Fundamental Force Episode One (2 page)

When mankind
mastered thermonuclear energy a century earlier, there was so much
of it that it easily covered the energy requirements back then, but
it seemed there was no way of expanding further – until the aliens
flew in and offered their help to take the next step: in this case,
controlling the energy of an entire star.

And this had
happened just when he was sitting in the president’s chair. Not a
bad gift from fate, eh?

Altogether, the
proposal was so tempting that it could not be refused. In spite of
the warnings, risks and a million other counter-arguments, the
project was accepted. And now it had begun...

It was not
reliably known how far these aliens from another planet had
advanced with regard to morals, but, to give them their due, they
were thousands of years ahead of Earthlings in organizing global
projects. The project had been approved by the parliament of the
Union of World States and the aliens had begun the construction
work that very night. We could sure envy that!

The preceding
debates had been a real nightmare. There turned out to be so many
moaners and pessimists in the world! During the debates, enough
counter-arguments had been put forward to suffice for the next
thousand presidential terms. And God knows how many other worries
had been expressed.

Among all this
was one simple question, to which there had been no obvious answer
back then. What were they getting out of it all? At first glance
the reason was unclear. Why do we build bridges, roads, orbital
stations? Because they are infrastructure. Without it, there would
be no modern life, no development, no economy. That was clear
enough. But in the case of the aliens, it was a serious objection.
Indeed, why should such a developed civilization create joint
projects with those who were, from the aliens’ point of view,
savages? What interest was being pursued by a mega-civilization
that had colonized the entire Milky Way in setting up a project in
the galactic outback with primitive tribes whose achievements in
science and technology were barely sufficient to assimilate even
their neighboring planet, Mars? And ‘assimilate’ was a huge
overstatement. We had simply flown in and built a few towns and
industrial clusters. That had not prevented us from multiplying
considerably there, but was that anything worth talking about?
Black beetles also multiply well, even in the most adverse
conditions... Anyway, we ‘Earthlings’, as we call ourselves, were
not even clever enough to terraform Mars.

It had been a
hundred and fifty years before we had laid the first brick on the
planet, a planet that was not really suitable for our form of life
with an atmosphere that was not fit for us to breathe and which had
been left as it was. And even if there was a possibility of us
developing the technology to change the atmosphere somewhere in the
distant future, we hadn’t the faintest idea how to change gravity.
And this created serious problems for the full colonization of
Mars.

Yet it was with
such ignorant creatures that the most advanced civilization in the
galaxy had wanted to engage in a joint project. Huh! Such offers
should usually ring warning bells in the ears of any right-thinking
person. No, the advantages for us were easily understood, but what
could be the interest for the aliens? There was something underhand
about it and everyone knew it – the intelligence agencies, the
military, the scientists... There were even many politicians who
felt the same. But the bait offered was too big and juicy to be
refused simply because “I have an uneasy feeling about this.”

Furthermore,
the aliens were polite, but their proposal was one that could not
be refused in any case. Either we agreed to the project and, by
giving our consent, would obtain dividends from it, or the aliens
would go ahead with it anyway against our will and then instead of
dividends, humankind would only get a rude gesture, along with a
potential conflict against the overwhelming force of the enemy.
When put like that, there was really no choice at all. Well, if
events could not be changed, one could only change one’s attitude
towards them...

The aliens’
plan was revealed sooner than anyone had expected. As soon as the
sphere constructed around the Sun began to generate energy, it was
not hard to work out where the aliens were sending their share of
it. And knowing where, one could guess why. That was when the
aliens’ true motive became clear.

Having achieved
everything they could in their own galaxy, they decided it was too
crowded for them. The next logical step took them beyond the bounds
of the Milky Way to its nearest neighbor, a galaxy called
Andromeda. But that was when the aliens’ plan to colonize the
entire Universe beyond the limits of their own galaxy suddenly went
awry.

It gradually
became clear that the aliens had started work on their plans for a
jump from the Milky Way a very long time ago. By comparing
astronomical observation data and the study of recently discovered
templates of gravity waves emanating from the interstellar travel
portals, scientists managed to date the construction of the first
unit to some 200,000 years ago.

At that time,
humankind had only just begun to emerge from the rest of the animal
world, discovering and making use of primitive tools, but the
aliens’ civilization had already sailed the limitless expanses of
space, setting up transport portals throughout the galaxy. This
made it all the more surprising that such an advanced civilization
should commit such a grave and foolish error.

There was
nothing foolish about the idea of colonizing space beyond the
galaxy per se, only in the way they set about it. After all, before
setting off for another galaxy that could surpass our own in every
way, they should have taken safety precautions. When it became
clear that intelligent life was not just a random mistake but
occurs all over the place, they should have started from the
assumption that Andromeda was already populated. And not only
populated, but, considering its characteristics, that the
alpha-civilization there would be a much older and more powerful
race that would hardly rejoice at the appearance of uninvited
guests and competitors.

This perfectly
obvious conclusion was apparent to our terrestrial scientists as
soon as the aliens’ main plan was revealed. Was it possible that an
alien civilization that had colonized the Milky Way so successfully
was too stupid to work this out themselves? However self-satisfied
and blinded by their own success they might be, it was criminally
negligent to ignore such risks!

The answer to
this question remained a complete mystery, however. For whatever
reason, the aliens decided on a jump to Andromeda without bothering
to ask the permission of those who lived there. The reaction was
not long in coming. One of the reasons why the aliens had managed
to colonize the Milky Way so successfully was its powerful
transport infrastructure, which covered the whole galaxy like a
gigantic spider’s web. It appeared that the aliens had realized
long ago that they would not succeed without rapid communication
between stars. How could two star systems be combined to form a
single integrated economic entity if they were hundreds of light
years apart? Therefore, 200,000 years ago, they had built portals
enabling interstellar distances to be covered in a reasonable
time.

