“The adjustments that Thomas and I have continued to make prior to each trip,” Glen pointed out, correcting Dr. Markham firmly. “Nothing is set in stone… it constantly changes… unpredictably.”
“We don’t have to stop,” Kaufield decided, “But we certainly should at least consider the option of picking a new direction to travel toward. He gestured toward Thomas’ projected diagram, studying the smaller red dot in particular. “There be dragons that way, Doctor.”
“Oh, c’mon Captain,” she said. “This is why we built the Pathfinder. It’s the unquestionable chance of a lifetime. Surely you’re not going to become a member of the ‘flat Earth’ society now…”
“You can study it from a safe distance,” David pointed out from the other end of the table. “We can get close enough so that you can use the Observatory to document your findings without risking the ship.”
Next to him, Kayla nodded in agreement. “What about probing outside of our universe?” she said. “That’s always been considered and now that we’re growing close you’re going to have to make a decision on that one, Captain.”
“The decision on that one was already made a long time ago, Doctor,” Dennis replied. “Unless our Council unanimously agrees, we can send Canary Probes outside the boundary of our universe but there will be no risk to any of our crew by sending manned flights. Using shuttles or the Pathfinder is not an option.”
“Right now I’ll settle for getting as close to that river of gravity as possible. If it’s safe enough, I humbly request that you send a shuttle fully staffed with my scientists – if not this entire ship – into the center of it so we can float along and record our data.” Julie looked firmly at the Captain and then began hastily scribbling on her notepad. “I would like to ride along on that mission.”
“Glen, is it safe enough to do what she asks?” Captain Kaufield asked.
“A shuttle, maybe… you have the ultimate say as to what would be an acceptable risk. As you know, the Canary Probes and shuttles use a smaller version of the PTP window that we generate using the CAS Drive,” he said, giving the idea very careful consideration. “But they’re simply moving through the window we generate, then turning around and coming back through that same opening. If we move the Pathfinder in there…”
“Then we take the CAS systems into the center of a powerful, unpredictable river of gravity that could burn out our electronics – or worse – tear the ship apart,” Thomas said, sounding more serious than he had in a long time. “I do not recommend that at all, Captain.”
“Why?” Julie asked. “You can send a Canary first.”
“Because,” Thomas said, sounding a little hyper. “CAS stands for Controlled Artificial Singularity. Emphasis should definitely be placed on the word ‘controlled’ here, Dr. Markham.” He stood up and moved over to the image on the wall. “That’s the most unpredictable gravity source we’ve ever seen – I know because I heard you say it the other day in the Observatory. It’s pulling whole galaxies toward it and as they approach their gravity begins to compete with Poseidon’s. We have to be able to control the singularity we generate or it could easily turn into a huge bomb. That ‘Atomic Nightmare’ we found a while back pales in comparison to the scale of this new chaotic object you’ve discovered. This situation is as simple as letting a small kid play with matches. Don’t, or we’ll get burned!”
Dennis sat at the head of the table listening to the silence for a moment. Julie looked very frustrated, but he had anticipated that to be the case and so he was ready for it. “Glen, please describe the CAS technique for us, so that everyone understands what is involved here.”
Nodding, Fredericks stood up and softly cleared his throat. “CAS is basically an enhanced version of our Point-to-Point wormhole transit between two far away points,” he began. “Everyone knows we have a lengthy metal wand hooked to the bottom of the hangar deck with what looks like a small star burning at its tip, yet most people don’t know that the tube is hollow.”
“I’ve always wondered what it uses for fuel,” Anne grinned.
“Exactly. You may have noticed that the ship has periodically made a stop here and there at various nebulae as we travel outward,” Glen continued. “That’s because the nebulae can be found virtually anywhere, and they are usually a massive source of gas and dust used by nature to form new stars and planets. For our purposes they’re also basically a galactic fuel station – or unlimited supply of dust particles that we capture and use to power the CAS Drive.”
