Best Intentions

Mark tried to put the horrible incident at the UN behind him and focus on his success at convincing the member states to cooperate.

Once the resolution had been passed, the United Nations moved with gratifying speed. Offers were extended to the countries that were the worst abusers of human rights and many accepted UN control in exchange for offered aid. A large percentage of the Middle Eastern countries, North Korea and several African dictatorships soundly rejected everything Mark offered. They warned every nation not to interfere with their sovereignty.

“We’ll see about that,” thought Mark when informed of their decision.

CJ’s construction drones began placing the power cores and laying the foundations for power receiving stations in every country that voted to abide by the new resolutions.

Construction teams in each country built the power receiving facilities and upgraded the local distribution grids at the same time. Unemployment was at an all time low worldwide as so many workers were needed everywhere.

While CJ’s machines continued to clean up the major waste sites around the globe, calls went out from their citizens for each country to begin cleaning up its own mess. Mark found it gratifying to see average citizens taking an interest in the environment and demanding action from their officials for a change.

United Nations peacekeeping troops trained with the new suits and disruptors CJ had started turning out in quantity. It wasn’t long before battalion strength units were deployed to many of the countries in Africa, which either had had no functioning governments for decades, or were ruled by corrupt regimes. The troops found that they had the support of many of the citizens of these war-torn regions due to information leaflets dropped from the air telling the people what was coming.

There were some debates about the wisdom of letting the enemy know what was coming with the drops, but in the end it made not the slightest bit of difference. With their new equipment, UN troops swept over the resistance no matter the strength.

With the cynicism Mark still possessed, he had CJ build the disruptors so that they would only hold a charge for seventy-two hours before needing to be re-energized. The specialized equipment needed to power the devices was integrated into the transports CJ had provided. Their casings were also sealed and could not be opened or tampered with without destroying the inner mechanisms.

Mark wasn’t too surprised when CJ informed him that a number of the peacekeeper suits and disruptors had disappeared from the various theaters of combat as not a single trooper had fallen to enemy weapons.

Mark tried not to take it personally, figuring that it was inevitable. No matter what we do for them, he thought, some will still want more. At least the dedicated peacekeeping troops performed the missions as well as he had hoped.

CJ tracked the stolen material to several of the supporting nations. What disappointed Mark most was that the United States was among the countries that had stolen the material. There was a contingency plan for just such an eventuality though. In every government lab, the stolen tech dissolved, leaving nothing but a thick black sludge. He hoped they would all take the warning to heart, and the thefts did cease.

In less than a year the positive results of the campaign were visible everywhere. Formerly slave-like people were being educated and aided in forming their own governments. No one went hungry anymore and the diseases of poverty were eradicated all across the globe. Best of all, the deaths of children in poor countries around the world dwindled from the thousands every day and it seemed like they would be eliminated in the foreseeable future.

“Look, CJ. They’re doing it!” Mark said. “The UN is finally living up to the ideals that created it in the first place.”

“Affirmative, Mark. The aid we have provided may bring a lasting peace to this world. Instead of ferrying troops to battle, many of my transport craft now deliver food and medical supplies to the areas where combat has ceased. Permanent medical facilities are being constructed in areas that were relying on the mobile hospital units.”

“That’s good news, CJ. That should help keep the peace in those areas. Hungry and sick people are the most likely to resort to violence. The UN will have to administer those areas for some time until they can stand on their own, but I don’t believe we will have many that will throw away this progress.”

“Mark, I comprehend your gratification at these successes, however another crisis is on the horizon, one with which I am most familiar.”

“Can’t I just enjoy the successes for awhile before the next crisis arises, CJ?”

“I am sorry, Mark.”

“No, CJ. I’m sorry. Please go ahead.”

“Overpopulation will in time become as great a problem for the people of earth as it is for the Se’Tharian race. There is much land is currently considered unfit for human habitation. Plans for megastructures exist in my memory banks. These self-contained cities could at least temporarily alleviate the problem.”

