3001: The Final Odyssey o-4

by Arthur Charles Clarke

  An 'inertialess drive', which would act exactly like a controllable gravity field, had never been discussed seriously outside the pages of science fiction until very recently. But in 1994 three American physicists did exactly this, developing some ideas of the great Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov.

  'Inertia as a Zero-Point Field Lorentz Force' by B. Haisch, A. Rueda & H. F. Puthoff (Physics Review A, February 1994) may one day be regarded as a landmark paper, and for the purposes of fiction I have made it so. It addresses a problem so fundamental that it is normally taken for granted, with a that's-just-the-way-the-universe-is-made shrug of the shoulders.

  The question HR&P asked is: 'What gives an object mass (or inertia) so that it requires an effort to start it moving, and exactly the same effort to restore it to its original state?'

  Their provisional answer depends on the astonishing – and outside the physicists' ivory towers – little-known fact that so-called 'empty' space is actually a cauldron of seething energies – the Zero-Point Field (see note above). HR&P suggest that both inertia and gravitation are electromagnetic phenomena, resulting from interaction with this field.

  There have been countless attempts, going all the way back to Faraday, to link gravity and magnetism, and although many experimenters have claimed success, none of their results has ever been verified. However, if HR&P's theory can be proved, it opens up the prospect – however remote – of anti-gravity, 'space drives' and the even more fantastic possibility of controlling inertia. This could lead to some interesting situations: if you gave someone the gentlest touch, they would promptly disappear at thousands of kilometres an hour, until they bounced off the other side of the room a fraction of a millisecond later. The good news is that traffic accidents would be virtually impossible; automobiles – and passengers – could collide harmlessly at any speed.

  (And you think that today's life-styles are already too hectic?)

  The 'weightlessness' which we now take for granted in space missions – and which millions of tourists will be enjoying in the next century – would have seemed like magic to our grandparents. But the abolition – or merely the reduction – of inertia is quite another matter, and may be completely impossible. [1] But it's a nice thought, for it could provide the equivalent of 'teleportation': you could travel anywhere (at least on Earth) almost instantaneously. Frankly, I don't know how 'Star City' could manage without it...

  One of the assumptions I have made in this novel is that Einstein is correct, and that no signal – or object – can exceed the speed of light. A number of highly mathematical papers have recently appeared suggesting that, as countless science-fiction writers have taken for granted, galactic hitch-hikers may not have to suffer this annoying disability.

  On the whole, I hope they are right – but there seems one fundamental objection. If FTL is possible, where are all those hitchhikers – or at least the well-heeled tourists?

  One answer is that no sensible ETs will ever build interstellar vehicles, for precisely the same reason that we have never developed coal-fuelled airships: there are much better ways of doing the job.

  The surprisingly small number of 'bits' required to define a human being, or to store all the information one could possibly acquire in a lifetime, is discussed in 'Machine Intelligence, the Cost of Interstellar Travel and Fermi's Paradox' by Louis K. Scheffer (Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, No. 2, June 1994: pp. 157-75). This paper (surely the most mind-stretching that the staid QJRAS has published in its entire career!) estimates that the total mental state of a 100-year-old human with a perfect memory could be represented by 10 to the 15th bits (one petabit). Even today's optical fibres could transmit this amount of information in a matter of minutes.

  My suggestion that a Star Trek transporter would still be unavailable in 3001 may therefore appear ludicrously shortsighted a mere century from now [2] and the present lack of interstellar tourists is simply due to the fact that no receiving equipment has yet been set up on Earth. Perhaps it's already on its way by slow-boat...

  Chapter 15: Falcon

  It gives me particular pleasure to pay this tribute to the crew of Apollo 15. On their return from the Moon they sent me the beautiful relief map of Falcon's landing site, which now has pride of place in my office. It shows the routes taken by the Lunar Rover during its three excursions, one of which skirted Earthlight Crater. The map bears the inscription: 'To Arthur Clarke from the crew of Apollo 15 with many thanks for your visions of space. Dave Scott, Al Worden, Jim Irwin.' In return, I have now dedicated "Earthlight" (which, written in 1953, was set in the territory the Rover was to drive over in 1971): 'To Dave Scott and Jim Irwin, the first men to enter this land, and to Al Worden, who watched over them from orbit.'

