Twisted Spaces: 1 / Destination Mars

by E. N. Abel

  ''Here comes more. We now know that a matter well can be created by a gigantic energy source. But how does it all relate, fit into the greater picture? Alex did not answer that one - even after I tried some ... encouragement ...'' She made a rather ambiguous gesture with her hand and both girls giggled again. ''But he offered an analogy,'' Chan went on, ''as he called it. He told me of his hypothesis that a matter well can become autonomous and run without further input of external energy. He explained that any matter well does not put out matter and antimatter in exactly the same amounts; it will usually generate a tiny bit more of one kind.'' She ate a few bites of pasta, then continued. ''With a type of input energy and some external factors that he did not go into, you can influence the type of matter that is produced in excess. Also, one of these factors has minimal influence on the production relations.''

  ''That fits the contemporary Big Bang theory,'' Marlene prompted. ''It states that during the Big Bang a little more matter than antimatter developed. Both types annihilated each other, thereby driving the creation process, and the surviving rest of the matter accumulated, causing rising gravitational forces and in the end compressed all existing matter into a drop of unimaginable density. At some stage that drop exploded and so provided all the material for the unfolding universe.''

  ''Yes, that's the currently accepted explanation. Now, Heim's theory goes a different way, a geometrical one. It speaks about 'unfolding' a universe from lower dimensions to higher ones. But both theories have two things in common: the very beginning and, inevitably, the outcome. Both beginnings have the same preconditions: the existence of a force beyond the universe, so powerful that it can provide a titanic energy flood.''

  ''You didn't say God.''

  ''No, I didn't - and neither did you. Now, in the standard theory a matter well opens, matter streams out. When enough has accumulated, the Bang happens and a universe develops. Heim, contrary to this model, states the initial kick-start does not use a matter well to produce the matter for the Big Bang, rather it initiates the geometrical unfolding of space-time, complete with matter clusters. These condense and cause the Big Bang.''

  ''But this is not the generally accepted interpretation.''

  ''No, but the one behind the space folder. It relies on a universe created by a geometric process, not one originated in a Big Bang. And what it does, it folds the expanded space back, dimension by dimension. Locally and just for a very short time.''

  ''But how do you use that for travel?''

  ''In simple terms: you put yourself into the middle of the folding process and get folded too, and when you reach a fitting lower dimension you move over a bit to the correct side on that lower dimensional plane. Then you unfold the space again and you appear at that new place, on the other side, so to say. This, of course, is a massive simplification.''

  ''Not bad,'' Marlene said. ''And that really is the way they plan to do it?''

  ''Yes. The key to re-appear at the right position in the universe is my navigation software. It will determine when, where and how far to move in that lower-dimensional space.''

  ''But why do the guys always speak about subspaces, a subspace threshold and drilling holes through the fabric of space?''

  ''I'm not sure about that, but Mike asked me to use that terminology when talking outside the folder-team. I suspect that it's an attempt to hide the truth.''

  ''A diversion. In case somebody listens in.''

  ''Yes.''

  ''What I still don't understand is this: they use a gravitationally created matter well to get the antimatter - along big bang theory - and fold space according to Heim's theory. Isn't that a contradiction?''

  ''Of course it is.''

  ''And?''

  ''Both approaches work - within their application fields, simple as that. And our men are no scientific purists but pragmatics: it works - and that's good enough for them. Let others fight over the contradictions.'' Chan paused a moment. ''You know, I believe both approaches are wrong - or better, I don't get it right yet. There must be a meta-theory that covers both. But I'm afraid that's beyond my reach.''

  For a long moment both girls remained quiet, considering what had been said.

  Marlene finally broke the silence: ''So what is the secret you wanted to tell me?''

  Chan sighed. ''The travel process works like this: you fold the space around your space craft - however that is done, move a bit around inside the sub-dimensional plane and unfold it again. And appear in the new location. And all that takes less than a nanosecond.''

  ''So much I understood.''

