The Black Cube
Tom shuffled his papers, glanced at the screen of his laptop
and then around the empty conference room. Everything was ready. Behind him the
screen showed a slide with the single word “Cube!” in the centre. He took a sip
of water from his cup and stared at the table in front of him, where a neat
white cloth was covering something.
Beth was the first to arrive. She was always early. He
gestured towards the coffee and biscuits sitting on the side table and she
poured herself a cup before sitting to his right and beginning to work with
something on her mobile phone. Pete was next. He took a cup of coffee without being
invited and sat opposite Beth. He opened a foolscap notebook and laid a pen
across it.
“Well?” He asked. “What have you called us here for? Your note
said that it was important and urgent.”
Tom looked at him, raised a hand and shook his head.
“I’d like to wait till Mark gets here before we start, and
yes, it is both important and urgent.”
Just then the door burst open and Mark came running in. He
was sweating profusely and his shirt was untucked from the front of this
trousers. He had probably been running, which did not suit his
physique at all.
He poured himself a cup of coffee, put a handful of biscuits on a plate and sat
beside Beth, who shuffled uneasily in her seat.
Tom coughed, looked around the room and began.
“Thank you all for coming at such short notice. I expect you
are wondering what this is about.” There were nod and affirmative grunts from
around the table.
“Mark, would you mind closing the door. I don’t want anyone
else to overhear us” Mark rose and shut the door, and then asked:
“What’s all this about Tom? I had to rush to get here”
Tom waited until Mark had returned to his seat before he
continued.
“Rather than explain, I’d like to show you something. Pete,
would you mind helping me?”
“Of course,” Said Pete “But I don’t know what you want me to
do.”
“It’s simple enough, “ said Tom ”I’d like you to lift the cloth
in front of you. Remove the over underneath and then pick up the object you
will find there. That’s all. I think it’s safe, but I would prefer you to wear
these gloves, just in case.”
Pete looked at Tom quizzically, took the white cotton gloves
Tom handed him and removed the cloth. Underneath was a clear glass dome, of the
kind used to cover cakes, beneath that, on a china saucer, sat a small,
soot-black cube.
Pete removed the cover and reached out with a gloved hand. He
touched the cube gently with his forefinger and then grasped it with his finger
and thumb.
“It’s enormously heavy!”
“You may find it easier to lift the saucer.” Said Tom,
helpfully.
Pete pulled the saucer towards him and peered down at the
cube. “What is it?”
“That, ” said Tom, “is the problem! It arrived in a parcel
addressed to me yesterday morning. I didn’t get round to opening it until
today. Inside the package was this note ”
he lifted up a piece of paper in enclosed in a plastic cover, while displaying
a new slide on the screen.
“As you can see, it doesn’t say much.” He flicked forward to
the next slide.
“I’ve done some very basic tests. Conveniently, each face
measures 1 centimetre. It weighs about a kilogramme, 980 grammes to be a little
more precise.”
“That’s not possible.” Said Mark.
“I know! That’s 50 times the density of uranium! But there’s
more. As suggested in the note, I measured its specific heat capacity. Nothing
fancy. I used the ‘method’ of mixtures.”
“I don’t understand what that is.” Said Beth.
“It doesn’t matter.” Said Pete “High school physics. Go on
Tom,”
“Well, the first time I did it, I frightened the life out of
myself. I boiled a beaker of water. I thought I had a run-away chemical reaction.
I didn’t. The specific heat capacity of whatever that cube is made of approximately,
and I emphasise approximately, 3000
kilojoules, per kilogram per degree C.”
Mark and Pete looked at Tom oddly, and Beth said “You’ve lost
me with the numbers I’m afraid”
Mark peered across at the object and then turned to Beth “What
Tom seems to be saying, is that this object, this black cube, has properties
which are not physically possible.”
Tom nodded. “Pete, would you mind sliding the saucer across
to Beth. And Beth, would you mind scratching the surface of the cube with your
engagement ring?”
Pete did as he was asked and, while holding the cube between
the finger and thumb of her right hand, Beth drew her ring across the object.
She peered down.
“I don’t seem to have made a mark. Shall I have another go?”
Tom looked around the table. “No don’t bother Beth. I’m not
surprised you didn’t mark it. I tried already. The object you see in front of
you was sent to me, without anything to identify the sender. It is 50 times the
density of the heaviest metal, it absorbs many times more heat than any
substance known to man, or woman, without apparently undergoing any change, and
its surface is harder than diamond. As Mark says, its properties are not
physically possible, and I have absolutely no idea what it is, or where it came
from!”
(26th March
2017 – 923 words)
