The Secret of Excalibur

‘Exactly. The Russians had a similar project, called SURA. But the HAARP researchers found something unusual - for some reason, the antenna array was putting out energy . . . even when it wasn’t powered up. So DARPA started trying to work out why.’

‘And what did you find?’ Nina asked dubiously.

‘Something that could only be described as “earth energy”.’

‘Riiight.’

He held out his open palms to her. ‘It’s not such a stretch, Dr Wilde, really. The entire planet is in some ways just a massive electric motor - we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t, because without the field generated by the earth’s core to protect us from the sun’s radiation, we’d all be dead. But what we found was that there are also lines of energy at ground level, not just above the atmosphere. The HAARP array happened to be situated close enough to one of these lines for it to generate power through induction, much more than could be accounted for by normal telluric processes. We did tests, and found that if you built an array at a point where several of these lines converge, and you created a magnetic field that channelled and focused them, you could theoretically generate a significant amount of energy - basically for free. The earth puts out more power in a day than has been produced in the whole of human history. If we could tap into even a tiny percentage of that . . .’

‘You’d put this Vaskovich bloke out of business,’ Chase said. ‘No wonder he wants to keep it quiet.’

Nina still wasn’t convinced. ‘I don’t see how that connects to Excalibur.’

Mitchell’s expression became more intense. ‘Excalibur isn’t just connected to this theory, Dr Wilde. It’s the key. Vaskovich has already built an earth energy generator in northern Russia, and is trying to make it work as we speak.’

‘How do you know what he’s doing?’ Chase asked.

A half-smile. ‘We’ve got a reliable source inside Vaskovich’s organisation. We know what he’s up to. But his generator . . . it’s not working. Yet. Our research found that creating the magnetic fields you need to channel the earth energy requires a lot of power to be put in - more than the generator has managed to put out.’

‘In other words,’ said Nina scathingly, ‘it’s completely pointless.’

‘The theory’s sound,’ Mitchell insisted. ‘But to break that barrier, you need a superconducting material at the focal point - something that allows energy transfer with near as dammit one hundred per cent efficiency. With conventional technology, you create superconductors by cooling them down to near absolute zero with liquid nitrogen or helium. But to do that in an earth energy generator you’d need a massive, constant supply of coolant - so much that you’d need an entire chemical plant right there on site making the stuff. It’s just not practical. So you need a superconductor that can work without coolant. And that’s where Excalibur comes in.’

Nina raised an incredulous eyebrow. ‘You’re saying that Excalibur was made of a superconductor?’

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. And it’s what Rust said, too - and what he told Vaskovich. Your friend’s theory was that Merlin forged Excalibur from an alloy with high-temperature superconducting properties.’

‘Oh, come on!’ protested Nina. ‘In the sixth century?’

‘Ever heard of Wootz steel?’ Mitchell asked, obviously prepared for the objection. ‘It’s an ultra-hard form of steel that gets its strength from a matrix of carbon nanotubes within the metal. It’s difficult for us to make even now - but incredibly sharp blades were being forged from it in China and India in 500 BC. It was probably a fluke that the technique was ever discovered . . . but it was discovered. Whether by chance or genius, Merlin accomplished something even more incredible with King Arthur’s swords. He really was a wizard - just not in the Gandalf sense.’

‘Wait, swords, plural?’ Chase cut in.

Mitchell nodded. ‘Arthur’s original sword, Caliburn, was the same metal, but not quite as effective. Call it Merlin’s prototype for Excalibur. But Arthur had a weapon that acted as a natural channel for earth energy - and according to legend, he made use of it. Nothing could stand against Excalibur when Arthur wielded it, and it even glowed when he used it in battle.’

Nina remembered what Rust had told her at the hotel. ‘Bernd said that Excalibur shone with the light of thirty torches, and lit up with flames.’

‘It’d be one hell of a psychological weapon,’ said Mitchell. ‘Imagine having the king of the Britons charging at you with his sword on fire, cutting through everyone in his path? It’d be the sixth-century equivalent of a Spectre gunship or a daisy-cutter bomb. Once you see it coming, the last thing you’d be thinking about is fighting. You’d just want to run away like brave Sir Robin.’

Nina laughed at the Monty Python reference, then became serious again. ‘You really believe this, don’t you? You really think King Arthur’s sword was made of this magic metal?’

‘I do,’ Mitchell told her firmly. ‘But the problem is, so does Vaskovich.’

‘Why’s it a problem?’ asked Chase. ‘He gets the sword, his generator works, zap! Free ’leccy all round.’

‘What, apart from the fact that he’s murdered people to get it?’ Nina said disapprovingly.

Mitchell’s expression became grim. ‘There’s more to it than just generating electricity. Excalibur was a powerful weapon in Arthur’s time . . . but today it could be used to create an even more powerful weapon. With the right superconductor in place, the earth energy generator becomes self-sustaining, so the external energy source you need to kickstart the process can be switched off. And the generator can then build up enormous amounts of energy - which can be released in a single burst.’

‘So the thing blows itself to bits,’ said Chase. ‘Can’t see the downside there.’

‘No, it doesn’t,’ Mitchell said, shaking his head. ‘The system uses a HAARP-style antenna array to draw in earth energy. But the array was also designed to put energy out - and it still can. Vaskovich could use the array to heat the ionosphere just like HAARP was designed to do - and then bounce the entire output of the generator off it in a single blast, and hit a target thousands of miles away. From the Arctic coast of Russia, he could destroy any target in the northern hemisphere.’

A chill ran through Nina. ‘Just how powerful is this thing?’

‘The force of a nuclear bomb, channelled through a lightning bolt,’ Mitchell told her. ‘And there’s no defence against it. No warning it’s coming, no way to stop it. And all Vaskovich needs to make it work is the right superconducting metal. Which is why I’m here.’ He straightened. ‘This is a matter of national security - not just for the United States, but for every country in the world. Dr Wilde, we want you to find Excalibur - before Vaskovich does.’

‘Me?’ said Nina, shocked. ‘Why do you think I can find it?’

‘You were the last person to speak to Rust. You said in your police statement that he told you where to find the pieces of Caliburn, which contain the location of Excalibur.’

‘He didn’t exactly give me map references,’ she protested. ‘He just told me he thought he knew where they were - and then he got shot!’

‘It’s all we’ve got. Now Vaskovich’s people have got Rust’s research, you’re the only person who stands a chance of beating them to the sword. After all,’ he said, with an encouraging flick of his eyebrows, ‘you’ve got some experience in this kind of thing.’

‘But what if Bernd was wrong?’

‘Then Vaskovich has nothing. But the United States can’t take the chance that he was right. If Vaskovich can make his weapon work, it’ll be the most destabilising threat to the world since the Cold War. Russia’s already rattling its sabre over the Arctic; this would give them the power to back up their threats by force.’ He stood. ‘I’d like you to come back to the embassy in London to work out a plan of action.’

‘Wait a minute,’ said Chase. ‘We work for the IHA, not DARPA.’

Again, Mitchell had clearly anticipated the objection. ‘The IHA has already agreed to co-operate with DARPA on this mission.’

Nina was surprised. ‘It has? But the IHA’s a civilian United Nations agency, not part of the US military.’

‘The IHA was set up to ensure historical artefacts didn’t fall into the wrong hands,’ Peach piped up. ‘I think this qualifies.’

‘It’ll officially be an IHA operation,’ said Mitchell. ‘But the United States, specifically DARPA, will be backing it. The director of the IHA has already authorised it.’