The Vanished Seas (Major Bhaajan series Book 3)

by Catherine Asaro

  The “What if?” for this story is this: Suppose we apply the vast machinery of Hilbert spaces to wavefunctions that describe a thought. To do that, we need to know how to transform from one type of space to another.

  Transformations

  In their simplest form, transforms take a function depending on one variable and turn it into a function depending on a different variable. One of the best known is the Fourier transform that turns a signal described by its behavior at various times into a function described by its behavior at various frequencies. Conceptually, a transform is analogous to a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The cocoon acts as the transform, causing the change. Just as the characteristics of the caterpillar determine those of the butterfly, so the characteristics of the original function determine those of its transform. Many types of transform exist, and they operate between many types of spaces, often involving conjugate variables. For example, we can transform a function that depends on position to one that depends on momentum.

  A difference exists between caterpillars and functions, however; you can do an inverse transform on a function to turn it back into one that depends on the original variable. It would be like the butterfly spinning a “reverse” cocoon that would transform it back to a caterpillar! The ability to go back and forth is an entertaining aspect of what I call Kyle space in the book.

  The wavefunction for a particular thought varies with position. The fictional “Selei transform” converts it into a function that varies with thoughts in a particular location. That wavefunction would be localized on that thought and its tails would be other thoughts less and less related to the main as you move away from the main peak. So here is the game: If we can describe the wavefunction for a certain thought at all positions, then we can transform it into a space that describes the wavefunction for all thoughts at a certain location. The closer the thoughts are that gave rise to the function in our universe, the “closer” the peaks of their transforms are in thought space, aka psiberspace or Kyle space. The Kyle operators in the books have brains that are neurologically better developed to interact with psiberspace. They use gateways that transform their thought processes from our universe into the thought universe and then reverse transform their thoughts back into our universe.

  Kyle space has other fun extrapolations that can be found in others of my books, such as Spherical Harmonic (and its essay at the end of the book). Also, it is possible to play other “What if” games with wavefunctions that describe human beings. I will leave it to the reader to find out what those are in this novel. Enjoy!

  Time Line

  Circa BC 4000

  Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon

  BC 3600

  Rise of the Ruby Dynasty

  BC 3100

  Raylicans launch their first interstellar flights

  Rise of the ancient Ruby Empire

  BC 2900

  Ruby Empire declines

  BC 2800

  Last interstellar flights

  Ruby Empire collapses

  Circa AD 1300

  Raylicans begin to regain lost knowledge

  AD 1843

  Raylicans regain interstellar flight

  AD 1871

  Aristos found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire)

  AD 1881

  Lahaylia Selei born

  AD 1904

  Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate

  AD 2005

  Jarac born

  AD 2111

  Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac

  AD 2119

  Dyhianna Selei born

  AD 2122

  Earth achieves interstellar flight

  with the inversion drive

  AD 2132

  Allied Worlds of Earth formally established

  AD 2144

  Roca born

  AD 2169

  Kurj born

  AD 2203

  Roca marries Eldrinson Althor Valdoria (Skyfall)

  AD 2204

  Eldrin Jarac Valdoria born (Skyfall)

  Jarac Skolia, Patriarch of the Ruby Dynasty,

  dies (Skyfall)

  Kurj becomes Imperator (Skyfall)

  Death of Lahaylia Selei, the first modern Ruby

  Pharaoh, followed by the ascension of Dyhianna

  Selei to the Ruby Throne

  AD 2205

  Major Bhaajan hired by the House of Majda

  (“The City of Cries” and Undercity)

  Bhaajan establishes the Dust Knights of Cries

  (Undercity)

  AD 2206

  Althor Izam-Na Valdoria born

  Major Bhaajan solves the case in The Bronzed Skies.

  AD 2207

  Del-Kurj (Del) and Chaniece Roca born

  Major Bhaajan solves the case in The Vanished Seas

  AD 2209

  Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei Valdoria born

  AD 2210

  Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia Valdoria born

  AD 2211

  Denric Windward Valdoria born

  AD 2213

  Shannon Eirlei Valdoria born

  AD 2215

  Aniece Dyhianna Valdoria born

  AD 2219

  Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin Valdoria born

  AD 2220

  Eldrin and Dehya marry

  AD 2221

  Taquinil Selei born

  AD 2223

  Vyrl and Lily elope at age fourteen and create

  a political crisis (“Stained Glass Heart”)

  AD 2227

  Soz enters Dieshan Military Academy

  (Schism and “Echoes of Pride”)

  AD 2228

  First declared war between Skolia and Traders

  (The Final Key)

  AD 2237

  Jaibriol II born

  AD 2240

  Soz meets Jato Stormson (“Aurora in Four Voices”)

  AD 2241

  Kelric marries Admiral Corey Majda

  AD 2243

  Corey Majda assassinated (“Light and Shadow”)

  AD 2255

  Soz leads rescue mission to colony on New Day

  (“The Pyre of New Day”)

  AD 2258

  Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk)

  AD 2259

  Soz and Jaibriol II go into exile (Primary Inversion

  and The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2260

  Jaibriol III born, aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia

  (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2263

  Rocalisa Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)

  Althor Izam-Na Valdoria meets Coop

  (“Soul of Light”)

  AD 2269

  Vitar Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2273

  del-Kelric Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2274

  Aliana Miller Azina born (Carnelians)

  AD 2275

  Jaibriol II captured by Eubian Space Command

  (ESComm) and forced to become puppet emperor

  of the Trader empire (The Radiant Seas)

  Soz becomes Imperator of the Skolian Imperialate

  (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2276

  Radiance War begins, also called the Domino War

  (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2277

  Traders capture Eldrin (The Radiant Seas)

  Radiance War ends (The Radiant Seas)

  AD 2277–8

  Kelric returns home and becomes Imperator

  (Ascendant Sun)

  Jaibriol III becomes the Trader emperor

  (The Moon’s Shadow and The Radiant Seas)

  Dehya stages coup in the aftermath of the

  Radiance War (Spherical Harmonic)

  Imperialate and Eubian leaders meet for

  preliminary peace talks (Spherical Harmonic)

  Jason Harrick crashes on the planet Thrice

  Named (“The Shadowed Heart”)

  Vyrl goes to Balumil and meets Kamoj

&
nbsp; (The Quantum Rose)

  Vyrl returns to Skyfall and leads planetary act

  of protest (The Quantum Rose)

  AD 2279

  Althor Vyan Selei born (the second son of

  Dyhianna and Eldrin)

  Del sings “The Carnelians Finale” and nearly starts

  a war (Diamond Star)

  AD 2287

  Jeremiah Coltman trapped on Coba

  (“A Roll of the Dice” and The Ruby Dice)

  Jeejon dies (The Ruby Dice)

  AD 2288

  Kelric and Jaibriol Qox III sign peace treaty

  (The Ruby Dice)

  AD 2289

  Imperialate and Eubian governments meet for

  peace negotiations (Carnelians)

  AD 2298

  Jess Fernandez goes to Icelos (“Walk in Silence”)

  AD 2326

  Tina and Manuel return to New Mexico

  (“Ave de Paso”)

  AD 2328

  Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok

  (Catch the Lightning; also the duology Lightning

  Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II)

  Taken together, Lightning Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II are the story told in Catch the Lightning, but substantially rewritten and expanded for the e-book release. The e-book version of Primary Inversion is rewritten from the original and considered by the author as the best version.