The Orthogonal Galaxy Read Free Page B

developed, there
was never any reason why he should ever have to ingratiate himself
to anyone. And certainly not to a first-year graduate student from
Kansas.
    Before Joram had an
opportunity to fumble for a response to this somewhat embarrassing
recognition, the professor continued, “Mr. Anders, I suppose that
you will be able to tell me the distance from our own Sun to
Proxima Centauri.”
    “ 4.2 light years,
Sir.”
    Zimmer whistled lowly
through his lips. “So that means that if I could travel at the
speed of light from Earth, I would arrive at the nearest of these
thousands of stars in just 4.2 years?”
    “ Naturally,” responded
Joram somewhat conversationally now.
    The professor thought for
a moment. “Are there any rest stops along the way?” More
laughter.
    “ Mr. Anders,” implored the
professor. “Why should I care about Proxima Centauri, if I could
never practically travel there to see it?”
    “ Sir, there is much we can
and have learned from the stars without having to travel to them,”
responded Joram. “Besides, I thought the race was on to discover
the means of interstellar travel.”
    “ Are you referring to all
of the warp drive nonsense that the media is so colorfully pitching
these days?” Professor Zimmer stared inquisitively at
Joram.
    Slowly responding to the
professor’s question, Joram refused to commit an opinion on the
matter, although he was certainly very opinionated and excited at
the hopes for interstellar travel. “I’m not sure about the details
or the validity of all of these projects, Professor. But it does
seem like every scientist in the country is in hot pursuit of
interstellar travel these days. Somebody must be thinking that it’s
possible.” Joram paused to weigh his next words, but emboldened by
the excitement of the discussion, he breached his better judgment
anyway. “What do you think of interstellar travel,
Professor?”
    Before Zimmer could begin
to formulate a response to that question, the door in the back of
the room opened up, allowing a flood of sunlight to penetrate the
room. Every student looked back to see a man enter the room. Joram
squinted at the silhouette but didn’t recognize the man. He did
suspect that he was another professor, judging by the whiteness of
his hair—at least that little bit which remained on the sides of
his rather bald pate—not to mention the fact that the conservative
style of his attire was similar to that of Professor Zimmer. The
man and Professor Zimmer exchanged nods and smiles knowingly while
the man allowed the door to shut. He remained standing along the
back wall, while the students returned to their previous
postures.
    “ Let me answer that
question in the following way, Mr. Anders,” began the professor.
“During your course of investigation into the astronomy program
here, you may have become aware of a little research project of
mine involving the possibility of parallel star systems. Do you
suspect that I am engaged in this activity, because of an
overwhelming stack of evidence suggesting that parallel universes
do indeed exist?”
    The professor shook his
head, and then appearing to address the man in the back of the
room, he continued in a more animated manner of hand gestures and
body language. “Contrary to popular opinion, living a life of
science isn’t always about facts and evidence. Many very important
discoveries have been made more from the hunch and imagination of
the scientist than the data with which he is presented.”
    His attention returned to
Joram as he took two steps towards him. “Mr. Anders. Let me answer
your question with a question. Do you think I would be engaged in
such a research project, if I believed that interstellar travel
would prove to be impossible? Do you think I would want to make a
discovery of a so-called parallel solar system, and then not be
able to travel there to study that star and its orbiting
bodies?”
    Joram’s question was
answered.
    At this, the