Mach's Metric

by D. W. Patterson

  “I don't know,” said Elias.

  “What will we do then honey?”

  “We'll figure out something,” he said but without much conviction.

  The ship had settled into an orbit so as to duplicate the solar constant (the energy flux) of the Sun at the Earth's orbit. Dag and Burgess were studying the large planet Eridani b from a distance of about three AU. They were using a form of the radial velocity method which looked for the “wobble” of the planet as it was dragged around the system's center of mass by any orbiting moons.

  The problem was that if everything worked out they probably wouldn't be orbiting Epsilon Eridani long enough for any moons to make a complete orbit which would make detecting them much harder. But Burgess was optimistic that with Dag's help they would find a moon in the data they did collect, if one existed.

  It was a few days later, Burgess was on her way to tell Elias about some preliminary results of her and Dag's work when she heard some shouting coming from the mess hall. She quietly walked to the hatch and peered inside to see First Officer Tiberius arguing with one of the crew. Several other of the crewmen were standing behind the arguing man as if to back him up.

  “Sir,” said the crewman, “we have talked it over. We are not going to make a long jump again. There's a good chance that half of us won't survive.”

  “Taylor,” said the First Officer, “what are you gonna eat when all the supplies are gone?”

  “Well cook thinks we can take some of the vegetables and refit the aeroponic's room to grow some food. He figures we can have our first crop long before the stores run out.”

  (Aeroponics was a method of growing plants which exposed their roots to the air and misted them in water and nutrients).

  “So cooks a horticulturist? How many crops has he grown? You men are going to risk your lives on a guess made by a man that has never grown a food crop in his life?”

  “Sir,” said crewman Taylor, “at least we all will have a chance this way, using the wormhole generator to make a long jump guarantees half of us die. We've decided to take our chances with cook's idea. We intend to make a normal jump and then use the fusion engine to make the rest of the journey to Sirius.”

  “Do you realize how long that will take?”

  “We figure somewhat less than ten years.”

  “And you and the rest think you can stay alive and keep this ship running that long? You're crazy.”

  “That's your opinion sir.”

  “Then what do you intend to do with me and the others if we don't agree with your plan?”

  “You can abandon ship in one of the shuttles and fend for yourselves or you can come along as our guests.”

  “You mean as your prisoners?”

  “Whatever,” said crewman Taylor.

  Burgess had heard enough. She rushed off to tell Elias. She found him in his work area which he had setup when they had first boarded the ship, an eternity ago it seemed.

  “Elias there is a mutiny.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean the crew has decided not to try the long jump. They are going to take a normal jump towards Sirius and finish the journey with the fusion motor.”

  “That's crazy,” said Elias. “That would take years and we don't have enough provisions.”

  “They're scared Elias and they think they can start up the aeroponic gardens by using the vegetables in the stores.”

  “Well even if they could supply the food for such a journey I don't think they can keep the fusion power plant working that long without refurbishment. And no power plant means they die pretty fast.”

  “What should we do?”

  “I've been thinking of a way to signal the Starway offices orbiting Luhman 16,” he said.

  “You mean send a message, how?”

  “Through a wormhole link with entangled photons.”

  “Entangled, you mean using the onboard quantum computer to create quantum entanglement? But I thought you also needed a classical channel to communicate the meta-data?”

  “Normally you would which is how the ship is used in a wormhole traverse. But in this case the wormhole will just provide a 'shortcut' for the photons. They won't have to exceed the speed of light to carry the message.”

  “I see,” said Burgess.

  “But I suppose they will be looking for us soon. You watch the door honey, I'm going to use my Emmie to enter the message and connect to the wormhole generator controls.”

  Elias quickly typed a message with Arn Strombecker as its intended recipient. He included his research into extending the jump range beyond six light years. He then opened a link on his Emmie to the generator controls. He was just about finished setting up the generator when Burgess warned him they were coming.

  The crew with the First Officer in tow entered the room. Elias tapped the Emmie's screen.

  A whine as if a giant generator spinning up was heard. The bridge called and Taylor answered.

  “A wormhole mouth has formed to the front of the ship. It's unusual though, not large enough for the ship. Wait ...”

  Taylor waited a moment and then impatiently asked, “What is it Mike?”

  “It's gone,” came the reply.

  Taylor marched up to Elias and demanded to know what he had done.

  “I began to open a wormhole to make the long jump home but you interrupted me so I closed it.”

  “You're sure that's all you did?” asked Taylor.

  “Yeah, I didn't have time to do more.”

  “Very well, you and your wife come with us.”

  Chapter 7

  Wormhole Physics 101 by Dr. Elias Mach

  Copyright 2393 C.E.- Chapter 7, Page 223

  Entanglement Reservoir

  Spacetime disruption is a phenomenon related to the use of the wormhole generator.

  As shown in Chapter 3 spacetime is an emergent property that comes from the quantum entanglement of particles. But the transport of an object through a wormhole uses up this particle entanglement. In this sense, it is much more like the teleportation of particles in which the particles must be entangled.