“Overpopulation has always been an issue, CJ. It’s already a problem in some areas and I know that we’re going to have to deal with it eventually. I do like the idea of the cities you spoke about though. Building on land that is considered useless should delay the inevitable population problems at least for a while.”

“Affirmative. However, a long-term solution is possible. I conducted a survey of the inner worlds of this star system upon approach to earth. Planet four, Mars, can be engineered to support earth life.”

“I understand that is what you are designed to do, but Mars isn’t even a little bit earthlike, wouldn’t engineering it take hundreds of years?”

“With intensive engineering, Mars could be made fully habitable in approximately seventy years. Humans would be able to survive with minimal life-support after thirty to thirty-five years.”

“CJ, I wouldn’t have believed even you could work that fast. You should begin the work on Mars right away.”

“Affirmative, Mark. Evidence indicates that eventually Mars will require a large natural satellite to stabilize the planet’s axis of rotation if it is to remain habitable.”

“Why is that, CJ? How would this movement hurt the life on a planet?”

“The north pole of Mars will point towards the sun within two thousand years. When this occurs the climate over the entire surface of the planet will be destabilized as Mars’ southern hemisphere will receive zero sunlight.”

“You sure think ahead, CJ. How could even you possibly stop an entire planet from wobbling? I’ve seen all of your advanced technology, but that must be an impossible task even for you.”

“Affirmative. My systems cannot directly affect a planetary body; however a solution does exist. A stabilizing satellite would accomplish that just as the moon does for earth.”

“Wait a minute, CJ. Mars already has two moons doesn’t it? Why don’t they stop this movement?”

“They are of insufficient mass to stabilize the planet. A much larger body is needed. According to calculations, an asteroid in the main belt named Pallas is the exact mass required.”

“So, you intend to move an asteroid into Mars’s orbit? How big is this Pallas anyway?”

“The Pallas asteroid’s mass is approximately two point one times ten to the twentieth power kilograms. The diameter is five hundred and fifty kilometers.”

“Can you move something that large?”

“Affirmative, it will require several years though. Large gravitational inducers will need to be constructed on its surface to facilitate moving it from the asteroid belt and into orbit around the planet.”

“That’s great, CJ. You should get started on the Mars project immediately.”

“Affirmative, Mark. Work modules for both Mars and the Saturnine moon Titan are being dispatched. The fabrication module at 216 Kleopatra contains the necessary material to construct the gravitational inducers which will move Pallas.”

“Titan? Why do you need to send ships to Titan, CJ?” Mark asked.

“Mars atmosphere is mainly composed of carbon dioxide. The atmosphere needs to be altered to match that of earth. Titan possesses an atmosphere that is chiefly nitrogen. The module will collect the nitrogen and transport it to Mars.”

“Just nitrogen, but what about oxygen? I’m no scientist but I do know that we breathe oxygen, where is that going to come from?”

“The atmosphere of earth contains seventy-eight percent nitrogen and twenty-one percent oxygen with the balance made up of carbon dioxide and trace gasses. Oxygen can be obtained through fission of the existing CO2. Nitrogen is required in larger quantities and can be found in abundance on Titan.”

“I think I understand, and I defer to your expertise in these matters. Thank you for explaining it to me in such detail.”

“You are welcome, Mark.”

“This should surprise people when they find out!” Mark thought.

“CJ, there is another matter I want to pursue. The sprit of adventure has been waning around the world and I’d like to try and rekindle it. Could some of the modules be equipped to take high school kids on trips around the solar system?”

“Affirmative, Mark. Modifications such as those will not pose any significant difficulty for me. I can begin the modifications immediately.”

“Good, CJ. I think we will start with students in America and see how it goes. I’ll propose it to the school boards and academic institutions right away. I bet this is something that any kid would want to experience. I want to focus on high school age children, but we could make allowances for college and graduate students studying astrophysics and astronomy as well.”

Mark decided to have CJ create care packages to send to thousands of schools across the country. There would be instructions enclosed with a holographic projector in the box which gave a rough outline of the program that Mark was proposing and said that there were full details in the recorded message. Mark just requested that the message be shown at an assembly of all students together.

