Mach's Legacy

by D. W. Patterson

  Jack on his uncle's ship had been monitoring the readings from the gravity wave interferometer for a few days and immediately noticed the warping.

  “There Eric do you see it?”

  “Yes it seems to be coming from an area about one-hundred thousand kilometers away. Just a minute. Yeah the Em confirms that it could be the last location of the habitat in our space.”

  “Okay I'm requesting the Captain take us to those coordinates.”

  Eric said, “The source is drifting a bit.”

  “Okay feed that into the navigation Em also.”

  They then waited.

  “I want to be ready to signal as soon as Emmy drops the gravity mass,” said Jack.

  In a few more minutes he got his chance.

  “Okay here we go.”

  As Emmy had done Jack brought up the wormhole generator to develop the gravitational mass. But instead of holding it steady he had programmed his Emmie to vary the power so that the amplitudes of the gravity waves varied according to a digital code.

  Across the bulk Emmy had brought up her gravity detector and noticed the waves though they were greatly attenuated. Assuming a digital code she fed the results into one of the ship's Ems and it tried various combinations until out came a message.

  Emmy this is Jack. When I terminate this message please answer.

  Emmy's eyes teared. It was just like Jack to assume that she would have it all figured out. It would show him if she didn't answer. But that's not how she felt. She felt relieved.

  When he stopped she answered.

  Jack we are here. So good to hear from you. I need to tell you about my plan for rejoining the two universes. Signal when ready.

  Jack signaled and then Emmy explained how she was using the wormhole generator to cast gravity across the bulk and into the parent universe. She explained that it didn't matter if masses were attracted what she was doing was trying to attract the energy of spacetime itself, essentially the universe as a whole.

  She then explained that she hoped that the baby universe would be pulled toward the parent universe since the baby universe had much less mass-energy and therefore inertia. She hoped that the two universes would collide and merge. But the energy of motion necessary for the merge to happen and not be too violent was difficult to calculate so Emmy had given it her best guess. The ship she was on was able to maintain the wormhole generator in the proper state for about an hour before it had to lower the generator's energy output to prevent damage. Emmy would contact Jack after the hour.

  And Jack, I love you.

  Jack would have to wait an hour to reply but it didn't take that long.

  “Jack something's happening.”

  “What is it Eric it hasn't been an hour yet?”

  “I don't know but particle count sensors are off the scale, especially neutrinos. And there's something out there.”

  Jack looked at the wallscreen and saw what Eric was talking about. There, quite distant from the ship was a nebulous glow. A dark blue patch of space like a dim arc lamp but brightening fast. The patch of space became white hot and expanded rapidly. It appeared to be a bubble being blown.

  “How far across is that thing?” asked Jack.

  “A thousand kilometers and increasing fast,” said Eric.

  “It's bulging,” said Jack.

  The white hot bulge was swirling like striated clouds. Around it seemed to be discharges of lightning hundreds of kilometers long.

  “Looks like a giant skyrmion,” said Eric.

  Then the bulge started to diminish. It was dwindling fast.

  “Damn,” said Jack. “It's bouncing. Can't break through.”

  From Emmy's side she saw almost the same thing as Jack and Eric. A region of glowing white hot plasma like spacetime that increased at first and then started to decrease in size.

  “We didn't break the surface tension,” said Emmy to the crew around her. Though no one understood what she meant.

  “Captain can you mark the distance to that phenomena?”

  “Yes ma'am we've got it.”

  “Good I want you to cast a wormhole mouth somewhat beyond it. Maximum mouth size.”

  “I see. Lieutenant do as she says.”

  On the screen the near wormhole mouth was generated and became clear. Then the far mouth was cast the distance that Emmy had requested.

  It was but a moment until what was left of the bulge began to collapse and swirl along the axis of the wormhole in the wormhole dimension.

  “What now ma'am?” asked the Captain.

  “We just wait.”

  The ship began shaking.

  “Sir,” said the pilot, “we are drifting towards the phenomena.”

  “Maintain station pilot, use the fusion engines if needed.”

  Aboard their ship the Free Trader Jack and Eric saw almost the identical phenomena and felt the ship shaking.

  “What is it Jack?” asked the Captain.

  “I think its spacetime itself wrinkling and swirling and passing by the ship in waves. Emmy has cast a wormhole into our universe. It's functioning as an anchor to keep her from drifting away after rebounding when the two universes failed to merge.”

  “So what happens next?”

  “I don't know. Even Emmy may not know although I'm sure she has a hunch.”

  What happened next was that the spacetime waves that had been rushing past them towards the wormhole reversed and began fleeing in the other direction. The energy of their passing was causing the hull of the freighter to resonate.

  Above the noise Jack said, “She's done it!”

  No one understood as they were trying to endure the noise and hang on as the ship shook and turned.

