“Hear us out first, Pete,” Morelli said. “This could be the greatest thing since Galileo. That machine over in the GRASER building is picking up hi-waves from everywhere in the universe—stars, black holes—everything everywhere . . .”
“I know that,” Hughes replied. “But . . .”
“It wasn’t designed for anything like that, but it works,” Morelli went on.
“Now, suppose we developed an instrument specially to do that kind of thing,” Aub chimed in. “An instrument to observe the universe in terms of its hi-wave radiation instead of its electromagnetic spectrum . . . by ‘hi-light.’ ”
“But I still don’t see . . .” Hughes began again, but Morelli cut him off again.
“We think this could open up possibilities you never dreamed of. Brad’s come up with an analysis of how hi-waves propagate through k-space. It’s enough to blow your mind.”
“K-space points don’t correlate with geometric points in normal space,” Aub said. “Or even with Einsteinian point-events. There’s no tie-in between the separation of k-points and everyday ‘distance’. . .”
“So velocity doesn’t transform up from lo-space,” Morelli said.
“Not in any physically meaningful way, anyhow,” Aub added, just to make it clear. Hughes looked helplessly from one to the other and suddenly held both bands up protectively in front of his face.
“Stop!” he bawled. The office at once fell silent. “Thank you,” he said in a calmer voice. “Now, why don’t you just calm down, think about it, and then tell me from the beginning exactly what the hell you’re talking about?”
Aub and Morelli turned toward each other with questioning expressions.
“You tell him,” Morelli suggested.
“No, you tell him,” Aub answered. They both began speaking at once and Hughes stopped them again. Eventually Aub began the explanation.
“A hi-wave can be generated at some particular point in normal space . . . such as inside the reaction chamber of the GRASER. It can also be observed—or at least its effects can—at some other particular point in normal space . . .”
“Such as in your detector,” Hughes completed. “Fine. Go on.”
“That’s right,” Aub nodded. “But what happens in between is not something you can visualize. It doesn’t mean anything to say that a hi-wave goes from point A to point B at any particular speed.”
“You mean it just happens . . .” Hughes looked mystified. “How can something get from A to B without going from A to B?”
“That’s the whole point that comes out of Brad’s analysis,” Morelli supplied. “To talk about going from A to B in the everyday sense implies the notions of direction, distance, and time. Brad’s equations do contain variables that play similar roles, but they relate to k-space. . . . They don’t have any direct interpretation in ordinary spacetime.”
Aub waited a few seconds and then elaborated. “Direction, distance, and time come out simply as projections into the lo-order domain of normal space, of quantities that exist in k-space but which can’t be experienced as total impressions. The only way, for example, that a two-dimensional being could perceive a 3-D object—a sphere, say—would be to cut it up into slices and attempt to integrate all the pictures into one total concept, but he couldn’t really do it accurately since he wouldn’t have the right mental equipment to construct 3-D models.”
“What he’d have to do would be to inspect each separate slice in sequence,” Morelli came in. “That implies he could only perceive the object as a series of impressions. In other words, he would have to manufacture the illusion of time, in order to make up for his inadequate sensory equipment.”
In spite of himself, Hughes began to look interested.
“So what are you saying then?” he asked. “We’re like that, but with regard to k-space? Time and all the rest of it are subjective illusions?”
“In terms of the real k-universe, yes,” Morelli said simply. “The conceptual model of the universe that we perceive is a product of the limited awareness that we’ve so far evolved.”
“But the important point is that ideas of time, direction, and distance are products of our universe, not realities of the true universe,” Aub said. “If you like, k-waves aren’t restricted by things that are really constructions of evolving but imperfect minds. Hence, those quantities are irrelevant when you talk about k-space propagation. A light wave is a projection of a k-wave into normal space, and its finite velocity results from the restrictions of the lo-domain that it’s projected into. A pure hi-wave doesn’t project into lo-domain space at all, and therefore its observed propagation isn’t restricted.”