  ''But what happens to the spacecraft and its contents during the transfer, short as it is? Do they reappear unchanged or does the folding process influence the matter in the ship?''

  ''They don't know?''

  ''Nobody does. And Heim's theory holds no explanation either.''

  ''So basically our heroes can fold and unfold space, make the craft appear near Mars, but don't know if it's in one piece.''

  ''Exactly.''

  ''I guess there is more ...''

  ''Yes. They are positive the matter of the ship itself will be unchanged. That has something to do with the properties of the gravimetric shielding they use, that field they call deflector shield. During the transition phase through the space fold it does not act as a meteor defence, but somehow protects the sphere's matter content against the influences of the sub-dimension. Don't ask me how, I don't know. Even so they are not sure about the rest ...''

  ''What rest?''

  ''The ship's energy content. More precisely: the transcendental energy parts.''

  This time Marlene needed a moment, then it dawned on her: ''They fear they could lose their souls?''

  Chan just nodded agreement.

  ''And you take that concern seriously?''

  ''Oh yes.''

  ''Wow.'' And after a minute of reflection: ''So what do we do?''

  ''The primary test has to be done without a human on board.''

  ''That much is obvious. But what do you suggest?''

  ''Mike doesn't want to use an animal. He wants to go himself.''

  ''WHAT? Is he insane?''

  ''I don't think so. But I do have an idea as to the why.''

  ''Please ... not Mike! Why would he want to do that?''

  ''I think he has seen enough killing, and losing his wife Ellie has just filled his glass to the brim, so to say. He simply doesn't want to kill anything anymore.''

  ''Chan, I can't stand losing him! He must not die that way! I'm carrying his child!''

  ''You are pregnant? How is that possible; we all have contraception implants! The child is from him?''

  ''Yes and no. Chan, this has to stay between us.''

  ''Of course.''

  ''Promise. Swear.''

  ''Good, I hereby swear never to reveal your secret.''

  ''I am pregnant with Mike's child - Mike's and Ellie's.''

  ''How ...''

  ''A little plot with our ship's doctor. IVF treatment - in vitro insemination. Margaret got hold of Ellie's ovae ...''

  ''... and you of Mike's sperm. What did he say to all this?''

  ''Nothing. He wasn't asked.''

  ''Now it's me to say: WOW! Isn't there a little moral ... dent ... in that story?''

  ''More like a black hole ... but he misses Ellie so badly ...''

  ''You really do love him.''

  ''Yes. With everything that I am, all that I have.''

  ''Well, here is an idea. There will be a feasibility test before a human travels through the space fold: a remote controlled jump with the empty sphere is planned in two, three weeks.''

  ''And?''

  ''We could smuggle some animal on board ... and check it afterwards.''

  ''Which animal?''

  ''Preferably an intelligent one. A crow, a dog, a pig, An ape would be better, a chimpanzee best, but they are nearly impossible to get hold of.''

  Marlene frowned. Coming from a to-the-core humanistic family she sud
denly found herself badly trapped. Cruelty against animals had always been an absolute horror to her, and she had fought against medical testing on lab animals all her life. Just the thought of such an abuse made her skin crawl. Her brother was even a member of an animal rights group and occasionally liberated caged animals ... And now, to protect her newfound love, the father of the child in her, she needed to harm an animal, too. And maybe condemn it to an unimaginably cruel fate. Accepting to torture or kill an intelligent being to ensure the safety of a human, a dearly loved human - or let him carry on with that unspeakable danger himself. She closed her eyes, sighed heavily. To deepen her distress she knew exactly where to quietly obtain a chimpanzee. After long minutes of picking at her food Marlene finally nodded. She bowed to Chan, kissed her on her cheek.

  ''Thank you. I owe you.''

  Chapter 100

  Moon Orbit

  Tuesday, 20.12.2016

  Marlene was resting comfortably upon her lover's chest. She relished the few hours of privacy in the Captain's Quarters and in Mike's embrace. But today, after an hour of love making, she felt a strange unrest. ''You know,'' she turned to Mike, ''I miss Christmas. The uproar in the days before Christmas eve, the hectic atmosphere, the shopping.''