“There are huge storage tanks located under the Lab and Observatory wings,” Kaufield pointed out. “We stockpile the captured particles there and then run them through several filters to separate the radioactive and more dangerous matter from the rest. The stuff that poses a threat to the ship or its crew is spilled right back out into space. The rest is stored until it’s needed.”
“The CAS Drive is a miniaturized variation of traditional PTP transit,” said Glen informatively. “We carefully run particles of matter down through the center of the wand toward a tiny PTP window at its tip. The particles hit this modified field, which we continually monitor and keep perfectly calibrated, and are instantaneously destroyed rather than transported to a new location. The resulting annihilation of the matter creates the brilliant white singularity that everyone has become used to seeing. The result is a totally new form of nuclear fusion… kind of a distant cousin to the traditional reaction we see burning bright in stars everywhere. We are able to then utilize the intense energy produced to generate a large amount of electricity capable of powering the entire ship. Our standard PTP drive is still available, but its liquid fuel-powered systems are shut down. As long as the CAS Drive is on-line, the power for our PTP transits comes directly from the burning singularity on the tip of that wand beneath us and everything is controlled very carefully using the computer systems in our Lab wing.
“So,” Mary said slowly. “If we move the Pathfinder into a chaotic area of space with an unpredictable environment, it may be impossible to keep the singularity under control and useful as a power source.”
“Precisely,” Glen confirmed. “And that’s just a small part of the danger. If we lost control of the PTP-reaction we could also blow up the entire ship… into nice, tiny little glowing bits of debris.” He leaned back in his chair and thought very carefully for a moment. “Of course, we could use the CAS Drive to hop in close… to a safe distance. Then we could try using a standard, liquid fuel-powered transit to move us the rest of the way in.”
“And just how do we determine what is a safe distance?” Dennis asked, chuckling to himself. “We will move the ship close enough for the Observatory staff to take all the readings and measurements they like. If some of our pilots are brave enough to want to try approaching this thing in a CAS-driven shuttle I might even allow that. But we are not, under any circumstances, going to risk taking the Pathfinder into this giant river of gravity. That option is off the table right this moment, because there are quite simply too many things that could go wrong.” He frowned. “We may very well be the last group of humans alive in that big blue bubble,” he said, pointing to the wall projection. “Our mission plan defines our duty to explore, but it has also become a critical part of that mission to eventually find a place to settle down and raise kids. I don’t know about any of you, but I want that place to be as far away from this Poseidon thing as possible.”
“Transiting a shuttle close to or inside of Poseidon would be very dangerous to its crew,” Thomas commented. “Depending on how strong the gravity is – which we can measure with a Canary Probe – they could get dragged away from the PTP window that we create for them faster than their engines could compensate. We have to be very careful and remember that we’re sending these Probes and shuttles a lot farther than they could transit on their own. I’m sure the pilots would appreciate it if we could guarantee their safe return.”
“Agreed,” Captain Kaufield said firmly. “We almost lost the
entire ship in the wasteland galaxy, due primarily to a little too much curiosity on my part. Whatever we decide to do in this case, we will take our time and make certain that we do it safely. I also advise everyone on the Council to vote with your intelligence and common sense. Leading with your heart is the surest way to get us into trouble out here.” He paused, watching Thomas turn off the wall projection and then his laptop. “Anyone who wishes to dissent and debate further may do so now without prejudice.”
Everyone sat quietly and watched Thomas putting away his equipment. Several people took a moment to jot down a few more notes but no one raised any objections.
“I don’t know about the rest of you,” Dr. Markham finally commented, “But I’d like to go back to my Observatory and continue studying this most remarkable find.”
“This Council hereby stands in recess,” Kaufield said, chuckling as he stood up and patted Julie fondly on the shoulder. “You can argue with Glen and Thomas as to how close we can get to this thing without damaging the ship. I trust them to stand up to you and speak their minds if they think their equipment will balk at us.”
