The Light at Lindisfarne

A YEAR BEFORE HE KINDLED THE LIGHT at Lindisfarne, Albert Weiland demonstrated the transmutation of simple into complex elements, with a controlled release of power, in a device no larger than a desktop computer. He called it his Graalreaktor. The world had its holy grail of energy and a problem: It worked only in Weiland's presence, and he would not say how. The revelation by so eminent a physicist of what appeared to be cold fusion set markets reeling. The authorities occupied Weiland Labs, confiscated the old man's cryptic notes, and assigned teams to evaluate his work, but to no avail. Still his device worked, and his peers demanded answers. "You do not smash a river but harvest it," Weiland said. "So, my Graalreaktor is a lens focusing influence of forces already present." Unable to reproduce Weiland's work, his peers shunned and the press mocked his grail reactor. "I have given you a vessel like the sun, rooted in the firmament, but you shall not have it until you solve an enigma," he countered. "In cold stone I shall kindle a light that will never fail; who solves the mystery will have my Graalreaktor." And so Weiland withdrew to Lindisfarne to work his magic.