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GREGORY BENFORD
blocked their view of the approaching black hole. Now those dissolved, blowing
past. A yawning solid blackness rushed out of the distance. Fizzing white
light burst from the surface of the Cosm.
"Come on!" He tugged her. She took a step, looked back, had to be led away.
In the Cosm's brilliant surface she saw seething brilliance collide with
somber, growing black. Events compressed. Time raced as vast forces bore down.
She shook herself. Sucked in cold, dry air. Turned and ran with
Max.
They all started directly away from the helicopter and then she yelled, "No,
go right! Otherwise they'll run after us and right into the
Cosm."
They veered right. Alicia looked back and saw men jumping out of the
helicopter, a big one. They immediately began pursuit.
They all ran in silence for a full minute. Shouts in the distance. A
bullhorn voice babbled.
Matters moved with a prolonged gravity, as if the entire scene were
underwater, events unspooling at the bottom of a well-lit swimming pool. Jill
and Zak ahead ran sluggishly. The bullhorn spoke so deeply that she could hear
dragging spaces between the actual words, which in turn took stretched moments
to come through the chilly air.
M's legs too were caught in the thick molassas air of the deep-sea scene. She
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was scarcely able to move in the heavy, unmeasurable time.
She stumbled over a stubby plant that jabbed her in the leg. The sdden jolt of
pain brought back the speed of time and made her lose her stride. Max stopped,
grabbed her arm to keep her from falling over. He glanced back. Behind them
stabbing lights probed and his words came like the dry rustle of leaves.
"My God."
The others kept running. Flickering shadows chased them across the rough
ground. She turned to look, still reluctant to leave. The
Cosm now brimmed with an acid fire. It flared suddenly, blue-white and
ferocious. The fierce brilliance of it expanded and blew her backward, head
over heels.
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EPILOGUE
If and when all the laws governing physical phenomena are finally discovered,
and all the empirical conslants occurring in these laws are finally expressed
through the four independent basic constank we will be able to say that
physical science has reached its end, that no excitement is left in further
explorations, and ha all that remains to a physicist is either tedious work on
minor details or the self-educational study and adoration of the magnificence
of the completed system. At that siege physical science will enter from the
epoch of Columbus and Iagellan into the epoch of the National
Georah/c/'lagaz/ne.
mGEORGE GAl'lOW, PHYSI [OOAY1949
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EXPLOSION IN DESERT
'Cosm' Leaves Ten Yard Crater
Butterworth Among Casualties
No Trace of Remnants
'LIT UP SKY,' SAYS DESERT RAT
ACCOMPLICE CHARGES FILED AGAINST 'PHYSICS GANG'
Three Released from Hospital
Suffered No Radiation Exposure
UCI'S BUTTERWORTH LEAVES HOSPITAL
Placed Under Federal Arrest
Federal Marshal Accuses Her of Theft
LAWSUITS MOUNT IN DESERT 'COSM' EXPLOSION
State Police Officer Leaves Hospital
Helicoper 'Totaled' in Explosion
UCI WILL NOT PAY BUTTERWORTH LEGAL EXPENSES
Father Attacks UCI, Defends Daughter in Raucous Speech
BROOKHAVEN LAB VICINITY EVACUATED
Fears of Second 'Cosm' Explosion Mount
'Could Be Megatons,' Lab Head Says
'Amazing' Views Inside 'Cosm II' Rumored
PRESIDENT ATTACKS 'RECKLESS SCIENCE'
National Council of Churches Applauds
Finger-Jabbing Speech
ARRESTS MADE IN BUTTERWORTH KIDNAPPING CASE
'Foundation for God' Followers Traced to Arizona
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