Chapter 21

           "Isenseyou’veheardofantimatter,Mr.Langdon?"Vittoriawasstudyinghim,herdarkskininstarkcontrasttothewhitelab.

           Langdonlookedup.Hefeltsuddenlydumb."Yes.Well…sortof."

           Afaintsmilecrossedherlips."YouwatchStarTrek."

           Langdonflushed."Well,mystudentsenjoy…"Hefrowned."Isn’tantimatterwhatfuelstheU.S.S.Enterprise?"

           Shenodded."Goodsciencefictionhasitsrootsingoodscience."

           "Soantimatterisreal?"

           "Afactofnature.Everythinghasanopposite.Protonshaveelectrons.Up-quarkshavedown-quarks.Thereisacosmicsymmetryatthesubatomiclevel.Antimatterisyintomatter’syang.Itbalancesthephysicalequation."

           LangdonthoughtofGalileo’sbeliefofduality.

           "Scientistshaveknownsince1918,"Vittoriasaid,"thattwokindsofmatterwerecreatedintheBigBang.Onematteristhekindweseehereonearth,makinguprocks,trees,people.Theotherisitsinverse—identicaltomatterinallrespectsexceptthatthechargesofitsparticlesarereversed."

           Kohlerspokeasthoughemergingfromafog.Hisvoicesoundedsuddenlyprecarious."Butthereareenormoustechnologicalbarrierstoactuallystoringantimatter.Whataboutneutralization?"

           "Myfatherbuiltareversepolarityvacuumtopulltheantimatterpositronsoutoftheacceleratorbeforetheycoulddecay."

           Kohlerscowled."Butavacuumwouldpulloutthematteralso.Therewouldbenowaytoseparatetheparticles."

           "Heappliedamagneticfield.Matterarcedright,andantimatterarcedleft.Theyarepolaropposites."

           Atthatinstant,Kohler’swallofdoubtseemedtocrack.