  The entanglement required to teleport/transport is “borrowed” from spacetime. When enough particles are transported the entanglement of spacetime can be weakened to the point that spacetime itself “atomizes” or breaks up. If we imagine the atomizing of spacetime to be similar to water turning into steam we see that a phase change has occurred.

  To turn steam into water you allow it to cool. To allow spacetime to self-heal you restore particle entanglement. To drive the phase change faster with water you could use a condenser with a sufficient cold reservoir. Similarly, to prevent a teleported/transported object from “heating” up spacetime a “reservoir” of entangled particles can be provided with the object. A quantum computer becomes the “condenser” and generates this reservoir of entanglement sufficient to offset the mass of the transported object.

  If the quantum computer is carried along with the object it also shortcuts the quantum requirement that the information for the entangled states be carried by a classical channel between the wormhole mouths, such as a radio channel. The information is in effect carried with the teleported/transported object.

  Elias and Burgess were confined to their quarters.

  “Elias tell me. Do you think your message got through?”

  “I think there is a good chance.”

  “But how did you do it, it's over twelve light-years isn't it? It's impossible to open a wormhole that far away, right?”

  “Yes, if you are trying to open one big enough for a fusion ship. But a small wormhole can be cast farther. In the case of one just large enough to send a signal through, you can cast it much farther without hitting the energy limit and causing a disruption.”

  “I see. And what was in the message Elias?”

  “Well, I sent the message to Arn and I gave him our location and destination and situation. I also gave him my latest research on the jump di
stance of the generator which should allow him to reach us easily. They can get the extra distance from the kinetic energy of the ship as it enters the wormhole mouth. In other words, their velocity will contribute to the casting distance of the far wormhole mouth.”

  “They'll be safe making the longer jump?”

  “Yeah as long as they don't go over seven and a half light-years.”

  “What happens at that distance?”

  “I'm not sure. But that is the distance at which we encountered some kind of anomaly in the wormhole. Until I figure out what caused it I cautioned Arn to stay under that limit.”

  “And I say we get rid of them,” said crewman Taylor. “Give them the shuttle and send them on their way. We don't have the resources to put up with unproductive passengers nor the personnel to watch them twenty-four hours.”

  “We could assign one of the robots to watch them, so that is not a problem,” said another crewman.

  “We don't need to waste robots on them either Peters.”

  “But putting them on a shuttle in this system is tantamount to a death sentence. There's nowhere to go, once their provisions run out they're dead for sure.”

  “That's their problem Peters. My problem is to get you, me and the rest of the men back to civilization in one piece. I can't be worried about the people that got us in this mess to begin with.”

  “Well at least put it to a vote. This kind of decision could cause trouble in the ranks if we don't get their commitment.”

  The vote was unanimous with Peters abstaining. The shuttle was readied.

  Peters informed the four of their fate. They would have a fully fueled shuttle and thirty days supply of food and water and the Starway 7 would take them anywhere in the Eridani system they wished to go before it departed.

  “I just want to say that for some of us it was not our decision but right now Taylor is in control. If there's anything else I can do,” said Peters.

  “Let my wife stay aboard the Starway 7,” said Elias.

  “No!” said Burgess.

  “I'm sorry Dr. Mach that's something only Taylor has the authority to allow.”

  Peters turned and left the room.

  “So that's it,” said Elias. “Thirty days.”

  “Where will we go?” asked Tiberius.

  “Sir,” said Dag, “if I may.”

  “Yes Dag,” said Elias.

  “During our investigation of this system, Burgess and I discovered a radio signal that we think was not natural. It came from a moon of Epsilon Eridani b the planet at 3.5 AU.”

  “Could you decode the signal?”

  “No sir, it was barely above the noise level but it was definitely there.”

  “That's all very interesting,” said Tiberius. “But this means our life. I vote for staying close to the star. It will help to keep our solar arrays charged and all our systems working.”

  “All that's true,” said Elias. “But really we won't be alive after thirty days so I don't see why it matters that we can keep our systems working. I think we should check out the signal that Dag and Burgess discovered. It holds the best possibility for rescue and we can still use our solar arrays though not as efficiently. I think it offers us more possibilities to go to the moon than stay in orbit here.”

  “I agree,” said Dag and Burgess.

  “Okay,” said Tiberius. “I can see the advantages. Let's tell them what we want.”

  The ship had arrived at the moon of the first planet. The Starway 7 was a typical fusion ship with a long girder spine separating the front particle barrier from the rear fusion engines. About a third of the way from the front was the rotating crew wheel. A little farther along the girder assembly was one of the three shuttles attached to its underside. It could be entered through its top airlock.

  The four were brought to the airlock that led to the ladder down to the spine of the ship. Taylor, Peters and all but a couple of the crew were there.

  “All of you will be charged with mutiny at the least and probably murder,” said First Officer Tiberius. “You know that don't you?”

  “Well Tiberius that may be so. But we will be alive to be charged which is more than I can say for you,” said Taylor.

