The Message
Chapter 62
LXII
Three days had passed since the unusual visual and physical disturbances that had shaken up the ship. After determining that the anomalies had been the result of the ship's passing through a dimensional rift at an improper angle, Varec recalculated their trajectory and compensated for the differences that the new trajectory would make in their voyage. So far, there had been no new anomalies that were of any major consequence, but there had been several "unusual" smaller occurrences.
It might be unfair, really, to call them "unusual." Traveling through dimensions was anything BUT "normal and usual" for Max and his fellow Antarian travelers, so everything about this trip could be deemed unusual… or nothing could be… No one could really be sure which.
Space itself was a good example. Though generally dark except for the light reflected from planetoids or given off by distant stars, space at the edge of a dimensional rift was often brilliant, exploding with lights and images that reminded the travelers of the Northern Lights seen on earth near the Arctic Circle. In fact, traveling through these "Northern Lights" of space often bordered on being a psychedelic experience. Varec had at first conjectured that the lights were the result of visual and brain disturbances caused by the magnetic and ionizing fields of the dimensional rifts themselves and did not actually exist at all; but after significant study on the effect, he had determined that the lights were indeed real.
Another "odd" phenomenon that they had discovered was something that Varec aptly named the "Speed-Trajectory Ratio to Size factor." Only Varec -and Liz, once he explained it to her- actually seemed to understand it. Everyone else could see its effect, but the factors that caused it were simply beyond their comprehension. The STR-S factor, or "STARS factor," as Max and Michael started calling it euphemistically, had an unusual and initially disconcerting effect. Altering the speed and/or trajectory of the ship, especially as they traveled through a dimensional rift, seemed to increase or decrease the actual physical size of the ship… and with it, of course, everyone in it. This had been hard to actually prove, since there was nothing to hold up beside the ship for size comparison, but Varec had confirmed it mathematically. The others had already noticed a difference in the relative look of space at different times. At one point, the nearby stars and planets would look normal… but with a slight alteration of the ship's speed or trajectory, these same stars and planets could be made to appear either vastly smaller or vastly larger in comparison to their ship. As it was unlikely that the stars and planets were growing and shrinking, even the "non-scientific minds" onboard had to admit that the alternative was the only likely answer… as disconcerting as it might be.
The STR-S factor did have a practical application, though. Making the ship significantly larger resulted in the ship passing more quickly through a dimension. Conversely, a smaller ship took longer to pass through a dimension. Speed was, of course, a factor, but even the non-scientists onboard could see that there was an appreciable difference in how long it took them to pass through a dimension when they altered the speed-trajectory ratio.
Varec calculated that, at different speed-trajectory ratios already tested, the ship had at one time been as small as a kyrin - about the size of a dime - and the individuals on board had been the size of amoebas… and at another time, the ship had been as large as a planet, with everyone onboard standing over a hundred feet high… but since everything was relative, no one could tell if this was so or not. Small or large, no one felt any difference, having nothing to compare themselves to and no gravity except the ship's artificial gravity pulling on them. They would have to take Varec and Liz's word for it. One thing was certain, though… a ship the size of a kyrin took a lot longer to pass through a dimension than a ship the size of Jupiter, and this knowledge could be useful.
Varec had already begun to put together a chart that would plot the STR-S differential. If he was successful, they would know, by following the chart, what trajectory and speed to use to reduce their actual travel time or to make the ship larger or smaller. In fact, Michael was already thinking of this latter possibility as a potential advantage…
"You know, Max… this could be pretty cool, actually! Too bad it doesn't work in regular space… only in dimensional space. Can you imagine, back when the Ghors attacked us, if we'd been able to make the ship suddenly the size of a small planet and we were like a hundred feet tall. No Ghor problem!"
Max grinned and nodded. "Yeah."
"But if they were traveling at the same STR-S as we were, they'd be just as big as we were… relatively," Liz reminded them.
"Well, yeah…" Michael said, thinking quickly, "but let's say we were normal-sized and we were being attacked. We suddenly change our STARS factor, and Bingo! We're as big as a planet before they know what happened and can change theirs. That would work… wouldn't it?"
Liz shrugged and smiled. "Seems logical, Mr. Spock, sir."
"Well, I think it would work," Michael said. "Don't you, Max?"
"I'd try it," Max admitted. "It sounds reasonable. But who knows what's reasonable out here when no one's ever done it before. I guess we'll only know for sure if it ever happens."
"Yeah… yeah, it would work," Michael said.
"Well, that STR-S thing would explain why I'm hungry again," Alex mused. "I ate for an amoeba, and now I'm a human… or am I? Are we human-sized right now or what?"
Liz smiled. "It doesn't work like that, Alex. "Whatever you ate would all be relative, too."
"Well, I like my theory anyway," Alex said. "And I'm getting hungry again."
Liz smiled. "It's the excitement of the voyage. You burn the calories faster, because your mind and body are all revved up."
"Shrinking and expanding always does that to me," Alex said with a wry grin.
"How do we know that we even are the size we think we are… I mean… ever," Maria asked.
"What do you mean," Alex asked.
"Well, maybe the universe and everything in it is expanding and contracting all the time and we expand and contract with it. If everything is relative, how would we even know?"
