The Other Project

Technology in development parallel with The Manhattan Project is summarily canceled after atomic bombs end WWII and the over-riding focus turns to maintaining nuclear superiority and secrecy. Years later, the parallel project resurfaces, and further research and development yields astonishing results that could revolutionize every aspect of life on Earth. However, to prevent their investments in fossil fuels and related industries from becoming worthless overnight, an international cartel of power brokers has been preventing the release of the advanced technology, keeping it in the hands of the military at Area 51. Meanwhile, climate change advances unchecked, with more frequent and ever-larger catastrophic events. The need for this revolutionary technology to reverse the trend is acute, but the powers that be insist on maintaining their positions of power in spite of the unfolding ecological disaster. Fed up with delays, the aging scientist who pioneered the technology pockets a few parts from the top-secret base in the Nevada desert, intending to give the work of his life to the world. A few enthusiastic helpers volunteer to prepare a hasty public demonstration, which gets foiled. An unexpected chase and a narrow escape turn them into fugitives. The stakes get raised even higher when the aging scientist reveals that the technology is even more fantastic than they realized. It becomes clear the only way out of their predicament is with full disclosure and an undeniable demonstration of what the technology can do. Unfortunately, they have to return to Area 51 to get the data the scientist couldn't take when he absconded with the parts. The fugitives suffer tragic loss in their effort, but they make it out with the data and give a fantastic, and irrefutable public demonstration, along with full disclosure of all supporting data. In the epilog, one last reveal of the technology clinches the arc of the story.