The UFO Children 3 - The Free Energy Machine

Gavin was 18.  He was at university.  He had passed his driving test after only ten lessons when he was 17. He had decided to purchase a car from the under £500 used car website. Gavin turned up at the man's house.
"This is the car," said the man.  "Good engine, good bodywork, ten years old."
"Why do you only want £200 for it?"
"It's an electric car.  The battery's gone.  You may as well scrap it as try to buy a replacement.  Where do you live?"
"The other side of Sheffield."
"I've charged it all night.  You'll be able to drive it home, that's about all."
"I've phoned my insurance company," said Gavin.  "I am insured to drive any vehicle."
Gavin took £200 out of his pocket.  The man took it.  He drove the car home, just getting the stuttering engine on to the street outside the student house before the battery died on him.

Gavin sat down in his bedroom with a soldering iron.  Now to make a zero point energy circuit out of an old walkman he had bought in a second hand shop.  All it had to do was generate a high frequency square wave into the coil in the radio tuner.  Not very efficient but probably adequate for powering an electric car.  This didn't have to be a proper spacecraft engine.  In a few hours he had a circuit that he thought was operational.  He had bought a big packet of 11 batteries from the paper shop.  He took two of them and put them in the walkman.  He turned the device on.  The coil on the black ferrite rod of the walkman radio whistled away.  A huge white ball of what looked like lightning came in through the window.  Gavin was afraid.  He had attracted an enormous amount of zero point energy from the universe all around him, focusing it like light on to paper through a magnifying glass.  He hurriedly clicked the switch back again before the ball of lightning could electrocute him or set fire to the house.  He opened the bonnet on the car, took the leads from the battery and drilled a small hole between the engine and glove compartment with a cordless drill.  He threaded the leads from the battery into the glove compartment, where he now placed the walkman.  Now the circuit was safe.  It had a 75 KW engine as a load.  Any energy it attracted now would go straight into the engine.  Gavin turned the walkman on.  He pressed the accelerator.  The engine began making a noise.

 

"I've bought a car," Gavin told his friends as they were eating together.
"Oh great," said Julie.  "How much did it cost?"
"£200."
"What kind of car is it?" asked John.
"It's an electric car but it needs a new battery."
"How are you going to afford that, then?" asked John.
"I got some ordinary batteries from the paper shop and put them in a circuit I've made."
"Gavin," said John, "we're engineering students.  That's a 300 volt motor that runs at 250 amps.  You can't just use batteries from the paper shop."  Tracey looked into Gavin's eyes.
"Are you one of those aliens?" she asked.
"How can you tell?"
"The pink eyes are a give away."
"Not actually an alien.  Conceived on a UFO.  Child of a human mother.  Sent to make the world a better place."
"Are you mad?" asked Julie.
"We'll find out when we get in the car," said John.  Tracey looked at her mobile phone.
"Good weather forecast tomorrow," she said.  "Fancy a trip to the seaside?"
"The seaside?" asked Julie.
"If he's invented a new power supply he needs to give the car a long run."
"Thank you Tracey," said Gavin.
"Now we'll see how far the car can go on a cheap pair of AA batteries from the paper shop," said John, laughing.

 

