"Hogan, James P - The Genesis Machine p174-259" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

The stage was thus set. Both sides possessed nuclear spacecraft, had achieved permanent lunar bases, and were deploying the latest in a long list of strategic deterrentsЧthe Orbital Bombardment System, ORBS, consisting of swarms of orbiting fractional nuclear bombs that could be brought down at any point on EarthТs surface in minutes.
And then the news flashed round a tense world that Act One was beginning.
The unrest that had been smouldering in South Korea burst into flame spontaneously all over the country, like the reappearance of a forest fire that had been festering in the roots. Within the space of a few weeks a fiendishly planned epidemic of riots, strikes, ambushes, and guerilla operations consolidated into a nationwide orchestration that left the Army with no coherent strategy to implement, no secure place for regrouping, and no way to turn. The Seoul government was deposed and replaced by the so-called PeopleТs Democratic Assembly, whose first task in office was to appeal for aid to defend the populace against the continued oppressions of the regular forces that were still fighting. The Chinese divisions massed along the thirty-eighth parallel were quick to respond, and inside a matter of a few more days the takeover was complete.
Powerless to act in the face of such a widespread popular movement and left at a complete standstill by the speed at which these events had unfolded, the Australian and Japanese forces stationed in the country had played no active role. Ignominiously, under the stony stares of lines of heavily armed Communist combat troops, they queued up in front of the waiting air transports that would fly them to Japan.
Morelli, Clifford, Aub, and a group of other scientists and senior personnel from Sudbury stood in front of a reserved landing pad in the InstituteТs airmobile parking area and watched the steadily enlarging dot that was descending from the sky above them. Zimmermann was not with them, having returned to Luna the previous week after spending a month with them. Three medium-size skybuses, painted white and carrying the words MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE DEPARTMENT, were lined up together along one side of the parking area. Their occupants had taken up positions around but at a respectable distance from the landing pad, at various strategic points around the grounds of the Institute and at doors inside some of its buildings.
The dot gradually resolved itself into the snubnosed shape of a Veetol Executive jet bearing the colors and insignia of the U.S. Air Force Transport Command. It slowed to a halt and hovered a hundred feet above the pad while the flight-control processors obtained final clearance from the landing radar and the pilot made his routine visual check to see that the site was unobstructed. Then the jet sank smoothly downward to come to rest amid the falling whine of dying engine noise. The door swung open and a short stairway telescoped down to the ground.
After a few seconds two men dressed in civilian suits, presumably FBI, emerged and stood on either side of the foot of the steps. They were followed by a powerfully built individual wearing the bemedaled uniform of an Army major general; it belonged to Gerald Straker, a Presidential adviser on strategic planning and an authority on advanced weapons systems. Behind Straker came General Arwin Dalby, U.S. Representative to the Coordination Committee of the Integrated Strike Command of the Allied Western
Democracies; General Robert Fuller, of the Stra Planning Commission; and General Howard Perl ski, second in command of the North American g] surveillance, early-warning, and countermeasures tern. Next came two civilians, both from the tagon; one was Professor Franz Mueller, resi consultant on security of military communications tems, the other, Dr. Harry Sultzinger, the archite~
ORBS.
General Harvey Miller, USAF, Deputy Chief of bital Bombardment Command, was followed by a of Air Force aides and then by a navy contir headed by Admiral Joseph Kaine, chairman of a p dential advisory committee charged with investig~ methods to improve submarine detection from s lites. Three more civilian technical advisers came on the heels of the Navy: Patrick Cleary, comi technology; Dr. Samuel Hatton, military lasers; Professor Warren Keele, nuclear sciences. Fi:
there emerged the instantly recognizable, lean, I ing but vigorous figure of William S. Foreshaw, S tary for Defense of the United States.
When introductions had been completed, the groups merged and made their way over to the ministration Building of the Institute where, in Large Conference Theater, Morelli started off the gram for the day with a presentation of the thing team had achieved to date.
УWeТve invited you here today to bring to you tention some new discoveries in science that can be described as astounding,Ф he told them. УIn opinion, the work that we have done over the couple of years represents a breakthrough in hr knowledge that is possibly without parallel in hist
He waited for the air of expectancy to rise t appropriate level and then continued: УAll of
gentlemen are, IТm sure, conversant with the notion that the universe in which we live exists within a framework of space and time. Everything that we know, everything that we see, even the most distant object that can be resolved by our most powerful telescopes or the tiniest event observable inside the atom
Чall these things exist within the same universal framework.Ф The rows of faces watched him expressionlessly.
УWe now have not only a working theoretical model but also firm experimental evidence that this universe is only a tiny part of something far vaster . . . not merely vaster in size, but far, far vaster in terms of the conceptual entities that inhabit it and the totally new range of physical laws that govern the processes taking place inside it.Ф Sudden interest began creeping into some of the faces in front of him as a few of the individuals present got their first inkling of where he was about to take them. Morelli nodded slowly.
УYes, gentlemen. I am talking about a completely new domain of the universe that lies beyond the dimensions of space and timeЧa domain so strange that we are only beginning to glimpse some of the possibilities that are waiting to be uncovered. But even this first glimpse has revealed facts so staggering as to fundamentally change and in many cases dispose of practically every currently accepted law of physics. The whole universe that has been revealed up until now by all our instruments turns out to be nothing more than a pale shadow of an infinitely more exciting and infinitely vaster superuniverse. Let me tell you about some of the workings of this superuniverse.Ф
Morefli went on to describe in nontechnical terms the theory behind particle extinctions and creations, and the interpretation of these events as transitions of basic entities between the various dimensions of
k-space. He described the generation of k-waves and explained how all the known forces and forms of energy of physics could be interpreted in terms of them, and led from there to the notion of gravity as a discontinuous, dynamic phenomenon that resulted from the slow decay of matter particles.
