“Very well Doc, let me know if there is a change.”
“Captain, may I ask?”
“Yes?”
“Are we going to get out of here. This incessant noise is starting to get to many of the crew. I'm afraid they are almost stressed to the breaking point.”
“Well the spin-two drive has failed but we are starting now on our chemical rockets. So I'm hopeful we can put a safe distance between us and whatever is causing the noise before long.”
“I hope so too Captain.”
With the chemical rockets even at maximum thrust, it would take ten times longer for the ship to make its way back to the point where they had first received the emergency beacon. Back to a safe distance as the Captain had said. It had been a week since they had started. The first crew members had succumbed to the continuous noise which hadn't reduced in intensity over the week. In the infirmary, the doctor was talking to the captain about what he thought was wrong with Ally.
“I am still guessing Captain but this is what my investigation has turned up so far. I believe the space they encountered and its intensity affected Ally's physiology and Dag's circuits in much the same way.
“In essence her brain and his processing center, under the strain of the physical change that space inflicted, essentially shutdown. The effect was confined to a variation in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier and his substrate material. Larger molecules than normal were able to cross her barrier where they proved toxic to one degree or another. As for Dag the Chief Engineer probably would know more.
“I suspect that the toxicity somehow affected her system putting her into a kind of hibernation. I believe as long as I keep her nutritional needs satisfied she should wake up soon. And Dag should come around on his own.”
“Very good Doc keep me informed. We could use their expertise.”
Later that evening as Walker was standing watch in the infirmary Dag woke.
Looking around he said, “Is that you Walker?”
“Sir, it is,” said Walker moving to Dag's side.
“Walker what happened?”
“The doctor says you and Miss Ally have been hibernating.”
“Hibernating?”
“That's what he called it. He thinks that the space you experienced was the cause.”
“It was an unusual experience Walker.”
He raised his head.
“Is Miss alright.”
“She is still asleep Dag but her vitals are fine.”
“What happened Dag?”
“I think it was a source of dark energy Walker. It's expanding space. We finally got close enough that we were repelled back along the same trajectory. I need to see the readings I made close to the source.”
Dag visited Ally's bed and held her hand quietly. When he was finished he and Walker left to meet with Captain Reynolds.
“Glad to see you up and around Dr. Mach.”
“Thank you Captain.”
“Has Walker filled you in on our situation?”
“He has informed me that the ship is still deep in the disrupted space and has only the chemical rockets for propulsion.”
“Yes, and we are having crew problems also. That noise,” he indicated with his head, “that noise is causing a great stress on the crew.”
“I can imagine so. I've only listened to it for a little while and I'm ready for it to stop.”
“Can you tell me Dr. Mach where it is coming from?”
“I believe it is this space Captain. It's very similar to what Miss and I heard, only much louder and deeper, as we approached the anomaly. As I told her I think we are in an area where repulsive energy, sometimes called dark energy, is pooling kind of like a fountain. A kind of oscillation between the repulsive dark energy and the attractive gravitational energy in this space is causing an effect like that of the old wormhole transport network where close to a wormhole the oscillation induced a sympathetic vibration at audio frequencies in the ships of that day. It should continue to get quieter as we get farther away from the anomaly.”
“Yes I've heard about the phenomena you're talking about. But you talk about a fountain of dark energy, what do you mean?”
“If my hunch is correct sir the dark energy that Miss Ally and I found is from what we physicists call a baby universe which is close to ours at that spot.”
“I've heard about those too. In the Aggie Wars the rogue faction of AI's used them to sequester whole star systems as well as ships and space stations.”
“That's right Captain. I hope we aren't repeating it with a twist. Now if you will excuse me I want to check my measurements to confirm or not what we have been discussing.”
“Of course Dr. Mach.”
“It was the gravitational interferometer that convinced me. The anomaly is the manifestation of a baby universe Miss.”
Ally had awakened three days after Dag.
“Dag we've seen that before.”
“Yes it was a result of a technology developed by the rogue AIs and used against mankind several hundred years ago. But we haven't seen anything like it since then.”
“Wasn't it Dr. Emmy Gibbs who discovered a way to reabsorb those universes?”
“Yes she won a Nobel prize for it.”
“So should we follow her prescription? Would that stop the dark energy fountain and heal the spacetime?”
“Possibly, if it's not a natural phenomenon.”
“What do you mean? It must be Belinus the leader of that bunch of rogue AI.”
“Well Jomo Astake seems to think so but I can't confirm his story so it could still be a natural phenomena.
“You see Miss, when Einstein developed his theory of general relativity and then added the cosmological constant to match observations, observations which later turned out wrong, he believed that the cosmological constant required that empty space be filled with gravitating negative masses distributed throughout.”
“Dark energy?”
“Exactly Miss. And he came to this conclusion after considering a cyclic universe.”