  After covering the Apollo 15 landing in the CBS studio with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra, I flew to Mission Control to watch the re-entry and splashdown. I was sitting beside Al Worden's little daughter when she was the first to notice that one of the capsule's three parachutes had failed to deploy. It was a tense moment, but luckily the remaining two were quite adequate for the job.

  Chapter 16: Asteroid 7794

  See Chapter 18 of "2001: A Space Odyssey" for the description of the probe's impact. Precisely such an experiment is now being planned for the forthcoming Clementine 2 mission.

  I am a little embarrassed to see that in my first Space Odyssey the discovery of Asteroid 7794 was attributed to the Lunar Observatory – in 1997! Well, I'll move it to 2017 – in time for my 100th birthday.

  Just a few hours after writing the above, I was delighted to learn that Asteroid 4923 (1981 EO27), discovered by S. J. Bus at Siding Spring, Australia, on 2 March 1981, has been named Clarke, partly in recognition of Project Spaceguard (see "Rendezvous with Rama" and "The Hammer of God"). I was informed, with profound apologies, that owing to an unfortunate oversight Number 2001 was no longer available, having been allocated to somebody named A. Einstein. Excuses, excuses.

  But I was very pleased to learn that Asteroid 5020, discovered on the same day as 4923, has been named Asimov – though saddened by the fact that my old friend could never know.

  Chapter 17: Ganymede

  As explained in the Valediction, and in the Author's Notes to "2010 Odyssey Two" and "2061 Odyssey Three", I had hoped that the ambitious Galileo Mission to Jupiter and its moons would by now have given us much more detailed knowledge – as well as stunning close-ups – of these strange worlds.

  Well, after many delays, Galileo reached its first objective – Jupiter itself – and is performing admirably. But, alas, there is a problem – for some reason, the main antenna never unfolded. This means that images have to be sent back via a low-gain antenna, at an agonizingly slow rate. Although miracles of onboard computer reprogramming have been done to compensate for this, it will still require hours to receive information that should have been sent in minutes.

  So we must be patient – and I was in the tantalizing position of exploring Ganymede in fiction just before Galileo started to do so in reality, on 27 June 1996.

  On 11 July 1996, just two days before finishing this book, I downloaded the first images from JPL; luckily nothing – so far! -contradicts my descriptions. But if the current vistas of cratered ice-fields suddenly give way to palm trees and tropical beaches – or, worse still, YANKEE GO HOME signs, I'll be in real trouble .

  I am particularly looking forward to close-ups of 'Ganymede City' (Chapter 17). This striking formation is exactly as I described it – though I hesitated to do so for fear that my 'discovery' might be front-paged by the National Prevaricator. To my eyes it appears considerably more artificial than the notorious 'Mars Face' and its surroundings. And if its streets and avenues are ten kilometres wide – so what? Perhaps the Medes were BIG...

  The city will be found on the NASA Voyager images 20637.02 and 20637.29, or more conveniently in Figure 23.8 of John H. Rogers's monumental "The Giant Planet Jupiter" (Cambridge University Press, 1995).


  Chapter 19: The Madness of Mankind

  For visual evidence supporting Khan's startling assertion that most of mankind has been at least partially insane, see Episode 22, 'Meeting Mary', in my television series Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe. And bear in mind that Christians represent only a very small subset of our species: far greater numbers of devotees than have ever worshipped the Virgin Mary have given equal reverence to such totally incompatible divinities as Rama, Kali, Siva, Thor, Wotan, Jupiter, Osiris, etc. etc....

  The most striking – and pitiful – example of a brilliant man whose beliefs turned him into a raving lunatic is that of Conan Doyle. Despite endless exposures of his favourite psychics as frauds, his faith in them remained unshaken. And the creator of Sherlock Holmes even tried to convince the great magician Harry Houdini that he 'dematerialized' himself to perform his feats of escapology – often based on tricks which, as Dr Watson was fond of saying, were 'absurdly simple'. (See the essay 'The Irrelevance of Conan Doyle' in Martin Gardner's "The Night is Large", St Martin's Press, US, 1996.)

