Time's End: A Future Chron Novel (Future Chron Universe Book 34)

by D. W. Patterson

  “The cloud bank kept rebounding like that over and over again. And almost every time it butchered one of the crew. It didn't seem to matter what you did. If you were in the wrong place something was going to kill you and the real horror was you didn't know the right place. There was no running from it. Eventually, they were all dead. I watched as the cloud layer approached again but it seemed to be taking longer. It came close but didn't engulf the ship. After a few more times it seemed to stop. The negative energy must have dispersed, and that's all I remember.”

  Another few moments passed before someone spoke.

  “That sounds horrendous Pearce, I'm sorry you had to go through such an ordeal.”

  “Well I'm still alive, the others aren't. So it was more horrendous for them.”

  “No doubt,” said Michael. “But I do want to ask if you as a physicist have come to any conclusions about what happened.”

  “Well we know from the Time Wars fifty years ago that such a temporal bubble could kill. But it seemed that in those cases the deaths had come from aging as those inside the bubble aged rapidly even if the bubble only lasted minutes. That was before we knew how to get the rate of time to increase or decrease as we wanted. Anyway, there were a few unanswered deaths that seemed violent but the majority were as if they had died after a long life.

  “But there is one difference that I or no one else that I know of took into account at the time.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. You see all those deaths took place in the space surrounding the planets Tarba and Atwan.”

  “And that space essentially disintegrated as a result, didn't it?”

  “That's right the space around those planets might be described as artificial. It had been an AdS space before the famous Dr. Mach's work converted it to a more normal spacetime.”

  “An AdS space?” asked someone.

  “Anti-de Sitter space. It's one of the cosmological solutions to Einstein's field equations. It's an unstable solution, especially where matter is involved. And would not support life as we know it. But even though AdS space is strange, it is a valid solution to the equations of General Relativity.

  “But the spacetime around Tarba and Atwan had been created when Dr. Mach restarted the Big Bang to heal our normal spacetime. Eventually that spacetime underwent disintegration and only Tarba could be saved by linking it back into normal spacetime.

  “So the upshot is that although we thought we knew how Quantum Temporal Dynamics worked because it had been used by the Tarbans and Atwans in the Time Wars, we really didn't. It may work completely different in a spacetime such as ours.”

  “I'm sorry Pearce but that is not good news. We could be charged with not doing due diligence before we tried this experiment. We should have taken some intermediate steps to discover this phenomenon.”

  “Michael,” said one of the Board members. “We were under time and money constraints. Our competition may beat us to the prize yet.”

  “The competition,” said Pearce. “We've got to tell them what happened before it's too late.”

  Chapter 2

  From The PopSci Encyclic

  2700 A.D. Edition

  The “drive” as it is popularly called is officially known as the Spin-Two drive, a derivative of the old wormhole drive. Its basic function is to generate the almost magical negative energy that allows remarkable, and sometimes frightful results, to be generated, such as long-distance transport, plasma weapons, and now temporal control.

  The fundamental science behind the wormhole drive is the Mach effect which has been described as causing the phenomenon of inertia. The Mach effect describes the relationship between a particular mass and the universal mass. Ernst Mach, the nineteenth-century physicist and philosopher, argued that the inertia an object exhibits was caused by all the other masses in the universe.

  When applied to the operation of the drive the Mach Effect shows that if a material's electrons are shielded from the universal mass then the large and negative “bare mass” of the electron will be exhibited.

  This argument follows from the fact that according to Quantum Electrodynamics electrons are surrounded by a sea of virtual particles and these virtual particles have a large positive mass. The electron's measured mass is very small and positive, therefore, according to simple addition, the electron's intrinsic mass must be large and negative. This negative energy (or “exotic” mass as it is sometimes called) displays negative or repulsive gravity.

  Mach's views were dismissed by most physicists, except Albert Einstein, but made a comeback when Loop Quantum Gravity showed that the smallest element of space, a quanta of volume, could be linked to another quanta of volume, even across the universe. From these non-local links, which look like narrow wormholes in the theory, and the quanta of volume, ordinary space and inertia emerges. When enlarged by the repulsive force of exotic energy these links can transport energy and mass and information, it is thought, instantaneously.

  Besides being used to enlarge the mouths of wormholes and links, a large “bubble” of negative mass-energy formed around an object and then “hollowed out” by spinning up the bubble will at some point begin to exclude the quantum fields that fill all of space.

  The temporal field, which controls the “ticking” of time in QTD, can be enhanced or diminished inside the bubble by the shape of the bubble and whether chron+ or chron- particles dominate. In other words, time can be made to speed up or slow down within the hollowed region.

  Compared to Temporal Dynamics, Pan-Universe was a well-established company already having many products for the transportation needs of space travel. But with the possibility of controlling time, a whole new market of seemingly instantaneous transport (through the slowing of time aboard ship) would open and Pan-Universe could not afford to miss it.

