Beyond the Event Horizon - Episode Four

by Albert Sartison

  “But what does the black hole have to do with it?”

  “You remember when we were estimating the maximum speed of the aliens’ ships?”

  “I do. We are basing our defence plans on the basis of that estimate. We reckon the aliens can reach a speed of up to 3/4 c.”

  “Just so. Consequently, the aliens are restricted in the range of the catapult. But if they are intending to concentrate the power of eight such arrays, it means they are planning a super-long jump.”

  “And why specifically the centre of the galaxy?”

  “There are many reasons for that. For example, an array focuses its power in its geometric centre. So it makes sense to place all the separate components of the array not somewhere to the side of the galaxy, but so that their centres coincide.

  “There is not much point in portals beyond the limits of the galaxy. Why would they want to set off into the intergalactic vacuum, if there is nothing there? No, it is better to put them close to star systems where there are planets and living space.

  “Another reason is the method of supplying the portals with energy, of which they must consume a tremendous amount. Again, it is not difficult to find energy within the galaxy, since energy from the nearest star can be used.

  “But the most important thing, in my view, is something else. As you know, a black hole absorbs material and, on account of its super-high mass, is capable of concentrating a gravitational field of monstrous power alongside it.”

  “Yes, it’s not only astrophysicists who know that.”

  “True, but it is much less common knowledge among non-specialists that a black hole does not just create a force of attraction. Material usually falls into a hole not like a stone falls on Earth, in a parabola, but more in a spiral, because of its high speed relative to the hole.

  “As it approaches the hole and falls into the throat of the most insatiable beast in the cosmos, matter accelerates to incredible speeds. This madly rushing matter is heated to fantastic temperatures and emanates hard radiation. It collects in one plane in the shape of a sort of ring, forming what is called an accretion disc.

  “If our assumptions are true, the aliens have not only created a super-powerful catapult, they are also trying to use the black hole’s force of attraction to accelerate the thrown object. If you send a ship already accelerated to sub-light speed on a particular trajectory at a minimum distance from the event horizon, virtually unlimited kinetic energy can be imparted to it. In this way, the aliens apparently want to make a super-long-range throw possible.”

  “And where do they want to go? To the world beyond the grave?”

  Shelby smiled for the first time.

  “Not quite that far, I think. The portals are scattered all over the galaxy, therefore the aliens have apparently already colonised the entire Milky Way, or have at least laid the foundations for its colonisation by building the transport infrastructure. They can reach any point in our galaxy within less than five years.

  “But it’s getting cramped for them here and it’s time for the next step. Everything points to the aliens planning an expansion to another galaxy, and an array of portals focused on a super-massive black hole gives them the chance of doing so.”

  “Have you worked out where they want to go?”

  “It’s pretty obvious. The nearest galaxy to the Milky Way is Andromeda.”

  MacQueen thought about this.

  “Wouldn’t it be simpler just to fly to Andromeda, rather than build this monstrous machine the size of a galaxy?”

  “Have you any idea of the size of the Milky Way?”

  “Not the slightest.”

  “Well, our galaxy has a spiral shape, with a diameter of about one hundred thousand light years. This means that before the portals came into use, a classical journey from one edge to the other would have taken at least a hundred thousand years. Actually it’s even longer, but that’s beside the point.

  “That is indeed a long time, but if the aliens are telling the truth, then their civilisation is about a million years old. A hundred thousand years against the background of such a long history of existence is an acceptable length of time. But a journey to Andromeda, which is two and a half million light years away, is quite another matter. That means that to fly there would take the aliens a length of time more than twice that of the life of their civilisation.”

  “This other galaxy – is the game worth the candle?”

  “Absolutely. Andromeda is much bigger than the Milky Way. It contains about five times as many stars, and correspondingly more valuable resources – living space, energy...

  “Most likely its central black hole is much more massive than ours. Who knows what range a catapult might have if the aliens built such a structure in Andromeda?

  “And there’s one more thing about our neighbouring galaxy. It is heading towards ours, and will collide with the Milky Way in a few billion years.”

  Shelby again turned to his map and started a video simulation of the collision of the galaxies. The image showed how the two galaxies, each rotating around its own axis, were slowly creeping towards each other.

  “If they collide, they’ll be destroyed! So much work and all for nothing?” asked MacQueen.

  “They will collide, but galaxies are not monolithic formations, just stars mixed with gas and dust, held together by gravitational forces. If we compare the dimensions of a galaxy with the size of the individual stars and the distances between them, then they are more like clouds of mist. So the effect of a collision will be something like that of mist clouds. Look at this.”

  He gestured to increase the speed of the simulation. The two galaxies floated faster, touched, and, as if meeting no obstacle, passed through each other like clouds. Shelby speeded up the animation still further. The galaxies, having merged with each other, began rapidly oscillating this way and that like a wobbling jelly. Their original shape was gradually lost, and their bright centres were harder and harder to distinguish against the background of star clusters. Finally, the two galaxies became a single conglomeration. The professor stopped the animation.

