The World Of Alcubierre

Episode II

"Griggs, you're telling me a whole lot of things I know and not a lot of things I don't know," Admiral Levinson placed his hands flat on the steel conference table separating him from his science officer. He leaned forward, looming over Officer Griggs, "You're here to answer questions, not leave me with them." Griggs was a good man, but he was here to explain the unexplainable, not explain why he could not explain it. The two junior science personnel flanking Griggs sat like carved stones in their chairs, looking straight ahead at the bulkhead rather than dare a glance at Levinson. Neither had spoken a word since arriving in the conference room.

Jack Griggs was unfazed. He'd learned to not take things personally when it came to Levinson a long time ago. "Admiral, the phenomenon is entirely unanticipated and has no clear analog in our known science. We conducted extensive tests on the Alcubierre drive within local space, each time reaching a maximum speed of 4.23c. Any attempt to exceed 4.23c was limited by our onboard capacity to generate negative mass."

Levinson straightened up and turned away so he could pace in the narrow area beside the table. "Did we somehow generate more negative mass?" Griggs shook his head. "Is negative mass more...I don't know, powerful now?"

Griggs paused, considering the question. "How do you mean, more powerful?"

Levinson whirled on his heel, a pulsing vein popping out on his forehead, "How the hell should I know Griggs?" He slammed his fist against the thick slab of adamantine steel of the wall beside him, "I'm just making it up as I go along here." He withdrew his fist, putting it behind his back, trying to find his calm.

Griggs simply gawked. Not at Levinson, but at the wall the admiral had just struck. Levinson followed his gaze, turning to look as well. There, in the center of the unbreakable metal, was dent.

---

The Zix Collective rarely attempted contact with the other species comprising the Pan-Universia Combine. A species level interaction required a species wide consensus, which required substantial expenditure of resources and time. Each sub-float would be required to meld with the main-float and offer their contribution. The issues of Left-Right consensus were magnified considerably when caste-hierarchies and purpose-specializations were added to the equation. Indeed, in the seven hundred and thirty four thousand years the Zix Collective had been a member of the Pan-Universia Combine, a species consensus had only been attempted twenty-six times. It had only been achieved three times.

Less consuming methods, such as the vulgarity of isolated encounters of singletons preferred by some other species, was viewed with universal horror by Lefts and Rights alike. There had been a point when it had been considered by a Right within a single social research sub-float, but the concept had died a quick death beneath the withering scrutiny of a sensible Left and not reconsidered.

Xy found it disconcerting that it would be placed at the center of the twenty-seventh Zix-moot. It was a Self First, perhaps the most notable in Xy's existence. The ensuing first cascade was dizzying, making the Left long for the quiet of its sub-tank. Zyy seemed quite pleased with the developments, its cilia waving to and fro in the most flagrant disregard for propriety. That was the way of Rights, quick to embrace the whimsy of the universe, leaving the hard work of reality to sensible Lefts. Xy briefly mulled over a particularly sacrilegious concept of a two Left tank before discarding it as the sort of nonsense a Right might dwell on.

Xy floated next to Zyy, letting its cilia brush the Right just enough to establish a thought thread. Zyy's awareness trickled in, muted by the limited connection. Zyy was preoccupied with the question of how to reach the Sol Object. Of course, Zyy was observation specialized, just as Xy was, so no solutions presented themselves. Despite the foolishness of it all, Xy let itself be carried along by the fancy for a moment, sharing in Zyy's excitement of tracking down the originator of a Universal First.

What would it be? This manufactured object that cared not for the norms of the universe?

Zyy tentatively reached out with more cilia, seeking a deeper connection. A thought thread was insufficient, particularly not for the gravity of the moment. Xy considered and then accepted, viewing it as a kindness. Xy was not quite ready to admit to itself that it shared the Right's nervousness. They went back and forth, letting their thoughts guide themselves as they awaited the time for the Zix-moot.

The conversation was superficial, both unwilling to directly address the questions that bedeviled them both.

Would the Zix contact the Combine?

What then?

---

A few short hours later, Science Officer Griggs commenced his second report of the day, this time armed with considerably more information. "Admiral, simply put, the rules have changed." Griggs pointed to the dented wall behind the assembled executive leadership of the UWS Alcubierre. "Namely, the laws of the universe we considered immutable and, well, universal, are not." There was an exchange of glances, but each member of the crew kept their own counsel, waiting for him to proceed.

Griggs tapped through a few screens and the lights dimmed. In the center of the room, hanging over the table was a glowing representation of the solar system. "I stated before that we had done extensive testing on the Alcubierre drive in local space." Suddenly, thousands of small lines appeared, creating a dense spiderweb throughout the solar system. "Each of these represents a separate flight test. You will notice that each of these tests were within thirty thousand astronomical units of the sun." A transparent blue globe appeared, with the sun at its center. Each of the flight paths were neatly encompassed within. "This globe represents a half light year distance from the sun, approximately thirty-one thousand astronomical units."

His fingers danced along the input console again, and a new searing yellow dot appeared, blinking periodically. "This is the UWS Alcubierre, and this," he paused to enter another command, "is its flight path." The dot moved, leaving a yellow trail behind it. It approached the half-light year globe and, once it passed through it, turned red, "The red demarcates where we experienced the speed increase. It occurred approximately seventy-four days into our journey, at the exact moment we passed the half-light year boundary."

There was silence for a moment. Admiral Levinson cleared his throat, but his eyes did not leave the blinking red dot, "What are you saying Jack?"

Jack's eyes took a breath, gathering his nerves, "Admiral, I'm saying that when we passed that boundary, the laws of physics changed. For the entirety of human history, the relationship between force and energy was the same. A certain amount of exerted force would generate a certain amount of reaction energy, barring intervening variables." He stood and walked over to the wall, rubbing his fingers across the dent. "Once we passed through the boundary, that relationship changed. It takes considerably less force to generate considerably more energy."

"So why aren't we punching holes through things? Why didn't I jab my toothbrush through my head this morning?" Levinson asked, letting his gruff tone distract the crew from the gravity of the situation.

"Oddly enough, it is isn't a linear relationship, which is also wildly at odds with our understanding of things. There appears to be an exponential relationship between force and energy, but we have not teased out the equations yet. My entire staff is on it."

"Use smaller words Jack." Levinson replied.

"Admiral, a handshake is still a handshake, but a punch can level a mountain." Griggs replied, knocking his fist slightly on the dented wall beside him.

"I see," Levinson took a deep breath, "and what would our mass drivers do?"

Jack stared at the dent for a moment before responding, his voice barely a whisper, "Unimaginable destruction."