The Pathfinder Project (42 page)

“So how do we determine if
those other universes on the diagram are really there or not?”

“We have no way that I know of
to find out,” said Julie. “Even the dark red gravity waves I added are just a
guess… a representation that I’m using to help study the river of matter
flowing out of our universe. They’re
probably
there in one form or
another, but we have no way to measure or plot them accurately.”

“We never did discuss at our
last Council meeting just how much damage Poseidon could cause over the long term.
Does our discovery here pose a threat?”

“There’s no threat to your
immediate safety, if that’s what you’re asking,” Dr. Markham said. “My estimate
as to the number of galaxies in our universe is 100 billion. If you asked me
for an additional estimate regarding the total number of stars I would have to
say 1 billion trillion. We are stockpiled for the long haul, Thomas, so don’t
worry about that. Poseidon is taking a lot of matter, but I would estimate that
well over 99 percent of our universe will remain unaffected over the next 5
billion or so years. Once Poseidon’s gravity well collapses and explodes –
which will take billions of years – it will simply form a new, expanding
bubble. If the diagram sent to us is accurate then it appears the force of its
Big-Bang actually pushes away the other bubbles surrounding it.”

“So while the gravity well is
in the process of forming a new universe it continues to pull other universes
closer and closer, stripping them of more and more matter and energy.”

“Correct,” Julie agreed. “The
closer the universes get to Poseidon, the more quickly it can extract matter
from them. I would imagine all of that gravity converging – combined with the
eventual collapse of Poseidon – is what will actually trigger its Big Bang.”

“If that isn’t an Intelligent
Design then what is?” Thomas asked curiously as he frowned slightly. “Do you
suppose any of those universe bubbles floating around ever get close enough to
overlap or collide with each other the way some of our galaxies do?” He pointed
toward her updated image. “Look at those orange thingies.”

“It’s an interesting theory,
but again we have no way that I know of to prove it,” she said, reaching over
and ruffling his hair. “That is, unless you want to try something really
drastic, such as transiting the
Pathfinder
out of our universe and into
another one.”

“I
have
considered it,”
Thomas said, causing her to raise her eyebrows. “Really,” he insisted, noting
her doubtful expression. “It would cost us a lot of Canary Probes as we transit
them farther and farther out of our universe. The normal physical laws that we
know and rely upon here almost certainly wouldn’t exist
between
the
bubbles. However, some of the other universes would have to be larger versions
of our own and sooner or later one of the probes would emerge inside of one. We
could then use the Canary’s telemetry to verify its coordinates and that would
give us a fixed point of reference to work from when we send future probes.”

“Are you even sure the
Point-to-Point wormhole technique would be able to traverse the void between universes?”
Julie wondered. “After all, if physical laws don’t apply out there then it
follows that a PTP transit would never actually complete… your Probes could
fail to arrive at their intended destinations without your ever knowing what
happened to them.”

“That’s the part I’m not sure
about,” Thomas admitted, smoothing the hair on his head where she had rubbed
it. “Glen and I haven’t worked up enough courage to ask the Captain about that
one yet. We want to wait until we’ve found the leading edge of our own universe
first before suggesting the option to him.”

“Thomas…
don’t
be in a
hurry,” Julie suggested, waving a hand at the glittering view in the
Observatory’s windows. “We’ve got enough here to study for years if we want
to.  And we
do
want to. Considering how much time our astronomers have
spent trying to find something new and fascinating you could say Poseidon is a
remarkable
achievement. We’re chomping at the bit to be able to study it in more detail,
so don’t take us too far too fast, okay?”

He studied her reaction
thoughtfully. “Well,
that’s
a complete reversal of your attitude at the
meeting.”

“I’ve had additional time to think
since then.”

“I’ve always thought that
staring into a telescope for hours on end is really boring. If that’s what you
want to do then it’s okay with me… I’m just glad that isn’t
my
job,”
Thomas decided as Kari walked over to join them. He smiled warmly at her. “Hi
hon,” he said casually as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and hugged
him. He watched Julie turn and look at him in amazement as he made the comment.

