Quagmire's Gate
Page 18
He then stabbed a finger into the air and announced,
“ Energy. Anything without corporal substance can cross over. Frequencies for instance. Sound waves. Light waves. Look into a fish tank and gently blow onto the water. You see it as waves on the surface but if the fish had intelligence, they might see the waves as dimensional distortion, a wave between the fish world and ours. If the fish does not look up to see the distortion, you can get their attention by sound waves. If you produce a droning sound then the vibrations hit the water and transfer down into their world as sound. You see, some things can be inter-dimensional, can exist in both worlds. However, for inter-dimensional communication to happen, these dimensions have to know each one exists. What good is just talking to the water when the fish cannot understand us or even know that we exist? The fish have to know we are there and have to listen.”
She was going to cut the torrent off by announcing the obvious folly of the story. Fish are complacent in their own world, happy that food falls down to them from a place they do not understand or care to even think about. Manna from the gods as it were. However, when realizing whoever built that ship probably thinks no more of us then mere goldfish in a tank, she quickly stemmed that thought. For them to visit us might just be as easy as climbing into a submarine and submerging into the water. Our value to them might only be an interesting specimen for study. Perhaps that is the sign of their intelligence, that they see no need to communicate with us.
The churning in her head subsided a bit and made room for clearer thoughts. Perhaps the Professor saw himself as an intelligent fish poking his head out of the fish tank to discover another world, another science. She will give him that much. She was also willing to accept that just maybe the flying saucer over at Deep Lab 6 might be something like that, an inter-dimensional vehicle. Maybe the flying saucer was the submarine that sunk into the depth of the fish tank to have a look around a different world. She was also quick to wonder if the scientists over there had any idea what they are tampering with.
One thought kept coming back to her. Why did it have to come from another dimension? Why not from just a few hundred light years away? She said,
“I couldn’t help but notice you immediately assumed the spacecraft came from another dimension. I think an ordinary person might assume that it crossed the distance of space to get here. Why can’t it be something like that?”
He had not changed his sitting position. Right from the start, his back was straight and his hands were still secreted away under his armpits protecting them from her. She had long given up on mimicking his insecurity for the sake of relaxing him. She neatly folded her hands in her lap. His reply surprised her.
“Distance? Hah! Clearly you have never heard of the Tower of Babel.”
How ironic that he should bring something to the table that babbles. Letting that thought go for now she said,
“Yes of course I’ve heard of it. That is the story where God gave all the people of the earth different languages so that they could not plot against him. It is an allegorical story explaining the reason different cultures have different languages or seemingly babble their speech.”
To him, she had just proven that all people are cursed with the same simplistic reasoning. He shook his head and with annoyance said,
“No, no! God did not separate the creations here on earth. God separated the other creations in the universe by great distances to prevent communication between them until it was deemed acceptable. It was a plan of the creation to allow for distinct and individual evolution throughout the universe. In fact, the Babel Tower is a metaphor for the separation of us and the other creations.”
She was now sure that madness was lurking in that gray matter after all. What does the Bible have to do with space travel anyway? She said,
“I’m not here to have my religious beliefs insulted. If there is a point to be made here then get to it.”
He missed the affront.
“The distance is too great between the galaxies. It is foolhardy to build a ship that can travel such great distances. No matter what propulsion system you dream up, it still requires a multi-generation trip and an unimaginable, unlimited fuel supply. The Tower of Babel is a tower that separates all the creations of God. Now however, because the aliens are here, it is far more practical to assume there are other ways to cross the barrier that separates us.”
She was quick to realize that here was a man who, at least at one time was the most brilliant mind in the astrophysical sciences, and yet still believed in God. Of course, why not believe that God created the universe and science was only peeking over God’s shoulder to see how it was done. Fine, she will accept the fact that it was far more reasonable to assume that the space ship over at Deep Lab 6 crossed a dimensional barrier rather than the great distance of the universe.
She now wondered why Professor Quagmire was in this institution in the first place. When the door suddenly opened and in walked Maggie, that question was soon answered. She carried a tray of soup and sandwiches. It was then that Professor Quagmire showed why he was here. With a grin reminiscent of a gleeful little boy, he unhinged his hands from his armpits and eagerly reached out for the approaching tray. He was giggling out of control and unable to contain his enthusiasm for the meal.
