Thomas Aquinas, Explorer of the galaxy (Thomas Aquinas series)

by Rico, J. Luis

“R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy. Here in the good old fashioned unimportant obscure Milky Way. In the backwaters of our local group, in the backwaters of our cluster, in the backwaters of our supercluster.”

  “Fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets. Be they rocky, gaseous, metallic, or other. There is an endless variety of planets out there in the void. In Sol system around our sun, we have a variety. More on that in a moment.”

  “Ne is the average number of those planets (per star) that can sustain life as we know it. And we have learned a great deal about sustaining life under foreign suns, recently haven’t we? Seven of the known systems we have colonized have or had primitive life. We have some good data for our equation here, then don’t we? More on that in a moment.”

  “Fl is the fraction of these life sustaining planets that go on then develop intelligent life. At. Some. Point. More on that in a moment.”

  “Fc is the fraction of these intelligent life bearing systems that develop technologies that release signs into the void that we might detect. Radio emissions, RADAR, visible light emissions. Something we can look around and detect and see.”

  “L is the length of time these intelligent civilizations spew their intelligence and their electromagnetic radiation and their laser and their letters in a bottle into the void for us to find.”

  “Some of these variables are easy to find and drop into the equation. Let’s do just that.”

  “I would point out that this equation is just for the Milky Way galaxy. Let’s remember that and come back to it in a moment shall we.”

  “Three stars are formed per year in the Milky Way. Three. There. we have that part done. R*.”

  “Virtually all stars have planets. Let’s round that up to 1. Fp.”

  “Ne. We have some evidence here. Of the 1073 systems we have colonized and the more than 200 others we have investigated first hand, a significant minority of them can be said to be capable of supporting life. Not too hot, not too cold. Not a tidal lock on orbit, liquid water, the right type of sun, not too much Galactic radiation, a bit of an atmosphere… there’s a rich recipe of things required for life to have a chance to achieve a foot hold, and it is surprisingly common out there in the void. Call it 30 percent chance. .35C.”

  “Fl. We have some math we can use here. Of the 1273 systems we have visited and poked around and investigated and sniffed 30 percent had the right things going for it to sustain and create life, and of those eight actually had life on them. 382 had the right things, and 8 had life. That is the seven times we discovered life on a foreign system plus our own system has some life on it, let’s not forget us! That gives us 2 percent. .02. 2 percent of what we have investigated yielded life.”

  “Fi. Intelligent life. We have some numbers here too, don’t we? We arose and stuck our noses up at the void and made some noise. We count. Of the many systems that have been graced with life how many will develop intelligent life? Call it one in eight, that’s what we see around us at the moment. .125. 12.5 percent.”

  “Fc. Communicating. Let’s use the same number from Fi. .125.”

  “L. We have been making radio noise into the void since the end of the 19th century, but really only at significant and noticeable levels for let’s call it 500 years. We have spread out onto thousands of systems and there is no reason to think we won’t keep communicating as a species for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. We are so far apart a catastrophe would not likely kill all of the intelligent apes that have spread out into this 1,250 light year sphere. I like a big fat long number here. Let’s call it 100,000 years.”

  “Let's do the math.”

  3 X 1 X .35C X .02 X .125 X .125 X 100,000

  290.625

  “Almost three hundred intelligent communicating species in our galaxy. Right now.”

  “There are a trillion galaxies in the known universe. Therefore… We have Three hundred trillion intelligent communicating systems or species in the universe. Who knows how many more achieve intelligence but stop at the rock throwing or gun powder stage. Who knows how many more achieve remarkable intelligence but then choose to hide themselves in the void.” The class is silent. Hakham Katz completes a slow lap around the outside of the student’s desks. His slow cadence is the center of attention for a few moments in time.

  “Where are they? And why haven’t we found them?”

  “That is the heart of Fermi’s paradox. Fermi reasoned that the math work to an excellent degree. Any non-zero numbers in the equation, and how could they all be zeroes when we arose and developed intelligence and have been broadcasting into the void. Any non-zero numbers in the equation result in tremendous numbers of intelligences out there in the void. The universe should be teaming with life. Where is it?”

  Hakham Katz pears back over the lectern at the class. “I believe they are all around us. Let that sink in. The math works. Life is common and intelligence is common out in the void. A few decades ago, learned scientists at this University would have told their classes the likelihood of finding any life out there in the void was near zero. We now know it is common enough we have found that it sprang up on eight different occasions in the systems we know of.”

  “There are staff and researchers and students at this University exploring the chances of life on Brown Dwarf systems. We have completely skipped them in our calculations. They are low energy, relatively speaking, usually not very interesting, and they are extremely hard to find. If Brown Dwarfs have any chance of developing life, then our numbers here are too low. Maybe too low by a tremendous margin.”

