Chapter 15: Some ability with locks
...... When the wake up chime sounded through subdorm-8
on Monday morning, Paradox jumped off of Kip's face. Kip sat and was about to
climb down from his upper bunk when his clock radio clicked on. He'd been adjusting
it for over a week to make it turn on during the chime. Kip sat listening for
a moment, then flopped back onto his mattress. The cat came back and rested
beside Kip's head. Kip moved a hand to hug it to him.
...... "Don't you feel well?" asked Paul
who was sitting across on his upper bunk.
...... "That's Beethoven's eighth symphony,"
said Kip, staring at the ceiling.
...... "What?" said Paul, his nose scrunched.
...... "It's his Beethoven rule," came
Wolfgang's voice from below.
...... Paul climbed down the ladder from his bunk
and looked up at Kip. "You're going to be like late for breakfast."
...... "Not very late," said Kip. "It's
already the third movement." He leaned over the edge. "Could you guys
get breakfast for me?"
...... "I'm sorry," said Paul. "I
don't do breakfast in bed."
...... "I mean put it on your trays."
...... Paul and Wolfgang agreed and Kip lay back
to enjoy the music.
...... At the symphony's final note, Kip sprang
to the floor, dressed quickly, grabbed his pre-packed bookbag, made a bathroom
stop, and then headed out across the Dalambertian. As he padded toward the refectory,
he ran into Alex.
...... "Are you a Beethoven fan, too?"
said Kip.
...... "What?"
...... "I mean, you're late for breakfast."
...... Alex flashed a bewildered look and then
held up a file folder. "I needed to finish these certificates--without
Todd or Martin seeing me." He slowed and opened the folder for Kip to see.
...... Wolfgang's certificate was on top, and it
was stunning: a staff with an eagle sitting on it, a thunderbolt in brilliant
yellow outlined in black, and old-English lettering in a rich blue.
...... "That's Zeus's scepter," said
Alex.
...... "This.... This is fantastic. Beautiful!"
...... Alex beamed. "Thanks," he said,
shyly. "But don't let Todd or Martin see them. Theirs are only in black
and white and don't have the eagle."
...... They continued on to the refectory, and
into grey-shorts territory. Kip saw that his friends had indeed picked up breakfast
for him so, taking custody of Alex's folder, he went directly to his seat while
Alex went to the food tables.
...... While Alex was off loading up his tray,
Kip and co. talked about the two-slit experiment, hardly pausing for hellos
when Alex came with his tray. There was a spot for Alex at Kip's table; Alex
took all his meals now with subdom-8.
...... "Okay," said Alex as he sat. "You
guys talk about this all the time." He turned to Kip. "So, tell me.
What's going on? What are the electrons doing at these two slits of yours?"
...... "I can't talk about it," said
Kip.
...... Alex looked hurt. "You mean you're
not allowed to?"
...... "No," said Kip. "I don't
have the words. It's like Korzybski says. The map is not the territory."
...... "What?"
...... "Quantum mechanics is the territory
and the words we use to describe it is the map. And it's a lousy map."
Kip tried to explain it more and then said, "Do you see what I'm trying
to say?"
...... Alex chuckled. "So, it's like an alien
comes to Earth from the planet Zorgon. And this alien knows quantum mechanics
but English has no words to describe it. Something like that?"
...... Kip chuckled as well. "Yes, something
like that."
...... Alex went on. "So imagine that the
Zorgonians have this machine that they can hook to your head. It'll teach you
Zorgonian, but it'll wipe out your knowledge of English. And now you'll understand
quantum mechanics, but you won't be able to tell what you know to anyone on
Earth. Would you let them use their machine on you?"
...... Kip, Paul and Wolfgang debated the pros
and cons for awhile. Then Wolfgang said, "If things work out, we won't
need Zorgon. ESAP could give us that language."
...... "I hope you don't forget human language,
though," said Alex.
...... Wolfgang chuckled. "We won't."
...... Alex's expression grew serious. "But...but
I hope you won't forget how to be human, either."
...... Kip looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What
do you mean?"
...... "I mean...." Alex laughed. "I
don't have the words." He broke his gaze away from Kip. "Oh."
He reached for his folder. "I almost forgot about these." He opened
the folder and spread out the Dark Riders certificates.
...... "Wow!" said Paul. "This is,
like, terrific!"
...... Just then Kip, looking over Alex's shoulder,
saw Dr. Ralph get up from his seat at the masters' table and head their way.
"Uh, oh." He realized that they'd been very noisy at their table.
"Keep it down," he whispered. "Dr. Ralph's coming."
...... "Don't be a scaredy cat," said
Paul. "We weren't that noisy."
...... Internally, Kip winced; he hated people
thinking he was afraid--especially since very often, he was.
...... Alex slipped the certificates back in the
folder.
...... Dr. Ralph stopped at their table. "May
I join you?"
