The room was shocked silent and then erupted as many shouted disagreements. Michael stared at the Welken Royal and saw him shake his head and lean back. He started laughing and soon everyone stopped yelling and stared at him. He laughed harder and soon many joined in. Michael tilted his head and shrugged. The Royal laughed even harder but the humans at the table didn’t join in. They knew what was coming and they braced for the blowback.
Michael sat in his chair in silence even after the room grew silent. The Royal stared at Michael for a long time and finally said, “The next time I say you can’t say anything that would shock me, you have my permission to hit me with a metal pole.” Michael nodded. The Welken waited and the silence grew uncomfortable. Finally, the Johan Royal said, “For the love of space, are you going to tell us what you mean?”
Michael sighed, “I’ve tried to discuss this with the other humans at this table and they are all convinced I’m out of my mind.”
The Johan said, “Are you?”
Michael smiled, “No. But it’s similar to describing any color other than black to someone that’s blind.”
The Johan smiled, “They just can’t see it.”
“That pretty much describes it.”
Averel stared at Michael and wondered where his thoughts had come from. She saw the box still closed in her mind and thought where everyone could hear, “You face what one of your revered scientists once faced.” Michael looked at her. “Einstein was ridiculed when he developed his theory of relativity. You don’t sound so different now.”
Michael smiled at her and nodded. The Welken Royal said, “Let’s do this. Just tell us what you think and we’ll stop you when we’re completely over our heads or lost.”
Michael looked at Lukas and he shrugged. He really wished his father was present but he decided to give it another try. He looked out at the room and started. “I think when I’ve tried to convey what I’m seeing to others, I jumped into the nuts and bolts without setting up what makes me believe what I’m seeing.” Michael lifted a small microphone, “Computer please put the module on the layers of space on the main monitor.” The main monitor suddenly showed an image of what looked like a multi-layered golf ball. There was a huge black inner core with a small pink layer around it. Above the pink layer was another layer with multiple colors.
Michael looked at the image and said, “This image is what we use to teach our new pilots about the various places they can fly their ships.” Michael looked out at the assembly, “Does everyone recognize this image?” Most nodded but many said, “Yes.”
Michael smiled and said, “I want you to look at this image and tell me which of those spaces came first.” The room was silent as they thought about what Michael asked.
After ten minutes, Salud said where everyone could hear, “OH MY GOD!” Michael looked at her. She was shaking her head and looked at him, “You have to be right!”
Lukas’ eyes were narrow as she looked at him, “What’s the order? Which came first, then second, and finally third?” Lukas looked back up at the image and Salud said, “And how do they differ?” Lukas’s eyes went wide and Salud smiled, “You got it?”
“I do.”
The Welken Royal commanded, “Will one of you tell me what’s going on?!”
Michael used an electronic pointer and moved it to the black inner layer, “Do any of you think the other two spaces existed before the void?”
A Goran Fleet Commander thought, “Why do you think the void was first?”
Michael did a quick shrug, “Possibly because the other two are above it.” The Goran nodded sheepishly. Michael waited and no one else responded to his question. “If the void came first, what came second?”
The Royal said, “It must be the barrier to separate normal space from the void.”
Michael nodded, “Now what do we know about the void and the barrier. How are they alike and how are they different?”
The Audon said, “You can move faster than light in both of them.”
Michael nodded, “And the main difference is?”
“You can move much faster in the barrier than you can in the void.”
Michael looked out at the room and said slowly and deliberately, “So in the first space, you can travel faster than the speed of light. In the second space you can travel much faster than you can in the void.” He paused and said, “If that pattern holds true…what would that mean for normal space?” Michael expected the largest resistance to the concept to come from the Leaders and military but he immediately heard an uproar come from the scientists. “This is Hog wash!” “Impossible.” “You are out of your mind!” “You can’t travel faster than light in normal space!” He waited and looked at the Welken Royal. He stared at Michael and it was clear he understood what Michael was saying. Michael smiled and listened to the shouting scientists.
Lukas sounded a tone and the room slowly grew silent. He looked at Michael and said, “You have a reason to believe this?” Michael nodded. “Share your reasoning with us.”
Michael smiled, “I’m going to ask someone else to do that.” Lukas’s head went back and Michael turned around, “Jan, please step forward and tell us what you know about this.” Jan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She started shaking her head and Michael said, “Relax, I know you’ve read a lot of information on things that relate to this discussion. You don’t have to say if you believe them or not. Just share what you’ve read.”
Michael stood up and took the microphone out of its holder and took it to her. He held it out to her and she closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath. She opened her eyes and Michael lowered his eyes. She shook her head and took the microphone. She walked out in front of the huge table and shook her head again. Michael looked around the room and leaned over Salud’s shoulder and said into her microphone, “Hold your comments until she finishes and I’ll entertain any questions.” Michael went to his chair and nodded to Jan. Josey and Jay looked at each other and grew angry. If any one said anything disparaging to Jan…
Jan bit her upper lip slightly and then turned to the scientists, “One of you yelled that it’s impossible for anything to move faster than the speed of light in normal space. You know that’s not true and I’m surprised you said it.” The scientist that shouted the remark had to force herself to be silent. Jan looked around the room and said, “There have been experiments that have been done in the early twentieth century on my home world that showed things can happen in normal space faster than the speed of light. It has been proven that if an energy wave is divided into two identical waves that then move away from each other at the speed of light, if something happens to one of them that changes it, the other wave instantly undergoes the same change even if they’re separated by light years. The same thing happens with objects made of matter. If a piece of matter is split into two identical pieces, if one of them undergoes a change, its twin will instantly change to match it.” The scientist that shouted moved back in their chair and tried to look small.
The Myot Ruler shouted, “That’s a bunch of rubbish!”
A Myot Scientist sitting in the second row stood up, “Great Leader, what she’s saying is true. It has been proven that it happens.”
The Myot Ruler looked at his scientist and was thankful he had interrupted to prevent him from being embarrassed further. Michael leaned over and said into Lukas’s microphone, “Please hold your comments.” He looked at Jan, “Please continue.”
Jan looked out at the assembly and said, “I thought that this was an absurd idea and that the ones conducting the experiments had to have made a mistake. But the more I read about their findings, I realized I couldn’t argue with the results. So, I looked for information on how the effect was explained. There were two schools of thought and one postulated that somehow, the objects were never really separated but were somehow still in contact with each other. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity did not match up with this position; after all, he originally postulated that nothing can happen faster than the speed of light. He took the position that the original energy wave or piece of matter had a predetermined shape that it would take and both twins took that shape at the appropriate moment.” She waited and watched the assembly digest that bit of information. “In other words, everything in the universe has a predetermined outcome.”