  Class ends in time for the afternoon liturgy. All of the students shuffle out quickly to make it to chapel in time for Mass. Hakham Katz stacks his papers and makes his exit after the last student. As a Jew, he will not be attending liturgy, but he and his family will be reading from the Torah and gathering in prayer. The Jewish families living on the University campus are very strong and very traditional. Katz turns off the last of the projection equipment on his way out the door. He still manages to find a sense of wonder at it all, no matter how many times he teaches this class.

  Chapter Five

  Brother Sebastian, Brown Dwarves

  The Year 2432, Catholic University, the Vatican

  Brother Sebastian, as all other consecrated religious brothers and sisters before him, has taken Catholic sacred vows. However, as a Benedictine Monk, he has accepted a slightly different set of vows than a traditional Monk of most any other order. They result from a rather unorthodox entrance into the church as a Monk.

  Benedictine Monks vow to obedience, stability, and conversion of life. Monks of other orders would typical vow to poverty, obedience, and chastity. Benedictines consider themselves to be quite different from normal monks in many regards. Their vows are perhaps the most pronounced difference. Brother Sebastian also favors more traditional clothing vice the plain robes and tussles one would normally associate with a traditional Monk. For instance, today he is wearing slacks, a collared shirt, and traditional loafers. One would not think him a Monk if you met him at the shuttle port or on the sidewalk.

  Brother Sebastian, like Brother Lewis, is a larger than life figure. He towers over most of the staff and students at just over two meters in height. His long arms and large hands add to his overall visual effect and make him appear clumsy. He is anything but. Although he is now well into his seventies and beginning to age significantly, in his youth he was a star athlete. Twice medaling in the Olympics and having a short career in the Professional Basketball leagues. He still holds several defensive records at his University in Oklahoma in North America. This tall gangly, gray-haired black man used to pull down rebounds and block shots in the paint at the highest levels of achievement. Crowds numbering in the tens of thousands would chant his name as he single-handedly dominated opposing teams.

  Like many other modern Benedictines, Brother Sebastian came to the Lord suddenly and as a result of personal tragedy. Modern Benedictines
honor above other things a conversion of life. A deep rooted and sudden break with the normal and traditional lives they have led and into the glory of God.

  Brother Sebastian was lost in a world of drugs and women as a young man of twenty-six years of age, playing in the Professional Basketball league for the Boston Celtics when his world came apart. His young wife and son were killed in an accident at home while he was on the road. He tried to overdose on drugs and put himself into a coma that he stayed in for over two years.

  For two years Sebastian, then named Emanuel Leon Johnson, was treated to the best care that money could buy. His doctors and nurses skillfully worked on his brain injuries and carefully kept the rest of his body from deteriorating. He was kept in a suspension bed carefully rolled to the left and right slowly avoiding bed sores and keeping his muscles, ligaments, and tendons limber and healthy while his brain slowly healed. After a few weeks with no progress, doctors begin to try revolutionary procedures to heal his brain and lure him back to consciousness.

  He was isolated from noise and light and vibration that might over stimulate his weakened brain. His mind was connected to imaging machinery and specialists monitored the health and activity of his mind. Deep in the bowels of his brain, in the centers of reasoning and logic, they observed some activity. Activity that would be described as intelligence and consciousness. At least, it would if it were in other parts of his mind. The parts of his mind that would traditionally show the center of conscious thought and personality remained quite silent.

  Specialists were summoned to work on the young athlete. They spent weeks trying to lure the young man back to consciousness. Every trick and skill in the normal regimen of brain damage induced coma was tried. Further specialists were called and more work was performed. Tests were run. Procedures were performed.

  After three long months, and exhausting all known options, the young man, who is nominally a Catholic, was transferred from the recovery ward in the hospital to a nursing facility for long term care. His prognosis was bleak. All the men and women that worked on the young man fully expected he would remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. The damage to his brain and his mind is too great to recover from.

  The staff at the Sister of the Blessed Shroud nursing home received Emanuel Leon Johnson and placed him into their long-term care wing for non-ambulatory patients. He rested alongside others in similar predicaments. Stroke patients with damaged minds. Severely mentally handicapped patients. The insane.

  These damaged souls received the best care in the world at the Sister of the Blessed Shroud. Limbs were cared for and bed sores prevented. Staff lovingly and carefully clean and change linens and patients alike. Cloistered sisters of the cross spend much of their time in devout study and prayer and then in the care of their wards. A routine is established and kept. Patients are cared for and Catholic life and routine continues. Nuns care for Emanuel and then they pray. Brothers

  clean the rooms and the floors, careful to disinfect everything to a clinical degree. Heavy cleaners are used. Pine oil and bleach and used in heavy abundance. The clean and heavy smell of pine oil is a common occurrence at the Sisters of the Blessed Shroud.

  It is the heavy smell of pine that brought Emanuel back to the land of the living and then consciousness. It doesn’t happen at once. It took over a year and eleven months. Every other day the brothers clean the room. Every other day. Like clockwork. At the same time, every other day. The same routine, the same smells. The same noises to a smaller degree. The sense of normalcy and routine. The familiar and comforting smell of pine oil. A common smell for a basketball player. The pine oil used to polish the floors of the court is a familiar one. For months the routine continues. For months, the smell pulls Emanuel further and further from his most isolated places.

