by Neely Dobbs
CHAPTER 15 Earth
Following just over an hour of flight, a greenish dot expanded in front of them, gradually resolving into a long radiant cylinder with a deep emerald interior, sharp mirror-edged outlines and concentric rainbows of gravitationally lensed light around its opening. Their speed ebbed as they came closer, and finally they halted near the cylinder. The radiant tube receded far into the limitless depths of space, chased by shimmering arcs of prismatic light.
ADIZ’s voice came to them. “Admiral?”
Startled from his reverie, Jason could manage only a distracted, “Yes?”
“What you see before you is the Alliance's means of interstellar transport, referred to as an ‘InterSpace tunnel’, ‘dimensional tube’, or ‘star tunnel’. The mouth of the tunnel before us is, in Earth terms, 1.25 Astronomical Units from the sun and one AU above the solar plane.”
Jason nodded. “But how does it work?”
ADIZ paused, then responded slowly. “You will remember the precise workings once your masks are removed. However, at the most basic level, the tunnel is created by focusing titanic magnetic fields, which are generated by tapping a small portion of a nearby star’s nearly unlimited energy. Though its exact processes and implications have not been agreed upon by Alliance theoreticians, the practical reality is that the tunnel makes it possible to traverse stellar distances faster than light can span them.”
Kyle interrupted, asking, “ADIZ, Professor Einstein’s work says that nothing can be accelerated beyond the speed of light. I don’t pretend to completely understand it, but I’m pretty sure Earth’s scientists accept his theory. So how can we travel faster than light?”
“As I explained in answer to a question that you, Commodore, asked prior to boarding, this ship merely reaches a fraction of the speed of light within the dimensional tubes. The tubes themselves may be thought of as shortcuts that exist outside of normal time-space; we call their location ‘InterSpace’. The combination of the ship’s high speed and the dimensional shortcut allows us to reach our destination faster than light could have reached it. Yet, paradoxically, the ship always moves far slower than the speed of light."
"Damn it," Kyle muttered. "I hoped I could make him slip up and contradict himself. But, if he's lying, I've gotta admit that his lies are consistent."
ADIZ resumed as if there had been no interruption. “The appearance of the tunnel throughout our trip will remain as you now see it, but— while we are inside— the tunnel walls will appear to scroll past as though we were passing through a physical tube. Concentric rings of green light will appear to move repeatedly around and then pass ahead of us.
“After the ship enters the tube, it will accelerate to a predetermined speed. There will be no perceptible physical sensation, although you will be restricted to your seats during the acceleration phase. Thereafter, no further propulsion will be required from the ship.”
“But isn’t it dangerous to us,” asked Kyle, “to accelerate so quickly?”
“It once was thought impossible to protect the ship and passengers from the inertial forces present during the brief but intense acceleration required by InterSpace travel. Again, I must be inexact, but it was discovered that the damaging forces of high acceleration could be offset by interwoven “bands” of polarized gravitic and weak nuclear energies. Yagdel Mathlen’s theories involving the unification of the properties of electromagnetism, gravity, and the weak nuclear force were the keys to the breakthrough. Based upon his discovery, sophisticated technologies and equipment were developed to create and maintain these protective force fields.”
ADIZ again patiently returned to the briefing. “These dimensional tunnels are not all alike. The deep emerald color of the one before you reveals its original extremely high energy phase, used only in times of exceptional urgency. Once we enter, we are committed to a journey lasting almost four Earth days. Each of your chairs contain controls for quieting mental and physical processes and— when you desire— inducing sleep. You need only place your wrist over the sensitized panel— third from the front on the left armrest— and think, “sleep.” You may also mentally select duration or other preferred settings; the machine will record and comply exactly. If, alternatively, you elect to remain alert, I can provide you with consumables whenever you desire.”
ADIZ then stated flatly. “Admiral, if you are ready to proceed, the proper command is ‘Engage’.” He returned to the pilot's compartment.
Jason glanced to his right. Samantha nodded confidently. When he looked to his left, Kyle flashed a huge grin and said, “If this is a hoax, it’s one hell of a good one. Let’s go!”
Jason did not pause. “Engage!”
The view screen shifted astern, offering a fleeting glimpse of the Earth’s sun, which suddenly vanished as the tunnel mouth behind them seemed to close. The view immediately shifted back to the bow, revealing accelerating waves of emerald light pulsing rapidly around and ahead of the ship. After a short time, the rate of the light-bands passing ahead of them decreased, leaving a steady rhythm of concentric emerald radiance pulsing past them with a slightly hypnotic effect.
They moved inexorably toward a future none of them could yet imagine.