Fifty-EightWeeks hurtle by. Nature, like protestors, will grant no respite for mourning, Theresa tells Nathaniel on his return, and she is right. Few at CFRC have the strength for lamentations over a director already well absent in spirit and Leonard Rasmussen, according to his last wishes, is cremated at a private ceremony long on fanfare and short on attendees. Nathaniel watches Theresa scatter his ashes over the hills above the lab but any voice for eulogy has deserted him. If he feels anything, it is utter emptiness. As the winds carry Leonard away forever, Theresa turns to him with a faint smile, takes his arm and says, “Let’s get back to work.”
* * * *
Both Cadarache and Austin have continued to battle the intransigence of the plasma and mysterious magnet deficiencies, but both mac