...... "Why? Are we coming apart?" said
Paul. "I mean, yes, sure." He slid in to make room.
...... Dr. Ralph sat. "Nick was lucky,"
he said without preamble. "He could have been seriously injured."
...... "Yes, sir," said Wolfgang. "We
know."
...... Dr. Ralph smiled. "The carousel can
indeed be dangerous to young physicists." He looked hard at the three of
subdorm-8 and Kip felt himself wilt; Dr. Ralph probably knew of their unauthorized
use of the carousel.
...... "I'm afraid I'll have to do something
about keeping the carousel safe," Dr. Ralph went on.
...... Now, Kip was relatively sure Dr. Ralph knew.
...... Dr. Ralph turned to Wolfgang. "I understand,"
he said, in an undecipherable tone of voice, "that you have some ability
with locks."
...... Wolfgang visibly squirmed. "Well, I...
I mean--"
...... "I have some ability in that area as
well. It's something of a tradition with physicists."
...... Kip felt his eyes widen.
...... "So," Dr. Ralph went on, "I
don't feel I can legitimately discourage your...abilities." He stood. "But,
don't do anything you know is wrong, or you may get in serious trouble."
...... At this point, there was no doubt. Kip was
sure Dr. Ralph knew.
...... Dr. Ralph widened his gaze to take in Kip
and Paul, as well as Wolfgang. "Do you understand my meaning?"
...... "Yes, sir," said Kip and co.,
virtually in unison.
...... "Good." Dr. Ralph strode back
to the masters' table.
...... Wolfgang watched him go, then said at a
whisper "He knows."
...... "Yeah," said Kip. "He must
have been the person we heard coming."
...... "I guess that's it," said Paul,
"We can't use the carousel again."
...... "No," said Wolfgang. "I bet
he's changed the combination. I think he was just challenging me to crack it.
And if I do, my reward is that we can use the carousel--until he changes it
again."
...... "Come on," said Paul. "I
don't think that was his meaning."
...... Wolfgang didn't seem to hear. "After
lunch," he said, "I'm going to the Carousel to see if the combination's
been changed. I'm sure he's changed it."
...... "I don't think he did know it
was us," said Alex. "Or at least he's not sure. Otherwise, he wouldn't
have been pussyfooting."
...... "How could he be sure,"
said Kip. "He's a quantum physicist."
...... Wolfgang giggled.
...... "What is that supposed to mean?"
said Alex.
...... "He means the Uncertainty Principle,"
said Paul. "And I don't mean the school principal."
...... "I like that," said Wolfgang.
"The uncertainty school principal."
...... "Let's go," said Paul. "We'll
be late for Assembly." He glanced at Kip. "I don't think your Beethoven
rule applies there."
...... Kip and the others gobbled down the remnants
of their breakfasts and hurried away.
...... Some four hours later, they reconvened
at the same table for lunch. Afterwards, Wolfgang stood and said he was going
to the carousel to check on the lock. Without comment, Kip and Paul went with
him; it had become a routine that whenever a boy of subdorm-8 went outside,
they went two or three together--so there wouldn't be any bullying by Todd or
his toddlers.
...... "I'll come, too," said Alex. "I
have a sugar packet for Bucephalus."
...... Kip was about to laugh, but didn't as he
saw that Alex didn't seem to be joking. Kip tried to keep concern out of his
voice. "Yeah. Fine. Let's go."
...... At the carousel, Wolfgang, Kip and Paul
went to the control box while Alex attended to his horse.
...... After wriggling his fingers like a pianist
before a concert, Wolfgang started punching numbers on the keypad.
...... Just a couple of seconds later, there came
a click from the cabinet.
...... "Hey," said Wolfgang, wrinkling
his nose. "He didn't change the combination." He turned to the others.
"I would have sworn that he'd have changed it" Idly, he pulled open
the door. "Maybe he just didn't get around to doing it yet." He started
to close the door again, but froze. "Dirty dog!"
...... "What's the matter?" said Paul.
...... Wolfgang pointed to the hook on the inside
of the door. "The key. It's gone."
...... "He didn't have to change the
combination," said Kip. "He just took the key."
...... "Yeah." Then Wolfgang smiled.
"If that's the way he wants to play. Fine! After school, I'm going to see
if Dr. Linda will give me a hairpin. And then I'll go to the school shop and
grind it into a lock pick. I remember that key. Only four tumblers. Should be
a simple lock to pick."
...... "I'm not sure that's a great idea,"
said Kip. "What if she tells Dr. Ralph? Won't he guess what you want it
for?"
...... Wolfgang pursed his lips. "Maybe,"
he said after a few seconds. "But I really think he's challenging me."
He balled a fist. "I don't think he really believes I can pick locks."
...... "Why is it, like, so important to you?"
said Paul.
...... "It just is."