The Orthogonal Galaxy

by Michael L. Lewis

  “A few years ago,” Zimmer began with a slow hoarse whisper, still staring at the wall behind him, “I met someone who—”

  All three students leaned in closer to the table when Zimmer paused mid-sentence. Returning from somewhere else, Zimmer blinked, smiled, and looked one after the other at the trio of graduate students seated before him. “I met two men who tried to convince me that Hyperwarp travel is feasible. They were very convincing. I was certain that they knew it could be done.”

  Reyd asked curiously. “Why haven’t they published their findings, if they were so convincing?”

  “Because… they were silenced.”

  Kath gasped as a dark expression clouded Zimmer’s face.

  “You mean—they were paid off?” Reyd suggested the most positive meaning for Zimmer’s ambiguity after giving a concerned look in Kath’s direction.

  Zimmer sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “I never did get a straight answer from them as to what happened, but I have a suspicion that they will come out and share everything... it’s a fascinating story.”

  Quickly changing the subject, Zimmer stood up, and returned to the topic of their research. “Let me come back to the subject at hand. You asked, Ms. Mirabelle, how I came to realize that we were dealing with a superluminal body. You see, shortly after paddle nine ceased communicating with the USL, there was one final heartbeat received from it. There were at least three things that didn’t add up. First, the timestamp of the final blip indicated a time on the clock that was too early. Relativistic experiments show that the clock of an object approaching the speed of light will slow down. This clock had obviously slowed down significantly. Second, the modulated signal was recovered at an ultra-low frequency, indicating a huge Doppler shift. The paddle was still alive, but it was booking. Third, the positional information conveyed in that final blip indicated that the paddle had already traveled farther down the beam than it possibly could have in the allowed time. As a result, I concluded that the beam had a force that was quickly accelerating the paddles to a velocity approaching the speed of light, but in order to accelerate an object with significant mass to near the speed of light, the material in the beam must have been traveling faster than the speed of light itself.”

  After giving the students a chance to digest this epiphany, he continued. “Then there were paddles eleven and twelve. Remember how quickly paddle eleven turned downstream and spun out of control? Even Kath’s paddle twelve gained acceleration way too quickly for mission control to handle it. Based on the amount of impact that was collected by the paddles’ sensors, the acceleration was simply too fast. The material that was powering those paddles must have been traveling faster than the speed of light.”

  “But we saw the material in the beam… it was glowing yellow. How would we be able to see it if it traveled faster than the speed of light?” Kath pointed out with more curiosity than skepticism.

  “Yes, you did see material in the beam, but that wasn’t the stuff that was propelling the paddles. What powered the acceleration was material you could not see. The paddles were able to detect this matter, but it could not identify it.”

  Zimmer turned to look out the window and weighed his thoughts before turning back to the table. “I trust that all of you have studied at least basic particle physics in your undergraduate programs?”

  All three heads nodded.

  “Good… then you are aware that the quantum state of particles can be altered. For example, it is the weak nuclear force that causes radioactive decay, inducing some of the heavier elements to shed protons and neutrons, thus changing their atomic structure. At the sub-atomic level, fundamental particles can decay into entirely different fundamental particles. I surmise that the superluminal comet which is currently orbiting the black hole at the center of our Milky Way consists of a very large clump of quantum material. As the particles on the surface decay, they do so from a state which is able to travel faster than the speed of light to a state which is not able to travel faster than the speed of light. Once they have decayed into this state, they must decelerate quickly, shedding off energy in the form of photons which we are able to see with our very eyes.”

  “But what is the stuff that we can’t see, and how can it break the rules of relativity to travel faster than the speed of light?” asked Joram.

  “Ah that is the question, isn’t it?” Zimmer pointed out. “Scientists, in general, think we know so much more about the universe than we really do. For example, for all of our observational astrophysics, we really can only see less than five percent of the universe. The remainder consists of dark matter and dark energy. Thus, for all of our knowledge about this universe, it may only apply to the five percent we can actually see. Do all of the discovered laws of physics apply to the other 95%? For example, we know that dark matter is subject to gravity. It clearly exerts gravitational forces, because that is how we detected it in the first place. Otherwise, we have no way of explaining the gravitational effects on the universe without introducing the concept of dark matter. Now, while this unseen substance is subject to gravity, it does not interact with the photon—the carrier for the electromagnetic force. If it were subject to electromagnetism, we would be able to detect its presence on the EM spectrum, but we cannot. Let me define the term ‘observational physics’ to therefore mean the set of universal laws which apply to everything which can be observed. Traditionally that which can be observed is subject to light so that we can see it. Light is nothing more than the electromagnetic force, demonstrated through its carrier, the photon. The reason that nothing observable can travel faster than the speed of light is because it is subject to light.”

  He paused again. “Let me repeat that. Nothing which we can see is able to travel faster than the speed of light because it is subject to light.”

  The proverbial light bulb came on for Joram. “Professor! I see what you’re saying. Matter that can be seen—particularly baryonic matter—must travel no faster than the speed of light, because it is subject to the properties which constrain light itself. The corollary to this would be that if there is matter which is not subject to light—such as dark matter—then that matter may not be subject to the speed of light.”

