Chapter 10. Somewhere in Time and Space . . .
How deep is the Universe? And when we say universe, what exactly do we mean? Is the the universe really infinitely large? Is there something beyond the 13.7 billion light-years back in time we can see?
Why is the universe expanding? Why is space-time curved? Could the radius of the curve actually be 48 billion light-years?
How many galaxies and stars are there? Are there "just" 10 trillion galaxies? Or more?
And 100 octillion stars?
100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars?
No one even thought about numbers over a million or billion until the era of the French mathematician Jehan Adam around 1475 . . .
And what is a thought? What is this thing that takes us from "here" to over "there," sometimes not even knowing where "here" or "there" really are?
Does a thought have weight? What are its properties? Does it depend on quantum physics? Can a thought travel billions of light-years through space and even time?
Can I "be" here, yet my "presence" is somewhere else? How can I be in two places at once?
"Where am I?"
"You are aboard the corvette class warship, the Eridanus."
Egon opened his eyes to a flashing glow and the sound of a buzzing alarm.
"What happened?"
"Sync-annul."
"Synchronization was annulled? Why?" Egon sat up and rubbed his eyes. The alarm stopped and the light became steady.
"Opforbid per Admiralty Order number 3CBBB-75E issued minus point oh one -millisecond to zero Jero."
"What happended?"
A Quindar intro tone sounded.
"This is Captain Simme. We have been placed on stand-by. Prepare for boarding party, before resuming the mission."
An outro tone followed.
The door buzzer rang.
"Come in," said Egon.
"Good day, Specialist Bisher. Captain wants us in dress uniforms," said CPO Modine. "There's one in stow."
Egon quickly changed while Modine stood in the hallway.
"Stay close."
Egon kept pace with Modine, wondering if Modine was human or an automaton. Modine saw the quizzical look on Egon's face.
"I'm for real, Bisher. Just like you. Cut me and I bleed."
"Thanks for the reassurance. A friend of mine once set me up on a droid-date as a joke."
"It happens to us all."
"This isn't where I entered," said Egon, surveying the open bay through a clear shield.
"We load munitions here. There's enough stuff to turn the solar system into dust and particles."
A red light flashed and a klaxon sounded. As if an eye opened, a door widened and a small craft glided in.
"It's show time."
The alarm quieted and the light turned green. They entered the bay.
As they stood before the craft, a ramp lowered and two figures shuffled down.
"Welcome to the Eridanus." said Modine.
"Captain Simme?"
"He is currently attending to the ship."
"Do you know who I am? I'm Councillor Vegan and I demand to see the Captain immediately."
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