When he reached it, he saw exactly what he had decided beforehand that he would see: His own overnight pack, resting on the bed, empty, zippers open.
Fifteen minutes later, Erin had the table set, and the steam from the dishes rose invitingly into the air. “Daddy! Come and get it!”
Calvin walked into the kitchen, and Erin immediately did a double-take. Calvin was still unshaven and tired in appearance, but he seemed to be standing straighter than he had in days, and the tortured look in his eyes had faded noticeably. He stepped up to the dining table, tossing a loving look at his daughter, and sat down eagerly. Erin sat down after him, and the two of them began spooning out portions onto their plates.
As Calvin ladled sauce onto his spaghetti, he said, “So, planning a little camping trip? For tonight or tomorrow?”
Erin looked at her father a bit anxiously. “Tonight. No time like the present, right?”
Calvin did not reply for a moment. When he finally raised his head, he said, “How much time are you going to give me to pack?”
~
“This is a damned silly tradition,” Reya commented just loudly enough for the nurse to hear. The nurse merely smiled down at her, and continued to push her wheelchair down the corridor towards the hospital exit. “I mean, I got shot in the hand… not the leg. I even got a local anesthetic. I can still walk.”
“I can see now,” the nurse said kindly, “why the doctor didn’t argue with you when you said you didn’t want to stay.”
As they approached the main lobby of the hospital, the nurse unexpectedly steered the wheelchair away from the doors. Reya, who was examining the fresh bandaging job done on her hand, looked up when she realized they had turned. “What?—” Then she caught sight of a man standing in the path of her wheelchair, and she smiled brightly for the first time in over a week.
“Oh, you don’t look so bad,” Lem Carter smiled down at her from above a large bouquet of roses, asters, alstroemeria and chrysanthemums. “From what I heard of the loud complaints everyone in the hospital was hearing, I figured you’d lost an arm or something.”
He held out the bouquet to Reya, who took it with her good hand and cradled it in the crook of her injured hand’s arm. “Thank you, Lem! And is this a slightly-late get-well-soon visit?”
“Actually,” Lem replied, “it’s a right-on-time pick-up. As I happen to be temporarily unemployed at the moment, I’d like to offer my services as your assistant. After all, with only one good hand, you’ll need a bit of help getting things done for a while.”
“Oh, I will, will I?” Reya said wryly.
“In fact,” Lem went on, “I have a special convalescence suite arranged just for you. You should remember the place… you recently helped me to dispose of some perishables there.”
Reya’s eyes fairly twinkled in response. “Yes, I remember the place well.” Slowly she stood up out of the wheelchair, and placed her good hand in his. “I hope you called for a hired car.”
Lem looked at her dubiously. “And what’s wrong with a tram?”
“Trams are okay,” Reya replied smoothly. “Unless you want a bit of privacy.”
~
When Julian came out of the bathroom, he lingered on the paintings on the walls, the sculptures he saw on the shelves, instead of hurrying back to the dining room table. This was the first time he had visited Kris’ flat, and he wanted to take in the aspects of her tastes that she liked to put on display. The flat had a primarily modern style, but accented with some wonderfully eclectic pieces, including two classic movie posters, a display column that rotated through various nineteenth- and twentieth-century Earth cityscapes, and a popular and critically-acclaimed twenty-first century impressionist version of the Discobolos. Overall, an impressive and attractive collection of art, worthy of such an incredible woman.
As he came around the corner of the hallway, he saw Kris seated on one side of a small dining table that overlooked the balcony, providing a fetching backdrop of Verdant by night. Though restrictions would change soon, Verdant’s interior was still lit up like a gridwork of stars, a model of the heavens wrapped around a cylinder of civilization. Julian momentarily reveled in the fact that it was still intact, it was still surviving, and under the care of him and his excellent staff, God willing, it would continue to do so.
His daughter Anise was on the other side of the intimate table, and she and Kris were sharing a laugh over something that he’d obviously missed while he was away. He smiled as he approached, taking them both in. “I’m glad you two are getting along so well,” he commented happily.
The women looked up at him. “And why not?” Anise said at once. “After all, any woman who manages to bring a smile like that to my father’s face deserves my undying respect!”
“Ani,” Julian said mock-sternly.
“And besides,” Anise went on, “she loves you, Daddy—”
“Anise!” Kris admonished with a laugh and a blush.
“—which means she obviously has taste.”
“And fortunately, more tact than seems to be inherent in the Lenz family,” Julian said, sitting down between them.
Anise laughed herself, and looked at her almost-empty wineglass. “I’m sorry… I’ve had more to drink than I usually do. —uh, have. Ha ha!”