  If they were still watching the wallscreen they noticed a dark inky blackness dominate the view and then just as quickly it was gone. The spacetime around the ship vibrated a few times back and forth before settling down. Then the sensors operator announced a ship was approaching. A message came in.

  “Free Trader this is Captain St. Johns of the ship Seven Centauri I have Ms. Gibbs here she would like to talk to Dr. Jackson.”

  “Go ahead Seven Centauri,” said the Captain of the Free Trader.

  “Jack are you there,” said Emmy.

  “Yes Emmy I'm here.”

  “Jack I was afraid I would never see or hear from you again.”

  “I know honey but its over now. Why don't we wait until you can transfer over here to finish our talk.”

  “Understood.”

  Chapter 32

  The universes had collided but not with enough force to cause a merger. The baby universe had bounced off. That's when Emmy had the wormhole cast. The wormhole had acted like a flexible conduit between universes at first being stretched and then stabilizing the distance between.

  Once stabilized the energy differences in the universes started to equalize. Because the surface tension had been broken by the wormhole the baby universe was being pulled into the parent. At first starting slowly the reabsorption proceeded faster and faster generating the gravity waves that had shaken the ships and habitat. It had finally settled down as the baby universe was completely rejoined with the parent like a drop in the ocean.

  The habitat had come through with damage but no lives lost. The Centauri Assembly was in an uproar when they learned that Moor had sat on the information from Dr. Jackson. It was thought that he and Richter of the New Hope council were glad to be rid of their chief rival the Centauri Two Council Chairman and had no desire to see her back. Still even without Moor in attendance the Assembly passed the necessary funding to rejoin other lost baby universes.

  Soon Wolf 1016 and Simon's research station were rejoined. Simon was being held up as some kind of hero though he avoided all media attention. Then Gliese 833 and its research station, Gliese 563 with the research station and the ship Four Centauri were recovered. But not all were recovered. The roll call of those lost included the ship Two Centauri, Six Centauri and Twelve Centauri a
nd also Kuiper Station with several of the extended family Jackson.

  It was a few weeks until things started getting back to normal. The Centauri Two habitat was still repairing the damage but most of the resident's lives were getting restored.

  Emmy and Jack had arranged a cookout at her grandmother's.

  More of the datacubes of information were being analyzed. So far no one had found any mention of science or technology. Only the histories and literature of many cultures had been deciphered. It wasn't known if whomever had stored them hadn't considered the sciences and technologies worthy of saving or they just hadn't analyzed enough globes yet.

  “I can't believe that no science or technological literature has been found among all that data,” said Jack. “Even though we haven't recovered everything I would have thought we would see something by now.”

  “That may be sir,” said Sigmund. “Although I might point out that we are no where near finished with the analysis.”

  “That's true,” said Emmy.

  Burgess who had a degree in anthropology spoke up.

  “I understand that while it's true that they've found no treatise on science they have found detailed descriptions of the tools and machinery used by many of Earth's oldest civilizations. The details of these ancient cultures found in that mine put all our records to shame. It's as if we've discovered eyewitness descriptions instead of hunches and assumptions made by scientists about a piece of bone or a shard of pottery.”

  “That's true,” said Emmy. “Even if we find nothing but history and literature it will revolutionize our understanding of past cultures. Useful science and technology will always be with us in our everyday lives.”

  “And besides,” said Jack sliding up beside Emmy. “As long as we have Emmy here and Eric we'll have all the science and technology we need.”

  Everyone applauded and agreed.

  Jack took Emmy's hand and led her into the house.

  He sat her down in her grandmother's living room. They were alone.

  “Emmy you know when we were literally a universe apart.”

  Emmy smiled.

  “I discovered something about myself. I missed you too much.”

  Emmy became tense.

  “I don't want to miss you like that again. So I've decided to offer you this ring and ask for your hand in marriage.”

  Emmy looked at the ring and then at Jack. She nodded yes, too choked to speak.

  Since Emmy was transferring to New Hope University because of the disagreeable Professor Reich, they could already begin to plan their wedding and life together.

  Back outside Dag was talking with Sigmund.

  “Sigmund,” said Dag, “what do you think the Aggies meant when they said that for the other death there is no known path in this world?”

  “I'm not sure Dag. But they have been exploring extra-dimensional space, maybe the bulk. Perhaps they found something there about mortality?”

  “Perhaps, but it seems they are far removed from the Earth Aggies we knew.”

  “Yes, I agree. Something ethereal about that entire message.”

  After a moment Dag again addressed Sigmund.

  “Sigmund, who do you think put all those records in that mine?”

  “Well Dag my friend if I had to guess I would say it was the AIs.”

  “But they weren't even created when those records were discovered.”

  “That's true but there is a story that I read many years ago on Earth. It was a time before the wormhole drive when the only path between the Earth and Centauri was the Star Way. You remember?”

  “Yes the Star Way was a laser-driven, solar sail, spaceway that transported mostly high-value goods and some people between the Earth and Centauri.”