“You two sure are getting along
well,” Dr. Markham decided. “Have you done it yet?”

“Doctor,” gasped an astonished
Kari. “
That’s
private and you know it!”

“Well, you’ve always told me
everything
about your boyfriends before,” Julie laughed, watching Thomas’ facial
expression quickly cycle through a dozen different shades of red. “Are you going
to stop giving me all the delightful details now, simply because your main
squeeze is our good friend Thomas? The two of us were just discussing boring
science stuff anyway. Let’s hear something more
fascinating
.”

“Yes most assuredly the details
will
stop,” Kari emphasized, glancing reassuringly at Thomas. She kissed
him chastely on the cheek.

“I’m thinking it might be time
for me to go,” Thomas suggested, starting to get up out of his chair. Kari
grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down.

“Don’t you let
her
make
you feel uncomfortable,” Kari ordered. “The good Doctor as a general rule
spends most of her time here in the Observatory, but when she
does
go
back to her quarters you can bet her husband has a good time.”

This time Julie blushed… she
picked up the nearest clipboard and gave Kari a quick whack on the shoulder. “I
know, I know,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve confided equal amounts of dirt to
you over the years, myself.” She carefully placed the clipboard back on her
desk. “Perhaps we can agree to respect each other’s privacy?”

“I think that would be a great
idea, you dirty-minded woman,” Kari said cheerfully. She noticed that Thomas
had his eyes closed tightly as he desperately tried to wish himself
instantaneously to another location on board the
Pathfinder
. His attempt
at psychic transportation naturally failed and he opened his eyes, still
appearing, for the most part, extremely embarrassed.

A red light on the Comm-link
next to Julie’s clipboard flashed red. “
Dr. Markham, this is Jeff Mathison.
I’m sitting up here in the Garden wing absolutely stumped at the moment. Thomas
Roh wouldn’t be down there in your Observatory by any chance, would he
?”

“Yes, I am most definitely
here,” Thomas piped up loudly, instantly straightening in his chair. “Anything
you need me to do just ask Jeff. I’ll be up there before you can blink twice.”

“
Well it’s nothing serious
at the moment but it
is
puzzling
,” Jeff continued. “
We’re trying
to put the ‘B’ side of the Garden wing into Autumn mode, but for some reason I
can’t fathom the ‘cooler weather’ subroutine isn’t kicking in to adjust the
environmental controls
.”

“It’s the same software that’s
used to control the temperature on the ‘B’ side of the Livestock wing, isn’t
it?” queried Thomas.

“
That’s the puzzling part
,”
pointed out Jeff. “
The Livestock wing switched automatically into ‘autumn’ mode
early this morning – just like it was supposed to. There’s no reason we can find
why the Garden wing shouldn’t have done the same thing. Could you please stop
up for a moment and take a look at it? I was hoping to get out of here a little
early this evening
.”

“Give me ten minutes,” Thomas
requested, grinning triumphantly at Dr. Markham. “I’ll have your problem fixed
in no time.”

“
Thanks… thanks a lot Thomas
,”
Jeff said gratefully. He signed off and the Comm-link’s red light dimmed back
to normal.

“Can I come with you?” Kari
asked curiously. “I haven’t been up there in a while and we can go for a
romantic walk after you’re done.”

“Sure,” Thomas said, offering
her his arm. “Come on along then. I’ll buy you an apple.” Every day brought at
least half a dozen similar situations, all of which he would quickly rectify
and earn a pat on the back from the folks that he helped. Either this wouldn’t
work or that wouldn’t initialize or something wouldn’t start up properly. He
had been typing on computers since middle school and learned his trade well –
computers were his specialty. That was why he expected to find Jeff waiting for
the two of them in the Garden wing…

…and was totally astonished to
find almost the entire crew complement of the
Pathfinder
there. Hundreds
of people – practically all of the passengers along with everyone not currently
on duty – were standing in a large half circle in the ‘dance’ area where their
Fourth of July celebration had been held.