  “When it reaches this stage, you could say that the merging process has been completed, so that they have merged into a single whole, the total mass of which is slightly less than that of the Milky Way and Andromeda put together, since a small number of stars will be thrown beyond the boundaries of the new galactic formation. The former galactic centres have also merged into a single whole, as have their central black holes, which have formed a still bigger super-hole.”

  “Well, it looks as if the aliens have a really big game plan. By the way, how long have they been working on this project?”

  “It’s hard to say precisely, we can only make an estimate on the basis of studies of the influence of gravity waves on other bodies and the pattern of their interference with each other. This is a rather inaccurate method, but we believe that the first portal of the array was built about 200,000 years ago. So roughly at the time when the so-called Mitochondrial Eve was living on Earth, the aliens had completed construction of the first element of the array.”

  “But why did they need to build the final element of the array just where we are?”

  “It seems there is a certain technical reason for that. All the elements of the array are in the same plane, plus or minus ten light years. This is a negligible planar thickness, considering its huge area.

  “There are probably design considerations which make it necessary to dispose the separate elements of the array in this way. I already said that these elements must be close to stars. Apparently, when the aliens were planning to build this enormous catapult, they selected the star systems they needed, and the Solar System simply happened to fit because of its position in space, as well as the fact that it has quite a stable star in the middle of its life cycle. The fact that Homo sapiens happens to be living there is most likely just a coincidence, but since we are here, the aliens had to come to terms with us.

  �
��Incidentally, here’s an interesting fact. The construction of the array has now been going on for 200,000 years. Our galaxy is not a rigid structure, and the stars in it don’t stand still. They rotate around the galactic centre, sometimes rising above the plane of the galactic ecliptic, sometimes falling below it; anyway, their relative position changes. So in its present form, the array will only remain functional for a few hundred years. If the aliens had been a few centuries later, they would have had to choose another star. Would they have visited us in that case? Who knows?”

  “This is all extremely interesting, professor, but is it possible to draw any practical conclusions from your studies?”

  “Yes. Judging from the fact that the aliens have been able to build portals all over the galaxy, they are most likely the dominant race in the Milky Way. Or they may form part of some dominant alliance of races, it doesn’t matter which.

  “As we know from the history of mankind, which is hardly different in principle from the history of any other technogenic civilisation, expansion and the discovery of new living spaces sometimes, if not always, involve the use of force. In the case of the aliens, bearing in mind the level of civilisation they have reached, this is more likely to be soft force, coercion, rather than the destruction of everything standing in the way of their plans.

  “So in my opinion, you can put an ‘equals’ sign between the concepts ‘most developed civilisation’ and ‘most powerful civilisation’ from a military point of view. Expansion in conditions of competition is impossible without a powerful military apparatus. In the Milky Way, the aliens have apparently managed to become leaders, and are now planning to extend their influence to a neighbouring galaxy.

  “As we now know for certain, life is not just a random phenomenon that happened on Earth, but a fundamental property of matter. Consequently, we have to expect that advanced civilisations exist in Andromeda too. Furthermore, Andromeda is larger than our galaxy, so it provides more opportunities for life to arise.

  “And now we get down to the actual problem I fear we shall have to face. In the Milky Way, the aliens have only come across inferior powers of resistance, if any, from less advanced civilisations. By making the jump to Andromeda, it is virtually guaranteed that they will clash with the dominant race there. It is possible that we may be on the threshold of a confrontation between two mega-civilisations.”

  13

  In spite of the fine cloudless weather, the president felt uneasy this evening and kept lifting his head to admire the stars. Previously he had taken no particular interest in astronomy, except perhaps as it affected the space industry, but the appearance of the aliens had changed his attitude to the science of the Universe beyond the limits of his own planet.

  That amusing old man Professor Shelby had a good deal to do with this. He knew how to interest people in the subject of his profession, subconsciously rather than having to make a special effort to do so, even when his listener knew next to nothing about all these comets, planets and stars.

  The president stood next to his tent, erected in a beautiful location on the shore of Moraine Lake, and raised his eyes to the night sky with its bright stars. He had almost forgotten how a starry sky looked far from the lights of big cities. In the past he had looked on them as something from another dimension, other worlds so far away that there was no hope of visiting them. But now that the aliens had proposed the terraforming project, and hinted that they might help with interstellar travel in the future, these points in the sky had suddenly become of interest to him.

  At first, of course, and possibly forever, man would have to put up with a secondary role in the assimilation of space. Mankind was a very long way behind the aliens in its development, and they would hardly hand over this advantage to the Earthlings voluntarily, however good the mutual understanding might be in the future. On the other hand, it was better to be the lead race on a galactic scale than the leading one somewhere in a galactic backwater.

