THE BREAKTHROUGH

Episode 31 of the Lymp Duhdashian series

Frank was scrolling the news on Diamond’s laptop and groaning with the boredom of it.
Suddenly he sat bolt upright and gasped.

“Diamond! Didn’t you say your sister was going on about Fusion Energy in her emails?” Diamond looked up from wrapping her Christmas presents. “Yes, she sent me a whole heap of links that I did not read…. Why?”

Frank began to read aloud from a BBC astonishing announcement:

“A major breakthrough has been announced by US scientists in the race to recreate nuclear fusion. Physicists have pursued the technology for decades as it promises a potential source of near-limitless clean energy. On Tuesday (13th December 2022) researchers confirmed they have overcome a major barrier - producing more energy from a fusion experiment than was put in. But experts say there is still some way to go before fusion powers homes.

The experiment took place at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California. LLNL director Dr Kim Budil said: "This is a historic achievement… over the past 60 years thousands of people have contributed to this endeavour and it took real vision to get us here." Nuclear fusion is described as the "holy grail" of energy production. It is the process that powers the Sun and other stars. It works by taking pairs of light atoms and forcing them together - this "fusion" releases a lot of energy. It is the opposite of nuclear fission, where heavy atoms are split apart. Fission is the technology currently used in nuclear power stations, but the process also produces a lot of waste that continues to give out radiation for a long time. It can be dangerous and must be stored safely.

Nuclear fusion produces far more energy, and only small amounts of short-lived radioactive waste. And importantly, the process produces no greenhouse gas emissions and therefore does not contribute to climate change. But one of the challenges is that forcing and keeping the elements together in fusion requires very high temperatures and pressures. Until now, no experiment has managed to produce more energy than the amount put in to make it work.”

“How on earth did Olympia know about all this on a yacht in the Caribbean?” mused Diamond. “She must have been mixing with some high flyers!”

Frank knew who the owner of the turquoise superyacht is and he knew him, up close and personal, due to his official capacity as British Head of Security at WEF Davos several years on the run. He could not divulge any of that information to Diamond due to the British Official Secrets Act. He simply nodded while he researched as much information as he could find on Fusion Energy. “Can I see the links Olympia sent you please?” he asked Diamond. “Sure thing!” she answered and threw her iPhone into his lap.
Diamond trusted Frank in a way that she had never trusted anyone before. For the first time in her life she felt loved. She did not feel lonely any more. It is possible to be in a crowded room and feel completely isolated and that was Diamond’s life before Fanny had metamorphosed into Frank Ranger.

Nobody else had ever gone to such extreme lengths to get into her life as Frank had done. She could hardly believe that this man had shaved his entire body, bar his eyebrows which he had plucked to appear more feminine. He had squeezed his feet into smaller sized heeled shoes, he had spent money on clothes, make up and fancy business cards. He had stood in the rain for hours just to catch her leaving the hospital while nursing 5 bullet wounds in his legs. Every time she felt the stubble growing back on his scalp, chin and legs she admired Frank more.
She couldn’t wait to see him with hair!

“What are you staring at?” Frank asked Diamond and she blushed slightly. “I am admiring your 5 o’clock shadow!” she giggled and dived on him to rub her face against it. Frank laughed and promised not to shave again for the umpteenth time. “Your sister is a treasure trove of information!” he said, reading all the links that Olympia had emailed to Diamond for safekeeping. “Some of this is gold! Have you seen this video?” and Diamond peered at the screen of the laptop.

“Tarky says Lymp has had a personality-ectomy, but I know her better than anyone.” asserted Diamond. “She is multi-phrenic!” and Frank laughed. “What does THAT even mean?” he asked.
”Lymp is like a chameleon! She can change in an instant from one personality to another! She likes to pretend she is a silly airhead but she is far from that. She was super successful at everything in school. She was such a hard act to follow! Teachers would expect me to be like her and I really am not!” Diamond laughed, remembering trying to play tennis and failing. Trying to do pure maths and failing. Trying to deceive staff and escape the school grounds at night and failing abysmally.

Olympia Duhdashian had been a star pupil, a star sportswoman and above all, incredibly popular. Diamond had been nick-named Dim for a reason. There was no way that she could ever reach the standards set by her famous sister. Frank spotted Diamond bite her bottom lip and put his arm around her newly tiny waist. “So is that why you got your ribs taken out? Just to compete with Lymp?”

Diamond sort of shrugged resignedly. “Do you think I might need therapy?” she asked him, looking pathetic. Frank shook his head and kissed her forehead. “Don’t be daft!” he assured her, “I love your silly insecurities! They are realistic and self-effacing…. kind of endearing, actually! There are times when you take my breath away, Diamond, because you really do not know how beautiful you are! Yeah, Olympia is drop dead gorgeous but man, doesn’t she know it!” and he pulled up Olympia’s Instagram, littered with images of her posing for the paparazzi.

—0—

Meanwhile, Olympia the glamour puss was far from glamorously clinging onto a windswept guard rail on the SeaSwan which was bucking at incredible speed through relentless waves in the Atlantic. Her hair was plastered with saltwater and her skin was ruddy from the wind. She was excited beyond expression. This is really living! she was thinking and wondered if her heroine Doris Duke ever crossed the Atlantic in winter like this. I bet she did. There was nothing that Doris had left undone during her incredible life.

Dave was grinning through the wheelhouse wind shield and had to admit that he had not expected Olympia to be so enthusiastic a sailor as she appeared to be right now. He was warming to this weird changeable female specimen. He had never met anyone quite like her before. “Look at her!” he remarked to Khan beside him. Khan laughed but admitted that he was not a bit surprised. Olympia was a mess of hidden facets and wild cards. She had something in her metaphorical hands, something very precious to Khan. She had his heart and that made Khan feel very vulnerable for the first time in his life.