Principal Klein at high school 212 in Phoenix, Arizona called the school assembly to order. No one, not even the teachers had any idea why he had called the assembly as none was scheduled.

“Ok, settle down people and we can begin. Come on, take your seats please.”

The students acted rambunctious after being called out of their classes and sent to the auditorium with no explanation given, but they finally took their seats.

“We have received a message from Mark Richards. I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you who he is, do I?”

There was a chorus of no’s from the audience.

“Good. Well, let’s see what Mr. Richards has to say to you, shall we?”

Setting the projector on top of the podium, he pressed the activation button and walked off the stage as a perfect three-dimensional image of Mark formed, standing behind the podium. The image just stood there for a couple of moments and then appeared to walk out to the side and stand beside the podium.

“Hello students, I send greetings from outer space! I’ve embarked on an adventure beyond my wildest dreams, well maybe not beyond my wildest dreams, but close.”

There was general laughter at that, but it stopped before the Principal had to say anything.

Mark’s image had paused at the noise and then continued when it had abated.

“I have decided to share the adventure with you! I’m sure that some of you dream or have dreamed of being an astronaut. You may have thought it’s too hard. Astronauts have to be scientists these days.”

Now there was complete silence as everyone became more interested.

“Well, I want to give every kid a chance to experience what it is like to be an astronaut! What I’m talking about is a trip into space! How would you like to see the Earth from orbit or take a trip to the moon? How about visiting Jupiter or Saturn? I have a big ship up here and there is plenty of room for everyone! I’d like it if you would visit with me for a couple of weeks, if it’s ok with your teachers and parents of course. Hope to hear from you soon! Goodbye for now.”

The hologram shut down and everyone sat there in stunned silence for a moment and then dozens of hushed conversations broke out all across the auditorium.

The principal walked back up on the stage and everyone quieted down once again.

“Anyone have any questions?” he asked.

A boy sitting in the middle section asked, “Is this for real, can we go to space?”

“Yes, Mr. Richards’s offer is serious. I’ve spoken to the principals of several other schools and they have all received the same message. As a matter of fact, every high school class in the country has been invited to be a part of this. I know that the officials on the school board are considering it. We will be sending notes home with you for your parents’ consent. They will of course have a large say in whether we decide to let anyone go on this trip. I can say that I’d sure like to go!”

There was more laughter about that comment.

“Since I don’t think anyone will get any work done after an invitation like this, we are going to close school early today.”

A tremendous cheer went up from the students as they surged out of their seats.

“Don’t forget to take the parental consent letters the teachers have for you.”

Mark’s message to the universities was greeted with no less enthusiasm than the youngsters showed. In fact, the reaction of the astrophysical doctoral candidates was particularly vocal. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and no one wanted to miss out.

Every student wanted to go. Even many of the children’s parents expressed an interest.

It took a couple of weeks, but Mark finally heard back from the schools selected for the initial trip. The parents had given approval to the school boards, but in true government fashion the program couldn’t start without some bureaucratic meddling.

A group of congressmen along with school officials were selected to go on a short trip before any students would be allowed to. Mark was happy to hear that some current and former astronauts would be included.

“CJ, can you prepare one section of a module in advance for around fifty or so people? I guess it’s understandable that they would want to safeguard their children. We can take them on a trip for a few days to show them that it will be safe.”

“Affirmative, Mark. Work on the modules will continue but I will prioritize refitting in a single section in one module. The modifications will be online within one week.”

“That’s great CJ. Please continue with the modifications on the rest of the modules. I’m sure we won’t have any trouble.”

Mark got back to the government representatives saying he would be ready for a small group at the beginning of the following week. CJ sent separate transports to pick up each group. School officials and congressmen traveled together in one ship. The Astronauts, out of the respect Mark had for them, traveled in their own craft. CJ also provided the Astronauts with flight data and telemetry during the trip. They found the speed and flight characteristics of the small craft amazing.

After the pickups, all of the guests headed into low Earth orbit to rendezvous with the advanced module that had been prepared for the excursion.

Mark watched from the deck as the transports arrived at the same time, entering the landing bay through the atmospheric shield.