"That's like the old question of if a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it did it really make a sound," Alex said.
"Well did it?" Liz asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Of course it did," Alex replied. "What difference does it make if anyone heard it or not? It fell, and it made sound waves in the air, didn't it?"
Liz smiled. "Yeah, but what are sound waves? …just disturbances in the air. Is it really sound if nothing is there to interpret those waves and make something out of them?"
"Of course it's sound," Alex said. "What else would it be? That's like saying that there's no music on this CD."
"There's not," Liz said. "If you want to get technical, there's only a string of data… just a bunch of ones and zeros. They have to be interpreted by another machine and heard by you before they become music."
Isabel took the CD from Alex and held it up to her ear. The CD began to play music.
"Okay," Liz said… "Another machine… or Isabel Evans."
Alex smiled. "Well… okay… but the data is there on the CD, and the sound waves produced by the falling tree are in the air just waiting to be interpreted… so it made sound. There!"
Liz nodded. "If you wish."
"I hate to break up this interesting discussion," Jim Valenti said, entering the room at that moment, but Max, you asked me to let you know if anything unusual happened in the control room."
Max looked at Jim, suddenly forgetting about everything else. The words "unusual" and "happened" in the same sentence seemed to have that effect on him recently.
"What happened?"
"I think we're intercepting some kind of message," Jim said. "It seems to be a message anyway… I think… but it's in some kind of code."
Max, Michael, Liz, and Varec all rushed to the control room, followed closely by Jim and the others.
"I don't hear anything," Michael said.
"It's not audible," Jim replied. "Look at that area right between those two stars over there. What do you see?"
Max and Michael watched for a couple of minutes.
"It looks like a light is being sent out from one of those small stars… It could be a code… or it could just be a pulsing star."
"Like a pulsar?" Michael asked.
Max nodded.
"No," Varec said emphatically. "Jim's right. It is a message."
"How do you know," Max asked.
"It's an old code and an old trick. I haven't seen it used since… since the pods were taken to earth. The protectors were taught it. It's not an easy message to send."
"What is it?" Max asked. "Can you tell what it says?"
Varec was already making notes in his head, as he watched the dim light pulse and flicker between the two stars.
"What it is is a rather sophisticated mind trick that was supposed to allow a protector of the king… and later a protector of the pods… to provide information to an Antarian ship in space even if he was unable to be near any communication device. Only a few protectors were ever able to master it, though, and the effort to teach it was so time-consuming and difficult that teaching it was abandoned after the pods were sent to earth. By producing energy waves in the brain, the protector could cause some stars that were close to each other to exchange small amounts of ion charges, and this created flickers of light in space between those stars. If the protector mastered the procedure well enough, he could control the pulses and use them to transmit a coded signal. The protector couldn't control where the message went. It went out randomly, but wherever there was an Antarian ship in space, it was likely to spot the pulse somewhere among the stars… if it knew what to look for.
What it says is a bit difficult to read… but… it seems to be repeating one message over and over…
There is danger to the ones you wish to protect. Enemy forces amassing on Eluymer.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Could it be an old message… you know… something left over from years ago?"
Varec shook his head. "No. This type of message can only be seen while it is being sent. Someone is sending it right now… from earth."
"In what dimension?"
Varec shook his head. "I… I'd say the one we're going to… Dimension Y. But I don't know how. I don't think there were more than five protectors who ever learned to use this code. Only two or three ever really mastered it… And I never knew anyone who could make it work through another dimension."
"How did you know the signals wouldn't pass through to the other dimensions," Max asked.
"That's a good point," Varec admitted. "We didn't. Nobody had ever traveled interdimensionally, so I was just assuming that it was a skill that would have to be learned, but you are correct… It is possible that the signal travels interdimensionally on its own."
"So someone is trying to tell us… I assume it's us… that Liz and the others are in danger on earth, and the enemy is amassing," Michael said. "Is that it? Isn't that the gist of it?"
"I believe that's what someone is saying," Varec agreed.
"Then that someone is basically telling us to get our butts in gear and hurry up and get there… or it may be too late."
"I believe so," Varec said, nodding again.
"How far are we from them… time-wise?"
Varec looked at the time piece on his wrist and made some mental calculations.
"We can be there in four days… at the speed/trajectory ratio we prefer… the one that seems to produce the fewest anomalies."
"Or…" Michael coaxed.
"Or…" Varec said… "We could be there by morning… twenty-seven hours from now… by altering our STR-S factor… but we may subject ourselves to unknown anomalies like the one we had three days ago."
"And if we don't," Michael said, "Liz and the others may be dead when we get there, and the whole trip will have been for nothing."
Varec nodded.
"Well," Max sighed, "I think we know what has to be done. There's one good thing about this message. We know Liz and the others are still alive."
Michael smiled. "Yeah! Let's make sure they stay that way, Max."
Max nodded and looked at Varec.
"I guess it's decided then," Varec whispered. "We take the risks. I'll plot a new STR-S factor for the ship right away."
Max smiled. "Thank you. We only have to get through any anomalies that may pop up for one more day. We can do that, can't we? Let's save Liz and Alex."
tbc
Coming up: The cavalry arrives to find that they are definitely not a moment too soon.