  A project had been started under the direction of their Chief Scientist, Dr. Anais Eiffel. She knew about Pearce Rawling's efforts and disapproved. She would take things in a more deliberate manner. Interpret and consolidate the data from each experiment before moving on to the next. She always told the Directors that if they wanted to do it any other way she would turn the project over to whatever cowboy they chose.

  Dr. Eiffel had heard about the results of Temporal's test and was fighting for a safety precaution she had deemed essential.

  “When we are ready for a real-world test I want a skeleton crew on board. An experienced crew.”

  “What's wrong with our test crew Dr. Eiffel?”

  “They don't have the real-world experience I think they may need should something go wrong. Remember whoever is aboard that ship will be cut off from the outside world for a time and must be able to make life and death decisions.”

  “Added and unneeded expense,” said one of the board members.

  Dr. Eiffel had not seen the speaker but it sounded like Potter, he was always objecting to expense.

  “I remind the board that the Corporation will be held liable should anything happen to those aboard the ship. That includes wrongful death. We all know what happened to Temporal. The Corporation needs to show that it has taken every precaution to protect its employees.”

  “Quite right Dr. Eiffel. Well, I think with that in mind we should vote on Dr. Eiffel's request.”

  The vote was eleven to one for Dr. Eiffel.

  The drive and its three-layered ring were brought online to create a bubble of negative energy surrounding Pan-Universe's ship. Once created the bubble would be spun up to shield the region of space occupied by the ship from the quantum fields of space including the temporal field.

  The three-layer stack-up of the drive's special materials were mounted on the outside of the crew wheel, facing the ship's bow. The inner layer of the stack provided support for the outer layers and also contained the material which expresses a large negative mass-energy (repulsive gravity) when the Mach effect is established.

  Next is the actuator layer which drives the outer layer and is made of a PZT
(lead-zirconium-titanate) composite. A large sinusoidal voltage is applied to this layer.

  The outer layer, known as the Mach layer, is made from a material with a large capacity for internal energy change. And when it is driven by the actuator layer it shields the inner layer from the universal mass exposing the surprisingly large and negative intrinsic mass of that layer's electrons.

  The crew wheel rotated to provide artificial gravity for the crew and also provide the necessary change in acceleration that the drive needed to work. Under rotation, a preferred direction was established and the negative energy could be “cast” or directed a certain distance away from the ship. This casting was used to open wormhole mouths or link-mouths but in this case just to create the negative energy bubble.

  Captain Reese had been instructed by Dr. Eiffel about what to expect. So far the experiment seemed to be working well.

  Inside the ship, the crew at first could see the bubble of negative energy assemble out of a seeming nothingness and become a white milky somewhat opaque cloud surrounding the ship. Then as the bubble was spun up by a second fusion ship the cloud receded and there was a space between the ship and the walls of the spherical shell.

  Because of the spin, a slight flattening at the poles of the bubble occurred, at the inner walls of this spheroid chron- particles increased in number. This had the effect of slowing down time inside the bubble region.

  Could time really be passing more slowly in here than in space outside?

  Captain Reese had been impressed with Dr. Eiffel's expertise. So far things had worked out just as she said so he probably was in a region of depressed time.

  Then he noticed the swirling of the distant bubble walls moving towards him. This was not something that Dr. Eiffel had expected. She had deliberately accounted for this effect. If he saw it something was wrong.

  “Helm get ready.”

  The rotating cloud was speeding up and shortly it engulfed the ship before rebounding and speeding away. The Captain was about to give his order to helm when someone screamed. It was Rodgers on the communications console. He spun around in his chair and as he did the upper half of his body separated from the rest and tumbled to the deck.

  As much as he was frozen by what he had seen the Captain managed to look back at the wallscreen. The wall cloud was headed towards them again. That's when he cleared his head and gave the order, he wasn't waiting around to see another ghastly death.

  “Helm get us out of here, full speed.”

  The ship responded as the fusion engine opened up. Hydrogen added to the stream increased the thrust and the ship rocketed toward the cloud wall and through. Once clear the Captain called for the negative energy bubble to be placed on the wallscreen.

  Aft of the ship the bubble seemed to be caught in a multi-mode vibration. Dimples appeared on its surface like those of a golf ball. The vibrating went on for several minutes before the bubble settled down and began to dissipate on its own.

  “One thing we want to emphasize to the outside world is that even though we had a death, our security measures, that we spared no expense to implement, made the test as safe as possible.”

  “Of course sir,” said Dr. Eiffel.

  “And I'm sure the press will do most of the work for us as they compare our results with those of Temporal Industries.”

  “No doubt sir. But we shouldn't be too overly satisfied. The end results were only different because a trained expert made an informed decision even in the face of such horror. If we are any better off than Temporal it is because Captain Reese made the correct decision at the time of crisis.”

