Newton walked across the plates and Kepler followed. The metal was flexible. He bent down and felt it. It was hot, over 40 degrees. He was glad they were no longer barefoot.
Newton stopped in front of a large wheel attached to the end of a linkage. “This is my computer,” he said.
“Looks quite old-fashioned,” said Kepler.
“It’s mechanical,” said Newton. “I turn the wheel. That causes the linkages to move the plates, which deforms the entire planet.”
“You turn this a few times and the whole planet changes shape?” asked Kepler.
“Yes. But we only need a minor change. We don’t want to cause the system to collapse.”
Newton turned the wheel clockwise. The linkage squeaked.
Kepler counted. One turn, two, three, five, nine... fourteen. The wheel stopped.
“Fifteen turns,” said Newton. “That’s how many we need.”
“That was fourteen,” said Kepler.
Newton raised his eyebrows.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Isaac.”
Newton sagged a little. He scratched his nose with his index finger, then sighed. Finally he gripped the wheel and turned it one more time. “So, I hope you’re right,” he said. “What do you think, Zhenyi?”
“Don’t ask me, I wasn’t counting.”
Cycle ZT2.7, Kepler-1229
His life seemed to be full of unusual experiences these days, but yesterday’s excursion was probably the most bizarre—except perhaps for the bath of worms on the planet of the Herbae. Kepler touched his chest. It was flat, or nearly. Maybe he should go on a diet. In any case, he was clearly back in his old body. But the fish fried over the campfire yesterday had been exceptional. Kepler’s mouth watered.
The asteroid where Newton had erected his base was functional. Kepler missed the beach. They hadn’t had the chance to go for a swim. Maybe he should clamber across the surface of the asteroid in a spacesuit and gaze at the unique solar system again?
He didn’t feel like it. He didn’t feel like anything today. He turned over and went back to sleep.
“Kepler, Kepler!” Someone was shaking his shoulder. “You’ve got to wake up!”
It was Zhenyi. What was up?
“Come on,” she said. “Newton is completely pale! He’s finished his calculations.”
“Oh.” Kepler kicked off the blanket. Under it he was fully clothed.
Zhenyi’s mouth twitched with mirth.
“I was already awake earlier,” he said.
“I see.” She didn’t believe him. But what was wrong with Newton?
“Do you think Isaac has discovered something?” he asked.
“Don’t talk, just come. Then he’ll be able to tell us.”
They met Newton under the dome. The glass roof was black. Kepler couldn’t see a single star. It must be in opaque mode. Newton paced up and down under the dome. He had his hands in his pants pockets. He kept flapping his elbows, but his hands remained in his pockets. Why was he restraining himself like that?
“We’re here,” said Zhenyi.
Newton came to an abrupt stop, as though he’d only just noticed them. Then he waved his hands around. The dome changed. “Sit down,” said Newton. “The situation came as quite a shock. But have a look for yourselves.”
Kepler sat on a chair and looked up at the ceiling. He could see a black spot surrounded by a glowing disk.
“Sagittarius A*,” said Newton, “in case you don’t recognize it.”
‘It’ was the black hole in the center of the Milky Way, which the Rescue Project was supposed to transform into a quasar. Why was Newton getting so worked up about that?
“The official goal of the Rescue Project is to activate Sagittarius A*,” said Newton. “To do that, they want to feed it with all kinds of stars from the immediate vicinity as well as more distant ones. So far, so good.”
“I wouldn’t call it good,” said Zhenyi, “if humans are going to exterminate an intelligent species in the process.”
“You will when you’ve seen my simulation,” said Newton.
Kepler keenly watched the ceiling. More and more stars approached the black hole, which was only recognizable by the fact that there appeared to be no matter at its location. The stars circled the hole in a spiral until they were finally swallowed by it, part of their mass landing in the accretion disk surrounding the hole. The black hole grew and grew until the process was self-sustaining. Finally, the interaction with the accretion disk created two huge fountains or jets that shot enormous amounts of energy into space.
“That’s the official side of the Project,” said Newton. “The stars that are to be sacrificed for it have been meticulously listed.”
“The sacrifice of the Herbae isn’t on the list,” said Zhenyi.
“But I’ve searched out all the stars whose current trajectories suggest they’ll soon be captured by Sagittarius A*. And bingo, there are significantly more.”
“How many more?” asked Kepler.
“An order of magnitude. Now you’ll see what happens next.”
The representation on the ceiling jumped back to the starting point. The black hole swallowed stars again, digested them, burped, and grew. But now there were many more celestial bodies coming from the surrounding area—not just stars, but also stellar remnants, neutron stars, gravastars, blue dwarfs, white dwarfs, and small to medium black holes. It was as though someone had crossed the Milky Way and shunted all the trash they found on the way into the center.
Sagittarius A* was enjoying the attention. It took in everything that was placed before it, without differentiation. It swelled, jets shot out of it—the space around it quickly became life-threatening. A yellow point flashed.
“That’s the location of the Herbae’s system,” said Newton. “I thought you might be interested in that, Zhenyi.”
“Thank you,” she said.