“I thought as much,” Kris said, smiling kindly, and glancing at Julian. Julian suspected he knew why, and he suspected Kris had divined the reason as well: In exiling them from Earth, Julian had unfortunately taken Anise from Sergei. He wasn’t sure when it had hit her, but he knew it hadn’t hit him until just a few hours ago… and his albeit-temporary inattention to his daughter’s needs, however temporary it had been, frankly pained him. Just one more reason to hope that their situation did not last too long, and that he would hopefully manage to deliver her back to her lover soon.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Anise had enough time to study his and Kris’ glances, and this time, it was Anise who easily read the two of them. “It’s all right, Daddy,” she said after a moment. “I mean… it’s not perfect. But it’ll be all right.” She reached out and gripped Julian’s hand. “I mean, you saved the lives of everyone on Verdant. And helped to save mine, and everyone on the Makalu. When I weigh all that against being separated from Sergei… well, I can deal with it. And I don’t want you to be concerned.” She looked at Kris, and smiled widely. “I want you to be happy. You deserve it.”
“Yes,” Kris agreed, “you do.” She placed her hand on Julian’s other hand, and gave it a squeeze. “Dr. Rios said it best, Julian. It’s time to live.”
Julian returned the squeeze to both of their hands. “Then live we shall.”
Afterword
Although I have taken certain… liberties… in the creation of the “Verdant drive,” I have based my work on the actual research and findings of many scientists. Please forgive me if my descriptions of these are vague… I am not a physicist. I’m just trying to get enough out of all this quantum weirdness to tell a good story. I hope I’ve succeeded.
The concept that the universe has a “quantum frequency,” unique at every distance from the center of the universe, is borrowed from the Scientific American June 2005 article, entitled “Inconstant Constants.” It identifies a Fine Structure Constant (alpha), which defines the strengths of the interactions of elementary particles, and which suggests different interactions at different degrees of alpha… in other words, a unique frequency at any specific radius from universal center. This is a function (one among many) of the expanding universe around us.
This detail meshes well with the Hubble constant, which indicates that the universe is expanding faster where it is further away from universal center than it is closer in. The differing expansion rates cause measurable changes in light frequencies, creating a seeming paradox of objects that, from our point of view, can travel “faster than light.” These observations are described in the Scientific American March 2005 article “Misconceptions About the Big Bang.”
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These, and lesser articles in SciAm and other sources, were my basis for the “quantum frequency” that the Verdant drive could manipulate on a local level, essentially altering the frequency of anything within its influence.
Couple this with many experiments in accelerating quantum particles, resulting in their “disappearance” from one position and “reappearance” in another position. In these experiments, the quantum particles seem to traverse a distance faster than light could travel. Don’t ask me how any scientist manages to tell one quantum particle from another, but they are certain these particles are one and the same… meaning that they are covering a distance faster than light. Most scientists believe they are travelling through another dimension, in an effect they call “quantum tunneling.”
Verdant Skies ties “quantum frequency” and “quantum tunneling” together by suggesting that quantum particles, having a new quantum frequency forced upon them, will automatically “tunnel” to the distance from universal center that corresponds to that quantum frequency. The demonstrated effect of “quantum entanglement” suggests that, if the particles all “tunnel” at the same time, they will maintain position and state with each other, resulting in a collection of particles arriving in the same overall state as when they departed.
My own contribution to all this was the suggestion of “aiming” such an effect, to allow the tunneling to travel in a desired direction, essentially targeting a particular point on a frequency-derived sphere… and, of course, the method in which an entire collection of particles can be re-tuned to a new quantum frequency fast enough to all “tunnel” together. Presto: One Verdant drive.
An interesting aside to all this is that it suggests that different levels of alpha would result in different elementary interactions… for instance, a smaller alpha would mean a weaker gravity, weaker atomic bonds, etc… and that global expansion may mean a different alpha further away from us, and therefore parts of our universe with different physics than our own! Dr. Silver hinted at this in her descriptions of the system to her superiors, and it suggests that there may be a point in which it would be impossible to reach… or, more ominously, impossible to survive, as the moment you arrived, the quantum interactions of your particles would change so severely that they may interact in new and horrible ways, or even dissipate altogether, never to be rejoined again.
~
This concept developed out of my years-long dissatisfaction with the much-used concept of “faster-than-light drives” so popular in science fiction and shows like Star Trek. Although the idea of simply using raw power to move faster than light has a certain fascination, and makes for great drama and adventure, there was never a realistic basis for any of them to actually work. Such FTL drives invariably involved some hitherto-undiscovered or unrefined energy source that would somehow do the job… but realistic research has proven that the amount of energy required would require the collected energy of several stars, every instant, to accomplish.
Other methods involved a mystical “hyperspace,” as shown on shows like Babylon 5, a type of dimension that we could somehow slip into, inside which the laws of our universe’s physics broke down, and fortunately for us, all distances were significantly shorter, allowing us to sail from one place to another as fast as we might cruise across the Mediterranean. Again, the idea provided that great drama, but as no “hyperspace” has ever been identified, nor a way to actually get into and out of it, this concept is no less vacuous than that of FTL drives.
Despite this, I have used the concept of FTL drives myself… in my case, a variant on the “time bubble” theory in which a time bubble can be moved faster than the speed of light, while a space craft inside that bubble uses an inner time bubble as a sort of Dewer bottle, to alter the relativity process, making sure the same amount of time passed to the occupants as it did to the observers. I used this idea, yes, for its dramatic impact, and its absolute requirement to write the story in question. But I was never satisfied with it, and always searched for better ways to accomplish travel over the vast distances of our galaxy.