  For details of the Inquisition, whose pious atrocities make Pol Pot look positively benign, see Carl Sagan's devastating attack on New Age Nitwittery, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" (Headline, 1995). I wish it – and Martin's book – could be made required reading in every high school and college.

  At least the US Department of Immigration has taken action against one religion-inspired barbarity. Time Magazine ('Milestones', 24 June 1996) reports that asylum must now be granted to girls threatened with genital mutilation in their countries of origin.

  I had already written this chapter when I came across Anthony Storr's "Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus" (HarperCollins, 1996), which is a virtual textbook on this depressing subject. It is hard to believe that one holy fraud, by the time the US Marshals belatedly arrested him, had accumulated ninety-three Rolls-Royces! Even worse – eighty-three per cent of his thousands of American dupes had been to college, and thus qualify for my favourite definition of an intellectual: 'Someone who has been educated beyond his/her intelligence.'

  Chapter 26: Tsienville

  In the 1982 preface to "2010: Odyssey Two", I explained why I named the Chinese spaceship which landed on Europa after Dr Tsien Hsue-shen, one of the founders of the United States and Chinese rocket programmers. As Iris Chang states in her biography "Thread of the Silkworm" (Basic Books, 1995) 'his life is one of the supreme ironies of the Cold War'.

  Born in 1911, Tsien won a scholarship which brought him from China to the United States in 1935, where he became student and later colleague of the brilliant Hungarian aerodynamicist Theodore von Karman. Later, as first Goddard Professor at the California Institute of Technology, he helped establish the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory – the direct ancestor of Pasadena's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

  With top secret clearance, he contributed greatly to American rocket research in the 1950s, but during the hysteria of the McCarthy era was arrested on trumped-up security charges when he attempted to pay a visit to his native China. After many hearings and a prolonged period of arrest, he was finally deported to his homeland – with all his unrivalled knowledge and expertise. As many of his distinguished colleagues affirmed, it was one of the most stupid (as well as most disgraceful) things the United States ever did.

  After his expulsion, according to Thuang Fenggan, Deputy Director, China National Space Administration, Tsien 'started the rocket business from nothing... Without him, China would have suffered a twenty-year lag in technology.' And a corresponding delay, perhaps, in the deployment of the deadly 'Silkworm' anti-ship missile and the 'Long March' satellite launcher.

  Shortly after I had completed this novel, the International Academy of Astronautics honoured me with its highest distinction, the von Karman Award – to be given in Beijing! This was an offer I couldn't refuse, especially when I learned that Dr Tsien is now a resident of that city. Unfortunately, when I arrived there I discovered that he was in hospital for observation, and his doctors would not permit visitors.

  I am therefore extremely grateful to his personal assistant, Major-General Wang Shouyun, for carrying suitably inscribed copies of 2010 and 2061 to Dr Tsien. In return the General presented me with the massive volume he has edited, "Collected Works of H. S. Tsien: 1938-1956" (1991, Science Press, 16, Donghuangcheggen North Street, Beijing 100707). It is a fascinating collection, beginning with numerous collaborations with von Karman on problems in aerodynamics, and ending with solo papers on rockets and satellites. The very last entry, 'Thermonuclear Power Plants' (Jet Propulsion, July 1956) was written while Dr Tsien was still a virtual prisoner of the FBI, and deals with a subject that is even more topical today – though very little progress has been made towards 'a power station utilizing the deuterium fusion reaction'.

  Just before I left Beijing on 13 October 1996 I was happy to learn that, despite his current age (85) and disability, Dr Tsien is still pursuing his scientific studies. I sincerely hope that he enjoyed "2010" and "2061", and look forward to sending him this "Final Odyssey" as an additional tribute.

  Chapter 36: Chamber of Horrors

  As the result of a series of Senate Hearings on Computer Security in June 1996, on 15 July 1996 President Clinton signed Executive Order 13010 to deal with 'computer-based attacks on the information or communications components that control critical infrastructures ("cyber threats").' This will set up a task force to counter cyberterrorism, and will have representatives from the CIA, NSA, defense agencies, etc.

  Pico, here we come...