“Thank you, Captain,” she said gratefully as everyone began chatting casually and gradually trotted back out into the corridors of the Pathfinder. “So much to explore, so little time…” she mused softly to herself.
THE PATHFINDER PROJECT
Chapter XVII: Poseidon’s Might
Thomas thoughtfully reviewed the series of images on the work station in front of him. They showed a small cluster of ten stars and the colorfully illuminated nebulae surrounding them. He smiled and shook his head, then glanced up at Dr. Markham. “That’s really fine work,” he said. “Some of the best shots of galactic objects you’ve come up with yet.” Standing behind him near her desk in the Observatory wing, Julie smiled in agreement.
“Lots of the stellar material that Poseidon’s gravity is tugging at is your invisible dark matter,” she commented. “But I’ve been searching relentlessly for rogue stars and the smaller star clusters whose gravity Poseidon inevitably defeats. As they get pulled into his river of gravity their solar radiation is lighting up everything surrounding them.”
“Congratulations, Doctor,” said Thomas sincerely. “We’ve been at this for two weeks, and this is by far the best spot you’ve picked.”
Julie held up a piece of paper, both sides of which were covered with transit coordinates. “This is my master list,” she said delightedly. “So far we’ve traveled to about 50 out of 500 possible locations along the gravity river. Most of them were chosen by the computer, and every day it prints me a list of more and more potential viewing sites. I spend a lot of time manually reviewing everything in order to properly prioritize my top choices.”
“You could try delegating a little more to your staff,” he grinned, watching the frown on her face as he said the words. “Seriously,” he said, pointing to one of the images on his computer screen. “You’re getting spoiled with our new CAS systems. The width of the gravity river in front of the Pathfinder at this particular location is 127,112,000 light years. That’s a lot of territory to observe for a day or so before we continue onward – it would be an entire career for some astronomers back on Earth. Once we choose to move along, you simply pick your next target and we transit directly to it – whether it’s five light years away or 500 million. You’re absolutely spoiled, I tell you.”
“Just you wait,” she said. “We’ve only begun to scratch the surface as far as exploring this phenomenon goes.”
“At our last Council meeting we were talking about how some galaxies and star clusters defeat Poseidon’s gravity and how some lose the battle and are pulled in.” Thomas observed as he reviewed a series of new images recently photographed and processed by the ship’s telescopes. “At least when we’re sitting next to some of the brighter star clusters like these their light lets us see which ones are winning and losing that fight for survival.”
“That’s only part of the magic here,” Dr. Markham said with enthusiasm. “It’s like pouring glitter or colored dye into a glass of water and stirring it. Many members of my staff have received dedicated assignments to closely observe and map Poseidon’s gravity based upon the patterns present in this visible matter. We’re trying to chart at least part of its length and make a determination as to how predictably or unpredictably its gravitational ‘current’ changes over the passage of time.”
Thomas suddenly got a curious expression on his face. He leaned backwards, glancing at the image on her computer. “Hey… you updated the mystery transmission,” he noted.
Mystery Transmission (Updated)
“It wasn’t all that difficult,” the Doctor replied. “I analyzed the file in my quarters last night and discovered that it was compatible with our graphics software.” She looked at him with complete disbelief. “Whoever sent this continues to astonish me. They either used our software to draw the original image or they converted their own file to precisely match our compression technique.”
“So how do we determine if those other universes on the diagram are really there or not?”
“We have no way that I know of to find out,” said Julie. “Even the dark red gravity waves I added are just a guess… a representation that I’m using to help study the river of matter flowing out of our universe. They’re probably there in one form or another, but we have no way to measure or plot them accurately.”
“We never did discuss at our last Council meeting just how much damage Poseidon could cause over the long term. Does our discovery here pose a threat?”
