"Hey Eric, whatcha doin'?" Mark yelled out the window of the Hot Bod, the name he'd affectionately given his Mustang. You had to holler when the Hot Bod was around. Mark didn't believe in mufflers.
"Cut your engine and come find out!" Eric hollered back. Mark cut the engine and he and a healthy looking blonde got out. Eric whistled appreciatively, eyeing her up and down in an exaggerated manner meant as a joke.
"Eric, meet Debbie," Mark grinned.
"Well helloooo, Debbie! Where'd you come from?"
Mark laughed. "She comes from the Darnell farm."
"Darnell? Aren't you the girl that city boy's chasing after? What was his name?"
"Cromwell," Debbie grinned.
"Yeah, Cromwell. So what happened to this Cromwell dude? I heard you guys were an item."
"We were. The damn cops split us up. His daddy's on the force up in Joliet and the police don't like us Darnell's ever since Grandpa and Billy Starnes got into it fifty years ago. Son of a bitches," Debbie spat.
"Gee, I don't know, Deb," Mark interjected, "seems like they did me a hell of a favor!"
"I wish somebody'd do ME a favor like that!" Eric laughed.
"Hang out with me and I'll teach you the ropes," Mark offered. Eric punched Mark affectionately in the arm and they all laughed. Suddenly, a spectacular light show played across the sky. Seconds later, it had ended.
"Wow, that was incredible!" Debbie said, face illuminated as if a wondrous vision had manifested itself.
"Weird!" Mark whistled. "Maybe your friends are finally coming to get you," he teased.
Eric laughed. "You better be careful, Mark. If you're with me when they come, they'll probably get you, too!"
"That's not funny guys. Something special just happened up there. Be serious."
"Serious?" Eric asked. "I'm always serious. Ask me anything about UFOs. They've been visiting earth for thousands of years and for your information, weird lights in the sky have always been associated with UFO sightings, as in the case of Our Lady of Fatima on October 13, 1917. Seventy thousand people witnessed that event and while few people know of the UFO connection, believing that the incident was purely a religious one, the UFO connection does exist as detailed by researcher Jacques Vallee."
Mark grimaced. "Okay Eric, enough already! Can't we just lay back and enjoy the show? Do we have to analyze it to death?"
Debbie's eyes showed a keen interest, not only in the information but in the man behind the information. Imperceptibly she moved closer to Eric. "Is all this true, what you're saying? You've really studied up on UFOs?"
"Yes, I have. I believe in them 100%."
"Maybe we could get together and share notes sometime."
"You've studied them, too?"
Debbie smiled softly. "Yes, I've studied them, too."
Suddenly, Mark Boeing felt like the odd man out. He countered with a feeble joke. "I guess I don't need to teach you the ropes after all, huh buddy?"
Eric turned to Mark, sensing his friend's discomfort. He playfully punched Mark in the arm hoping to recapture the earlier camaraderie. "Hey, let's go for a ride in the Hot Bod!" he suggested, instantly realizing his error.
A feeling of sadness settled over the two friends as they realized that their worlds had shifted, previous relationships passing away with the dawn of a new day. Three pairs of eyes gazed poignantly into the heavens wondering how something as abstract as a heavenly light show could alter their lives forever.
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Max
"Max!" Brody embraced his friend. "You're back! Thank God! You wouldn't believe what's been going on around here... oh no, Max, you've got to get out of here! Quick, before the police find you!"
Max laughed. "Brody, slow down! Take it easy. I haven't broken any laws."
"They think you robbed the First National Bank in St. Charles, Missouri!"
Max gestured for Brody to sit down. "Brody, I didn't rob any bank. In fact, I saved a woman's life. And I made the most incredible discovery!"
Brody was too agitated to sit. He paced the room for a moment then stopped, looking at Max. "But they believe you robbed that bank. They've got proof and they're watching your apartment. Oh God!" Brody exclaimed. "I think they're watching mine, too! They'll know you're here. You better get out, fast!"
"What kind of proof?"
"Blueprints!"
Max shook his head. "Brody, it's possible that the bank robbery never even happened and even if it did, I could make those blueprints disappear, or make it so they never found them. It's pretty complicated and I'll explain it all to you later... what I've been doing for all these months. But there's one thing I can tell you... if there was a bank robbery and they find a way to pin it on me, it's no big deal. There's absolutely nothing they can do to me, Brody, that I can't undo. I could even make it so that the real robbers get caught before they can even get into the bank!"
Brody sat down. "So it's really true, this time travel stuff?"
"Yes it is!" Max jumped up, excited. "I can open up a wormhole to any place and any time! I can go back to a week ago or even a hundred years ago. I can go anyplace in the world! They can't touch me, Brody." Max smiled, rubbing what he called his magic compass.
Brody was awed, his eyes growing wide. "Are you really related to those big men? Cantor? Halley? Is that really the compass made by Edmond Halley in the 1600s?"
Max laughed. "Yes, yes, and yes!"
"Wow! And here I thought you were just a tech-head with weird fascinations!" Brody laughed.
