"The forces of nature that make our universe what it is are all consequent on the collapse of matter into three dimensions. Particles that have to share dimensions occlude one another and break the recessional relationship between other particles. A degree of fragmentary disunity then begins to occur in nature.
"The arising of relative velocities below the standard recessional rate is the first result to flow from this. The situation for a material body in the three-dimensional realm is that it is surrounded, at the limit of its Hubble sphere, by an opaque shell of particles receding from it at the standard absolute rate, the velocity of light. But any other body lying within the Hubble sphere will eclipse a part of the circumferential shell, so that each body will receive fewer recession lines from that part of its general environment in which the other lies. The asymmetric distribution of recession lines produces an opposition among them, ending in a modification of the apparent rate of recession between the bodies themselves. Seemingly the bodies recede at a slower rate in proportion to the deficiency in recession lines. In reality, of course, it is the space between them that has altered.
"If the bodies are sufficiently close—as close as the galaxies of our local group, for instance—the recessional pressure of the Hubble shell prevents them from receding at all. Instead, it begins to push them towards one another. This phenomenon we know as gravitation, the first of what are sometimes called the 'attractive forces,' though it is really only a screening effect. For reasons which will be covered later, the induced motion becomes an acceleration instead of a velocity, and the strength of the effect follows the law of perspective.
"At very close range, the recessional pressure is magnified to become the nuclear binding force. This also will be covered later in the course.
"A second major area of effects arises as a by-product of what has just been described. What happens to those recession lines connecting particles whose recession has slowed or been reversed? All particles lying within the Hubble sphere are attempting to recede from one another at the standard rate but are constrained from doing so. Recession lines joining these particles are undergoing strain; they respond by acquiring a compensating lateral component. These 'strain lines' form their own special kind of space, the space of electric charge.
"So we see that our three-dimensional realm really consists of a hierarchy of interpenetrating three-dimensional spaces. First there is absolute or inertial space consisting of a single standard velocity; this space is exuded by the Hubble shell. Within that relative space arises, containing a range of velocities. And as a by-product of relative space, interwoven with inertial space, is the strain space of electromagnetism, a space independent enough to create its own particles consisting solely of electric charge.
"Our introduction now is ended and we are ready to go into the subject in more detail. Please indicate which aspect interests you most: the historical, the mathematical, or the philosophical."
Hesper, however, gave no answer. She had fallen asleep.
Mo was considerate enough not to rouse her. She woke two hours later, and feeling refreshed, decided to see more of the city.
After leaving the apartment she began to ascend. Early evening had turned to late dusk. Light had come on all over the moving city: shaded pastel light in the sidewalk eateries and drinkeries, sharp light that blazed on the tesselated plazas, pillars of light that rose up and down the moulded yellow towers. Up Hester went; up moving helter-skelter rampways, up slowly climbing city squares that were gradual elevators, up the gentle slopes of flying boulevards, avoiding, in her eagerness for new impressions, the fast lifts that could have lofted her in seconds, until she found a place where the panorama of Mo and its changing landscape were displayed below.
Pleasant it was to sit on an overhanging terrace, protected by a balustrade of genuine carved oak, sipping the drink that was brought her, enjoying the cool air and taking in that panorama. She had ignored the talk that was all around her as she climbed, being more interested in the smells of various foods from the grills of countless establishments as the Mohists flocked to their evening repast. But now, as she relaxed, she sensed among the others sharing the terrace with her a feeling of anticipation, almost of dread. The feeling seemed incongruous in a people so placid and good-natured, and for that reason alone it filled her with foreboding. She was about to speak to an elderly man at the next table when the cause of their dread appeared on the horizon.
At first it could, perhaps, have been another moving city, but soon it bulked too large for that and could only have been a peculiarly arc-shaped mountain of a yellow-puce colour. And then, as the time inexorably passed, it became too huge for any mountain.
The moon was rising. It was the moon.
Up it came, and up, more and more of it. It had closed the remaining distance to Earth in an amazingly short time. A hush fell over the moving city, a hush that lasted for hours while gradually the moon rose and became a vast plate that covered the world like a lid—though Hesper, an experienced space traveller, easily discerned its sphericity. No one spoke or moved, except to sip at the drinks that continued to be served by the dutiful waiters, both robot and human. Instead, everyone's gaze and consciousness became transfixed by the new, solid sky that passed over.
The sun illuminated the face of the satellite throughout from below the horizon, its light filtering round the atmosphere, though the moon's disk eventually darkened towards the centre. The yellowishness of its early approach quickly vanished and it became first dazzlingly white then greyish and grained. Easily visible were the great craters gaping upside down, the ancient splashes of lighter dust that rayed out from many of them, and the vast flat plains. Visible, too, were signs of the past works of man: furrows from mining operations, fine lines that were transport networks.
By midnight the entire disk had lifted itself clear of the landscape, a satellite ceiling hanging so low it was as if one could reach up and touch it, and leaving only a narrow rim of blackness to all points of the compass. Hesper realised it was so close it must be grazing Earth's upper atmosphere. But how could this be? Long before now its approachxshould have heaved up such tides in sea, land and air as utterly to destroy everything upon the planet. Not only that, the satellite should be beginning to break up as a result of even greater tidal stresses induced in it by the larger body. It was a long way inside Roche's limit.