“Welcome aboard everyone,” Mark greeted the guests as they debarked from the ships. “I’m glad you were able to join me.”

A group of three men and one woman waited until Mark had finished greeting everyone else and approached him together. “Excuse us, Mr. Richards, we’d like to introduce ourselves to you as we didn’t have much of a chance the last time we met.”

Mark looked each one in the face but couldn’t remember ever meeting any of them. “I’m sorry but I don’t recall ever having met any of you.” Mark noticed the patches on their jackets and realized who they were.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a face to face meeting; it was in orbit near the International Space Station.”

“Oh, you’re the Atlantis crew! Wow, it’s great to meet all of you!”

“I’m Major Davis Hutchins and these are the other members of the team. We just wanted to thank you personally for rescuing us.” Each Atlantis crewmember shook Mark’s hand as they introduced themselves.

“Captain Brandy Finn, Mr. Richards. Thank you from me and my family.”

“Commander Frank Johnson, Mr. Richards. Thanks for getting me and my cohort here back inside the shuttle.”

“Mission Specialist Tom Holdridge, Mr. Richards. I’m the cohort I guess. I want to thank you as well.”

“Well, I’m glad that I was able to help you. What you guys do without hesitation has always impressed me. I’d appreciate it if you would call me Mark though, no formality among us spacemen!” They all had a good chuckle at that.

The others in the party were milling around the landing bay looking at the various craft sitting on the deck. “If everyone will follow me, let’s all go to the lounge and get more comfortable. You can leave your bags; they will be delivered to your rooms.”

Mark led them to the section that CJ had prepared for them. A group of waiting maintenance drones took the bags after everyone had exited the bay.

The main lounge didn’t look like much to the guests. All they saw was a large open space with chairs and couches scattered around it. Senator McQuick from Arizona was the first to voice his displeasure. “Well, I know that you didn’t have that much time to prepare for our visit, but is this the best you could do?” he asked looking around with a sour look on his face. “There isn’t any way to see out, what’s the point of going into space to sit in a metal room, Mr. Richards?”

“There would be no point at all, Senator,” Mark replied. He then spoke to the air. “Ok CJ, let’s open the windows!”

“Affirmative, Mark. I am activating the viewers.”

Large portions of the walls and ceiling seemed to vanish, replaced by spectacular views of the Earth and surrounding space.” Mark turned back to the old man who now stood with his jaw hanging open. “How is that Senator, better? Please, everyone, make yourselves comfortable, we will be leaving orbit soon. Refreshments are available at any time, just ask CJ.”

One of the school board members asked, “Mr. Richards, you said that we are leaving soon. Where will we be going?”

“Everyone, please call me Mark.” Pointing at the screen he said, “I thought a trip to Jupiter might be a good choice, and it looks like we’ve left already.”

Everyone turned to look and the image of the Earth shrunk with distance as they watched, indicating the tremendous velocity.

“Amazing, I can’t even feel that we are moving at all! Is that image real, it’s not just some kind of movie is it?”

“Wow, everyone always asks the same thing! No, Senator Holt, that is a real-time image of the Earth. And it’s a good thing that we can’t feel the module’s acceleration or else all of us would be just smears on the wall right now!”

Charles Duke, the Apollo 16 astronaut and one of only twelve people to have walked on the moon as well as the oldest person on the trip asked, “Just how fast are we moving, what’s the acceleration?”

“I’ll let CJ answer the technical questions, Mr. Duke. CJ, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Hello Mr. Duke, ladies and gentlemen; I am CJ, the ship’s computer intelligence. To answer your questions, Mr. Duke, the gravitational inducers on this module are capable of an acceleration of up to two thousand gravities. We will reach our cruising velocity of thirty thousand kilometers per second in twenty minutes. Because of the orbital position of Jupiter in relation to Earth at this moment, the transit time between earth and Jupiter will be nine point two hours.”

“Thirty thousand kilometers per second, that’s ten percent of the speed of light,” said an amazed Charles Duke, showing that he was still mentally sharp despite his age. “Is that as fast as this ship can go?”