“What the hell?” Thomas asked,
stepping forward onto the gravel walking path with Kari right behind him. At
the center of the semi-circle of people was a small stage area and podium
behind which stood Captain Kaufield. As the two of them approached the entire
crowd turned and began applauding. Kari grinned gleefully as Thomas again began
blushing.

“This will be a brief
ceremony,” Dennis said into his microphone as the applause and cheering
subsided, “but a very important one. We have traveled far since leaving our
home galaxy and endured much in the aftermath of the attack on Earth. That is
why the command staff and I have decided to take a moment to honor two people
who have sacrificed quite a bit in order for the rest of us to survive.”

Standing next to him, Mary
stepped forward. “We would all very much appreciate it if Glen Fredericks and
Thomas Roh would please join us up here,” she said, clapping as she took a step
backward. A new round of applause filled the area.

“What’s going on?” Thomas
asked, turning curiously to look at Kari.

She shrugged and let go of his
hand. “Why don’t you go up there and find out?” she suggested, laughing with
her perfect voice as she leaned over to kiss him. The applause increased substantially
as she did so, and Thomas distinctly heard some familiar voices hooting and
hollering in the background. He silently made a mental note to have a ‘chat’
with those people later. In the meantime he took his girlfriend in his arms and
dipped her as he continued kissing her deeply. Then he searched the faces in
the crowd until he found Glen – they both looked at each other and shook their
heads in complete disbelief.

Accepting the inevitable, both
he and Glen casually made their way through the cheering crowd and stepped up
onto the platform. Thomas
stared
at Glen, completely astonished, and he
could tell by his mentor’s expression that he too had not expected the
reception. From the expression on Mary’s face it was perfectly clear that he
had also been fooled by his fiancé.

“Captain…” Thomas started to
say, but Dennis held up a hand. The crowd quieted as he turned his attention
back to them.

“It is very safe to say that we
would
not
be here if these two men had not motivated their staff and
gotten our CAS Drive working while we were trapped in our home galaxy.” He gave
them a quick salute. “But our recent encounter in the wasteland area tested
them once again to the extreme by forcing both civilian scientists to
temporarily function as soldiers in our military so that we could successfully
repel our enemies. There’s no other way to acknowledge their effort other than
to thank them very sincerely for saving our lives and the
Pathfinder
–
not once, but on
two
occasions.” He saluted them again, more firmly this
time and the entire crowd began applauding and cheering again. Thomas looked
around at all the happy faces in disbelief as he stood next to Glen. Adam was
standing at the front of the crowd with a noticeably pregnant Nori at his side.
Both of them looked happier than he had ever seen them.

“For your commitment to
excellence and bravery during combat conditions, both of you are today
receiving a Silver Star,” Mary said cheerfully. She stepped forward and placed
a pure white ribbon around both of their necks as they bowed their heads – both
men glanced at each other, still flabbergasted. Thomas looked down at his
chest, noting that the medallion hanging at the bottom of his ribbon was highly
detailed and all around cool-looking. He turned the metal star over and over in
his hand, admiring the simple weight and feel of it. Together he and Glen stood
there amidst the applause and cheering for several minutes, until Kaufield
finally stepped up to the microphone once more and motioned for silence.

“But we’re not quite done here
yet,” he said. “One of these two men gets a
second
award.” Both Glen and
Thomas looked at each other curiously as Colonel Murray, Corporal Henderson and
his daughter Lucy walked up onto the stage. The little girl held a wrapped
package and giggled gleefully as she handed it to Thomas.

Deciding to work the crowd a
bit Thomas tucked the package underneath one arm as if to save it for later.
Immediately people began hollering and cheering and he finally gave in and
opened the gift. He held up a beautifully framed child’s picture that showed a
donkey in the Garden wing eating apples off of one of the trees. There was a
rainbow smeared in the background and green grass scribbled in at the donkey’s
feet.