  It could not have been more appropriate that the annual conference of space industry investors should begin the day after Parliament’s decision on the terraforming project. The president usually looked on such events as just another way of getting himself on the evening news, but not this time. This evening, after the end of the official part, he had invited the most important players to join him for dinner. Only at the last minute did his guests discover that it would not just be a dinner, but a business meeting with a very full agenda. It was easier to gain concessions from people who were unprepared.

  The president hunched up. It was too cool this evening to stand out in the open air in only his suit with no overcoat. He took a few deep breaths, watching the vapour coming from his mouth, and was about to go back into the tent to give his speech when he noticed a shining point high in the sky, winking as it rapidly descended.

  That was how ships looked, returning to Earth from the stratosphere. The ship must still be at a very great altitude to be shining so brightly in the light of the Sun, which had long since fallen below the horizon.

  The president had an unpleasant sense of foreboding. The flight of ships in the vicinity of such an event as tonight’s meeting, to which many high-ranking politicians from many countries, including himself, were invited, was strictly forbidden, so this had to be some special exception. He looked around. The nearest guard quickly guessed his thoughts and immediately approached him.

  “Is there a problem, Mr. President?” he asked.

  The president indicated the descending point and asked: “What ship is that?”

  The guard raised his head, but at that moment the ship was lost from view, probably because it had entered the Earth’s shadow.

  “Where, Mr. President?”

  “Damn, it was there just now. Now it’s disappeared.”

  “I’ll find out, Mr. President. I won’t be a second,” replied the guard, and took a few steps back, saying something into his microphone. Less than ten seconds later, the head of the president’s security appeared.

  “That’s MacQueen’s ship, John. He has something urgent to tell you.”

  “MacQueen? Why wasn’t I informed immediately?”

  Dennis’s face took on a somewhat surprised expression.

  “That’s normal procedure, you only learn of unplanned visitors when they are already sitting in the outer office.”

  “But not MacQueen, and not today!” the president retorted angrily. His feeling of alarm increased, and at such moments he became a bit cantankerous.

  “You’re right, I’d somehow forgotten about the project. So... will you receive him?”

  “Of course I will!”

  “I’ll arrange for him to wait while you finish your speech.”

  “No, the others will have to wait. I’ll see him right now. Bring him to me as soon as he arrives.”

  After giving the order, the president went back into the tent. It seemed stuffy after the moist cool air outside. He threw off his jacket, slackened his tie, and began pacing up and down impatiently. The secretary looked into the tent.

  “Two minutes to your speech, John.”

  “I can’t give it. Let someone else speak for me.”

  “What’s up? Something to do with the project?”

  “It looks like it,” replied the president. “You’d better bring me something to drink.”

  “The usual?”

  “No. Make it brandy. A double.”

  “Are you cancelling the speech altogether, or will you make it later?”

  “I don’t know. It’ll depend on the circumstances.”

  The sound of the approaching ship’s turbines outside became louder. The president sat down in his chair and began drumming his fingers on the arms. He could barely manage to sit still and kept looking at his watch. A waiter entered the tent carrying a balloon glass of brandy on a tray, closely followed by the secretary. The president jumped up, grabbed the glass and poured the contents into his mouth.

  “That’s how gossip about the
president being an alcoholic starts, you know that?” was the secretary’s snide comment when the waiter had left.

  The president only waved this away. He couldn’t care less.

  Rapidly approaching footsteps were heard outside. The secretary pulled the entrance curtain partly aside, looked out and waved his arm in invitation.

  “This way, general, professor. Please, come in.”

  MacQueen entered the tent, followed by Shelby. The president glanced quickly into the eyes of first one, then the other, but to his surprise could not tell what sort of news they were bringing, good or bad.

  “Mr. President, we have a situation,” reported MacQueen.

  “Sit down,” invited the president, pointing to the armchairs next to him. “Something to drink?”

  “No, thank you,” replied the general.

  “I’d quite like a coffee,” said Shelby imperturbably.

  “Well? I’m all ears,” said the president, after sitting down and gesturing for the coffee to be brought.

  “As Professor Shelby’s team suggested,” began MacQueen, “the true reason for the aliens appearing was their desire to complete their project, which they had begun a very long time ago, namely to build an array of portals.

  “As you know, we gave our agreement and the aliens began the construction. For this they needed a temporary hemisphere, which they said would supply the energy for the terraforming, the excavation of rock from the planets and the construction of the permanent sphere. As it turned out, this was not the whole truth.

  “Earlier today, the deployment of the temporary hemisphere was completed and it began generating energy. It started the process of transmitting it to the portal near our Solar System which is the last element of the array.

  “At the same time, the aliens put the whole array into operation. After observing their actions, we can be confident that our theory about their true intentions was correct. They were trying to make a super-long-range throw, apparently to the Andromeda galaxy.”