“What’s the matter, not fast enough for you Mr. Duke?” Mark replied with a chuckle.

“No, no Mr. Richards, I mean Mark. That’s plenty fast, I was just curious that’s all.”

“Affirmative, Mr. Duke. That is the maximum velocity of the individual modules.”

“What happens if we hit something while traveling at that speed? We will we be passing through the asteroid belt on this trip.”

“That is correct, Mr. Duke. We will be traversing a section of the system’s main asteroid belt. While the material of which the hull is composed can withstand an asteroid impact, the module possesses energy shields as well.”

“Since you see that we are safe,” Mark said. “Why don’t we have a light meal and then you can see the quarters that CJ has prepared for you. You all may want to get some rest since as CJ said; we have nine hours before we will reach the vicinity of Jupiter. We will make sure that no one oversleeps, I wouldn’t want you to miss anything exciting.”

They adjourned to another room that held one long table with chairs on either side. The table contained many different kinds of food, including the packaged staples that Mark had come to enjoy.

“Please everyone, be seated. I hope that the food is acceptable to you all. CJ, why don’t you give us a view of the Moon? Our guests might enjoy that while they have something to eat.”

“Affirmative Mark,” CJ said. The ceiling was replaced by a view of the moon, which grew as the module closed the distance.

When everyone was finished with dinner, some of the guests decided to return to sit in the lounge for a while and about half decided to try and get some rest. Mark directed them down one corridor telling them that their names were on the doors of the rooms.

Charles Duke was among the first people to head for their quarters. Mark stopped him and asked if they could speak.

“Mr. Duke, CJ scanned everyone as they debarked from the transports just for safety’s sake and he just gave me some disturbing news.”

Mark hesitated at that point.

“Well, spit it out sonny, I’m not getting any younger standing here. Though I can guess what you are going to tell me anyway. Why don’t you call me Charlie by the way?”

“Ok Charlie, I’ll lay it on the line. CJ has detected that you have a quite irregular heartbeat and that one of the valves in your heart isn’t working well. Your arteries are more than seventy-five percent blocked as well.”

“Yeah, my doc back home has been telling me the same thing for a couple of years now. He has me taking several different medications but they just don’t help much. I am past seventy you know. Guess I’m just getting old that’s all, nothing to be done about that.”

“I’m kind of surprised that they allowed you to come along on this trip, Charlie.”

“Well, my wife wasn’t too keen on it, but I convinced her that I just had to come. As for my doc, I decided not to tell him.”

“I understand, Charlie. Please take a walk with me. I have something to show you.”

Mark took him down a different corridor and into one of CJ’s medical bays.

“What’s this, the ship’s hospital? I don’t like hospitals, Mark.”

“I’m not too fond of them myself, Charlie. But CJ’s medical facilities are more advanced than the one’s you’re used to and I think you will like the treatment and the results here a lot better.” Mark stopped beside one of the tables. “Do me a favor and hop up on this table please.”

“Well, ok I guess,” he said climbing onto the platform. “I don’t have to strip or anything, do I?”

“That will not be necessary, Mr. Duke,” CJ said.

He lied down on the surface. A cuff extended over his left wrist.

“This won’t hurt, will it?”

“No, Charlie you won’t feel a thing. I promise. You’re just going to take a nap for a while. Don’t worry about anything. CJ fixed me up after I was run down on the street by a truck and messed up badly.” Holding up his arms, Mark turned a full circle. “You can see he did a top-notch job on me and since that he’s learned even more. I guarantee you’ll be back on your feet and feeling better than ever before you know it.”

“All right, I am kind of tired anyway,” he replied as his eyes closed. He was unconscious in moments.

“Take good care of him, CJ. Let me know when the procedure has been completed and you are ready to wake him up.” Mark instructed as he left the medical facility and headed back to the lounge.

“Affirmative, Mark. I will contact you.”

When Mark got back he saw that the others had taken his advice and gone to get some rest. “I should follow my own advice,” he thought as he headed to his own quarters.

Eight hours later CJ woke Mark. “Mark, Charles Duke’s medical procedures have been completed.”