Suddenly there was no genius Astrophysical Theorist sitting in front of her but rather a starving baby eagerly reaching out for his food. She understood the bib slung around his neck was because he did not want to get any soup on his clean white shirt. What she had a problem with was how wide that begging mouth opened and how Maggie was feeding him. Not all the soup managed to get inside that gapping mouth, some dripping out from the corner of his lips. Not once did he lift a hand to feed himself.
There was one spoon of soup left but with a boyish playful grin, he slammed his mouth shut and refused to accept it. This prompted the Maggie to say,
“Oh, come on Professor. Open that big black hole up wide. Here comes a meteor to be swallowed up by it.”
It was just about the widest she has ever seen anybody pry open his mouth. The ominous black hole finally swallowed the last of the meteor.
What happened next was just about the last thing she ever wanted to see. The wiping of his face with the cloth was fine. Even when he opened his mouth to show the nurse that indeed the black hole was empty, was acceptable. She reasoned that they hid medicine in the soup and this was to make sure he had swallowed it all.
She gulped when Maggie led him into the bathroom. Thankfully, Maggie closed the door behind them. After a brief moment, she heard the toilet flush and the tap turn on. After what she thought was a long time, he finally came out and Maggie remained behind for the final cleanup. Without so much as a compromise of modesty, the Professor returned to his seat in front of Lynda. Too stunned to continue the questioning she sat there staring at him. She now knew why he was here.
When the bathroom door opened, Lynda looked up to see
Maggie wiping her hands on a towel. She too seemed unfazed by the doings. As Maggie continued across the floor, to the hallway door, she looked to Lynda and said,
“You better hurry it up a bit. He will want a nap in a few minutes. Nothing stops him from it even if it means passing out in front of you.”
She left without closing the door.
Waiting for the next question, he sat as proud as you please. After giving her head a little shake, she decided to accept Maggie’s advice and get on with it.
“That was an interesting story about how vibrations or frequencies are able to transverse the dimensions. I never thought of that.”
His cheeks turned red for he was proud to impress her. Overjoyed with himself he continued,
“How do you think prayers work? Certain vibrations easily transcend the barriers. That is why most churches have choirs. That is also why some religions drone and chant so that God might hear them in the other world. Church bells are not just to summons parishioners to the church but also to mak
e an announcement to the heavens that prayers are forth coming, pay attention.
Not wanting to go there, she decided to leave it alone. She asked,
“I need to fully understand this hole back in the lab, the one you claim is from another dimension. Could you please help me understand why something from another dimension could be so destructive in this world? And please, make it simple.”
“Well the simplest explanation for the hole is that your people at Deep Lab 6 have absolutely no idea what they are doing over there.”
It never struck her that the people at Deep Lab 6 had no idea what they were doing. However, nothing else made sense. He continued,
“It is true that there are other dimensions and I can mathematically prove there are thousands of them. Despite mathematical proof of their existence, we have no idea what laws of physics rule over them. If the saucer came from another dimension then it has come from one that is not physically compatible to ours. Somehow, your scientists have initiated or freed antimatter from a protected shell, perhaps the shell of the craft itself. Because they have been ignorantly tampering with it, the contained antimatter escaped to fall off the ship and down through your scientist’s hand, through the table and dare I say, through the earth. There is nothing in our sciences that can stop or destroy the antimatter.”
She nodded. He can’t even feed himself yet somehow he makes sense. He continued,
“I don’t think you need to bother asking who built the saucer, them or us. There can be no doubt that it is not only extra-terrestrial but extra dimensional as well. If what you say is true then the stupid scientists at Deep Lab 6 have created the greatest threat to this planet since the atomic bomb. I dare say that if the anti-matter derogation over there is allowed to continue unchecked it will eventually not only destroy this planet but all things in this dimension as well. Indeed madam, they seem to have opened Pandora’s Box.
She did not need to hear that. Stumbling for understanding, trying to get at least something comprehensible from this she asked,
“But that can’t be right. If it was capable of starting then isn’t there something we can do to stop it?”
He smiled and insulted her simplistic optimism.
“Yes, but the question is how? How do you turn something off that you do not even know how it was turned on?How do you stop something we do not understand from destroying the world?”
Suddenly another thought came to him. He paused and by all counts of body language was in deep thought. Just as Lynda was having thoughts of giving up and leaving, he asked,
“May I ask a few more questions?”
She shrugged and nonchalantly nodded. With enthusiasm, he said,
“You said that the man in your infirmary came to you with a hole in his hand.”
“Yes,” she said.