And even then
they were thinking one step ahead. More than one step, in fact;
dozens, maybe hundreds of steps! When they laid the foundation of
their first transportation portal, they already knew where, and
more importantly when, they were going. That’s what you call
efficient planning – two hundred thousand years ahead! We on Earth
have yet to learn how to plan even as little as fifty years into
the future.

Yet it turned
out that the most developed, the most cunning, the quickest and
most capable civilization in the whole Milky Way had been guilty of
such stupidity!

The very day
the aliens began construction, events developed exactly according
to the scenario predicted by the astrophysicist Professor Shelby,
the chairman of the academic council that had been monitoring the
aliens’ actions. When the sphere constructed around our Sun began
operating, the aliens had brought their portals into action,
including the one not far from the Solar System.

Combined into
one vast whole, they concentrated sufficient energy to project a
ship not only to an adjacent star system, but to another galaxy.
The array of portals had been charged with tremendous energy,
opened – and disappeared.

After spending
some time crouched intently over its astronomical apparatus, the
academic council had come to the conclusion that the reason for the
disappearance was not a technical failure, but simply a black
operation. Apparently, the Andromedan civilization had been
prepared for the appearance of uninvited guests and it seemed that
hospitality was not something they particularly valued. The
reaction had been rapid, decisive, and had had the maximum
effect.

The jump to
Andromeda had been intended to be a huge epoch-making step by the
aliens on the way to colonizing space beyond the limits of their
own galaxy. Instead of that, however, it had been their doom.

It was not
known on Earth whether the aliens’ ship had reached its
destination, or if it had been destroyed halfway there. All that
was known for sure was that certain minor, almost completely
insignificant, changes had been made to the set of fundamental
constants of our Universe. As a result, the aliens’ entire
transport infrastructure had collapsed within an hour. The portals
had died and their wonder ships, capable of such enormous speeds
and untouchable by the most powerful of Earth’s weapons, had simply
evaporated. This was because all of their technology had been based
on the same principles of hyperspace manipulation...

Their best ace
had been trumped. Their ability to travel between stars had
perished in an instant. Their entire 200,000-year-long project had
been turned into a mist to be evaporated by the heat from the
bright summer sun.

So, the mighty
aliens had just fallen from their pedestal. The sacrosanct place at
the apex of the pyramid of power in the galaxy had suddenly become
vacant. The former ruler was lying alongside, writhing in agony,
and the question was – what should a competitor do in such
circumstances?

The idea of
taking the initiative into their own hands did not cause rejoicing
in political circles. Warnings were heard once again. History is
changed not by gallant gestures, however, but by hard and decisive
actions. Capricious Lady Luck rarely offers such opportunities, but
when she does, she doesn’t give you long to think about it.

What hellish
efforts it had cost him to convince the others that his idea was a
sound one! How much moaning and small-minded criticism he had had
to listen to! Time after time, an endless number of times, the very
same fears and cowardly speculation as to why the project was
doomed to failure. He had remained polite and patient, but even
that hadn’t helped with some of them, so he had had to unpack his
goody bag full of various promises of favors and when those hadn’t
worked either, threats were all that were left. Yes, the lord of
the political Olympus had claws too, something many people
forgot...

And now, this
evening, the fruit of this hellish work had finally ripened and the
official ceremony marking the start of the project had ended about
half an hour ago. The unthinkable project. This evening, Earth’s
civilization had been brave enough to grasp its historic
opportunity. At the same time, it had entered a new era, the era of
deep space colonization, the space beyond the bounds of the Solar
System, on the way to ruling its entire home galaxy...

“Mr. President,
Mr. LeRoy is on the line. Will you take it?” called the
secretary.

On one of the
screens appeared the face of the president’s public communications
assistant. The man was a slick opportunist, always smiling even
when bearing bad tidings, to the intense irritation of all those
around him. Had it not been for his inspired capacity for pulling
the wool over the voters’ eyes, it would hardly have been possible
to work with him. But it was better to have such a man in his own
team rather than the enemy’s. Particularly when great matters are
being accomplished.

“Hello?”

“Good evening,
Mr. President.”

“Good evening.
How was I?”

“Not bad on the
whole, but when you cut the ribbon, you were standing with your
back to the photographers. I’m looking at the photos now, not one
of them captures the most important moment successfully.”

The president
took a gulp from his glass and screwed up his face, perhaps from
the taste of the alcohol, perhaps from what he had just heard.

“What
else?”

“Well, in
general, the ratings are going up. A positive reaction prevails.
This is what I would propose. You’ve been criticized all this time
for not wanting to discuss the project openly with those seriously
against it. Now the wheels are turning, why don’t you make up for
lost time by meeting with them and talking?”

“Who
exactly?”

“I’ve just been
told that Gates and McAllister went off to the bar together after
your speech, probably to cry into their beers.”

“Gates and
McAllister? Together?”

“It’s
incredible, isn’t it?”

“Are they
really suffering that much?”

“Judging from
appearances, yes. Considering their spectacular failure, they
intend to drink a great deal, so tomorrow they won’t exactly be on
top form. They will make a striking contrast to the healthy face of
the president and they will have thick heads, too. I think that
would be the perfect time to discuss what they find so painful.
I’ll get in touch with them first thing in the morning and propose
a joint discussion on primetime TV.”