“Then this could be proof of a cyclic universe?”
“Probably, if it is a natural occurrence. And there's the problem.”
“What problem? We know how to reabsorb a baby universe, it's been done before by Dr. Gibbs. And if we do that then spacetime heals. Right? End of problem.”
“True Miss but what if this is nature just being nature. You know from your studies that in the cyclic universe there is no singularity, a point in time where mass-energy becomes infinite. It has been replaced because of quantum effects with what they call the big bounce. In other words, instead of an infinite beginning to our universe, you have a huge but finite mass-energy and a new beginning when the previous cycle, the big crunch it's called, ends.”
“Yes I remember the theory. Because quantum loop gravity has a smallest unit of volume then space-time cannot shrink to a point and all infinities are removed from the theory and the universe. And physics which failed at the singularity before, can now describe the entire process.”
“Right. So what happens if this is a natural occurrence and the same is true around Adowa and maybe elsewhere as Einstein believed?”
He waited a moment to make sure Ally was following his reasoning.
“If it's natural Dag and we stop the process then we interfere with nature and stop the cycles and this universe would be the last.”
“Exactly Miss. A sobering thought, isn't it?”
They both stared at nothing a moment.
“Playing God,” said Ally.
Dag looked at her a moment before turning to sit down. The magnitude of the choice they had to make was overwhelming. Change the natural order and save lives. Or do nothing and know that more will die. Dag didn't think he liked this “playing God”.
27
Jomo hadn't felt like himself since the day Wangari fell into the fissure. Something had snapped. It was hard enough surviving without the amenities of civilization but when the very s
pace you occupy is trying to kill you, that was more than Jomo could take.
Except for a store of seeds, the food provisions of the shuttle had long been depleted and it was doubtful that it would be any more use except as a shelter. Many wanted to eat the seeds too but Jomo's father had stepped in to stop them. The seeds might be their only chance for long term survival. He had gotten a promise that no one would touch them after much grumbling.
With the help of his grandson Wangari, Jomo's father was doing his best to provide for his family and others. He and a couple of the other men from the village were hunting together. But it was difficult with the constant shaking and churning that Adowa was going through.
“I don't think we have a choice Beckle,” said Jomo's father answering one of the men from the village. “We have to increase the amount of food we are bringing back from these hunting trips. Our families are living day to day now. There are no more reserves.”
“But the game and vegetation get less and less as Adowa disintegrates Jomo. I think our trips are going to be less and less successful. There must be another way.”
“We should plant and grow our own,” said Wangari. “The shuttle has seeds and general-purpose robots. The seeds are quick growing and we can reprogram the robots to help take care of the garden. My father can program them.”
“You really think so Wangari?” asked his grandfather.
“Yes, he knows the programming language. He has told me so. He can train me also.”
“Well perhaps we should investigate what Wangari says. We should go ask my son if he will help. Then we will do both, we will plant and hunt. I think it may be our only chance.”
“What if your son won't help?” asked Beckle.
“He will help when we present him with a way that he can. I know he will, he loves his family very much.”
At first Jomo resisted his father's urging. But his father reminded him that this was not a natural disaster but caused by the rogue AIs as old Menelik had admitted. There was no reason to reject the creator, it was not a natural occurrence. And when Jomo saw his children go to bed night after night without enough to eat and his wife and father work themselves to exhaustion day after day a sense of guilt gnawed at him.
Then one morning as his father was up early preparing to go out on the hunt for food his son appeared in his doorway.
“Father I was wrong. I realize I have given in to the enemy, the evil ones but no more. If you can spare Wangari we will start on the garden today.”
His father smiled broadly and walked over to his son and threw his arm around his shoulder in a hug.
“That will be acceptable my son.”
Dag had set up a meeting with Captain Reynolds to discuss the results of his measurements and what they should do next. He trusted the man's advice and wisdom.
“I have to say Dr. Mach that I still don't understand the changes you made to the wormhole drive to create your spin-two drive. Now this business about saving spacetime from baby universes is quite over my head.”
“I'm sorry sir, I haven't explained myself very well. Concerning the spin-two drive, I think it is accurate just to think of the nonlocal links as very narrow wormholes. That is what the mathematics shows.
“Anyway, as far as the baby universe we know that the rogue AIs learned how to cut out a section of this universe to create them. We never learned how they did it but we did learn how to reabsorb those sections.
“I guess it is easiest to think about them by analogy with soap bubbles. If you've ever seen a large bubble partition itself then you've seen how a baby universe is created. You might have also noticed that the partitions of the soap bubble stay close together, they share a wall, so to speak.
“Analogously the baby universe can share a wall with the creator universe. And it is attracted to the original universe by gravity which is the only force that can extend between the two.”
“But how can there be anything outside the universe Dr. Mach? Isn't it by definition all there is?”