“Thanks, CJ. Were there any problems?”

“Negative. The repairs were not difficult. I am prepared to revive him on your orders.”

“Great, CJ. I’ll be right down,” Mark replied as he set about getting dressed and heading down the corridor back to the medical bay. He instructed CJ to wake the sleeping man. Charlie opened his eyes moments later.

“Hi Charlie,” Mark said. “How do you feel?”

“I’m not sure, well rested I guess.” Sitting up he said, “I feel like I’m being set out for Thanksgiving dinner, let me get down off this table.”

Charlie hopped down from the padded surface and took a few steps quicker than he had been able to earlier. Raising his arms over his head he took a deep breath.

“Well I can tell you I haven’t been able to breathe that good for more years than I care to think about. What exactly did these machines do to me?”

“Basically CJ’s medical instruments are micro-sized robots that can repair individual cells and return them to full function. Take a look at this readout and see for yourself what he did.”

Mark led him over to a wall display that had a long list of the repairs.

“He sure did a lot of work on me. How long was I out, did I miss seeing Jupiter?”

“Miss Jupiter, would I let you miss out on something like that? No, it’s only been eight hours since you got on that table.”

“That’s sure a lot of work done in such a short time. Heart valve fixed and my heartbeat’s normal again, according to what I’m reading here.”

“Affirmative, Mr. Duke. That assessment is correct,” said CJ. “Your arteries have also been cleared of more then eighty five percent of the plaque buildup. Your physical condition is now that of a human of approximately thirty five to forty earth years.”

Charlie was stunned speechless for a few moments. “Well I sure feel like it! Thank you, CJ. I appreciate your efforts on my behalf.”

“It was my pleasure to be of service, Mr. Duke.”

“CJ, you should wake our other guests and ask them to come back to the lounge when they are ready. Let them know that they have an hour until we reach the vicinity of Jupiter.”

“Well Charlie, let’s head back to the lounge. Just do me a favor and don’t mention any of this to the others.”

“No problem, I’m sure that you have your reasons for not telling everyone about this capability. Can I ask you why you did this for me?”

“I was barely into my teens at the height of the Apollo missions to the moon but you and the other astronauts inspired me to dream of the future. I never had the talent to become an Astronaut myself but always hoped to be able to inspire others in some way. I’ve been given a great opportunity and I consider myself in debt to you and this is a payment on that debt.”

“I was just doing my job, Mark. You don’t owe me anything. I do owe you for giving me a new lease on life though.”

“Well, like CJ said, ‘it was my pleasure to be of service’. Eventually I hope that everyone can benefit from this technology, but if I start extending everyone’s life span can you imagine the population problems we will have? There is a lot of work to be done first.”

When Mark and Charlie arrived at the lounge, the others were starting to arrive.

“We will be arriving in the Jovian system in twenty-five minutes,” CJ announced.

“Let’s see it please, CJ.” Mark asked.

“Affirmative, Mark. Viewers active, forward view.”

Once again the walls seemed to become transparent and the bright star ahead was still too small for detail.

“Can you magnify the view, CJ? Let’s get a better look at our destination.”

“Magnifying image, increase factor one hundred.”

The projected image seemed to jump forward as the magnification increased showing the planet in great detail.

“Wow, that’s amazing,” said Tom Holdridge echoing everyone’s thoughts.

The last few guests trickled in and were just as mesmerized by the view of giant Jupiter.

Mark spent the next two days showing them Jupiter and some of the major moons. When they headed back to Earth, everyone was disappointed that the excursion was over. They did give their full support to Mark’s original idea to take school children on a similar excursion.

October 22nd was selected as the departure date and central areas were designated for each group to be picked up. The day came and busloads of kids were brought to a large open field on the outskirts of town.

Children from seven local schools gathered in groups with their chaperones at the edges of the field as they had been instructed and waited staring up into the sky. One high school student pointed up at a tiny dot and said, “What’s that? Is that the ship?”

Everyone looked at the same patch of sky. The dot grew larger as it descended and soon it filled the sky overhead as it came within fifty meters of the ground.

