Chapter 1

Author's note:

Current physics theory postulates four possible forms of alternate universes. This is my interpretation of the theories:

Type 1

An infinite number of sub-universes exist inside one giant multiverse (multiple universe). The only reason we have not seen the others is because they are so far away that the light has not had time to reach us, yet. All of the universes duplicate each other, and what happens in one universe happens in all of the universes of the multiverse.

Type 2

An infinite number of sub-universes exist within a giant multiverse, called the block, and these sub-universes are like soap bubbles floating at random through the air. There is no similarity among the sub-universes. All possible combinations of things exist in one sub-universe or another. Humans exist in one of the sub-universes, but might not exist in any of the others, or some sub-universes might contain humans and others might not. A new universe is created every time two of the sub-universe "soap bubbles" touch each other, but the old sub-universes are not destroyed in the process. Thus, the number of sub-universes continues to grow, but the block holding the sub-universes is infinite in size, so it will never be filled.

Type 3

An infinite number of sub-universes exist within a giant multiverse, called the block, and these sub-universes are like parallel planes. They never interact in the physical sense. A new universe is created every time there is a choice offered. The old sub-universe continues to exist with one phase of the choice and a new sub-universe is created to accommodate the other possibility. As an example, suppose someone drops a coin onto a flat surface from a sufficient distance so that the coin lands on edge. In one sub-universe, the coin comes to rest on edge and never falls over. Two other sub-universes are created, one in which the coin falls heads up, and another in which the coin falls tails up. This is going on all of the time, so every time you decide whether or not to eat that next cookie, a new sub-universe is created. The possibilities here are mind boggling.

Type 4

The type 4 universe is harder to describe. There is an infinite number of sub-universes in the block, all existing at the same time and occupying almost the same space. They are separated by one or more of the seven dimensions that we cannot detect. The Type 4 multiverse has 11 dimensions: the X, Y, and Z, plus time directions that we perceive, and seven more which describe the way the sub-universes can exist all at the same time. There is a series of experiments going on trying to detect one of these other dimensions, concentrating on a particle called the graviton, the smallest unit of gravity.

The above is not fiction! It is the simplest explanation for the mathematical equations which describe space and time. One day, humans may know which of the four is the correct form of the solution. Of course, there may be a fifth form which nobody has thought of, yet.

This story takes place in a Type 2 universe.

Mu7437alpha, called Mu7a by his friends, was diligently working in his laboratory on his machine for his doctoral thesis. This machine was intended to allow communication among the possible multiple universes that physicists had long postulated, but had never been able to prove. Mu7a was sure that he had the key to this communication.

Mu7a was sure that modulated laser beams striking an iridium mirror in the right sequence would transfer the mirror into a viewing port, and might even allow energy besides light to pass from one sub-universe to another. Anyway, his thesis and future career were hanging on getting this just right. If he could make it work, he would be assured of a life-long stipend from the government which would allow him and his family to live in luxury. All he had to do was to give a few lectures a year explaining how his machine worked. Mu7a was determined to make the machine work or die of exhaustion from trying.

He already had the math worked out, it was just a matter of getting that last damned laser modulation system to stabilize. Mu7a had been working on it for over a month, but there was still a slight drift in the modulation frequency that he was having one hell of a time getting under control. He was sure that it was fluctuating temperature in the tertiary oscillator that was causing the problem. In desperation, he had constructed a liquid nitrogen tank system to warm up the oscillator to just above room temperature. The boiling nitrogen should provide a stable enough temperature at least to prove that the machine would work.

Just as Mu7a was about to run another test, his communicator flashed a purple light indicating that he had an incoming call. In disgust, Mu7a turned to his communicator and signaled, "Go ahead, but please hurry." The combination of flashing lights told him that the caller was Mu7437beta, one of his co-husbands to their wife, Mu7437omega.

Mu7b said, "OK, I'll keep it short. Mu7o told me to call you to remind you that you must be home tonight before 9:00 PM. Mu7o says that she will be fertile tonight, and you had better be here if you want your genes represented in the new child. Otherwise, the other five of us husbands will proceed to impregnate her without you."

"Oh, shit! Yeah, I don't want to miss that. Tell her that I have just one more test to run before I shut down for the night. I'll come straight home from the lab, so I won't be late."

"OK, I'll tell her. Just don't be late!"

Mu7a broke the connection and turned back to his machine. Ah, good! It looked like the temperature of that pesky oscillator had stabilized, so he was ready for the test. He was in a hurry, because Mu7a didn't want to miss the upcoming sex orgy his wife was planning. He had been aiming for a sub-universe that his math calculations told him should be reachable with these settings. Mu7a turned on the bank of lasers and waited for a scene to appear in his iridium mirror.

It worked! He seemed to be looking at a strange device suspended from a tower. He couldn't tell anything about it because of the small size of the viewing screen. Just as he squinted at the screen, there was a white flash, and the object disappeared. The object filled the screen, so when it exploded, a beam of energy came through much like a laser, except that it was mostly plasma. There was some radiation from alpha particles to X-rays, but most of the destruction was done by the plasma beam.

Fortunately for Mu7a, he was not in a direct line with the beam of plasma, but the secondary destruction did send him to the hospital for six weeks. Later, he was able to salvage most of his machine, but he was over a year rebuilding it to the point of functionality.

Of course, it was years later, our time, that I learned of this accident the first time Mu7a made contact with our universe. I got into communication with Mu7a quite by accident and coincidence. I was a chemistry major at Auburn University, a senior, but my hobby was astronomy. I had built several of my own refracting telescopes, up to a 7-incher, but I was now working on a 12-inch reflector. I had an apartment on the outskirts of town, and my landlord allowed me to work on my hobby in an unused section of his garage. I was an orphan, so I had no place to go during the off-days around Christmas, etc., so I spent a lot of time working on my telescope.

I was far enough out of town that I could view the sky with very little problem with light pollution. One night, I was working on getting my latest telescope set up when I noticed a strange light in the sky. It seemed to be a square of red light about 150 feet off the ground. This was impossible! There was absolutely nothing in the vicinity that would look like that, and it could not be an artifact from an airplane, not that close to the ground.

I knew that it had to be close to the ground, since I could see that it was square. At a distance, no matter what its true shape, a bright object at night is going to look somewhat round. Yeah, I know, but the moon is already round.

Anyway, I ran into the shop and grabbed a 3-power telescope I kept around for looking at close up objects. Well, I could see Jenny Holmes bedroom window from my shop window, and I needed something convenient to see if it was worth getting out one of my more powerful scopes.

I used the small telescope to look at the bright red square, and wasn't sure what I was seeing, except that it obviously was not some big scientific or government project. If it was any one of those, why was it looking at me in the backyard at night? I do read a lot of science fiction, so I thought I would have some fun and pretend that it was an alien communication device.