“But nothing else happened to him while in your office?”
“No, nothing. He returned to the lab and I presume continued with his work.”
“I see, then later on, when he was brought back to your medical room things got worse, his whole arm was gone, correct?”
Not understanding where he was going with the seemingly unrelated questions, she simply nodded her agreement and said,
“Yes, but I was not there when that happened.”
He asked,
“And nothing else happened to him when you were not there?” A thought suddenly came to her. She snapped,
“Yes it did! I was not on duty at that time but the attending doctor told me what happened. They put him on a gurney and wheeled him out of the infirmary. When the door opened, he inexplicably started screaming in pain. It was like whatever was taking his arm had suddenly accelerated.”
“I see. That indicates there is something in your office capable of accelerating the contamination. What do you suppose was so different the second time he came into your office to make his arm react like that?”
It was her turn to ponder but eventually had to concede,
“I don’t know. I mean there are really only two differences in the office, the two people who occupy it. The first time he came in, I was there and the second time it was on Doctor Nelson’s shift.”
“No. Something activated the antimatter. What I am looking for are specific frequencies. What caused the antimatter to accelerate while in your office the second time? Perhaps there was a radio playing when it happened.”
She shook her head and said,
“No, neither of us listens to a radio. I have a teapot and it whistles when the water boils. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Perhaps. Did he have a converse reaction to the teapot when in your care the first time?”
She shook her head and he asked,
“Does this other Doctor drink tea?”
“No, he is a coffee drinker.”
Her smirk confused him. She said,
“I just remembered what that other sound was. It always bothered me so I am embarrassed that it did not come to me right away. I do not know why he does this but he always hangs a little bell just above the door and it rings whenever somebody comes in. That whole episode of massive degradation could have happened when they opened the door and wheeled the poor man out of the room. Is that the sound you are looking for?”
A bolt of excitement shot through him.
“Excellent! The frequency of that bell could be the exact resonance, the precise harmonics that aggravated the anti-matter, the wave action on the water in the fishbowl as it were. The sound of that bell could be the key to the whole mystery. I don’t know what your scientists did to release the anti-matter on the ship but that pulsation, the bell’s vibrating harmonics, must have aggravated the anti-matter in that poor man’s arm.”
He then strangely changed his tone and said,
“This is what I want you to do for me. Go back to your lab and get a reading on the hole for me. Tell your scientists to put up a positronic accelerator to measure the degree of flux, the emitting frequencies. If there is going to be an end to this, I need those readings.”
Then he said something that confused her.
“I also want that bell!”
She hesitantly replied,
“Well, I suppose I can send it to you.”
His strange determination to acquire the bell surfaced. He snapped,
“No! I will come and get it. Besides, I do not trust your inept scientists to get me a proper reading on the hole. They probably do not even know how to get a positronic measurement. Those readings must be accurate to zero tolerance. Do you have the clearance to get me in there?”
“Yes. In fact that’s what I’m here for, to drive you over there.”
She then gave him a quizzical look and asked,
“Do you think it’s important enough for you to leave this safe place?”
He snapped,
“Is saving the world important enough to you?”
She cast him a one-eyed squint and said,
“We’re getting a little overdramatic here aren’t we Professor.”
He replied,
“I’ll make you a deal. When we get back you ask the people in the lab how much bigger the hole is now. If it has grown, then it is time to panic because everything I have been telling you will happen. Ask them how much of the saucer is missing. I am telling you that slowly but methodically the saucer is degrading and melting away. The deadly anti-matter is dripping off the ship. The smaller the saucer gets, the bigger and deeper the hole in the Earth gets.”
That was good enough for her.
Back in Nurse Maggie’s office, Lynda saw that she was not happy with the suggestion she leave here with the Professor. She asked the same question the Professor asked.
“Is your Apple Jack clearance high enough to take him from me?”
“Yes it is. However, I am not here to take anybody away from you permanently. If I deem him capable of helping the situation over at Deep Lab 6, or at least shed some light on the mystery, I have been asked to bring him t
here. After that, bringing him back here is most certainly in the equation.”
“I see. And has this visit got anything to do with the Professor obtaining information on vibrations or frequencies?”
The question visibly stunned Lynda. She wondered why the Professor had specifically asked about frequency harmonics. There was also the strange request of wanting that specific bell. Maggie was no fool. She saw Lynda’s hesitation and bafflement and knew the answer to her question was yes. Maggie continued,