Read Outland (World-Lines Book 1) for Free Online Page B

more improvements. We’ve also improved the tuning stabilization, thanks to your software mods. Once we get a strong match, the device should home in on it and lock on. I won’t have to feel like I’m wrestling a greased snake.”
    Bill smiled. Matt just looked impatient.
    The day was hot, even for summer in Nebraska, and all the windows were open as far as they would go. It helped a little that this side of the building had been in shade for a while, but everyone was still wilting. Kevin fanned himself with a Sky and Telescope magazine.
    Richard looked at the group. “Right. Okay. Let’s do this then.”
    They went through the same sequence as last time. Kevin placed the coin-flipping device inside the cage. He placed the video cameras in the usual spots. This time they moved the monitor farther from the portal assembly. No one wanted to be too close to the device in case the ‘bang’ happened again.
    “My heart won’t take another one,” Bill commented, trying for his best B-movie overacting.
    Preparations completed, Kevin activated the flipper, called out, “Ten seconds,” and walked back to join the others at the monitor.
    Richard worked the tablet, tuning the portal. “Here we go,” he said and hit OK.
    There was a loud roar and a jet of yellowish gas spewed out of the gate, blistering a spot in the far wall. The room heated up to an intolerable level, as if someone had opened a door to a blast furnace. The table with the control hardware spun 180 degrees, while the table with the test apparatus rocked back on two legs and almost went over. A bright spark shot from an electrical short. The equipment shut down, and the gate closed, cutting off the stream.
    As the gas spread through the room, everyone stampeded out the door, coughing and gagging. Once out in the hallway and breathing clear air, they turned and looked at each other, shock written clearly on their faces.
    For perhaps half a minute, no one spoke. As one, they stared at the lab door, each waiting for someone else to make the first move.
    Finally regaining his composure, Bill cautiously opened the door to the lab. The odor and the heat were dissipating out the windows, and the room was becoming tolerable. After a brief hesitation, he walked in.
    Matt followed him in and went over to examine the blistered spot on the wall. It was still warm. The paint was discolored and bubbled, and the drywall had crumbled up in patches.
    “Well, that was fun. We must do that again sometime.” Bill smirked, but his wide-eyed stare belied his attempt at flippancy. He glared at Matt. “What was it exactly you were wishing for? Happy now?”
    Matt shrugged and managed to look both smug and embarrassed at the same time.
    Bill spent a few minutes examining the equipment, and soon found the smoldering cables that had ended the fireworks.
    “That was… what?” Richard asked, playing with the tablet menus. “Did anyone get a good look?”
    “No, but that’s why we have cameras,” Kevin said, returning with the three cameras in hand. One of them looked much worse for wear.
    Kevin connected the dented and abused camera to the monitor and pressed PLAY. The video showed the snow-globe losing focus for a moment, then a chaotic series of frames, ending with a blurry image of the floor and some table legs.
    “I think we’ll have to retire that particular camera,” Richard observed. “The optics look pretty much done for.”
    Kevin connected one of the other cameras. This time, the image showed a faint plume of yellowish gas fountaining from the gate. The effect lasted less than two seconds before it was cut off. They restarted the video and played it one frame at a time.
    When they had the plume in full view, Bill commented, “Damned if it doesn’t actually look like the jet that comes out when a stargate starts up. I almost regret decorating the gate now. Almost.” He grinned at Matt, who rolled his eyes in reply.
    They looked at the video from the third camera,