Chapter 16. Vic Pursues Miriam
It was a struggle, but Vic made it to work on time Monday morning. His head hurt. His delirious drinking Sunday afternoon had left him with a heavy hangover. His gut was still roiled, but, as usual, Vic’s appearance was outstanding. In fact, he had begun an effort to upgrade it. Bolstered by the euphoria he felt as his most recent Flare victims began to fall, he had gone shopping, Saturday morning. So, he appeared in expensive slacks and an upscale polo shirt, sporting a new, Rolex wristwatch.
In his evil-spirit-infested mind, he had determined, “I must make Miriam my wife. I really like Keturah. Perhaps I even love her. She is a great fit for my personality. I’ll play with her a little longer, but my ultimate target is Miriam. To move up in academic circles, I need a queenly wife, and that is not Keturah. Yes, she’s cute, but she could never convey the elegance of Miriam. Appearing at academic functions with Miriam at my side will elevate my status. She’s my ticket to the top. I’ll find ways to have fun with Keturah and her ilk from time to time, but Miriam must be my official partner.”
Vic planned to strut into his office and begin to dazzle Miriam with his expensive clothes and watch, but as he was passing Dr. Angelo’s office door, the Doctor called out, “Vic! Come here! We have Knut Sorensen with us today!”
In the swirl of recent events, Vic had forgotten that Knut was coming. He pivoted toward Dr. Angelo and entered his office exhibiting his best smile. Knut popped up with a grin to shake Vic’s hand and exchange greetings. The two presented a stark contrast; tall, lean, tan, hollywood-handsome Vic and short, light-complected, corpulent Knut. Knut had an ebullient personality. He lit up the room. He exuded the aura of a happy, young Santa Claus with his well-trimmed, light-blond hair and beard and his golden, wire-rimmed eyeglasses. His slight Norwegian accent added a touch of intrigue to his persona.
Dr. Angelo announced, “Vic, I’m appointing you to be our hospitality concierge during Knut’s visit. I’ll take you two to lunch at the campus cafeteria from time to time, but I’ll leave the evenings and weekends to your discretion. You can show Knut the town and charge it all to our Project.” With a light laugh, he continued, “Now, be reasonable. I’ll have to defend your expense account.”
Knut chortled, “We’ll keep it cheap. I don’t drink, in spite of my Viking ancestry.” Then, patting his expansive midsection, he added, “And, I don’t do exotic dancing.”
They all chuckled. Vic said, “Sounds like fun. We’ll have a good time.”
Dr. Angelo added, “I had the
facility manager put another desk in your room for Knut. Here’s my plan.
First, introduce Knut to Dan and Miriam. Then, spend the morning showing Knut
what you have been working on and get his feedback. Then, we’ll go to lunch.
Afterward, Knut can split the afternoon between Dan and Miriam. That should
acquaint him with our Project.”
With that, Vic led Knut into the team office and announced, “Miriam ... Dan ... this is Knut Sorensen. He’s the fellow I met at the neutrino conference. He’ll be here for two weeks, sharing thoughts with us. Knut, this is Miriam, our Math Wiz. She’s also a virtuoso violinist. And, this is Dan, our expert in Physics experimentation.”
Miriam and Dan rose to shake hands and exchange greetings with Knut. They were impressed by his jolly personality and his vigor. In spite of his girth, he moved about energetically. His eyes were lively and seemed to glitter, reflecting light from the windows and overhead fixtures. Likewise, Knut was impressed by Miriam’s beauty and Dan’s sturdy frame.
Knut smiled broadly. With his slight, Norwegian brogue, he said, “Miriam, I’ve never met a lady mathematician. That’s fabulous. And, I’m fascinated by your reputation as a violinist.” He raised his hands, clicked his fingers, and faked a little jig as he added, “I myself like to ‘oompah with my tuba’. Where do you play? Can I come and listen?”
Everyone laughed as Miriam explained, “Well, the only place I’m playing during your visit is in our Church orchestra on Sunday mornings.” Continuing, with a grin, she added, “Admission is free. It won’t cost you a dime unless the preacher talks you into giving an offering.”
Dan piped up. “That’s the Transcendental Community Church right across the street from the campus. And, if you come in time for Sunday School, you’ll get to hear Dr. Angelo expound the Scriptures.”
“Really!” Knut responded. “That’s beyond interesting. I’m going to find a way to be there.”
“My, you two look ‘dressy’ today,” Miriam observed. “Knut, we’re pretty casual here. You don’t need to come to work dressed to the nines. And, Vic, what got into you?”
Vic was thrilled that Miriam had noticed his expensive clothes. With an exaggerated gesture, he proudly displayed his new wristwatch to her, saying, “Did you notice this?”
“Not really.”
“It’s a Rolex,” he
continued. “What do you think it cost?”
