The God Particle Read Online Free PDF

braced himself for the impact.
    Several seconds passed, but there was no collision. Curious,
he opened his eyes. The screeching noise, caused by the car scraping against
the wall, had stopped abruptly. He expected to see the car to have either
disappeared through the gap in the wall, or to have sunk; but as his eyes
adjusted to the light, he could tell that neither had happened. The car, in
fact, seemed to be coming towards him, the hideous apparition of the perished
soul clearer than ever. Katashi looked around him and saw that all the wreckage
had either slowed down, stopped or gone into reverse, depending on its
momentum. The surge was receding.
    He dived off his makeshift raft and swam, with astounding
strength, towards the control room, which was located in the centre of the
compound. By the time he reached the building, he was able to touch the floor
on tiptoes. Brushing aside the branches and twigs that had collected around the
door, he made his way inside and up the stairs.
    ‘Katashi! You alright?’ It was Masumi Makoto, head of
operations and Katashi’s boss. He looked up from the bank of monitors and
gauges he was studying.
    ‘I’m fine, but I’m not sure where the rest of my team is,’
Katashi responded. ‘Have you heard from any of them?’
    ‘No, not since the tsunami hit.’
    ‘What exactly happened?’ Katashi queried.
    ‘We’re not a hundred per cent sure at the moment,’ Masumi
replied. ‘But, what we can gather from news reports, is that the earthquake
triggered a massive tsunami, which hit the northeast, deluging all towns along
the coast and then sweeping inland.’
    ‘Which towns were affected the most?’ Katashi asked.
    ‘As far as we can tell, Sendai and Soma took the brunt of
the force. It’s reported that most homes have been destroyed with estimated
casualties...’ Masumi checked himself, as he realised that Katashi’s family
lived in the area.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ said Masumi, resting his hand on Katashi’s
shoulder. ‘You must be worried sick about your family. All landlines are down
in the area, but you can try them on my satellite phone,’ and he handed his
phone over to Katashi.
    Katashi sat down at one of the vacant desks and tapped in
his wife’s cell number. His heart skipped a beat as a fuzzy connection was
made. Thankfully, he thought, they’re safe. But his exhilaration turned to
disappointment as the voicemail kicked in after the obligatory ten rings. He
left a message for her to ring him back, trying to keep his voice as level as
possible, but his anxiety was showing through.
    He handed the phone back to Masumi.
    ‘Let me know if my wife calls.’
    ‘Of course,’ Masumi replied.
    ‘What’s the situation here?’ Katashi asked.
    ‘Not good, I’m afraid,’ replied Masumi, gravely. ‘The surge
knocked out the diesel generators and the core temperatures are rising. It’s
not critical at the moment, but if we don’t get them back on-line quickly, it
will be.’
    ‘Ok. I’ll round up the rest of my team and we’ll see if we
can get them started.’ With that, Katashi left the control room and headed for
Reactor 1, where he had last seen his team. By the time he had got back
downstairs, the waterline had receded to waist height.
    He thought it ironic that there was not a cloud in the sky,
yet the place was flooded. He waded through the silt-laden water, but it was
difficult to avoid the hidden rubble that had been deposited on the compound’s
floor. Twice he tripped on some unseen obstacle, falling face first, arms
outstretched to break his fall.
    He reached the reactor building to find two out of the
three-man team waiting for him there.
    ‘Where’s Tamotsu?’ Katashi enquired.
    ‘We thought he was with you,’ they replied, almost in unison.
    Katashi recalled the last time he had seen Tamotsu. ‘Have
you checked inside?’
    Katashi didn’t wait for a reply, but instead headed for the
closed door. With trepidation, he turned the handle and yanked as