And having come this close, its trajectory should be one ending in direct collision, and that bare minutes away. Instead, this the most stunning spectacle ever beheld upon planet Earth was gliding silently and leisurely by, creating no disturbance and blithely ignoring the laws of physics. Sometime after midnight its apparent diameter began slowly to diminish, so that by dawn, when it was sliding down the opposite horizon in answer to Earth's turning, it was noticeably smaller. It was receding back into space, having given the planet a near miss.
It was, Hesper thought as the Mohists, indeed all the inhabitants of nightside Earth, stirred from their captivated vigil, just as if Earth and its moon had ceased to exert any gravitational influence on one another at all.
CHAPTER SIX
On board ICS Standard Bearer the command staff also watched the behaviour of Earth's moon in perplexity. Having mopped up those fugitives who had fled to the fourth planet, they had held back from pursuing the sole blip to be seen plunging into Earth's atmosphere, believing they were about to witness one of the rarest of sights: the destruction of an inhabited world through planetary collision. The business was made more eerie by the absence of the panicky exodus one might have expected; but this, Archier learned, was due to all available ships having left for Mars several days earlier.
Now the satellite was half a million miles from its onetime primary, and appeared to be following an independent orbit about the sun. Yet at its closest it had practically ploughed through Earth's atmosphere!
"Well," Archier said to his chief engineer, the only crew member he could think of who might be an expert in such m
atters, "is it possible?"
"What, Admiral?"
"Is it possible for gravity to cease between two orbiting bodies?"
The chief engineer, a rangy gorilla, scratched his head in puzzlement. "No sir, it isn't. When two bodies gravitate the whole weight of the universe is behind them, so to speak. I don't understand it."
"There's got to be an explanation."
"Well never mind about that now," Gruwert squealed. "Our orders are to hunt down rebels. It's safe to move in now so let's get on with it."
"First of all we shall have to reply to Earth Council."
The ships of Ten-Fleet were again beginning to gather round their flagship, a fact that had not escaped notice on Earth. For once, the presence of an Imperial fleet caused more comfort than alarm. Since Earth and the moon now shared nearly the same orbit in ignorance of one another, it would only be a matter of time before they did collide. Plans were already afoot to disintegrate the errant satellite or direct it into the sun. The fleet had been requested to render assistance with a planet-buster bomb.
The request had caused Archier wry amusement. It was universally assumed all Imperial fleets had magazines full of planet-busters. In fact Ten-Fleet did not have any at all. Their production had always been strictly limited and since the onset of the robot strike replacement of their degradable cores had very nearly ceased. He had heard Seventeen-Fleet still had a few in working order.
He turned to Arctus. "Tell them it would be too dangerous to disintegrate the satellite at one blow. Too many pieces would be flying around. Tell them to work out a solution using conventional FE."
A voice sounded in his ear. "Claire de Lune has joined formation, Admiral."
"What? She was supposed to have been abandoned."
"Evidently not."
"What's her report?"
"No word from her at all yet. I think her communications are out."
"Well they'll sort it out, I suppose." He was about to give the mental 'turning away' signal when his caller, the Fleet Manoeuvres Officer, continued: "Actually that isn't what I really called to tell you. The Fast Barge is approaching. We've received its blazon burst."
Archier didn't reply at once. A shiver of nervousness went through him.
"How soon?"
"Within the hour."
"All right, FMO. Thank you."
He sat brooding. Then he turned to those around him. "Did you all catch that?"
They nodded.
"It looks," he said, "as if we might finally find out what's been going on in Diadem ..."
The Fast Barge was the property of the now defunct High Command. Consisting of little more than living quarters and a gigantic feetol drive unit, it was capable of reaching almost any part of the Empire in a remarkably short time. Ostensibly its purpose was to assist in state occasions in the outer parts of the Empire. In reality it was kept in reserve for use in an emergency, to carry messages too important or too risky to send by leader tone transmission, or as a getaway vehicle . . .
As the barge slowed down and passed the outskirts of the planetary system, its leader tone blazon announced the presence of dignitaries aboard. Minutes later Archier, in full dress uniform, waited in the reception bay with his other command officers as the barge drew alongside.
It was an impressive sight as seen on the wall screen. Nearly as big as the flagship itself, it was gridded and grilled with designs of gold and rose-pink. The shape was unusual: resembling more than anything else some over-lavishly pet-ailed flower or orchid and owing nothing to utility.
There was a resonant splang as the connecting passage between the two ships sprang into place. Padding through the broad opening came a party headed by two tall and broad-shouldered men of mature years whom Archier instantly recognised: they were the Admiral Overlords Crane and Oblescu, members of the High Command Staff. But instead of dress uniform they were wearing office attire that looked stained and crumpled. Their faces were weary, even overwrought.
An assortment of animals accompanied them: a rather scruffy enlarged mouse that scuttled alongside Crane, whiskers twitching; two dogs, a small horse and a sad-looking panda. Archier saluted smartly. Casually, the overlords responded.