  “Of course, we want to thank the good Captain. But he was only on that ship because the Corporation did not cut corners as did Temporal, I'm sad to say.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Now Dr. Eiffel after all that, is there anything you can tell us about what went wrong? Do you see a path to continuing our efforts?”

  “Sir I believe it was a shear effect. The rotation of the spheroid of negative energy was not as uniform as expected and at the wall of the spheroid the inner layers sheared away from the outer layers. And when they did they collapsed and rebounded.”

  “How does that explain the death of our crew member?”

  “I believe that as this shell of negative energy collapsed its density naturally increased. At the ship this density was so great that it warped the gravitational field across the ship. Some of that field collapsed into small but long lines of intense gravitational force, similar to what astronomers call cosmic strings. It was these filaments of gravitation that caused the crewman's body to be split in half.”

  “How about the ship, why wasn't it damaged?”

  “It was sir but to a lesser extent. It was just a difference of metal versus flesh. The human body being more easily damaged by these filaments.”

  “I see,” said the Chairman. “So what do we do now?”

  “Well, I have word that Temporal will be out of business soon. I would like to get Pearce Rawlings to join us.”

  “What!” yelled one of the board members.

  “Pearce's experience could be invaluable in helping us come up with a solution to this problem.”

  “But the man's responsible for half a dozen deaths. Why would we want to be associated with such a liability?”

  “Because he is a qualified physicist. The only physicist at his level that has seen this phenomenon close up. He could be very useful going forward.”

  “Thank you Dr. Eiffel. We will take your request up in private.”

  The board voted narrowly to offer Pearce Rawlings a job. Dr. Eiffel tried to contact him but to no avail.

  “In his savage, untutored breast new emotions were stirring. He could not fathom them. He wondered why he felt so great an interest in these people—why he had gone to such pains to save the three men. But he did not wonder why he had torn Sabor from the tender flesh of the strange girl.

  Surely the men were stupid and ridiculous and cowardly. Even Manu, the monkey, was more intelligent than they. If these were creatures of his own kind he was doubtful if his past pride in blood was warranted.

  But the girl, ah—that was a different matter. He did not reason here. He knew that she was created to be protected, and that he was created to protect her”

  Pearce Rawlings put down his Emmie and the book he was reading. He was in his apartment. He hadn't done anything that he didn't have to for the past two weeks. He hadn't been anywhere, he hadn't seen anyone and he hadn't answered any contacts. It wasn't that he had lost his job, jobs come and go, it was the loss of all those lives on the ship. He should have done something.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Pearce thought about ignoring it but he was tired of sitting anyway, so he might as well answer the door. Pearce never looked at his Emmie, he just opened the door. There he saw an attractive, blonde woman. She seemed familiar but Pearce was sure he had never met her in person.

  “Yes, can I do something for you?”

  “Dr. Rawlings do you know me?”

  “No, I don't think so.”

  “I'm Anais Eiffel.”

  “The Dr. Eiffel that works for Pan-Universe?”

  “Yes.”

  “I see. What do you want?”

  “Can I come in?”

  “I guess so.”

  Pearce allowed her in and suggested she sit.

  “Dr. Rawlings you are probably wondering why I am here?”

  “I can't imagine.”

  “Well, it seems to me that we have something in common.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes, we are the only two people in this country that understand that we don't understand Quantum Temporal Dynamics.”

  “I guess you're right. So what?”

  “Well I want to figure it out and I wonder if you do also?”

  “Figure it out? Didn't you lose a person during your experiment?”

  “That is true.”

  “Well I lo
st six people. I think I figured out quite enough.”

  “I see Dr. Rawlings. But here's the problem. You and I have the most experience with QTD. We are the leading experts. Now other people are going to pursue the same goal we did.”

  “So, why should I care?”

  “Because these new people who are going to continue our work are going to make mistakes as they learn. Mistakes we've already made.”

  “Okay, so what?”

  “Well if we were involved those mistakes would not be made again and more people wouldn't have to die.”

  “I'm sure those taking over will take proper precautions after studying our failures.”

  “Perhaps, but doubtful. I know of several companies already putting pressure on some former colleagues of mine to solve the problem before others do. Someone is going to be pressured into taking shortcuts. The same thing that happened to us is going to happen again. People are going to die. I think you and I working together can avoid that.”

  Chapter 3

  From The PopSci Encyclic

  2700 A.D. Edition

  The chron+ and chron- particles of QTD have a quantum spin number of plus one and minus one, respectively. Because of their spin they have opposite effects on the rate of time in a shielded region. The chron+ speeds up time relative to its normal rate in the region. The chron- slows time down.

  Which one is dominant within a shielded region? It depends on the geometry of the negative energy spheroid. If the spheroid is prolate (extended at its poles however slightly) around its spin axis then the chron+ particle is dominant and time will speed up within the shielded region. If the spheroid is oblate (flattened at its poles however slightly) around its spin axis then the chron- particle is dominant and time will slow down within the shielded region.