“I don’t know ... maybe ... $300 dollars?”
Vic laughed, somewhat derisively, and yet, somewhat charmingly, “My dear, it’s a Rolex. I haggled the jeweler down to $25,000 dollars. It was a bargain at that price.”
“Wow!” Miriam gasped. “That’s a lot to pay for a timepiece. My watch only cost $20 dollars, and it keeps good time.”
Knut interjected, “Victor, you better be careful where you wear that watch. Some crooks would kill you for it. You’d be lucky, if they just took the watch off your wrist and left you breathing.”
Vic was disappointed with the way the conversation had deteriorated. His initiative to impress Miriam with his new wealth had faltered. Feeling he had to offer some rationale, he said, “Well, my Grandma Berkmann left me a large inheritance. I’ve always admired Rolex watches, so I used a bit of the bequest for this impressive watch.”
Momentarily, Miriam’s mind was flooded with remembrances of Mrs. Berkmann’s last days. “Isn’t she the Grandmother vic refused to visit when she lay dying?” she thought, “Now, he rejoices in her money ... strange ... It seems wrong.”
Dan, having noticed Vic’s chagrin, kindly softened the discussion by offering some practical advice. “If you feel you’re moving into a dangerous venue, just slip it off your wrist and hide it in your pocket.”
Wishing to re-direct the mood in the room, Vic resumed his princely air and recited Dr. Angelo’s plan for the day, “I’m going to collaborate with Knut this morning. Doc wants you two to split the afternoon with him. That way, Knut will have some idea of what we are working on.”
Vic retreated to his desk with Knut. Miriam and Dan went back to their projects. And, the morning passed quietly. About noon, Dr. Angelo took Knut and Vic to lunch.
A few minutes later, Dan and Miriam joined hands and strolled to the campus cafeteria. They had much to discuss: the Flare deaths, the move, Knut, and the Rolex. But, mostly, they admired each other with smiles and approving glances. As they breezed into the lunch room, Vic noticed, with dismay, the oneness of the pair. He reasoned within, “Somehow, I’ve got to come between those two. Miriam must be mine ... not Dan’s. They don’t belong together. She’s a cultured, Boston girl. He’s a Missouri hick. I’ll outshine him. I’ve conquered every girl I ever wanted. With my charms and my money, I’ll win. I’ll make Miriam mine.”
In an effort to elicit information from Dr. Angelo, Vic voiced a prying question, “Is Dan chasing Miriam?”
“I’m not sure who’s chasing who,” Dr. Angelo chuckled. “They are quite close. I think it’s cute ... reminds me of the days when I was dating my Amy. Do you know that Miriam has moved off campus? She’s living with the Diederman’s until this mysterious string of deaths is understood.”
“She’s living with Dan?” Vic squealed.
“Well, not exactly,” Dr. Angelo continued. “The Diedermans have two houses on their property. They’re letting Miriam live in the house next to theirs until this scare is over.”
Knut had to ask, “What string
of deaths? What scare?”
Dr. Angelo explained, “Four of our young, female students have dropped dead in the past two weeks, mysteriously. No one knows why, yet. So, Dan convinced Miriam to move off campus until the cause of these deaths is found.”
Vic’s appetite left him. His mind was a thicket of thoughts, “Have the Flare deaths scared Miriam into Dan’s arms? How do I untangle this mess? At least, the Flare deaths have thrown Moreno off my trail. I should be free from suspicion, now, and I’m wealthy. I’ll win this battle, yet.”
...
As the research team gathered for the Tuesday Morning Meeting, Dr. Grigsby hurried into the room dressed in a well-tailored, gray, summer suit. The whole team rose to greet him. “You must be Knut,” he declared. “I came by to welcome you to our campus.”
Grigsby’s happy face featured a friendly smile. As he stretched out his right hand to Knut, Dr. Angelo said, “Knut, this is Dr. George Grigsby, the Chancellor of our University. Chancellor, this is Knut Sorensen.”
Grigsby continued, “I dropped by to let you know that I am a part of this team effort. I can’t help you with equations, but I will keep the funds available for this Project.” With a wide grin, he added, “Dr. Angelo didn’t sneak you on to campus behind my back. No! We both want your input. Welcome to the Strings Project.”
Knut was animated by the Chancellor’s words. He, too, was dressed impeccably. He responded, “Thank you, sir. It’s an honor to meet you. And, its quite impressive to see your commitment to this effort.”
“Well,” Grigsby opined, “It’s important work. Thanks for helping. I’ll be moving on, now. I don’t want to interrupt your meeting.” As he turned to make his exit, his eyes were, once again, captivated by the brilliant scene on the conference room wall. Gesturing toward it, he remarked, “This reminds me. ‘Bo’ is busily painting murals in the new Community Center. We’re keeping them veiled until the Grand Opening Celebration.” He raised the back of his hand to his cheek, as if he was about to whisper a secret, and admitted, “I’ve peeked at them. They are wonderful! I hope you’ll all be there for the celebration.”