  “Exactly!”

  Joram continued his thought process. “Non-baryonic matter may indeed be traveling around faster than the speed of light.”

  Kath had to interrupt at this point to keep from getting lost in the conversation. “Professor, I remember the term baryon, but I forget. Is that the stuff that has the integer spin or half-integer spin?”

  “You’re thinking of bosons and fermions, Miss Mirabelle. So much jargon for one year of study, I know. When we talk about baryons, we are usually referring to the triple combination of up and down quarks that comprise the neutron and the proton, so really it makes up the bulk of matter that we interact with.”

  “That’s right… sorry about that.” Kath hung her head in embarrassment for having to ask the question.

  “Mr. Anders, your thought was that this non-baryonic matter may travel faster than the speed of light, but it might be even more than that. I’ve been thinking a lot about this, since we left Johnson last weekend. My thought is that the real reason that this matter is not subject to electromagnetism is because it must be traveling faster than the speed of light. That is, once matter—non-baryonic, or otherwise—escapes the effects of electromagnetism, it is guaranteed to travel faster than the speed of light. That mystical constant, c, which we know to be equal to 299,792,458 meters per second, could be considered the escape velocity of electromagnetism. Once any matter can exceed that velocity, the electromagnetic force no longer applies. So, we cannot see dark matter, nor can we see our superluminal comet, simply because they are traveling around in the universe faster than the speed of light. Thus, they are no longer subject to the force of the photon, which we know can travel no faster than c, you see?”

  Three eagerly nodding heads indicated that they did see. Heaving an exh
austed sigh, Zimmer sat back in his seat now that he could tell that his researchers were beginning to comprehend these brand new ideas.

  …

  Joram Anders sat alone on a bench by a paved walkway, watching the sun dip below the top of the pine trees across the large vacant field to the West. A family of four passed through a door after their visit to the Hale Telescope, returned to their car, and drove off. While open to visitors during the day, few continued to make the long, windy drive up the mountain to enjoy the history of the aging observatory. Overshadowed by so many newer, larger and more important telescopes, most haven’t even heard of the 200-inch mirror, nor realized the fact that way back in the 20th century, it was the largest telescope in the world for a while.

  Distracted by a whirlwind of thoughts, it took several efforts for Kath to get his attention. “Joram. Joram!”

  “Oh, Kath… sorry I didn’t see you there.”

  “When I didn’t see you in the dormitory, I assumed you must still be sleeping,” she stated.

  “Oh, no… I come out here every evening. I never get tired of watching the sun set from up here.”

  “I didn’t know this was such a favorite spot of yours.”

  “I suppose you wouldn’t… you usually sleep until well after the sun sets,” Joram elbowed Kath playfully as she took a seat next to him on the bench. Eying her suspiciously, he asked, “Why are you up so early this evening?”

  “I got a phone call with great news,” she beamed. “The astronauts at Camp Mars have been recovered. They are a suffering from exhaustion, and some mild bumps and bruises, but otherwise, they’re going to be just fine! The rescue vehicle just launched from Mars, and is on the way home.”

  Joram took in a deep breath and leaned back on the bench. “That is great news indeed! It must’ve been a horrifying experience for them.”

  “Yeah, I can’t wait to hear their story,” Kath stated as she turned her gaze to the West, Kath observed, “Well, I can see why you enjoy it here. Such a beautiful sunset, and so quiet.” “Sunsets in Kansas could be pretty spectacular, but the horizon always left something to be desired. It was so flat. No pine trees, no mountains. Just flat, waving fields of grain.”

  Looking at his watch, Joram suggested that it was time for dinner. The two stood from the bench as the last strong rays of the sun penetrated the atmosphere, bathing the clouds in brilliant yellows, pinks, and oranges, contrasting them to the blue and purple of the sky.

  They met Reyd for dinner in the common room of the astronomers’ dormitory and the threesome engaged in pleasant small talk, but they were distracted by all that had happened in the last few weeks. The disaster on Mars, the mysterious yellow beam, the mission at Johnson Space Center, the discovery of the superluminal comet created a mental overload, and in fact, all three had been dealing with an increase in headaches, insomnia, and fatigue. Even Joram recognized in himself a diminished ambition for the work ahead of them that evening. The mental stress and exhaustion was starting to affect each researcher.

  The situation was not much better for Carlton Zimmer. Being advanced in years, having been ridiculed for his near-obsessive interest in finding a parallel earth, and now enduring near rejection by the scientific community for the anti-relativistic and heretical proposal that there was an object—right in their own galaxy—which was traveling around the center of the Milky Way faster than the speed of light were each starting to add up and take their toll on the relentless astrophysicist. While he tried to put on his best face, his graduate students were not oblivious to his suffering.

  “I’m worried about Zimmer,” Kath said while poking at her mashed potatoes. “Have you guys noticed how tired his eyes look, and how pale his complexion is.”

  “Yeah,” Reyd agreed. “I’ve been around Zimmer for three years now, and I’ve never seen him look so unhealthy. His whole countenance almost appears sunken, defeated.”