As a long-time reader of Scientific American, I struggle my way through most of the articles involving one aspect or another of quantum physics on a regular basis. To be honest, not a few of them left me in the dust, and many others left as many questions as they answered (assuming I even knew what the questions were!). But I managed to slog through most every article that tied quantum physics into the makeup of our universe… and suddenly, certain things started to add up. I went back through my magazines, re-read articles, started taking notes, and Lo and Behold, a possible method of intergalactic travel suitable for believable science fiction began to suggest itself!
As I studied it, I began to realize that there was already a partial precedent for the system. Known as the “jump drive” concept recently popularized in the remake of Battlestar Galactica, ships did not travel faster than light, they simply “jumped” from point to point in the universe somehow. If anyone has ever tried to come up with a “realistic” method of making such a jump, other than vague references to time-space “folding,” I haven’t seen it. But then, I haven’t seen a lot…
After I took down a few notes, I sent my material to a fellow SF reader (and all-around smart guy) I’d met through the MobileRead web site. He studied my notes, asked some questions, made some suggestions… and came back with a confirmation that, if described well enough, it could work for an SF novel. (Which is another way of saying, it’s as good-enough-sounding a load of BS as anything else.) Having that thumbs-up on my side, I ran with it.
Well, actually, I did no such thing. At the time, I didn’t have a story to use it on. I did have The Lens, the sequel to My Life, After Berserker, ready to be worked on… but the “Kestral Universe” setting already featured one of those adventure-driven FTL drives I mentioned earlier, and I wasn’t going to change that universe in mid-stream. So I began working on The Lens, and hoped to develop a good storyline for what I was calling, at the time, the “Quantum drive.” Before I finished The Lens, a kernel of a story was beginning to bubble up, and I took a few notes on the side about an orbital satellite that would use the “Quantum drive” to escape some Earthbound catastrophe.
The rest, as they say, is history. Or, at least, it’s a story.
~
Verdant Skies also features one of my favorite ideas, the concept of an orbiting habitat that simulates life on Earth as closely as possible. When I wrote Factory Orbit, I envisioned a possible offshoot of that future that would lead to colonies in space, of which the orbital factories would present the groundwork and spring-board for more elaborate constructions. I hint at this in the novel as well… so, in a way, Verdant Skies could be thought of as the sequel to Factory Orbit.
I wish such an orbital habitat could come about much sooner, of course, but I expect that it will take much more than wishing to make that so… only a specific and absolute need would drive mankind to undertake such a monumental task. Of course, as the planet becomes less stable thanks to global warming, continent-hopping plants and animals altering ecosystems faster than we can react, new bacteriological strains, and of course new weapons, etc, etc, that absolute need could come about faster than any of us might expect.
~
And finally, the villain of this story may seem to be the leadership of the United States of America… but in actuality, the real villain is the Yellowstone Caldera, also based on actual scientific findings. Many people don’t know that the beautiful geysers of Yellowstone are, in fact, surface indications of a vast volcanic system sitting beneath a huge swath of the continental United States. Geological evidence has suggested that the Caldera, and others like it on Earth, have a habit of erupting and re-erupting on a regular basis, and creating havoc in their wake. Yesterday’s theory of a meteor strike that killed the dinosaurs is already being looked at in a new light, as it’s been discovered that a caldera similar to the Yellowstone, but much larger, erupted in the volcanic ranges
west of the Indian regions at that same point in history. It is now suspected that it was this eruption that actually ruined the global climate, and had begun the slow and inevitable extinction of the dinosaurs. The meteor, it is now believed, merely helped speed up an already-established process and a foregone conclusion.
The Yellowstone Caldera has had numerous eruptions of its own in the past, with an approximately regular period of time between eruptions. If it follows its established pattern and erupts again, it could obliterate entire states, and render much of the Midwest uninhabitable for the foreseeable future. It could also spew an ash cloud that would eventually reach around the globe, causing runaway weather alterations and events that could be disastrous. Such an event could trigger worldwide loss of agriculture, worldwide long-term health risks, heavy loss of life, severe damage to the overall ecosystem, and a speeding-up of the global warming process. In other words, it’s not a good time to look forward to.
And scientists studying the site now provide chilling evidence that today, the Yellowstone Caldera is a few thousand years overdue to erupt… in other words, it could go at literally any time…
Steve Jordan
September, 2010
About the author
Steven Lyle Jordan grew up in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1960s and 70s, at just the right time and place to witness the space race, the American racial and social revolutions, the beginnings of the transistor age, the first color television programs, and America’s 1970s environmental crisis. Having no idea that he was growing up so close to “ground zero,” he delighted in the science fiction and fantasy books of the era, especially from the likes of Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, and peppered with the science-fiction-heavy comics that were becoming all the rage. He also had a distinct appreciation for the pulps of an earlier era, most notably the Doc Savage and Perry Rhodan series, and today owns the entire run of Doc Savage novels. His young mind was also molded by the television of the day, most notably programs like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, and sci-fi and adventure cartoons from America and Japan too numerous to mention. For a brief time, his interest in science and SF led to his being given the nickname of “Flash” Jordan.
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