"The compass wasn't the only thing I inherited from Edmond Halley." Max smiled. "I inherited some letters that he and Isaac Newton wrote to each other about a buried treasure in England. Newton had been researching the exact location and he drew up three treasure maps where he thought the treasure might be buried. Apparently Halley had to do some serious calculations because the treasure was buried according to the stars rather than a tree or rock like most treasures."
"Treasure maps? Seriously? From Isaac Newton?"
"Yes, my friend... treasures maps! There's a county in England called the Hundred of Hoo that borders the ocean, and not far from the shore is an ancient place called Hoo All Hallows... I own a cottage not far from there called Urania Cottage where we can stay. I don't know if I can bring anybody with me when I take a time-trip but maybe if you're touching me when I go, you'll tag along. Wanna try it?" Max grinned, ready to take his best friend on an adventure.
Brody lit up. "Sure! I am soooo ready! I totally need a vacation. Let's get the heck out of here! Let's go digging for buried treasure!"
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Epilogue
William Scott Baker had just been released from prison. "I'm gonna be rich!" he sang, dancing around his shabby apartment. His cell-mate had been Gary Vandeberg, great-great-great-grandson of the infamous Vandeberg moonshiners. Scott couldn't remember how many "greats" there were in between Gary and his moonshining ancestors but it didn't really matter.
What mattered was that Gary knew about some underground tunnels that lead into and out of the cellar of the First National Bank. His family had known about the tunnels for generations but except for Gary and the original moonshiners, none of the Vandebergs had criminal tendencies.
Gary had bragged to Scott about those tunnels and how he intended to hit the bank as soon as he got out. They had even formed a partnership in the event they were released at the same time, planning the derring-do together, but Scott had gotten out first, full of Gary's knowledge about the tunnels.
They had an ingenious plan to launder the money through a series of transactions with people they referred to as "goats" such as Edward Coggins. They chose people who they knew preferred cash transactions. Scott hired Coggins to install a state-of-the-art security system which included equipment that could easily be resold for top dollar. Coggins got the dirty money and Scott got equipment which he immediately resold for clean money. Coggins,
like the other goats, was clueless. Had he not been Max's friend he never would have been on the radar of the police.
"I'm gonna be rich by you, just you, and nobody else but you!" Scott sang in falsetto, imitating Marilyn Monroe.
His voice died out as his father, William Jerome Baker, was shot somewhere back in time before Scott's birth.
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Afterword
The murder of Edmond Halley the soap-boiler: The tale of Edmond Halley's murder is a true story and his murder was never solved. The Rye House Plot was a solid contender, as was the suicide. While Joane Halley was also a suspect, nobody at that time strung together the many marriages that I found in the public records. All of the Joanes were real people but the notion that they were one in the same was purely hypothetical. Mary Carleton, the bigamist who got away with it, was also a true account.
The soap-boiler wars were true as well but I never found a mention of the soap-boiler wars as being connected to Halley's murder. That also, was my own hypothesis. All of the William Bakers in England were found in the public records, including their crimes, but any connection to each other, or Halley, was purely fictional. The William Bakers in the United States were fully fictional in every respect.
Halley's body was indeed found at Temple Farm and all of the historical bits and pieces regarding Temple Farm such as Sibble Parry and the Knights Templar connection were indeed, genuine. The murder of Edmond Halley started out as a small item of trivia in the story, taking up a paragraph or two, but once I started digging the story took on a life of its own. So many pieces were interconnected and it seemed that the more I researched, the more fascinating the story behind Edmond Halley's murder became.
Sir Edmond Halley the astronomer: Halley did indeed invent the liquid version of the compass. In researching the history of the compass an unexpected connection came up concerning Edmond Halley of Halley's Comet. This led to researching Halley, which brought even stranger facts connecting Halley with the father of gravity himself, Isaac Newton. Such connections are revealed in the book, and are accurate. During my research one bizarre fact led to another, taking me on an unbelievable journey which I have shared with you in the story.
The portions of Halley's family tree including Sybilla Parry, Mary Freeman, Ann Robinson, and the various Parry's and Perry's were researched exhaustively in the hopes of providing accuracy.
Whether any compass made by Halley exists today is unknown. Other than the liquid-filled compass, we can only guess at the types of compasses Halley might have made during his life.
Georg Cantor: Georg Cantor, whose correct spelling is Georg, was a renowned mathematician who lived from 1845-1918. His full name was Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philip Cantor, born of father Georg Woldemar Cantor and mother Maria Anna Bohm.
Georg was born in Russia, his family moved to Germany when he was 11 years old, and there he spent most of his life. He married Vally Guttmann, a friend of his sister, and together they had six children, one of whom died young. With the exception of the child who died, I was unable to learn the names or fates of the other five children. The various Bohms, Grimms, Guttmanns and Gutmanns were actual people whose connections were made as accurately as possible.
Georg Cantor's mathematical genius and discoveries are factual. He did indeed prove the concept of mathematical infinity and was thus ridiculed by his peers for most of his life as a charlatan, as is often the case with those whose ideas are ahead of their time.