  Since writing the above paragraph, I have been intrigued to learn that the finale of the movie Independence Day, which I have not yet seen, also involves the use of computer viruses as Trojan horses! I am also informed that its opening is identical to that of Childhood's End (1953), and that it contains every known science-fiction cliche´ since Me´lie`s's Trip to the Moon (1903).

  I cannot decide whether to congratulate the script-writers on their one stroke of originality – or to accuse them of the transtemporal crime of pre-cognitive plagiarism. In any event, I fear there's nothing I can do to stop John Q. Popcorn thinking that I have ripped off the ending of ID4.

  The following material has been taken – usually with major editing – from the earlier books in the series:

  From "2001 A Space Odyssey": Chapter 18 Through the Asteroids and Chapter 37 Experiment.

  From "2010: Odyssey Two": Chapter 11 Ice and Vacuum; Chapter 36 Fire in the Deep: Chapter 38 Foamscape.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  My thanks to IBM for presenting me with the beautiful little Thinkpad 755CD on which this book was composed. For many years I have been embarrassed by the – totally unfounded -rumour that the name HAL was derived by one-letter displacement from IBM. In an attempt to exorcise this computer-age myth, I even went to the trouble of getting Dr Chandra, HAL's inventor, to deny it in 2010 Odyssey Two. However, I was recently assured that, far from being annoyed by the association, Big Blue is now quite proud of it. So I will abandon any future attempts to put the record straight – and send my congratulations to all those participating in HAL's 'birthday party' at (of course) the University of Illinois, Urbana, on 12 March 1997.

  Rueful gratitude to my Del Rey Books editor, Shelly Shapiro, for ten pages of niggles which, when dealt with, made a vast improvement to the final product. (Yes, I've been an editor myself, and do not suffer from the usual author's conviction that the members of this trade are frustrated butchers.)

  Finally, and most important of all: my deepest thanks to my old friend Cyril Gardiner, Chairman of the Galle Face Hotel, for the hospitality of his magnificent (and enormous) personal suite while I was writing this book: he gave me a Tranquillity Base in a time of troubles. I hasten to add that, even though it may not provide such extensive imaginary landscapes, the facilities of the Galle Face are far superior to those offered by the 'Grannymede', and never in my life have I worked in more comfortab
le surroundings.

  Or, for that matter, in more inspirational ones, for a large plaque at the entrance lists more than a hundred of the Heads of State and other distinguished visitors who have been entertained here. They include Yuri Gagarin, the crew of Apollo 12 – the second mission to the Moon's surface – and a fine collection of stage and movie stars: Gregory Peck, Alec Guinness, Noel Coward, Carrie Fisher of "Star Wars" fame... As well as Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier – both of whom make brief appearances in "2061 Odyssey Three" (Chapter 37). I am honoured to see my name listed among them.

  It seems appropriate that a project begun in one famous hotel – New York's Chelsea, that hotbed of genuine and imitation genius – should be concluded in another, half a world away. But it's strange to hear the monsoon-lashed Indian Ocean roaring just a few yards outside my window, instead of the traffic along far-off and fondly remembered 23rd Street.

  IN MEM0RIAM: 18 SEPTEMBER 1996

  It was with the deepest regret that I heard – literally while editing this acknowledgements – that Cyril Gardiner died a few hours ago. It is some consolation to know that he had already seen the above tribute and was delighted with it.

  VALEDICTION

  'Never explain, never apologize' may be excellent advice for politicians, Hollywood moguls and business tycoons, but an author should treat his readers with more consideration. So, though I have no intention of apologizing for anything, perhaps the complicated genesis of the Odyssey Quartet requires a little explaining.

  It all began at Christmas 1948 – yes, 1948! – with a 4,000-word short story which I wrote for a contest sponsored by the British Broadcasting Corporation. 'The Sentinel' described the discovery of a small pyramid on the Moon, set there by some alien civilization to await the emergence of mankind as a planet-faring species. Until then, it was implied, we would be too primitive to be of any interest. [3] The BBC rejected my modest effort, and it was not published until almost three years later in the one-and-only (Spring 1951) issue of 10 Story Fantasy – a magazine which, as the invaluable "Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction" wryly comments, is 'primarily remembered for its poor arithmetic (there were 13 stories)'.