  ''That's always a pain in the butt,'' was his muttered reply, ''shops overflowing with cheap garbage toys and fat white-bearded man in weird red uniforms swinging bells and pampering kids on their laps. Pure stress.''

  ''I know, I know, but somehow I miss it anyway and there will be no turkey on Christmas eve.''

  ''That's in four days, sweetheart,'' Mike grumbled. ''Maybe Theresa has something in mind. She's a Christian, isn't she?''

  ''I think so. At least from a Christian background.''

  ''So there is still hope ...'' he offered in a neutral voice, knowing exactly that it was no turkey his girl was after.

  She tickled his chest with her hair. ''Don't you miss Christmas too? The family, the tree, the dinner?''

  ''Nope.'' He kept up his poker face for a few more moments, then started to grin.

  ''Oh, you!'' Marlene swung herself into a riding position and began to tickle him like mad. They both knew how that was going to end.

  MacMillan entered the bridge right on schedule, his girlfriend in his wake. While she switched places with her colleague Maggie, now Second Navigator, he relieved the officer of the night watch, Claus Smith. As usual, both had nothing to report and the shift change went swiftly.

  Mike's thoughts were elsewhere anyway; the little episode with Marlene was on his mind. He had concentrated so much on the task of getting this damned vessel space-worthy that he had completely neglected an important need of his crew, the need for change and recreation. The military complement would never complain openly and, he suspected, the 'civilian' part of the crew probably looked at the ex-soldiers as role models and kept their traps shut. But Mike knew that this wasn't to anyone's benefit - at some stage they would all start getting inattentive, careless and begin to make mistakes. Out here.

  The basic situation was clear: everybody was waiting for the first test jump, but the space folder software still wasn't fit for this purpose. On the other hand: most of his people had been engaged in routine watch for close to three weeks and there was trouble hanging in the air: his crew showed clear signs of getting seriously bored. And Chan was showing more and more signs of exhaustion. Mike needed an opportunity to shake them up a bit and distract their attention from the software issue. They had enough time on their hands now; there was no longer the need for a set date for their first field test. They were safe in Luna's orbit and had plenty of AM fuel. Another mission critical factor was their logistical situation, but the Swiss government was far too proud to have the first interplanetary spaceport on their own soil, as to grow fuzzy over the shoestring budget needed to support the ship's crew.

  Besides the monetary aspect - they were practically drowning in offers with supplies from the public and private sectors worldwide. At the end of the day they only had to choose from a large variety of goods and move the stuff to CERN. That much was sure: Switzerland would continue to support the group for a while longer. So that was under control. But it was too late now to quickly set up some Christmas R&R event; Mike didn't have anything usable at hand and the next supply run would be on the 25th. He also thought that it wouldn't be very appropriate to ask their logistics dispatcher, Colonel Leclerc, to go hunting for some personal Christmas presents.

  Standing behind the pilot's seat and looking at the large central display he could oversee a big section of the Moon's north pole area below them, but did not even register the wild beauty of the barren landscape. He needed an idea, an idea ... Lost in thought he did not hear Alex coming up from behind and was startled by his voice.

  ''Captain, Deck Five is a mess, everything's displaced. I need some guys to help sort it out - can you give me two, three people?''

  Deck Five. Air lock chamber and ship's freezer room. General storage. Stuff they didn't need in daily operation, like the oxygen reserve tanks, the space suits and that inflatable Mars Orbit Base ... space suits ... Mars Orbit Base ... the Moon's surface under him ... it made a CLICK in Mike's head.

  ''Alex, have you ever inflated that Mars Orbiter?''

  ''No, Mike. No time in Spangdahlem. We ordered three, and the first one was delivered just before we had to bail out. Remember? Marcel watched me load it.''