  For weeks and months, he lay at the bottom of his consciousness replaying the last thing he remembers from the conscious world. A television show. A television show about the universe. Educational programming. The television show was well done and had excellent graphics and matched the most accepted theories about the formation of the universe and the galaxies and our solar system and the trillions of other just like it in the void of the universe. Replaying over and over. Rewinding. Playing. Expanding universe. Multiverse. Continued. Over and over.

  Emanuel has passed his time, timelessly. Hidden from himself, from his personality, from his consciousness. Pathways between segments of his mind have had their synaptic connections broken and altered, permanently. He has had to seek shelter in his logical and factual mind to avoid the horror that his conscious mind had developed into after their pathways were shut down and damaged. For days. Then, for weeks. Then, for months. Then, for years.

  Emanuel is a learned man. For a student athlete in Oklahoma, he eschewed an easy course load. He took the math classes his teammates avoided. He wrote a real thesis when he graduated. A normal distribution curve would show his intelligence lying in the top one percent of the population. He would never solve any of the famous mathematical millennium prizes himself, but he understands the math and the explanations of the puzzles.

  As the universe expanded in his mind again, trapped in the bottom of his logic and the back corner of his mind he begins to wonder about it all. How does the universe start? How does it end? He begins to think about it. To visualize the expansion of the early universe as the producer of the documentary describes it. The inflation of the early universe. The bubbles in space that have been manipulated to allow for FTL travel. Bubbles and ripples in space time. He replays it in his mind. He continues to replay it again, and again, and again.

  “The comets of the solar system reach to our nearest solar neighbor. We even trade comets from time to time on the galactic scale of things.”

  Where did that come…?

  The smell of pine is overwhelming. Sharp and bright and so strong it is a taste and a smell.

  Time passes.

  Emanuel replays the tape in his mind again. Focusing on the steps of the process of the expansion. He lists them as the producer ticks them off in his mind. He replays it again and again and again in his mind. There is something the producers keep talking about that is mostly right… But not entirely right. “It will come to me.” Emanuel thinks and replays it again.

  Time passes.

  Vacuum, vacuum energy, energy, expansion, inflation, isotropic. Isotropic. “Why does that word stand out?”

  The tape repeats and repeats and repeats.

  The smell of pine is back, stronger than ever. The smell is friendly and has an association with Emanuel, but he cannot place it. The pine smell rising and falling now on a regular schedule. It is following a pattern some part of his mind thinks. The box of his mind has grown a bit. The smell of the cleaning chemicals and oils has brought back a piece of a piece. Familiarity.

  Time passes.

  The isotropic expansion of the super hot, super dense early universe continues in his mind. It is the only part of his mind. Except for the familiarity of the smell of pine. That is a new thing. A familiar but new thing.

  The edge of the universe expands outward creating new universe as it expands. As it moves outward in a straight line it builds out the curves and the knobs and the protuberances of the edges of the expanding universe. It is a hard thing to visualize, but the expanding edge of the straight-line universe can be seen by a part of your mind that is purely logical. The rest of the mind insists it doesn’t work that way and moves on. But Emanuel’s damaged purely logical corner of his mind can see it quite clearly.

  The expansion rate H (Hubble constant) and the straight-line expansion of the universe are not only creating a new universe. It is both the potential and the kinetic energy that was created during the great big bang. The expansion of the universe along straight lines. No, that’s not it.

  Time passes.

  It is back. The smell. The familiar smell. It is like something familiar in the back of my mind. Emanuel does something now he has not
done for nearly two years. He tries to move.

  The smell retreats, and the universe expands again. And again.

  The curve of the edge of the universe as it expands is a mathematical absurdity. How does that work? How can it be expressed? How can it be described…?

  Time passes.

  Emanuel feels warmth on his skin. And the smell returns. The sweet clean smell of pine oils and cleaners. The comfortable feeling of warmth on your skin from the…

  The Solar system begins to develop out of the concentration of mostly hydrogen in this far corner of the small collection of hydrogen that will someday become the local group of galaxies which contains our Milky Way and several dozen other galaxies. The tape rewinds. The universe expands again.

  Hyperinflation. Inflation. Energy creation and expansion. Inflation.

  Emanuel feels the warmth on his skin. On his face. On his arms. And the smell! The Pine is strong and calming and reassuring.

  The edge of the expanding universe begins to curve. His mind can see it, and understand it, but not describe it in a mathematical formula. But it is close. The formula will come. Of this, there is no doubt now. Emanuel can sense something is near. A discovery. Some new knowledge. And he can sense its import, but not know why. His sense of self has grown a little more. His mind has unlocked a new corner. Some synapse has made a new connection and expanded his sense of self. His partial identity.