The next day the 4 students drove away in the car.  It got to the motorway.
"Don't drive too fast," said Tracey.  "One of my friends was booked here for doing 85."
"If you do 85 in a little car like this," said John, "you'll feel as if the tyres are all flat.  Keep at a steady 70 unless you're overtaking something."  Julie was sitting in the front passenger seat.  She opened the glove compartment.
"Are you sure all the energy is coming from this little thing that looks like a walkman?"  Julie held it in her hand and started pulling the switches.
"Careful," said Tracy.  The sound of the motor stopped.  The car slowed down.
"Turn it on again," said Gavin.
"Ooh, spooky," said Julie.
"That's just a remote control," said John.  "I bet he's got an ordinary battery under the boot."  They stopped at the motorway services.
"Would you like to examine the car?" Gavin asked John.  "Check that there's no tom foolery and no cheating?"
"Yes," said John.  Gavin lifted up the bonnet and John had a good look around.  "No petrol or diesel tank," said John.  "No battery under the bonnet, not even an ordinary car battery.  Wires going to the walkman throught the back of the engine compartment.  If this is a trick Gavin, it's a clever trick."  They arrived at South Shields.
"We got here from Scotch Corner without recharging," said Tracey.  "Proof that this is not an ordinary electric car."
"I know all the places on the sea front where you can park for free," said Gavin.
"So do I.  They're all miles away from anywhere," said John.
"If all you want to do is walk five miles along a sandy beach, this is the place to be," said Gavin.  They went for a long walk along the sandy beach.  They had fish and chips in the town centre and returned.
"That was a great day out," said Julie.
"Now let's see if we can get home," said John.  They got into the car.  Gavin drove for several hours on the motorway.  The car started slowing down.
"I'm pressing the accelerator right down and can't do more than fifty," said Gavin.  "The battery must be flat.  That sign we just passed said the services are 11 miles.  We'll manage for quarter of an hour."  They parked the car at the service station.
"I could do with a cup of tea," said Julie.
"Can you take some more batteries out of the bag on the floor and put them in the walkman?" asked Gavin.  Julie did this.  "We've spent 5 hours on the motorway," Gavin said.  "I could buy some long life batteries and we'd go all the way to the south coast and back."
"Why not charge the batteries from the car alternator?" asked John, his scepticism gone.
"This is an electric car," said Gavin.  "It has no alternator and there's nowhere I can fit one.  A solar panel on the back window shelf would be easier."
"You're forgetting something," said Julie.  "You'll be driving at night.  It's dark at night."
"I know it's dark at night," said Gavin.  "Charge up the batteries during the day.  Then you'll be able to use them at night."
"What would happen in the short winter days?" asked Julie.
"There's at least 6 hours good daylight in December.  Charge the battery at 50 ma and you should be able to use the car for 3 hours every day."

 

Gavin had written a letter to his local MP about his invention.  He was sitting in the MP's office, looking at two smart men in suits.  One was the MP, and he was just about to introduce the other man.
"Good morning Gavin," said the MP.  "This is Mr. Sykes from the Department of Energy."
"Good morning," said Mr. Sykes.  "I am very interested in your research.  The Department of Energy are very interested in developing the idea further."
"In 20 years time, everybody will have a little box on the wall that generates all their electricity," said Gavin.  "They'll never have to pay a utility bill again."  Mr. Sykes looked shocked and horrified.
"What we're trying to do," said Mr. Sykes, "is to find an efficient way of manufacturing natural gas from water."
"You need a source of carbon, surely?" said Gavin.
"You need coal as well.  For every ton of coal I can get 5 tons of methane, natural gas, and that's worth a lot of money.  What's stopping us is the fact that it takes an enormous amount of electricity.  But with your device - " Gavin interrupted Mr. Sykes.
" - My invention is intended to bring free energy to mankind.  You can not use it to manufacture natural gas from coal and water."
"I can and I will," said Mr. Sykes.  Gavin looked upset.  The MP tried to console him.
"Gavin, think about how these things work.  Many countries are dependant on energy for their income.  Saudi Arabia would be flat broke if the world didn't need any more oil.  In Britain the government rely very heavily on the tax on petrol and diesel.  Which hospital or old people's home do you want to close?"
"I'll sell it to Nissan.  I'll give them the circuits in my solar powered car for free."
"If you do, you'll be laughed at," said Mr. Sykes.  "You'd never be believed."
"I'll sell my story to the newspapers.  It'll be headline news all over the world."
"No Gavin, it won't," said Mr. Sykes.  "When television was invented it wasn't headline news all over the world.  A journalist attended an electronics exhibition and described John Logie Baird as having a machine which he claimed could transmit photographs down telephone lines.  He insulted John Logie Baird.  He didn't even look at the machine.  You will be treated with derision, in the same way that television was in the 1920s."
"I'll sell my machines on the internet.  Put a solar panel in your window for £100 and never pay a utility bill again."
"Don't," said the MP.  "You'll just be another crank.  Anyone can say anything on the internet.  Gavin, if you help Mr. Sykes the technology will be developed for all the wrong reasons, but at least it will be developed.  One day you'll have solar panels in the sahara desert, powering your machine, and a new generation of power stations all over the world fuelled by hydrogen made from water."
"We'll do that when we run out of coal," said Mr. Sykes.
"Gavin," asked the MP, "what could you do with a billion pounds?  For that amount of money you could buy houses in all the major cities of the world and stay there whenever you chose.  You could buy your own ocean liner and sail there.  Just think, Gavin, a billion pounds.  You could build a hospital in India."
"If mankind is not ready for this new technology I will take it back."  Gavin hesitated for a moment, not wishing to add fuel to an already blazing fire by saying that he would take his technology back to Nibiru 9 and go and live there.  Mr. Sykes put a form on the desk and picked up a pen.
"Ten per cent of retail sales," he said.  "Every time somebody pays a £600 gas bill, there's £60 for you.  Simple as that.  There's an awful lot of gas bills in the world."
"Where do I sign?"