“That's true Captain in most physical theories though not all. But to have baby universes does not require the multiverse theory, as its called. Again they are made from our universe and they are attached. The wall we share can be pierced by gravity. That is how they affect our universe and how they stay attached.”
“Then how do they cause this increase in dark energy Dr. Mach if they can only affect us through their gravity? Gravity is only attractive isn't it?”
“That's true Captain but there is a way. Gravity is attractive but because of the wall between the two universes, gravity cannot complete its goal, which is to join the two universes and relieve the stress-energy. This stress-energy at the wall creates a potential difference across the wall, similar to a capacitor. The sign of this difference is positive on the baby universe side and negative on our side. In other words, the stress-energy is negative in our universe and this negative energy is what causes the repulsive dark energy that drives space to expand at the microscopic level.”
“Okay Dr. Mach, I see your logic although I still don't truly understand. But you seem to understand enough for both of us. And this dark energy causing space to expand is causing all the strange effects we've been seeing? The buffeting, the sounds?”
“Yes Captain space is being driven apart at such a rate that the illusion of continuity that we usually experience is becoming strained. The quantum nature of space is being exposed.”
“What do we do then Dr. Mach?”
“That is what I wanted to talk to you about sir. It may involve a moral decision.
“Here's my thinking, if this is caused by the rogue AIs again then we should obviously try to stop it. The only problem is I haven't any way to determine the cause without a doubt. The physics is the same whether it is natural or not.
“But if this is a natural occurrence then should we do anything? One thing I haven't mentioned is that this kind of source for dark energy is a prediction of some cyclic universe theories. Einstein thought so when he investigated a cyclic universe.
“Essentially to match existing findings, such as the almost uniform cosmic microwave background, in the cyclic scenario the universe would need to start from a very smooth distribution of mass-energy, to a few parts in a million. If the seeding of the universe was too lumpy then the present universe which is very much the same in all directions on the large scale, something called homogeneity, could not have developed.
“So some cyclic theories call for the expansion of the universe to increase and continue until the mass-energy is spread out and uniform to a great degree before the next cycle begins which will eventually create the next universe after ours.”
“And the moral dilemma is?”
“The moral dilemma sir is that if we alter the production of dark energy and that production is a natural occurrence because we live in a cyclic universe then we will probably destroy the cycling. This will be the last universe born. It will either expand forever and exist as a cold and lifeless place or it will expand in a lumpy fashion. Such a seed for the next universe will cause a non-uniform mass-energy distribution. The next universe will essentially collapse on itself before much time passes because the lumps will attract matter and inhibit the production of stars.
“There won't be time for anything resembling life to arise. And the problem only gets worse in any following universe, if there are further universes. Because the seed for those is more and more concentrated in mass-energy their lifetimes will be shorter and shorter until eventually there is not enough bounce, so to speak, to create the next universe.
“Of course all this is theoretical. But it is possible. And there lies the moral dilemma.”
“So if I understand correctly Dr. Mach we could create a man-made disaster of greater proportions than ever before. But I must ask one question.”
“Yes.”
“If we do nothing, regardless of whether this anomaly is natural or not, what about the deaths?”
�
�Yes many people may die.”
“Well in my experience maybe the greatest gift that humanity has bestowed on this universe is the gift of life. I know I have always chosen life over the abyss.”
28
The crop of wheat had grown better than expected. Because the wheat was engineered to be self-pollinating and resistant to most pests, there was very little loss. Jomo was pleased and had become more upbeat about their future. Though the resultant bread didn't replace the need for the men to go out each day and hunt for food Jomo thought that expanding the size of the garden and the type of crops might.
“And I think father we can expand the crop variety with the next planting. We have seeds for beans, corn and other food crops in the shuttle. Wouldn't a meal of fresh beans, corn and wheat bread be delicious?”
“Yes son. I think we all would be more than pleased with such a meal. And eating both would give us the necessary proteins we need.”
“I've done the calculations father. If I increase the growing area to five-thousand square feet per crop then I think I can harvest about fifteen-thousand pounds of food every two months.
“Now if you figure that each person needs about four pounds of food each day then that would supply ten people food for a year. Of course that's without any losses. But we had very little loss with the wheat. That means that if I can get four crops a year we can feed everyone in the village. The rest of the year I'll plant clover to fix the nitrogen in the soil.”
“It sounds like you've got it figured out son. But that's going to be a lot of work for you.”
“I don't mind as long as we have a chance father. It's the hopelessness of the situation that had me depressed.”
“I wasn't far behind you son. It was a depressing situation. But I think now when you tell the others we will have some hope for our future.”
When Jomo explained to the others what he intended they were all excited. Most offered to help. During the day Jomo and some others cleared more land and prepared it for planting. At night he was teaching Wangari how to program the few robots they had to help in the garden.
Cycle of Stars Page 15