"By space, but I need a pick-me-up," Crane said. "Can we go and relax somewhere? Being on that barge is like riding a roller-coaster."
"Of course, sir," Archier said stiffly. He waved back the others of his command staff and conducted the overlords to the small travelator coach that was waiting. Only the mouse— adjutant to one of the overlords, he presumed—followed them, climbing in the back of the vehicle alongside Arctus.
They zipped into the innards of the flagship, arriving at a small reception lounge Archier used for informal Force meetings. Crane and Oblescu slumped down immediately on chair-couches, while Arctus opened up the hospitality cabinet.
"What would you like, overlords?" he asked softly. "Imbibables? Smoke? Sprays or airs?"
"Give me a hash fizz," Oblescu said, "and make it good and strong."
Crane nodded in answer to Arctus' questioning trunk. The little elephant busied himself, pouring a delicate lavender fluid into three tall goblets and pressurising it with cannabis gas until it frothed.
Having quaffed and asked for more, the overlords relaxed a little. "Well, you'd better know the reason why we're here," Crane said, his tone one of tired resignation. "First of all, you know High Command doesn't really exist anymore?"
Archier nodded, toying with his goblet. "I had guessed the staff has been sent out to the fleets."
"Oh, it was only partly that. The Command was really shut down because the Imperial Council doesn't trust it any more! Things are in chaos in Diadem, the Council itself has practically collapsed. The Whole-Earth-Biotists have come to the fore again. You might as well know there's practically a civil war in the making. They're talking about bringing back the Emperor Protector. This time he's to be a Whole-Earth chimera. Genes from every permitted animal will be incorporated. If they get their way, that is."
Archier took the news with as much equanimity as he could. He had Protector sympathies himself. He was, however, far from being a Whole-Earth-Biotist. He had taken it for granted that the Protector would have one hundred per cent human genes.
"But what has this got to do with High Command?" he queried.
"Aagh." Crane gave a gesture of exasperation, which slopped fizz on his already stained uniform. "The Council ordered fleets Three and Twenty-Nine recalled so it could be sure of maintaining order. Then it came to light Seventeen and Twenty-Nine are riddled with Biotist sympathisers. Can you imagine what this did to High Command in the Council's eyes? To top it all Carusier defected to the Biotists. An Admiral Overlord! Pending a review, the Council doesn't trust Star Force at all now. It wants all the fleets kept out of Diadem, though personally I think only Seventeen and Twenty-Nine are affected."
"Only?" Archier echoed. "Isn't mat enough?"
Arctus had stood paralysed with shock while the Admiral Overlord spoke. He turned and muttered something to the mouse, who shook his head dolefully.
"How could this happen?" Archier asked in anguish. He looked from one overlord to the other. "What went wrong?"
Oblescu jumped to his feet and paced the room. His face was distraught. "There are just too many problems! The fleets unable to handle things any longer, uprisings all over the place—Escoria hasn't been the only one! We simply don't have proper resources available any more! What with that and the lack of proper political organisation In Diadem ... the state has been falling to pieces for some time. And now this latest disaster is one shock too many."
"Disaster? What disaster?" Archier put down his drink.
"That's the reason we are here," Crane said. "Ten-Fleet has a rather special job to do. There's something extraordinary been going on in a region some thirty light-years galactic west of here."
He paused, as if wondering how to break the news. "We have a feetol research station not far from there. We think the work
it's been doing must have caused it. They weren't trying to get into the Simplex . . . only to advance the state of the art, stretching recession lines still farther for a faster future generation of Star Force ships. They must have gone too far. Space has opened up. There is some sort of rent in it, about a light year across and getting bigger. Do you grasp my meaning? The Simplex is on the other side of it! The scientists say once three-dimensional space starts to tear like that it might all come undone." He clapped a hand to his forehead. "Our universe could roll up like a scroll, as the saying is!"
While Arctus deftly and silently presented fresh drinks, Archier stared at Crane in bewilderment bordering on disbelief. "But I've never heard anything to suggest the feetol drive could damage spacetime like this," he objected.
"No, no one thought it could."
"Well what is required of me?"
"Ah. Well, the Council wants you to proceed in the direction of the rent and investigate. We didn't want to send it over the spacewaves—the whole thing has been hushed up, naturally—so I had orders to deliver the message personally. Having done that, I personally plan to retire in some out-of-the-way spot." Crane shrugged. "Of course, as you're in Condition Autonomy, you can really do what you like. In fact, as we belong to a defunct command we don't even outrank you any more!"
"I shall do what's required," Archier said slowly, "but this is a war fleet. I haven't any real scientists with me, unless there are some among the passengers."
"Yes, well I hadn't quite finished explaining. We have others working on the scientific aspects of the problem. Your role is military. I said there was nothing but the Simplex on the other side, didn't I? That isn't strictly true. There's some very strange stuff or entities or something coming through the rent, investing planets and causing chaos. We're being invaded from another facet, in other words."
"Then it's true!" Arctus trumpeted, forgetting his place. "There are other facets!"
Bayley, Barrington J - Novel 10 Page 10