But the black hole kept growing. It was already much more substantial than had ever been anticipated, and its meal wasn’t over yet. This can’t end well, thought Kepler. It was an orgy of desolation in the middle of space that had done more damage than humanity could ever make use of. It would critically change the shape of the Milky Way.
All at once, everything contracted. Sagittarius A* shrank at a rapid pace. But not only did the black hole grow smaller, the Milky Way did too. Everything disappeared. It was as if someone had accidentally zoomed out. What had been many millions of light-years across now measured only light-years, then kilometers, then everything disappeared into nothing. The dome was black again.
“What was that?” asked Zhenyi.
“The end,” said Newton.
“The end of your simulation?”
“The death of the universe, Zhenyi. The end of all of us.”
“But how—”
“A metastable state, right?” Kepler interrupted her.
“Right,” said Newton. “The feeding process overloaded the black hole in such a way that the universe at our latitudes slipped out of its metastable state. No one would survive that, not even the universe. At least, not the one we know.”
“So will anything survive?” asked Zhenyi.
“To be very precise,” said Newton, “imagine you are damming a canal, with two dams, left and right. The water flows into it stably. But without the dams it doesn’t work. The water is not in its default state, but in a metastable state. Then you tear down part of the dam. The water runs out. It seeks out the lowest point and forms a lake there. The canal is empty, it no longer exists. The metastable state has ended. But now you have a lake with completely different characteristics from the canal. We only know our universe in this metastable state. What it would turn into in its default state, no one knows. Maybe there’ll be a new Big Bang, or maybe a completely new universe will result. But there won’t be anything left of us, not even memories.”
“Because we’re too close to the core, where it’s all happening?” asked Zhenyi.
&
nbsp; “No, because we’re part of the universe, which will cease to exist. No one will escape the collapse. There’ll be no way out of the great annihilation. It will spread at the speed of light across the entire cosmos. The Rescue Project is the assassination of the universe.”
It was unbelievable. Newton must be wrong. Who would be so insane as to destroy the universe itself? There might be people who were tired of their immortality. But taking everyone else with you? How evil did you have to be to do something like that? But maybe they still didn’t know all aspects of the plan. There must be something they had overlooked.
“So survival isn’t possible?” asked Kepler.
“Anything that’s part of the universe will go down with it,” replied Newton assuredly.
“Could someone try to stop being part of the universe?”
Newton gave a short laugh. “That’s impossible.”
“I was thinking of an ant living on a flat surface. If it dug a hole through it and came out on the other side, wouldn’t it have then escaped the universe?”
“Oh, this ridiculous comparison. It’s been circulating for several megacycles, but it’s humbug. A 2D ant can’t dig 3D holes. And afterward, it’s still two-dimensional. And it still can’t escape the universe.
“Who’s behind the plan?” asked Zhenyi. “The Convention?”
“It wouldn’t have been passed by a majority. But we could ask Columbus,” said Newton.
“Puppy, can you please fetch Columbus from his room?”
“That’s monstrous,” said the Secretary of the Convention after seeing the simulation.
“Those are the facts,” said Newton.
“I don’t mean the accusation. The plan is monstrous. Anyone who could come up with something like that would have to be deranged,” said Columbus.
“Are you saying the Convention isn’t behind it?”
“I’d say it with my hand in the fire. The discovery of this allegedly intelligent species—what are you calling them? Herbae? The fact that this information was withheld, I would expect from some members of the Convention. But to exterminate all of humanity, that I can’t imagine, no. There’s no one who’d do that.”
“The Herbae aren’t only allegedly intelligent, they are actually intelligent,” said Zhenyi. “But who could have conceived such a murderous plan?”
“I wouldn’t want to accuse anyone of such grave actions,” said Columbus.
“But someone must have devised this insanity!” said Zhenyi.
“The Curies,” said Kepler. “Think about their visit.”
“They might be a bit strange, but murderers?” asked Newton.
“You don’t know them,” said Kepler. “But I know how we might be able to catch them out.”
“Yes?” Zhenyi leaned toward him.
“There are numerous stars that appear in Newton’s simulation, which fall into the black hole but which were not intended to be part of the Rescue Project. Someone must have set them on a course from their original location. They can’t exactly fly to the center of the Milky Way on their own. If we compare their original locations with the Curies’ travel routes and find parallels—that would be weighty evidence.”
“Good idea, Kepler. And if we can prove the Curies are behind it? Can it still be prevented?”
“I’m sorry,” said Newton, “but according to my simulation, it’s too late for that.”
Cycle ZT2.8, Kepler-1229
“Leave me. There’s really no point,” said Newton.
“But if you don’t come with us, we’ll have no chance of coming up with an alternative strategy,” said Zhenyi.
Kepler didn’t actually want his competition on board, but they needed him to help them save the universe, so he supported Zhenyi’s attempts at persuasion. “I don’t think we’re aware of all the factors yet,” he said. “Your abilities will be crucial for that, Newton!”
“It’s no longer possible to divert fate, the simulation showed that unequivocally. There’s no ‘what if?’—it’s a clear prognosis. The stars are already moving in the direction of the black hole. This plan has been ingeniously thought out and implemented. Whoever it was only has to sit back and watch and enjoy the meshing of the cogs.”