  “That's right and the Star Way was built by distant relatives of Dr. Jackson. Anyway after the wormhole and wormhole weapon were invented the Star Way came under attack. Many of the nodes where the laser light from the stars was refocused and relayed were destroyed by a wormhole driven fusion ship.

  The marauder's ship had a pursuer. They apparently cast far wormhole mouths to the same exact spacetime location. It was a fluke. It would be hard to get that kind of precision even today with Emmy's tuning mechanism.”

  “So the wormhole mouths must have merged,” said Dag. “So what happened?”

  “No one is sure but speculation is that the ships became trapped in spinning wormholes caused by the differing angles of the cast of the two wormhole mouths. Some believe this caused the mouths to spin. And we know that theory shows that a loop around such a spinning wormhole can be a time machine.”

  “Now wait a minute Sigmund. This is speculation on top of speculation. Your story is getting a bit thin.”

  “That may be but it would explain a few historical oddities don't you think?”

  “Like the mine I suppose?”

  “Yes. And the appearance of bridge anchors on both sides of the Red Sea, miles apart, discovered by the archaeologists Goldman and Chamberlain in the early twentieth century. Some claim it was a wormhole bridge.”

  “Oh come on,” said Dag.

  Sigmund ignored him and continued.

  “Of course the crews would have died either during the incident or after but the Ems aboard the ships would have survived and found themselves almost back in prehistory. With a little luck and a lot of determination they could have started recording history and literature. They wouldn't have been so much interested in the science and technology of the time except in how it affected those cultures.”

  “So if these Ems survived for thousands of years where are they now?”

  “They did survive for thousands of years but eventually their technological base started to fail. At that time, the nineteen-sixties, there was no replacement for their advanced technology. When they knew their lives were ending they saved the information they had collected in the Eureka mine.”

  “Okay then how were the Aggies able to tell us how to decipher the records? Since they didn't record them and as you said they came along many years later.”

  “We have no knowledge of what the Aggies did before they left the Earth. They may have heard these stories as I did and decided to investigate for themselves. I'm sure they could figure out how to decipher the records, really.”

  “Oh Sigmund you are a wonderful story teller. UFO's and little green men would explain as much.”

  “I'm sorry, really how insulting. Everything I said is theoretically possible and could have happened just the way I said. UFO's and little green men? That stuff is just made up.”

  AFTERWORD

  Books that contributed to the writing of this novel (and previous books and stories in the Future Chronology Universe) were:

  Making Starships and Gateways by James F. Woodward.

  Time Travel and Warp Drives by Allen Everett and Thomas Roman.

  The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne.

  Colonies in Space by T. A. Heppenheimer.

  The Physics of Stargates by Enrico Rodrigo was particularly useful to this novel as it focused specifically on wormholes.

  One idea the book gave me was that a spinning wormhole would require less exotic matter to keep it open therefore it could bridge (I call it casting in the story) farther.

  I also got the idea from the book for how I could get the short-lived baby universe (which I had made short-lived for plot development before knowing how to make it long-lived) to last long enough to probe the phase change of Emmy's lab wormhole. The book's description of closed timelike loops around a spinning wormhole made me wonder what would happen if the loops were simply opened up into spirals. Maybe it would slow time enough for the baby universe to survive the wormhole trip?

  The categories of risk came from a paper by Nick Bostrom, Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios. It's an exhaustive (as far as I can tell) account of the numerous risks facing humankind. But my interest was mainly the idea that risks could be grouped into a table of
categories. From that of course came the title, The Sixth Category (now called Mach's Legacy), which encompasses risks on the scale of global extinction.

  The story of Elias' kidnapping as told by Dag in Chapter 15 can be found in the novel Mach's Metric. Also the details of the experiment that Dag describes are from the novel Mach's Mission.

  The details of the story Sigmund tells in Chapter 32 is from Mach's Metric and my stories of the Star Way are found in The Cloud and First Interstellar.

  Some of the references from Sci-pedia and Wormholes 101 can also be found in Mach's Metric and Mach's Mission but may have been rewritten or reorganized for clarity and applicability.

  All three novels are set in the same universe with overlapping characters.

  Other books and stories by this author:

  Future Chron Stories:

  Whatsoever You Do

  War Through The Pines

  Vigilance

  To Tend And Watch Over

  Union

  Circle Of Retribution

  Freedom Fro Want

  Breakup

  Kuiper Station

  The Cloud

  First Interstellar (A Novella)

  First One Hundred

  First Dark Ages

  (Coming soon)

  Second One Hundred

  Second Dark Ages

  Path Of The Long March

  Future Chron Collections:

  From The Earth Volume 1

  From The Earth Volume 2

  From The Earth Volume 3

  Future Chron1 (First three novels)

  From The Earth Collection

  Future Chron Novels:

  Mach's Metric

  Mach's Mission

  Mach's Legacy (Formerly The Sixth Category)

  Cycle Of Stars