"So, there is no reason why we shouldn't expend all efforts to tap into this dark energy and harness it. Like solar and wind power, we have at our fingertips an unlimited supply . . ."
I know I'm stalling. I pick up the remote and pause the interview, leaving the camera focused on Mom, a close-up. Her eyes are filled with excitement; she wants to infuse the world with hope, a world going insane over the last remaining barrels of oil.
In my short sixteen years, I've witnessed riots, coups, and outright revolutions. Libya, China, the Middle East-ceaseless conflicts, threats, economic sanctions, while the entire world scrambled to adapt, modify, and restructure their companies and countries to an inevitability they saw coming over fifty years ago. I remember when they rebuilt the first gas station in Greenfield-took out all the pumps and put in the rows of charging stations, lined up like tombstones. At first, people brought their cars to the shops and had the engines converted. You can still see a few of the old vehicles on the streets, now considered vintage or antiques. Dad has a picture book of all the cars made throughout history, from the first early Fords to the current hydro-hybrids. It's shocking to see how big some of those cars were-like Hummers and something they called SUVs. You could pack six people in some of those giant gas-eaters!
But people around the world, especially in affluent countries, were used to a decadent, consumer lifestyle. And in America, no one wants to give up comfort and luxury. No oil, no problem. Once dark energy is harnessed, it will make up what solar, wind, and hydrogen cells lack. Too many people and not enough energy. It seems to me we should just limit population growth, but that's not going to happen. At least, not by choice. China set the example, but short of criminalizing and jailing people who have more than two children, in America, families are fined. Do they care? So the rich are the ones who end up with six kids and the poor go to jail and lose their homes because they can't pay the penalty. But, I'm digressing.
And stalling. I flip the switches. Equipment hums. As the laser warms up, I hear my friend Lauren Hodges outside. She's calling my name and the doorbell rings. I blow air through my nose, like a racehorse at the gate, and finger the power switch. I pretend I'm not home, but I forgot about Ryan.
"She's down in the basement, come on," he says.
"What's down there?"
My eyebrows raise at the voice. Jace Riggs. What's he doing here? Jace isn't the kind of guy to hang out with Ryan, so I'm not sure why he's come over, unless Ryan piqued his curiosity. Anything out of the ordinary causes Jace to perk up in Chem Club, setting his mind spinning with ideas and solutions to mysterious and paradoxical problems. I'm figuring my rip in the space-time continuum would qualify in that department. He's never been over to my house, but I guess this anomaly is just too intriguing to resist.