“There’s no threat to your immediate safety, if that’s what you’re asking,” Dr. Markham said. “My estimate as to the number of galaxies in our universe is 100 billion. If you asked me for an additional estimate regarding the total number of stars I would have to say 1 billion trillion. We are stockpiled for the long haul, Thomas, so don’t worry about that. Poseidon is taking a lot of matter, but I would estimate that well over 99 percent of our universe will remain unaffected over the next 5 billion or so years. Once Poseidon’s gravity well collapses and explodes – which will take billions of years – it will simply form a new, expanding bubble. If the diagram sent to us is accurate then it appears the force of its Big-Bang actually pushes away the other bubbles surrounding it.”
“So while the gravity well is in the process of forming a new universe it continues to pull other universes closer and closer, stripping them of more and more matter and energy.”
“Correct,” Julie agreed. “The closer the universes get to Poseidon, the more quickly it can extract matter from them. I would imagine all of that gravity converging – combined with the eventual collapse of Poseidon – is what will actually trigger its Big Bang.”
“If that isn’t an Intelligent Design then what is?” Thomas asked curiously as he frowned slightly. “Do you suppose any of those universe bubbles floating around ever get close enough to overlap or collide with each other the way some of our galaxies do?” He pointed toward her updated image. “Look at those orange thingies.”
“It’s an interesting theory, but again we have no way that I know of to prove it,” she said, reaching over and ruffling his hair. “That is, unless you want to try something really drastic, such as transiting the Pathfinder out of our universe and into another one.”
“I have considered it,” Thomas said, causing her to raise her eyebrows. “Really,” he insisted, noting her doubtful expression. “It would cost us a lot of Canary Probes as we transit them farther and farther out of our universe. The normal physical laws that we know and rely upon here almost certainly wouldn’t exist between the bubbles. However, some of the other universes would have to be larger versions of our own and sooner or later one of the probes would emerge inside of one. We could then use the Canary’s telemetry to verify its coordinates and that would give us a fixed point of reference to work from when we send future probes.”
“Are you even sure the Point-to-Point wormhole tec
hnique would be able to traverse the void between universes?” Julie wondered. “After all, if physical laws don’t apply out there then it follows that a PTP transit would never actually complete… your Probes could fail to arrive at their intended destinations without your ever knowing what happened to them.”
“That’s the part I’m not sure about,” Thomas admitted, smoothing the hair on his head where she had rubbed it. “Glen and I haven’t worked up enough courage to ask the Captain about that one yet. We want to wait until we’ve found the leading edge of our own universe first before suggesting the option to him.”
“Thomas… don’t be in a hurry,” Julie suggested, waving a hand at the glittering view in the Observatory’s windows. “We’ve got enough here to study for years if we want to. And we do want to. Considering how much time our astronomers have spent trying to find something new and fascinating you could say Poseidon is a remarkable achievement. We’re chomping at the bit to be able to study it in more detail, so don’t take us too far too fast, okay?”
He studied her reaction thoughtfully. “Well, that’s a complete reversal of your attitude at the meeting.”
“I’ve had additional time to think since then.”
“I’ve always thought that staring into a telescope for hours on end is really boring. If that’s what you want to do then it’s okay with me… I’m just glad that isn’t my job,” Thomas decided as Kari walked over to join them. He smiled warmly at her. “Hi hon,” he said casually as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and hugged him. He watched Julie turn and look at him in amazement as he made the comment.
“You two sure are getting along well,” Dr. Markham decided. “Have you done it yet?”
“Doctor,” gasped an astonished Kari. “That’s private and you know it!”
“Well, you’ve always told me everything about your boyfriends before,” Julie laughed, watching Thomas’ facial expression quickly cycle through a dozen different shades of red. “Are you going to stop giving me all the delightful details now, simply because your main squeeze is our good friend Thomas? The two of us were just discussing boring science stuff anyway. Let’s hear something more fascinating.”
The Pathfinder Project Page 30