  It wasn't long before James, Elias, Burgess and Dag were being herded into the shuttle. The shuttle was big enough for six, the extra supplies stacked neatly. Taylor had protested such largess but Peters and the rest of the crew had insisted.

  “Won't you let my wife stay?” pleaded Elias.

  “No,” said Taylor. “As long as she or one of you is aboard this ship we would have to be on our guard for sabotage. I absolutely will not entertain any such passenger. Now move.”

  The group donned their spacesuit helmets, except for Dag, and packed into the airlock. The air evacuated and they began the climb down the access ladder which was surrounded by a safety cage to the central girder of the ship.

  Once they had made their way along the girder Dag cycled the shuttle's airlock and the four climbed down into the vehicle. The vehicle was powered up and cast away from the Starway 7. It wasn't long until they had moved far enough away from the fusion ship that it fired its main engines and moved off at increasing velocity. Eventually, it was lost from view.

  The three humans had removed their helmets by this time.

  “Well I guess that's it,” said Elias. “Maybe we should attend to the functions of the shuttle.”

  “Dag and Burgess would you mind attending to the sensor and comm stations. First Officer would you be the pilot.”

  Dag and Burgess only nodded but First Officer Tiberius said, “Well if I'm to pilot this ship I insist on naming her.”

  “Very well First Officer.”

  “I, First Officer James Tiberius, name thee good ship Selkirk, a refuge in the storm.”

  “Ah, I see your point,” said Elias.

  “What does it mean Elias?” asked Burgess.

  “It's from a very old book I read as a child, Robinson Crusoe.”

  “I've heard of it but never read it.”

  Dag began to speak:

  All this while the storm increased, and the sea, which I had never been upon before, went very high, though nothing like what I have seen many times since; no, nor like what I saw a few days after. But it was enough to affect me then, who was but a young sailor, and had never known anything of the matter. I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought, in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should never rise more;

  He paused but seeing that everyone was listening continued:

  ... and in this agony of mind I made many vows of resolutions, that if it would please God here to spare my life this one voyage, if ever I got once my foot upon dry land again, I would go directly home to my father, and never set it into a ship again while I lived; that I would take his advice, and never run myself into such miseries as these any more. Now I saw plainly the goodness of his observations about the middle station of life, how easy, how comfortably he had lived all his days, and never had been exposed to tempests at sea, or troubles on shore; and I resolved that I would, like a true repenting prodigal, go home to my father.

  These wise and sober thoughts continued all the while the storm continued, and indeed some time after; but the next day the wind was abated and the sea calmer, and I began to be a little inured to it. However, I was very grave for all that day, being also a little sea-sick still; but towards night the weather cleared up, the wind was quite over, and a charming fine evening followed; the sun went down perfectly clear, and rose so the next morning; and having little or no wind, and a smooth sea, the sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, the most delightful that ever I saw.

  “Thank you Dag. It's about a castaway shipwrecked for twenty-eight years on an island Burgess. Let's just hope we don't follow his example as far as our length of stay in our new home,” he said looking at Tiberius who nodded assent.

  Tiberius set them on a course t
o orbit the moon.

  “I doubt we will be able to pick up that faint signal with the equipment aboard,” said James to Elias who was sitting in the co-pilot seat of the shuttle. Burgess and Dag were getting familiar with their stations.

  “Can we reconnoiter the moon before we land James?”

  “Yes, the shuttle has excellent surface mapping capabilities. That is what it was intended for in addition to landings. We can see the surface at sub-meter resolution if we want. But we should restrict our search area so that we don't spend too much time and energy searching and not have enough to land and explore.”

  “Okay,” said Elias, “let's give it a week.”

  Chapter 8

  Sci-pedia - The Online Resource for Science - Interstellar Politics

  By the beginning of the 22nd century, the politics of the Solar System was centered on two groups. The Terran Federation was the successor to the old UN and eventually represented the Earth, Moon, Mars and some habitats in the Centauri System.

  The Solar Federation originally started by the Martian Republic came to represent the smaller interests in the Solar System such as the Asteroid Belt, Titan and in the 24th century the habitats of the Star Way and the smaller habitats of the Centauri System.

  A third power center emerged when AGI (Artificial General Intelligence or Aggies) was developed and began managing the Earth and Mars for their respective governmental entities in the middle of the 22nd century. The Aggies generally aligned themselves with the Terran Federation.

  Except for a few minor skirmishes, this balance of power held until a schism developed in the Aggie community and the Aggies of Belenos began their campaign of extermination . . .

  Arn Strombecker was worried. The people of the Centauri System were becoming more and more prone to turn over control, which to Arn meant freedom, to government. In their haste to safety, they were not questioning the consequences of their actions. It was a knee jerk reaction to a threat that could be mitigated through cooperative action rather than government action.

  Arn was already aware of a law being drawn up by the new Committee on Public Safety (COPS) that would regulate all wormhole based traffic in and out of the system. Not as most thought for the enhancement of safety but for the control and accountability to the Committee only. Essentially they would have the last say about who could operate a wormhole ship.