If you are curious about any of the facts attributed to Georg, or any of his odd beliefs, I welcome you to research him for yourself. You'll find many of the facts that I've attributed to Georg to be accurate until I start connecting them to the fourth dimension. Perhaps if he had lived longer, Georg himself would have made the connections that become the Cantor Dimension.
Albertus Magnus and the Philosopher's Stone: Everything attributed to Albertus Magnus is factual. The Philosopher's Stone is a genuine legend though it was not thought to be an actual stone. Magnus, Aquinas, and Newton's adventures with the Philosopher's Stone are factual, as are all the strange and wonderful tales surrounding the Betyl Stones, the time gods, meteorites, and so forth. While the Itzawisis meteorite was indeed stolen, we know nothing of its theft or whereabouts and the notion that it was turned into a series of rings is purely fictional.
Tailed Men: The tall tales of the tailed men were indeed told in the ancient texts. Every account was taken from an old encyclopedia or other text. The curse of Strood was also a true account, though I cannot say whether the men actually possessed tails. As so many actually believed in the truthfulness of it, and some claimed to witness the tails firsthand, one cannot help but wonder if the stories were indeed true.
Weird Facts: Offa, Thingfrith, Tugmutton Common, Bastard Green, the Prince of Transylvania, Charles Dickens and Urania Cottage, the Hundred of Hoo, the asylum, and the many other wild and wacky oddities I've sprinkled through the story are true to the best of my knowledge. If you don't believe me, I've included a lengthy bibliography so that you can check for yourself.
The science behind the story: Upon reading the original version of this book for what seemed like the first time after so many decades, I loved the story but not the scientific premise which made it possible. Science fiction had come such a long way in my lifetime that I decided to reinvent the science behind the story.
The original version was based on astral projection, and the projection of the physical body from one place to another simply by willing it. In other words, mind over matter. This revised version, with a new scientific premise and a new name to match, has its basis in a strange string of scientific facts. The revisions transformed the book from a metaphysical mystery into an astrophysical mystery.
The Cantor Cube and the Cantor Space do exist, as does an electron bound to a hole and crystals in our brains. Most of the pieces that I've strung together scientifically do exist, though not connected as I've connected them. The history of the space-time theories do indeed go back 250 years and Einstein was not the only notable whose name was attached to space-time.
Writing this story was like taking a box of a thousand tiny puzzle pieces and fitting them together into a coherent whole. No doubt you'll read oddities and wonder if they exist or if that particular portion of the story is true. Go ahead, take a whirl around Google and see for yourself. You'll be amazed at how the truth is far more bizarre than fiction could ever be!
Gottingen: Google translations of the original German text from Wikipedia make a reference to both Gotting and Gottingen for the pastor Josef Grimm. Other accounts of the incident reference Goetting. As all accounts are specific to the state of Bavaria in south Germany, and maps of the accounts show a town in Germany south of Munich near the southern border, this Gotting is not likely to be the same city as the Gottingen in central Germany where the university is located. Otherwise, all of the stories and references relating to Gottingen are factual.
Fictional characters: The front story characters which include Brody, Max, Ellen, Jimmy, Pat, Eric, Mark, Jerome, Donny, the various policemen, and their respective friends and families are pure fiction. Max and his family, and Jerome, in particular, are fictional characters, not actual descendants of famous people. The entire front story is fictional including the bank robbery. Any resemblance to real people is purely coincidental.
Timelines:
1643-1727: Life of Isaac Newton
1656-1742: Life of the astronomer Edmond Halley
1691: Halley invents the liquid compass
1704: Debaufres and Duillier invent the jewel bearing
1754: d'Alembert makes reference to space-time
1832: Discovery of Xenotime crystals
1845-1918: Life of Georg Cantor
1862: Cantor enrolls in the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich
1880: Discovery of the Eagle Station meteorite
1879-1955: Life of Albert Einstein
1896: Einstein enroll
s in the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich
1908: Minkowski puts forth the theory of a four-dimensional space-time continuum
1946: Discovery of the Itzawisis meteorite
2001: Theft of the Itzawisis meteorite
Copyright: The Cantor Dimension was originally written in 1993 and officially copyrighted in 1994 under the title/author: The Unicorn Papers by Jessie Kincaid, an early pen-name of Sharon Delarose.
It was never formally published and sat forgotten among my many writings. In 2010 or thereabouts, I went on a mission to find the original computer document which had been created in an obscure software program that few of today's software programs can import from. After quite a bit of futzing around, I was able to extract the book and move it into my current software program where I could revise and release it officially.
Portions of the book were outdated which was fascinating unto itself. The original version did not have cell phones, DVD players, or MP3 players. A variety of other technical changes had to be made in order for the story to be current. You will still, however, find references to "dialing a telephone" as dial phones were still the norm at the time the book was originally written. Lacking a better way of wording it, I left those references alone.
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Other Books by Sharon Delarose
Bad Dog to Best Friend
Yankee, Go Home
Wedding Anniversary Gifts for Coin Collectors
Queen of T-Shirts
www.gityasome.com
www.villagetshirts.com
The Cantor Dimension Page 20
