Ball Lightning

“I was one of his students. He was just a lecturer back then, and hadn’t transferred to your university.” Colonel Xu turned melancholy for a moment. “I called him up a few days ago. I’ve wanted to see him but I haven’t been able to find the time. I’m afraid he doesn’t have much time left. You know of his illness?”

I nodded again.

“He was rigorous in his studies, and he worked diligently his entire life….”

“Let’s get back to the paint!” Lin Yun said impatiently.

“I know of that invention. I was on the appraisal committee. It was remarkably effective in protecting against lightning,” Colonel Xu said.

“The key thing is whether it needs to be grounded in order to work. If it does, then there’s not much point,” Lin Yun said. I had always admired her technical mind. The majority of anti-lightning paints needed to be grounded, but the question was not one a non-specialist was likely to ask.

Colonel Xu scratched his head. “Hmm… it’s been so long that I can’t remember. You’ll have to ask the inventor for the details.”

Lin Yun snatched up the phone and passed it to me. “Give him a call at once and ask him. If it’ll work, then have him come to Beijing. We’ll need to manufacture a batch of it immediately.”

“He’s a cancer patient,” I said, looking at her awkwardly.

Colonel Xu said, “It’s not a problem just to ask.”

I took the receiver from Lin Yun’s hand. “I don’t know if he’s at home or at the hospital…,” I said, flipping open my address book. His home number was on the first page. I dialed, and then a weak voice sounded on the receiver. “Who is it?”

When I gave him my name, the distant voice instantly became stronger and more excited. “Oh, hello! Where are you? What are you up to?”

“Professor Zhang, I’m working on a national defense project. How’s your health?”

“You mean you’ve made progress?” he asked, ignoring my question.

“It’s hard to say on the phone. How’s your health?”

“Diminishing by the day. Zhao Yu visited. He may have mentioned it to you.”

“Yes. How is your treatment going?” As I spoke, Lin Yun whispered urgently, “Ask him…,” but I covered the mouthpiece and snapped, “Get away.”

When I returned the receiver to my ear, I heard Zhang Bin say, “…I’ve pulled together another set of research materials and I’m getting ready to send them to you.”

“Professor Zhang, I’d like to ask you about something else. It’s about the high-tension wire anti-lightning paint you developed.”

“Oh. That stuff had no economic value and was shelved long ago. What do you want to know?”

“Does it need to be grounded?”

“No. It doesn’t need grounding. Its shielding effect is self-contained.”

“We want to use it on aircraft.”

“I’m afraid that won’t work. The paint produces a fairly thick coating, and definitely won’t meet the aerodynamic indicators required for an aircraft surface. Also, the skin of the plane is of an entirely different material from high-tension wires. It might erode the skin it’s painted on in the long term.”

“None of that matters. I just want to know whether it would have an anti-lightning effect on planes.”

“Definitely. Paint it thick enough, and the plane could fly straight through a thunderhead. The paint’s been tested for that before, just not on planes. The academy’s atmospherics lab once had a project to use sonar balloons to probe the structure of storm clouds. But on several occasions, the balloons and the instrument module suspended from them were destroyed by lightning strikes shortly after entering the clouds. So they looked me up, we put a layer of paint on the instrument module and the balloon, and they ended up entering clouds several dozen times without incident. That might possibly be the sole practical application of the paint.”

“Excellent! Is any of the finished paint still around?”

“Sure. It’s in the storage room of the atmospheric electricity lab. It should still be usable. There’s probably enough to paint a small airplane. The administrator has tried to get rid of those sealed barrels on a number of occasions, since they take up space, but I wouldn’t allow it. If they’re useful to you, then take them. I’ve also got a complete set of materials, so it won’t be a problem to fabricate more. I’ve got a question… though if it’s inconvenient, then of course you don’t have to answer: Is this connected to ball lightning research?”

“It is.”

“So you’ve really made progress?”

“Professor Zhang, it’s not just me now. Lots of people are involved in it. As for progress, we just might make some.”

“Great. I’ll come over at once. You’ll need me, at least as far as the paint is concerned.”

Before I had a chance to speak, Lin Yun covered the mouthpiece. She had heard what Zhang Bin said and was evidently afraid I wouldn’t let him come. She whispered, “He can be admitted to 301 Military Hospital once he comes. They’re better equipped for treatment than where he is, right? Besides, if his materials are complete, then he won’t have to expend much energy.”