“I’ll be there,” Dr. Angelo said. “When is it?”
“Sunday afternoon, July 27th, from 2:00 till 6:00. Bring your friends. There’ll be refreshments and live entertainment presented by local high school groups.” With that, Grigsby dashed out the door.
Miriam thought she must explain. “Knut, ‘Bo’ is the name of the man who painted this scene. He drew it while he was preaching a Gospel sermon. When Dr. Grigsby saw it, he was so impressed that he asked ‘Bo’ to do some murals in the new Community Center.”
“I see,” said Knut, retrospectively. “It is certainly fine art, and for sure, it is a strong sermon. But, why did he place, in the picture, a portrait of that beautiful, young girl in that photograph on the credenza?”
Dr. Angelo reacted. “It was a genuine miracle, Knut. I was there when ‘Bo’ drew this scene, and I was shocked when he included a portrait of my deceased wife, as she looked when we were college kids. He even put words in her mouth, ‘Come, follow Jesus, and you will have a wonderful life. You’ll get to enter Heaven, too.’ Those were the very words Amy used to get me to become a Christian. When I told ‘Bo’ about the amazing coincidence, he was stunned. He gave God the glory, and he gave me the picture.”
“My,” Knut declared, “that gives me goose-pimples. Only God could have arranged that miracle!”
Vic groaned inside. The story irritated him. “It was just a strange happenstance,” he told himself.
Miriam nudged Dan and noted, “That Community Center Celebration coincides with the weekend my parents will be in town. Could we take them there?”
“Of course,” Dan said, “That’s a great idea.”
Vic’s spirits sunk even lower. “She’s too entwined with Dan,” he mused. “How do I separate them. I can’t do much while Knut’s in town. I have to entertain him. I better take him to Miriam’s Church Sunday morning. That will make Miriam think I am seriously considering spiritual matters.”
“Well,” Dr. Angelo concluded, “Knut, you can see why I love the painting and have it on my office wall.” After a brief pause, he said, “I guess we better get started. Dan, I know you’re eager to share some information.”
“Yes,” Dan said. “I’ve been examining NASA’s Gravity-Probe-B experiment. It was conducted a few years ago to test some assertions Einstein made in his General Theory of Relativity.
“Einstein’s view of gravity was quite revolutionary. Think of a trampoline with a heavy, iron ball resting at its midpoint. If one tries to roll a softball across the surface of the trampoline, close to the middle, the softball’s path will be bent toward the iron ball. It will ‘fall’ in toward it. It might even hit it. The presence of the iron ball ‘warps’ the surface of the trampoline, causing the softball to be sucked in toward itself. Now, it’s hard to visualize, but Einstein taught that ‘space’ is warped, in every direction, by the presence of an object, such as planet Earth. So, the effect is three-dimensional. Any object near Earth, falls into Earth’s space warp.
“It seems to me that this is an argument for the existence of a space fabric comprised of interacting, tiny strings. Just as the fibers of the trampoline’s surface are stretched by the iron ball, so the strings comprising space are stretched by the presence of an object like Earth. And, other objects near Earth are sucked toward it.
Gravity-Probe-B placed four gyroscopes and a telescope in a satellite 400 miles above the Earth, to measure two extraordinary effects predicted by Einstein: the amount by which the Earth warps space, and the amount by which the rotating Earth drags space around with it.
“The Probe circled Earth from pole to pole for 17 months. It carefully measured the circumference of its orbit. Because Earth warps space in its vicinity, the ordinary rules of geometry are violated. We expect the circumference of a circle to be about 3.14159 times its diameter. The Probe found the circumference of its orbit to be slightly less, just as Einstein predicted.
“Also, the mission encountered a drag effect, since the spinning Earth twists its surrounding space. It's as if the Earth were immersed in a syrupy liquid. As it rotates the Earth drags the fabric of space with it.
“This experiment seems to prove that space is not empty. I’m trying to think of other experiments we could do to elucidate the nature of strings and the fabric of space.”
Dr. Angelo responded, “I think you are on to something, Dan. Does anyone else have an idea about how we could take these findings further?”
“Well,” Knut offered, “Dan told me about this yesterday afternoon, so I’ve had a while to think about it. Since the Earth passes through the fabric of space easily, as if it were a light fog, it would seem that string interactions are going on all about us ... I mean, we are passing through the fabric ... or the fabric is passing through us ... however you want to look at it. Why can’t we find interactions all around us?”
“Maybe other things twist the fabric of space ... magnetism, for instance, or laser beams,” Miriam wondered aloud.
The team members continued to speculate for a couple of hours, and then, they retreated to their desks for further research.