  ''Right.'' Mike slapped his friend on the shoulder, turned to the control board and activated the intercom. ''This is the Captain speaking. Now hear this. I hereby order a feasibility test of the Mars Orbital Station. It shall be set up on the Moon's surface in a position visible from Earth in full operational condition. For this purpose a project team will assemble at ten hundred in the galley. I am appointing as leading project manager ...'' Looking around, he saw Snider trying to dive away behind a console, ''Lieutenant Ralf Snider. Junior project managers are ...'' another quick browse, then ''Chandler, Doganer and ... Li.'' He took a breath. ''Snider will choose the necessary team managers. I expect a PRINCE-2 conform project plan by ...'' he glanced at his watch, ''Tomorrow, the 21st, high noon. Furthermore, I expect operation ready status for the base by Saturday, 31st of December, also high noon. Get moving.'' Switching off the intercom, he turned in time to see Alex gawking, eyes and mouth wide open and Marlene staring unbelievingly at him. He returned the stare for a moment, then growled at his chief engineer: ''Got nothing to do?''

  Alex woke up, swallowed, then his old soldier's reflexes kicked in and made him head for cover. He swiftly moved to the lift, jumped in and disappeared downwards.

  Marlene caught herself, and unsure what to do, she looked at Mike.

  He helped her a bit: ''Call your replacement, sweetheart, then prepare for the meeting.''

  She nodded, still a bit taken by surprise, then phoned her Third Navigator, an African astronomy graduate named Abayomi Sebuturo, and called him to the bridge. At least he would be delighted about the extra shift and the opportunity to practise with the astro system. Well, more like play with it.

  It took a few minutes for everything to straighten out and the newly promoted project team members left the deck for the galley. The normal calm returned, the new bridge crew settled in for business as usual.

  That moment an agitated looking Asian lady floated down the lift. She wore a blood pressure raising golden mini-skirt that contrasted nicely with her red-flushed face. Chan pushed out of the zero-G field and rushed right up to Mike.

  ''Are you out of your mind?'' she yelled. ''Appointing me for such nonsense? Don't you think I have better things to do? Wasn't it you who told me over and over again how important that work is?'' Shaking with temperament she stamped her foot, thereby presenting a picture of breath-taking attractiveness.

  The little show nearly made Mike laugh out, but he could refrain himself just quick enough. Instead of replying, he waited a moment until his enraged assailant drew a breath, then barked: ''Zho-ngw'i Li, l'zhang!''
He had practised it a few times, but still it sounded like Klingon to him. Well ...

  Chan, upon being addressed by her former rank in Chinese and recognizing the order, was caught off guard. She suddenly remembered who she was shouting at, started to pale and snapped to attention.

  Mike stepped forward, took her in his arms, gave her a hearty hug and placed a gentle kiss on her head. After a moment of speechless astonishment she carefully replied in kind, nestled against him and gave him a light embrace. When she had calmed down a bit, Mike released her and backed away.

  ''You, sweet flower, are currently the most important member of our crew. But of us all you most urgently need a change. Some entertainment. I have little to offer a woman of your qualities out here, but ... here's is the deal: join the others, do your part of the job and in the end you will get ... a walk on the Moon - for real. Like Neil Armstrong forty five years ago.''

  It took a moment for the magnitude of Mike's words to dawn on her. She opened her mouth for a reply, but he just put a finger on her lips: ''Go, join the others now, Chan,'' he said gently. ''There is no need for us to rush things anymore, so forget mathematics for the next ten days. A once-in-a-lifetime adventure is waiting, and one worth your while, one you will tell your grand-children about: you will be the first Chinese on the Moon. And one of the first women. Your country will be proud of you.''

  After a moment of considering she ask curiously: ''Where did you learn Mandarin?''

  ''Doctor Google.''

  With a big smile Chan came forward, hugged him tightly, planted a firm kiss on his cheek and was gone.

  Mike smiled. This undertaking would keep his gang busy for a while and distract them nicely. And carry a lesson in it, too: setting up a ninety thousand square feet air-filled balloon in a vacuum on a rocky surface with nearly no gravity and in brightest sunlight ... that was no task for a fool.