VI
‘Suppose you fire a laser pulse at a distant mirror and time how long it takes to return’ – ‘It was on the sixth of these early morning trials that disaster struck’ –
On the sixth day, as the sun reared above the horizon, setting the track aflame – ‘like a haemorrhage of the sun’ – The gleaming silver prototype – ‘a purely kinematic model’ – Reflecting the cool heat of the morning sun across the sands – The Infinity, which only a rich man could drive – Suspended on a coaxial wire running the length of the proving ground – From end to end the distance measured a full fifty miles, such that – At a speed of more than 372 miles per hour – The spectacle, in its physical, economic, and spiritual effects, was not unlike –
‘the disturbance bore all the hallmarks of a burst of gravitational waves emanating from two astronomical bodies spiralling into each other’
