. He carried an assault rifle. He had strips of ammunition draped over his shoulders. Then, movement caught Hunter’s attention. From the other side of the gate, a woman in black appeared.

“Shenouda.” Hunter said.

She carried a gargantuan, eight-gauge shotgun.

“Shenouda, don’t do this. You don’t know what he’s capable of.” Hunter started.

Shenouda said nothing, but she lifted her peppergun to waist level. Hunter winced as heavy shockwaves pounded his eardrum. Flames erupted from the barrel of the olive-skinned man’s assault rifle. The man laughed maniacally as he unleashed a fusillade from his weapon into the wall and ceiling.

“Not much time is left.” The man taunted. “Don’t think about getting cute.”

“Malacoda? You’re looking hale.” Hunter said icily.

The man laughed again.

“Who else?” He said.

“The last time I saw you like this was in Somalia.” Hunter said.

“I always enjoy our meetings.” Malacoda said, still taunting. “Rohjarrat’s passing was a disappointment, but you are proving to be a worthy opponent. Your name is Hunter, right? It is a good name.”

“You’re a monster.” Tiyana said.

Malacoda discharged another few rounds into the room. Hunter, Tiyana, Virgil, and Hongo flinched.

“Go on now. You are free to leave. If you stay, then you die. Even you, Hunter. Don’t think that you can escape this. He tapped the side of his rifle.”

“Shenouda.” Hunter said pleadingly.

She said nothing. She pointed her shotgun at the roof and fired it. The thud from the large-gauge shell was deafening.

Hunter’s eyes narrowed. His eyes rolled back into his head and he felt the Dahjaat force thrumming inside.

“Don’t do it friend!” Malacoda warned.

Tiyana embraced Hunter hard and shouted into his ear.

“Don’t do it! Hunter, no!” She screamed with all of her might.

Hunter’s eyes rolled back into place. He let go of the thrum of the cosmic force.

“Tiyana, we can’t let this happen.” He whispered.

“I know,” she said. “Trust me.”

Hunter was shaking.

“Trust me.” She said again.

“Okay.”

Hunter turned to Hongo and Virgil. Both of them were poised for action. He spun his index finger in the air.

“Let’s go.” He said to them. Then he turned to Malacoda, “You win. We’re leaving.”

Malacoda just smiled. “How disappointing. I would have enjoyed filling you with lead.”

“Why are you letting us go?” Hunter asked curiously.

“Orders. He likes an audience. Go figure.” Malacoda shrugged.

“An audience for what?” Hunter thought to himself.

“Okay, let’s go.” He said again to his group.

They walked carefully out of the entryway to the shaft elevators.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Tiyana spoke up, “There’s another way in. It’s more tricky.”

“More tricky than getting past those two?” Hunter asked.

“Trickier, but probably less dangerous.” Tiyana replied.

“We had better hurry.” Hongo chimed in. “I do not like the way that he was talking.”

“Right. Just follow me.” With that, Tiyana started running down the halls.

The group followed at a brisk pace.

While they ran, Hunter asked, “Where are we going?”

They passed more staff members. The staffers ignored them completely. It seemed that the whole complex was under Ghaelvord’s spell.

“There is a utility entrance.” Tiyana said between labored breaths. “It’s where they lower parts down. It’s like a big warehouse.”

“Are there elevators?” Hunter asked.

“No, that’s the tricky part.” Tiyana replied.

“How do we get in?” Hunter asked.

“We’ll figure that out when we get there.” She replied.