“Wow, that thing sure is big,” said one of the kids in the crowd.

“How’s it flying, there isn’t any noise,” asked someone else.

“Magic,” boomed a voice from the sky making everyone jump.

The module settled to the ground at the center of the field looking like an enormous geometric-shaped building. Portals opened in the sides facing the groups.

“Is everyone ready for some adventure? Then come aboard, shipmates!”

The crowds of children screamed and started running up the boarding ramps. It was all the chaperones could do to control them.

Each of the modules made several pickups around the country. When everyone was aboard, they lifted off and headed up into orbit to link together before heading off on their voyage.

The children got to see the Solar System in a way that no one had before. Mark hoped they would be inspired to go on to finish high school and earn college degrees. They were the future of mankind and he wanted to make the world a better place for them.

CJ had outdone himself in preparing for the children. Dormitory style quarters, low and even zero gravity play and exercise areas and resource centers where the children could ask CJ questions.

They seemed to have a great time and were even more disappointed than the adults had been when it was over.

The graduate students weren’t as satisfied with the facilities. They enjoyed them just fine, but most had come along for another reason.

They had been vocal in their requests for information regarding the alien scientific knowledge while on the voyage. They wanted to know what Se’Tharians knew about quantum physics. After all, any race that could control gravity the way they did must have a much greater understanding of the fundamental forces of the universe than humans did.

“I don’t know, CJ,” Mark said. “I guess sharing some of your knowledge couldn’t hurt?”

“Affirmative, Mark. I will cooperate and answer the questions posed by the students.”

The graduate students were thrilled when Mark relented and set up a question and answer session for just before they arrived back at Earth.

A student from MIT was the first to ask a question. “CJ, when you arrived at our solar system you claimed to have traveled through another dimension where the distances between stars are much smaller. Could you tell us more about that dimension?”

“The Hyper-Continuum is not a dimension, but the space between dimensions. The Hyper-Continuum is composed of a form of quantum energy. It was discovered that distance is different within the Hyper-Continuum which allows apparent superluminal travel.”

A student from Stanford University was next. “CJ, Se’Tharian scientists are obviously far ahead of us in the study of quantum physics. We have not been able to detect the Graviton subatomic particle, which we believe is the force carrier of gravity, yet you can control and even generate gravity. Can you explain how you do this?”

“I have compared human scientific theories of quantum physics as well as gravitational theory to the Se’Tharian counterparts. The phenomenon called gravity does not rely on a force-carrier, but bleeds through into our universe from within the Hyper-Continuum. My inducers do not generate gravity, they focus the forces that already exist.”

“So Einstein’s theory of general relativity is wrong?”

“The relationship that Einstein postulated between mass and gravity is essentially correct, however without knowledge of the Hyper-Continuum he did not realize that it is gravity emanating from the Hyper-Continuum which deforms space around masses in our universe and not the other way around.”

“Does Se’Tharian science have a theory of how the universe came into being? I suppose you know what our scientist’s leading theories are.”

“Current Se’Tharian scientific theory is similar to your ‘big bang’ theory. Our space/time began with an eruption of energy from within the Hyper-Continuum. All matter and energy that comprises the universe is the result of the decay of this energy. As space/time continues to expand it stretches the fabric of the dimensional bubble. The expansion of the bubble and the resulting dispersion of mass/energy will reach a critical point in the far future, which will collapse this dimension back into the energy field. That collapse in turn will trigger the eruption of another bubble creating a new universe.”

By the time the session was done, this group of grad students knew more about the workings of the universe than scientists who had been studying it for two thirds of their lives.

“I’m glad all of you were able to join me on this voyage, and I hope that you will share the information received today with your colleagues.”

The information that CJ had given to the graduate students had an immediate effect on the scientific community. Some scientists chose not to believe the new information, but the vast majority decided to keep an open mind since much of the Se’Tharian technology was based on advanced knowledge of quantum mechanics.

Scientists specializing in quantum phenomenon started thinking, theorizing and experimenting along lines that the information suggested. Many were excited and thought that this new information could possibly lead to the grand unified field theory that was the Holy Grail to physicists.