  “Which is all the more reason,” Joram realized out loud, “that he needs our help in piecing all of this together. We need to convince the world that he his right!”

  “But what if he’s not right this time?” asked Reyd.

  “You don’t believe him?” Kath’s jaw dropped in disappointment of her colleague.

  “All I’m saying, Kath, is that there’s still a lot of speculation. We can’t exactly track down that comet and catch it can we?”

  “Actually, we can.” Joram announced flatly.

  “What?” Kath and Reyd both turned their attention to him.

  “I overheard Zimmer last week explain that we were going to continue to study the beam to determine its exact speed and orbital path. That’s what we’re going to start doing tonight. He suspects that it’s traveling fast enough to orbit the galaxy once every five years.”

  “Five years! Absurd. I mean, if we’re going to see it five years from now, why didn’t we see it five years ago as well?” Reyd shook his head and wrinkled his forehead as he worked the math, mumbling numbers incoherently. “26000 light years… two-pi-r… five years…” And then announcing his results out loud. “You see, the old man may be losing it. He’s not suggesting that this thing is traveling at 1.2c, or even 3.5c. He’s talking tens of thousands of times the speed of light. I really think Zimmer may be losing it. Not that I’m criticizing—he’s been through a lot recently. He might just need some time off.”

  “He might just need some students to roll up their sleeves and get the work done,” Joram countered with a calm voice and yet a hot look in his eyes. “Let’s just get in there and see what we can discover, ok?”

  Too tired and drained to fight, Reyd nodded and continued nibbling on his sandwich. “Mmm… this is pretty good,” he said with one cheek full of corned beef and marbled rye, a hint of brown mustard in the corner of his mouth. All three recognized it as a lame, yet genuine attempt to change the subject. Quiet settled over the table, but their thoughts were still rampant as Zimmer walked in to escort the group to the 26-inch telescope.

  A glimmer of light cast the still treetops into a gray silhouette against a violet sky. Joram strained to see the yellow beam, but it had faded so much now that it was no use attempting to spot it with the naked eye anymore. No matter! He would be using Palomar-26 for the next several hours in order to continue to study the trajectory of the comet. Could it really be tens of thousands times the speed of light? Would they really get another fly-by in just five years? And if so, would they be able to take advantage of it? Even if NASA was able to inject a probe directly in its path, it would be pulverized. How could they possibly be able to study it and determine its makeup?

  So many thoughts, so many questions, so many distractions. Patience is the proper prescription for just such a time. Joram had his whole life ahead of him to study these exciting and difficult challenges, and preparing himself under the tutelage of Carlton Zimmer was just the beginning of a promising lifelong adventure that hopefully could be just a small bit as fulfilling as Zimmer’s had been.

  …

  “It might take me a while to develop that model, Professor,” Reyd assessed.

  “I understand. Better to get started right away then, Mr. Eastman.”

  “And the model may take a while to simulate. With billions of stars being flown by, it will take an inordinate number of calculations just to get hundreds or thousands of orbits, and I don’t have all of the parameters yet. We still need to know the shape and duration of the orbit.”

  “Mr. Anders, Miss Mirabelle, and I will be working on getting you those parameters as quickly as possible. I trust that you’ll be able to develop the model with placeholders in the meantime?”

  “Yes, sir. But let me make sure I understand the task at hand. You want to know every star which has encountered a fly-by of about two million miles of the comet in the last 50000 years. Is that right?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Professor, how will that help us in our study of the beam?” Kath inquired earnestly.

  “Once
we figure out the orbit of our comet, Miss Mirabelle, we will be able to compare it to any interactions of stars or planets with which the comet has interacted. For example, let’s say that Reyd’s model finds a star about 10000 light years away. If we can project that the comet came to within a couple of million miles of that star and any planets in its solar system, about 9,998 years ago, then we can be fairly confident that the interaction between the comet and that star’s solar system will be observed by us in the next couple of years. We can keep an eye out for any and all such systems that might help us understand the makeup of the comet by determining the type of radiation that is being generated by the material that is shed by the comet as it orbits the galaxy.”

  “But we couldn’t even detect the radiation that occurred when we were affected a couple of months ago,” Kath posed curiously.

  “It is true that we observed a radiation impact here on Earth as well as on the sun, and that we didn’t determine what it was. However, we were blind-sided by that event. We just weren’t prepared for it. Further, don’t forget that NASA is bringing back samples of soil and debris from Mars with the rescue mission, and it could well be that extensive interviews with astronauts O’Ryan and Boronov might prove useful as well. Since the comet practically grazed Mars, we might get a lot of answers right there. Ideally, we’ll be positioned to find a star that experienced a similar fly-by, which would interact with the star in such a manner as to generate a radiation event to be studied here on Earth in the near term. Therefore, we really need Reyd to focus on programming that model for us, so we know which of the billions of stars we’ll want to focus on to study this phenomenon in the future.”

  “Professor,” It was Joram’s turn to join in on the interrogation. “If this comet has been orbiting the solar system for a long time now, why is this the first time that we’ve noticed the beam? You suggested that it may be orbiting every five years. Why wouldn’t we have seen it five, or ten, or any number of its previous orbits.”