“If that’s true, then you don’t need to be afraid of a short excursion,” said Zhenyi.
“That’s not what it’s about at all. I want to spend my last few years in my cozy little system. I spent so long building it, and now I don’t even get to enjoy it?”
“You’ve got a whole megacycle for that!” said Zhenyi.
She stood in front of Newton, put her hands on his shoulders, and stared him straight in the face.
He shook his head.
“You have a million years. Look me in the eye and say you don’t want to invest part of that in trying to save the universe. Together with me.”
“I... it’s not about you or me. You’re grasping at non-existent straws. Even an hour is too much to invest in that.”
Newton was squirming so much Kepler almost felt sorry for him. The physicist was probably further ahead in his thinking than he was. Kepler had just realized he was suddenly mortal again. The Rescue Project would still have left him with inconceivable gigacycles. A million years, that was comparable to a moment. Humanity was almost as vulnerable again as it had been at the beginning. Would this understanding make him just as hamstrung as Newton? At the moment it was just making him angry. Angry at those who had taken away a part of his life.
“Then make yourself comfortable on the beach with your playthings, Newton,” said Zhenyi scornfully. “We have to leave. Columbus, are you ready?”
Half an hour later, in the control room of the ninety-niner, the four of them watched Newton’s little asteroid disappear in the distance.
“I really feel like firing the railguns at that thing,” said Zhenyi. She had a cold smile fixed on her face. Kepler hoped she would never have cause to be this angry with him.
“That won’t achieve anything,” said Columbus, “other than adding another offense to your criminal file.”
“We still need to talk about that,” said Zhenyi. “Anyway, it would give me enormous peace of mind. Newton is a worm who thinks of no one but himself.”
“I agree,” said the Secretary.
Kepler still didn’t entirely trust Columbus. After all, he hadn’t originally volunteered to come along. But he had freely offered to accompany them to the database on Terra, to search for clues that might point to the Curies.
“I’m surprised you’re cooperating with us,” said Kepler. “Don’t you consider us criminals anymore?”
“I’m a realist,” Columbus replied. “There’s convincing evidence that you and Zhenyi had something to do with Gropius’s murder and the elimination of the Guardian of Terra. But there are still other explanations. Newton’s simulation seems comprehensive, although I can’t check that it was based on the correct data. But we can find that out on Terra. And in the end I consider you both sensible people. If you find out you’re in the wrong, you’ll give yourselves up.”
“In the wrong?” said Zhenyi. “You’re insane. You’re lucky I’m so furious with that Newton worm right now that I don’t have a scrap of anger left over for you. And now we all need to get into our gel beds as fast as possible. It’s a long way to Terra. We’ll have to accelerate at seven Gs. I hope no one breakfasted too well.”
Cycle ZX3.4, Terra
“Look,” said Zhenyi, grabbing Kepler’s hand.
A giant, three-dimensional ball of fire was displayed on the big screen in the control room, a main sequence star in the bloom of its youth. Protuberances freed themselves from its surface, and the magnetic fields around it drew dark, rhythmically changing patterns on its surface.
“What is that?” he asked.
Kepler held his hand very still in the hope that Zhenyi wouldn’t pull hers away. They were alone in the control room. The butler had served them an excellent evening meal. He was probably in the kitc
hen now, and Columbus had retired to his room.
“That’s the sun.”
“The sun?”
Kepler stressed the article.
“Yes, our sun,” said Zhenyi. “Even if that sounds a bit strange. The star that created us all, anyway.”
“That holo vid must be ancient,” said Kepler.
“Yes, I found it in the archive. I can’t even remember having saved it.”
“You’re such a romantic.”
“You think?” Zhenyi snapped the fingers of her left hand. The sun disappeared. The screen now showed a washed-out, white spot—all that was now left of the once-mighty star.
“Sad,” said Kepler.
“The vid is part of a whole series,” said Zhenyi. She snapped her fingers again to display a planet covered in a dense layer of cloud. “See the logo at the top right? That must be the manufacturer.” The letters of the logo were difficult to decipher.
Kepler spelled it out, “E-D-U-T-V. Strange word. But what planet is it?”
“Venus,” said Zhenyi.
“The planet of love. How romantic.”
Zhenyi laughed. “Look at it today, though.” She snapped her fingers and a scorched pile of rock appeared in the middle of the screen.
“Let’s go back to the past,” said Kepler. “It’s more fun. What did that big lump look like?”
“Jupiter? You’ll be amazed.” A giant, storm-ravaged gas ball materialized, with a large red spot emblazoned on it.
“Not bad,” said Kepler. “All that gas, what happened to it?”
“Everything was blasted away when the sun transformed into a red giant.”
“Couldn’t we have transported it to safety?”
“We couldn’t at the time. Didn’t you pay attention in history? The one-planet doctrine? ‘Those who do not look after their own planet haven’t earned the right to populate another.’ That bullshit only stopped shortly before the catastrophe.”
The Death of the Universe: Hard Science Fiction (Big Rip Book 1) Page 19