УBut gravity waves are just projections into our universe of a more complex k-wave,Ф he told them. УIn the superuniverse there exists a form of superwave that defies all powers of imagination and has the property of being able to pervade all the points of our ordinary space simultaneously. These superwaves are produced continuously in every piece of matter in the universeЧin the planets, the stars, and even in the voids betweenЧand every tiny particle-event taking place at any point in the cosmos makes itself known instantly at each and every other point.Ф Surprised mutterings ran through the audience. Morelli chose that moment to make his first announcement concerning the practical relevance of it all.
УHere at Sudbury, we have constructed an instrument that not only responds to these superwaves coming from everywhere in the universe, but in addition enables them to be processed into meaningful visual images.Ф He paused to allow time for the impact of that statement to take effect, and then gestured toward the large screen behind him, which he had used earlier to present diagrams illustrating the basic concepts of k-theory. He operated the controls below the edge of the lectern in front of him and immediately the screen came to life to show a bright orange-yellow disk.
УThat, gentlemen, is a cross-section view right through the center of Earth,Ф he informed them. Gasps of astonishment erupted.
Warren Keele, the nuclear sciences expert, was un
able to contain his amazement. УYouТre saying thatТs a real, live view through the Earth?Ф he said, his voice straining with disbelief. УYou mean your instrument can actually pick up these waves coming from all through Earth and make pictures out of them?Ф
The comments from around the room had risen to a steady murmur. Morelli seized the chance to capitalize on the mood of the moment. УYes, we can do exactly that. We can do much better than that, too.Ф He changed the view to that of another, similar-looking disk. УAnd that is another sectional view, but this time one of our Moon!Ф He repeated the procedure with a flourish to show a third disk, this time one that became noticeably brighter towards its center. УAnd thatТs the Sun!Ф His voice rose above the ensuing clamor to drive home his point. УEvery one of these images was obtained from within a hundred yards of where you are sitting, and every one of them shows the object as it was at the instant the information was received. Later on today, we will take you into another building and show you the screen from which these pictures were taken. You will be able to sit in front of it and gaze into the heart of the Sun!Ф
Morelli then kept them at fever pitch by going on to describe the operation of the GRASER and dropped his second bombshell when he announced that gravity could be produced and controlled artificially.
УAt any other time this would be a stupendous achievement in itself,Ф he said. УItТs something that men have dreamed about for a hundred years. As things are, it comes as a mere by-product of something thatТs bigger and even more stupendous by far.Ф
When Morelli had finished, excitement and enthusiasm bubbled on every side. Some of the generals were still looking bemused and a miniature instant
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conference began around William Foreshaw. Morelli waited patiently.
Then, as the hubbub of voices began dying away, Patrick Cleary turned back to face the stage. УProfessor Morelli, what youТve described to us is obviously a much-extended extrapolation of MaesangerТs Field Theory.Ф
УThatТs correct,Ф Morelli agreed.
УWhat is incredible is not only the extension of the theoretical concepts, but also the experimental support that youТve been able to demonstrate.Ф
УNever mind all that,Ф Samuel Hatton threw in. УTheyТre already turning out solid applications. ThatТs what blows my mind.Ф
УSure,Ф Cleary acknowledged. УI didnТt mean to play that down.Ф He turned to face Morelli again. УWhat I was about to ask, Professor, was: Is this by chance the famous hyperspace of science fiction that weТve all been waiting for?Ф
Morelli grinned briefly.
УBetter ask our theoretical king about that,Ф he said, then called toward the back of the room, where Clifford was sitting with the Sudbury contingent. УBrad, what would you say to that one?Ф
УDepends on which of the many varieties of hyperspace you have in mind,Ф Clifford replied. УIn the sense of dimensions existing beyond the accepted ones, I guess, yes, it could be. If youТre thinking of instant star-travel or something, I think youТll be disappointed. Certainly weТve not got that on todayТs schedule.Ф
Dr. Harry Sultzinger spoke next.
УThis business about instant propagation intrigues me,Ф he said. УAre you saying that Special RelativityТs gone out the window. . . or what?Ф
УActually, it doesnТt really go against Special Rela
tivity,Ф Morelli said. УRelativistic physics cuts an upper limit on the velocity of energy through ordinary Einsteinian spacetime. Hi-waves exist in another domain entirelyЧone to which the laws of conventional spacetime donТt apply. I guess you could say that EinsteinТs traffic cops patrol the public highways only, but hi-waves travel cross-country.Ф
УBut what about information?Ф Sultzinger insisted. УIf a hi-wave goes from here to there in zero time, itТs carried information in zero time. Relativity says you canТt do that.Ф
УOnly because all methods for moving information that have been known up to now invariably involve moving through classical spacetime,Ф Morelli said. УBut with hi-waves weТre effectively bypassing that, so the problem doesnТt arise.Ф
УActually, it does get slightly more involved than that,Ф Clifford called again from the back. УSome people have put together all kinds of complicated causeand-effect arguments to show that instant information transfer gives rise to all kinds of logical paradoxes. My own view is that the difficulties lie in the logic and the conceptual limitations rather than in anything factual. WeТre working on that at the moment, and I wouldnТt be surprised if a number of old ideas about simultaneity end up having to be re-examined.Ф
УHow detailed could the information be that could be carried on these waves?Ф Admiral Kaine asked.