Greg Krojac - The Schrödinger Enigma

After what had happened back at the farm in Mechanicsville, the group decided that it would be best to have someone on lookout duty during the night. Although everybody still felt the smallest hint of suspicion about Enak, they had also all benefitted from his presence, none more so than Jason, who owed the alien his life. Jason, Enak, Samuel, and Jacob were to keep watch during two-hour shifts, although Sitara insisted upon taking Jacob’s shift so that he could get a full eight hours sleep and keep his wife company. Besides, she could keep watch just as well as any man could.

Enak took the first shift, and was looking down the road when he heard a noise behind him. His hand moved towards the trigger of Jacob’s hunting rifle which was resting on his lap. A female voice put his mind at ease.

“It’s alright, Enak. It’s only me, Sitara.”

She settled herself alongside the Argon and looked up at the stars. Was Voyager One up there, still travelling through interstellar space, exploring the unchartered heavens?

“Is it still there?”

“Is what still there?”

“Voyager One. Is it exploring space?”

“I doubt it. Not now.”

“But it was, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was.”

“At the same time as it was back here on Earth?”

“Yes.”

“How did that work?”

“You do not need to know. It’s very complicated.”

“Enak. I’m a NASA scientist. I get – I got – paid for understanding complicated. It’s what I do. And I think I deserve an explanation.”

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I couldn’t sleep. Not without knowing how Voyager One could be in two places at once. You’ve told us why it was here on Earth, but not how. I don’t know if I’ll ever sleep again if I don’t know how. Call it my natural scientific curiosity.”

Enak didn’t want to be the cause of her never sleeping again and reluctantly began to tell her how the phenomenon had occurred. It felt like explaining a law of physics to a young child, but he understood the reason why she had to know – he was a kindred spirit. He was a scientific historian, whose job was to use his knowledge of primitive technology in order to get certain infrastructures functioning as a temporary measure until more advanced equipment could either be constructed or brought from his home planet. So he decided to grant Sitara’s wish, to a small extent at least.

“Has your species succeeded in manipulating subatomic particles yet?”

“We’ve made a start, yes. Photons and electrons have been manipulated to be in two locations at the same time. I seem to recall that a glass sphere, 40 nanometres in diameter, was forced into a quantum superposition using a laser.”

Enak allowed himself a silent chuckle at the pride that the human scientific community held in its ability to perform rudimentary simple quantum tasks, but he felt that he should try to encourage the humans’ efforts.

“And how about coupling electromagnetic and gravitational forces? Can you harness and manipulate gravity yet?”

“That’s impossible isn’t it? I don’t know if anyone is even studying that kind of thing at the moment.”

“You are trapped in this small part of your solar system until you do. Interstellar space travel will remain a dream for you until you understand the essence of gravity and can manipulate gravity. I do not even know if your planet possesses the materials capable of creating the necessary current density that is required to create the kind of engine that powers our spacecraft. Perhaps you will never break free of your cosmic neighbourhood. But you’ve started to make progress with quantum mechanics – that is a good start.”

It seemed a little like a back-handed compliment, but Sitara was grateful for any shred of information that Enak was willing to give her. Not that there was much that she could do with it – NASA and all scientific research no longer existed. Enak continued.

“But you have a long way to go.”

Sitara was hooked and wanted to know more.

“You’re saying that Argons have managed to superposition larger objects?”

“You have seen the Voyager craft yourself. You have seen the evidence.”

“So Voyager One was simultaneously billions of kilometres away from Earth? We thought one of them must be false. At first we thought that the one on Earth was fake, but – “

“Both were the same object.”

“So how did you do it?”

“Are you sure that your time would not be better spent trying to sleep?”

“Please, Enak. I need to know.”

“Very well. I will explain it as simply as I can. Primarily, the environment surrounding the object must meet specific criteria, namely the object must be in a vacuum and very cold. And what better vacuum is there than outer space?”

This seemed logical to Sitara. Research on Earth bore these facts out.

“So what else needs to happen?”

Enak knew that he was about to leave the scope of mankind’s current understanding of quantum mechanics.

“It will be pointless going into great detail. It is something that cannot be explained sitting by the side of a road outside a motel. But I will give you something to think about.”

“But I want to know.”

“Your species is not sufficiently advanced to comprehend the processes fully.”

Sitara was disappointed. Enak picked up a small stone and placed it on the upturned palm of his hand. He turned his hand over and the stone dropped to the ground. He looked at Sitara.

“That is your problem.”

Sitara understood immediately what he was demonstrating.

“Gravity?”

“Gravity. The pull of gravity must be overcome. Even at a subatomic level, gravitational forces are trying to create order. You need to control and manipulate gravity. This is why we do not need wheels on our vehicles. The whole process also requires immense amounts of energy. Fortunately we have access to boundless amounts of energy. You do not.”

“Can you tell me more about that?”

“I could, but I will not. It would be akin to allowing a baby to play with a grenade. At the moment, you would destroy the entire planet. [32] not sure what this sentence is saying I can tell you no more. Just know that gravity and the ability to manipulate it is the key.”

“May I ask you one last question?”

“You may.”

“Why did you remove the antennae and other parts?”

“To cut down on the energy required. That is all. We needed only the main body of the vehicle for our plan to be a success. That and your curiosity.”

Sitara went back to bed, falling into a deep sleep until it was her turn to keep watch. Her curiosity had been sufficiently satisfied for one night’s sleep at least.

The rest of that night was peaceful. The bikers from the Amish farm were in no position follow them, their bikes having been made useless, and nobody else came near the motel. Apart from taking a breather and collecting their thoughts, Enak had another reason to wait before entering Washington DC – he knew what would be waiting there for them.

After breakfast, Enak took Jason aside for a private word. The whole group had a right to know what they were letting themselves in for, but he wanted to talk to Jason first. With Jason’s support, they could hopefully avoid a confrontation with the other Argons until it became absolutely necessary. Simply surviving wasn’t an option; if something wasn’t done soon, the main invasion force would arrive and then the remaining vestiges of humanity would be wiped out, unless they could prove themselves useful to the invaders. The choice would be between death and slavery.