Michael McCollum - The Void

“I’m familiar with the concept.”

Vannick ignored the sarcasm. “The important point is that the Big Bang did not create one universe, but three. Those three are the universe we see, the antimatter universe, and the tachyon universe.”

“I beg your pardon.”

“Believe me, Captain, there are strong scientific reasons for believing that these universes exist. Your ship is one. Without The Trinity , as the three universes are collectively known, there could be no ftl ships.”

“All right. What do these other universes do?”

“The antimatter universe, as the name suggests, is composed almost solely of antimatter, just as ours contains mostly normal matter. Time flows backwards there.”

“Time flows backwards? ”

Vannick shrugged. “Why not? There is nothing inherent in the nature of time that causes it to have a preferred direction. In fact, antimatter is nothing more than normal matter for which time is reversed. The tachyon universe is the one that contains all of the superlight particles created in the first moments of the Big Bang. Nothing in the tachyon universe can travel slower than light, just as nothing in our own Universe can travel faster than light, save inside an ftl drive field.”

“You called The Void a ‘sinkhole.’ ”

Vannick nodded. “We think our Universe has somehow begun to collapse into the tachyon universe, taking a great deal of normal matter with it.”

“And matter that falls into the sinkhole is transformed into tachyons?” Tessa asked, interested in spite of herself.

“Correct. Normal matter cannot exist here.”

“Interesting,” she said, “but I fail to see what this has to do with my mission, Professor.”

“Two years ago, Captain, The Void was but a bright, dimensionless point of faster-than-light energy. It is now four million light-years in diameter and has just consumed its second galaxy. If it continues to grow as it has, within seventy-five years, it will consume our Galaxy! ”

For a moment the viewing compartment became indistinct as Tessa labored to catch her breath. The sensation was remarkably like being punched in the stomach. When finally she could speak again, she asked, “Is this some sort of joke?”

“If it is, it isn’t a very funny one,” he replied puckishly.

“Why haven’t the other astronomers reported this?”

“The other astronomers work with electromagnetic radiation, which is limited to light speed. The Void’s rate of expansion is trans-Einsteinian. Normal light astronomers will see nothing awry even should they happen to be staring directly into The Void as it washes over them. The wave front is advancing at a million times light speed.”

“So you alone have discovered this menace?” she asked caustically.

He nodded. “My people and I. We have the only instrument in existence with the capability of mapping tachyon emissions at such long range. We’ve been studying this for two years. Our data, which we’ve forwarded to all of the major astronomical facilities within the Communion, has been classified Most Secret. It was the government’s hope to avoid mass panic. Perhaps it would have been better to release the news. Panic just now would be vastly preferable to rebellion.”

“How do I know that thing out there is real? You could easily have programmed your computer to display this… this… hallucination!”

Vannick moved his hand across a new set of controls and suddenly The Void expanded until it was more than two meters across. At this level of magnification, it was fuzzy, with the barest hint of a mottled surface.

“Does that look like a spur of the moment programming job? We have thousands of hours of observations on file. Do you think we could have produced those in the few seconds between the time your people blasted their way in here and when we were captured?”

Tessa hesitated. She had to agree that they hadn’t had any time to react to the invasion, unless they had spotted Warwind during the long approach. Except, if Warwind had been seen, New Rome would now be on full alert and no charade would be necessary.

“Show me your files,” she commanded gruffly. She was beginning to understand the implications of this new discovery. Suddenly the Universe didn’t seem so large and impersonal. In fact, it had just become very personal!

Vannick complied with the order. He showed her records of The Void when it had been a dimensionless source of tachyon emissions, as it had looked when it first developed a disk, and again, when it consumed the galaxy in which it had formed. The review took more than an hour, but in the end, Tessa Hallowell found herself convinced of the truth of the astronomer’s claims. And very confused.

She spoke not a word when the last fuzzy starfield faded and the lights came up in the observation globe. She considered for a moment, then asked, “What is New Rome planning to do?”

“What can we do for the moment except observe the beast?”

“Can it be stopped?”

The astronomer laughed. There was very little merriment in the sound. “Our ancestors used to think hurricanes were awesome. Compared to The Void, a hurricane isn’t even Brownian motion!”

“You’re saying that we’re helpless?”

“Not helpless, Captain. We can learn everything possible about the phenomenon and then figure out how to keep out of its way. That is why you must not destroy this observatory. We need every minute remaining to learn all we can.”

“Keep out of its way how?”

“How fast is your ship?”

“That is classified information.”

“Let me guess. Your top speed is about fifteen thousand lights, correct?”

“Something like that,” she allowed.

“Well, if we’re going to outrun The Void, we need ships with top speeds on the order of 2 million lights. Even if it gobbles up the entire Universe, it will take 1,500 years to do so. We can learn a lot in 1,500 years. Perhaps we’ll learn how to survive whatever comes after. Then there is the possibility of escaping back into time. Remember, time runs backwards in the antimatter universe. Why not here, too?”

“If we had escaped back into time, wouldn’t there be a record of it?” Tessa asked.

“Not if the refugees from the future colonized worlds far distant from those we now inhabit. The Universe is a large place, Captain Hallowell. There are nearly an infinity of worlds we could use. I have had two years to think about this, and believe me, the possibilities are endless. But we must concentrate the energies of every single human being on the problem. This is no time to divide the race with a war, Captain.”

“I don’t make policy, Professor.”

“You can influence policy!”

“How?”

“By reporting what you know. If you were to tell your high command about The Void, then they will call off this insane attack. I know they will.”

Tessa shook her head. “Too many ships are in motion. Things have gone too far to call them back now.”

“Have they?” he demanded shrilly. “Have they really? There is no power in the Universe that can recall those ships?”

In reality, she knew, there was. Every ship captain had been supplied with a code sequence to abort the attack if they came across evidence that the Galactic Guard had been forewarned. A captain who used the sequence for any other purpose would likely be shot.

“I’m sorry. I have my orders and I must carry them out. The Universe will have to look out for itself until we win our freedom from New Rome.”

“ Think, woman! We’re talking about the end of everything we know in less than 75 years! That isn’t even one lifetime. If we start building now, we may be able to save much of our population when the time comes, but not if you people and the Galactic Guard slug it out across the star lanes for the next twenty or thirty years.”