T Southwell - Prophecy

"I hope you've had sufficient sleep. We've arrived at my home world and will be disembarking soon."

Rayne's eyes widened in shock, and Rawn emerged from the bathroom, his face wet. They stared at him in horror, and Tallyn realised his blunder and strived to correct it.

"I apologise. I should have warned you before we left."

Rawn raised a finger and wagged it, water dripping from his chin. "Listen, buster. Just a few hours ago, we were on our own planet, and now you tell us we're on the other side of the bloody universe? You kidnap us, feed us drugs, fry us with weird lights, confiscate our clothes, and fly us a thousand light years without so much as a 'by your leave'? Bugger 'warned us', what about 'asked us'?"

Tallyn frowned, a little nettled. "You're in my care. You've come to no harm. All that was done to you was for your benefit, and the safety of my crew. It was unavoidable. The trip was necessary. Rayne had to be brought to the safety of Atlan, where she can be guarded and cared for. Informing you of our departure would have been a mere courtesy, and I did say you would not be returned to Earth. There was no point in staying in Earth orbit any longer."

Rawn wiped his face with a towel, looking incredulous. Rayne went to a chair and sank into it, her eyes downcast. Rawn tossed the towel onto a nearby shelf and stepped closer to Tallyn.

"You may find that all quite satisfactory and logical to your little alien mind, but what about us? We never even got to see our world from space. We never had the chance to say goodbye. Maybe we have feelings you lack, but you could have found out about that first."

Tallyn inclined his head. "Perhaps. I regret any distress this might have caused you. I understand your anger, and I would have the same reaction if it was done to me. However, returning to view your planet is a simple matter, and can be arranged sometime in the future if you wish."

Rawn glanced at Rayne, looking mollified, but still angry. "You okay, Ray?"

She nodded, fighting the sensation of unreality that threatened to overwhelm her. "How far are we from Earth?"

"Seven point four light years, by our measure of time," Tallyn replied. "Since our days are twenty-eight of your hours long, it would be around eight light years of your time. If you're feeling shock, I can have the doctor give you a tranquilliser."

"No, I'm fine. But I would like to know how we got here so fast. We could only have been asleep for a few hours, unless you did something to us."

"I didn't do anything to you. You've slept for five hours, which is how long the journey took. At the moment, we're waiting for shuttles from the surface, so I have time to explain it to you if you wish."

"That would be nice," Rawn muttered, sitting next to Rayne.

Tallyn took the third chair and settled back. "Obviously we travel a great deal faster than light. We do this by using what's called a transfer Net. Essentially, we tap into a parallel dimension that comprises pure energy, where things like time, weight and distance don't exist. By establishing a link with the energy dimension, we draw power from it, and at the same time use it to ferry us through space. You could liken it to one of your electric trains, which draws its power from an overhead cable, and uses it to drive its wheels. The only difference is that the link is also a tow. The energy dimension exists everywhere in the known universe, and everywhere in the energy dimension is in the same place and the same time."

Rawn shook his head. "You've lost me. How's that possible?"

"As I said, distance and time don't exist in that dimension."

"So you go into the other dimension, then come out where you want to?"

"No, not exactly. That's how it works for the transfer Net with which we transport people and supplies, like the one that brought you here. In the case of the ship, it never actually enters the other dimension. The power needed to achieve that is too much for our machinery to deal with. The ship has no engines, as such. What we have are complicated conduits, through which the energy is channelled. It's difficult to explain." Tallyn looked a little vague, gazing into space.

"We're not morons. Explain it as it was explained to you," Rawn suggested.

"Okay. Imagine the universe is a series of layers, like a sandwich. We live in one layer, and the next layer is a mass of energy so powerful it exists everywhere at once. We establish a link with the energy, which, since it exists in all places, is able to tow us through space. We plot a course, and the link moves us at the speed we wish. The speed is actually infinite, but our ship's structure limits it."

"Why's that? There's no substance in space."

"There's a great deal of substance in the form of dust, meteors and other debris. Our scanners warn us of obstacles, and proximity repellers deflect the dust."

"What are those?"

Tallyn smiled, and Rayne reflected that, although he had a nice smile, she had yet to see him use it with enough enthusiasm to reveal his teeth. Her curiosity about his dentition was growing, meanwhile. He glanced at her, perhaps sensing her stare, and launched into another explanation.

"Proximity repellers are powerful, negatively charged coils of super magnetic alloys. They will repel anything, from a planet to a dust particle. Even air molecules react to a certain degree. We also call it anti-gravity, when it's used on a planet, but those systems are a lot weaker."

"Is that how you generate gravity on this ship?" Rawn enquired. "By reversing it?"

"No." Tallyn looked patient, apparently resigned to explaining everything. "The gravity on this ship is generated by a layer of super dense metal on its underside. As I'm sure you know, the denser the object the higher its gravitational pull. This metal is extremely dense, so much so that to call it metal does it an injustice. Lead would be like cloth next to it."

"Why can't you use the super magnetic alloy things?"

"The proximity repellers? That would be extremely dangerous, since, if you reversed the polarity and turned them into attracting magnets, they would work differently on different parts of the body. Liquids, solids and gasses all react differently. They would not generate true gravity, but rather a magnetic attraction that, if it was strong enough, would flatten the ship before it made people stick to the floors. You understand? Metal is far more magnetic than flesh."

"But surely gravity works the same way? The denser something is, the heavier it is," Rawn pointed out.

"Ah, yes and no. The difference is, a measure of water, or flesh, can be compared to a measure of lead, let's say. The lead, though a smaller amount, would weigh the same, right? But with magnets, the measure isn't weight, it's attraction, and flesh is like feathers compared to lead when you talk about attraction." Noting Rawn's blank look, he elaborated. "Look, you know how strongly an ordinary magnet attracts a ferrous metal, right? But it doesn't do anything to flesh. So imagine how strong it would have to be before it attracted something as nonferrous as flesh."

"I see," Rawn muttered, looking a little awed. "We never discovered anything like that. Not as far as I know, anyway." He looked at Rayne, who raised her brows and shrugged.

Tallyn went on, "But you must understand, these are not ordinary magnets, they attract, or repel, all forms of matter, not only ferrous metals. The comparison is not really valid; it only serves to elucidate my point. An ordinary magnet, no matter how strong, would not attract flesh."

Rawn nodded. "I get it. And all this runs off the power you suck out of the energy dimension?"

"Correct. Everything that requires power. You never discovered the energy dimension, which is why your culture foundered and destroyed itself by using combustible fuels. A Net link would have saved you."