 

Gavin was working outside with an old mobile phone he had bought from the market for £20 and a satellite dish he had fastened to a metal stand.
"Where did you find that satellite dish?" asked Tracey.
"I found it when I was taking all our rubbish to the tip in the car.  I'm making a transmitter.  This mobile phone can be made to transmit a pulse which is a billionth of a second long.  For that billionth of a second, the mobile phone will have a power of a billion watts.  With the aerial as well, the mobile phone will have a power of a trillion watts."
"Where are you transmitting to?" asked Tracey.
"Nibiru is a tiny star the size of Jupiter, that is on the outskirts of the solar system in the Orion Belt."
"Why does no one know it's there?"
"The star is too dim to be seen from Earth.  Nibiru has 13 moons.  There is intelligent life on the 9th moon."
"Is that where you come from?"
"I was born on Earth but I'm trying to trace my biological mother, the creature who provided the original egg from which the hybrid embryo was created."
"You said you were created from a hybrid embryo."
"Yes, I'm half alien, half human.  I was implanted into the womb of the Earth woman who was taken on board the spacecraft that visited Earth.  I will email a request to the government Department of Family Reconciliation and ask that my details be passed on to her."  Gavin moved the satellite dish very carefully.  He had tuned the mobile phone to a radio station on Nibiru 9.  The phone blipped several times as he went past the station and turned the dish too far.  Eventually Gavin managed to get the satellite dish into the exact position.  A sports programme could be heard coming from the phone.
"A good first half of the game but terribly let down in the second half.  You should never let go of your frisby," said one commentator.
"Absolutely right," said the second commentator.  "Always keep possession of the frisby.  Never let it fall on the ground.  Always keep it in the air.  If it falls on the ground, the other team can come and pick it up."
"Nibiru Rangers are never going to get back into the champions league if they can't keep a frisby in the air," said the first commentator.
"Why do people get so excited about throwing a frisby?" asked Tracey.
"There's an enormous amount of skill involved," said Gavin.  "One of my classmates at school went to Nibiru 9 and became a well known frisbee player.  Brilliant player, he is.  I'd love to be like him.  It's no different to any of the sports that you play on Earth.  We are not here to listen to the frisbee competition.  I am simply using the signal from Talk Sport to make sure that my aerial is in the right position.  Now I will send my email."  Gavin typed into the tiny keypad on the phone.  He then pressed send.

 

A few days later Gavin came into the kitchen at tea time.
"We've found another use for your transmitter thing," said Julie.  She was holding the mobile phone and the satellite dish and pointing it at a delicious smelling turkey.  "This turkey cooked in only ten minutes.  It's a lovely shade of brown."
"Fancy some toast?" asked Tracey.  A loaf of sliced bread was spread out on a wooden breadboard.  Tracey took the satellite dish from Julie and pointed it at the loaf of bread.  In seconds, all the slices of bread became delicious smelling hot toast.  The breadboard started to go black and began to smoulder.
"Use a glass tray!" shouted John, waving his hand.  "You'll set the fire alarm off, again."
"Nothing like as good as an ultraviolet oven," said Gavin.  "It might be good enough for what you want to do with it.  As long as I can have the transmitter back for later tonight."

 

That night Gavin stood outside the house, patiently turning the satellite dish on its stand and holding the mobile phone.  Tracey was with him.  The phone beeped.
"Is that a message from Nibiru 9?" asked Tracey.  Gavin looked carefully at the phone.
"Yes, it is," he said, excitedly.  "It's my birth mother.  They've managed to trace her.  She's sent a picture of herself."
"Ooh," said Tracey.  "She's a lovely shade of purple.  I like her big green eyes.  Just like a pussy cat."
"She has sent me a message.  I'd love to get in touch with you, ZX81HUX, which is my real name, not Gavin.  When can I meet you?  I hear that you've invented something and you've come into a lot of money."