The Bird of Time by George Alec Effinger

Author:George Alec Effinger [Effinger, George Alec]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497609464
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 1986-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

IN THE MEANTIME,

IN BETWEEN TIME

Sister Spence was trying to explain a concept to Hartstein. “It's probably the most important idea in mathematics since the apple fell on Newton."

“Uh huh,” said Hartstein. “It sounds like old-fashioned doubletalk to me. The kind of stuff that gets published in journals but never has any practical use."

“No practical use!” Spence was astonished by Hartstein's obtuseness. They were walking through the Underground destroyer's main galley. She led him into a small pantry. He turned on the lights, but she turned them off again. “If anyone comes in,” she said in a low voice, “it will look like we're having physical intimacy. They're expecting that, anyway. How can you say something as stupid as that? This has more practical value than you can imagine. More than I can imagine, really. Let me undo a couple of buttons."

Hartstein was still dubious. “I still don't even understand what you're talking about."

“I can see that. Listen, it's simple. A long time ago, people believed that atomic particles were simple little charged things. Little bits of positively charged stuff, little bits of negatively charged stuff."

“Sure. I studied that in Outmoded Ideas 101."

“Then they found out that things could be partially charged."

“I learned that too,” said Hartstein, “but I don't know what it means. It always sounded like being partially pregnant to me. Something either is charged or it isn't."

“You're missing the point.” Spence put a hand around Hartstein's neck and drew him nearer, just in case anyone came in and found them not being close. “A proton is supposed to have a certain unit charge for its mass. An electron is supposed to have a certain unit charge of the opposite kind for its mass. All of nuclear physics was built on a few basic ideas like that; but with the development of more refined measuring apparatus, some experimenters found out that their test results weren't exactly matching their predictions."

Hartstein kissed her just below the ear. “What does that have to do with your idea?” he murmured.

“Well, one of the founding principles of the Underground is that everything in the universe is tied together. You wouldn't know about that, being a dog of an unbeliever. But we think mathematics and physics and biology and everything are inseparable in the practical world. These aren't independent fields of study. They all operate under one single set of unified laws.” She lifted his chin and kissed his lips, and he shifted his position so that his arm wouldn't dig into her back, and they learned that they could get very comfortable indeed in very little space. If they were discovered, they would look just like two young people not exercising self-restraint. It was a great plan.

“So?” said Hartstein.

“Here, let me help you with that. No, listen to me. If all that's true, numbers ought to reflect the real world, and not just the other way around. So I came up with the notion of partially signed numbers. Numbers that are maybe two-thirds positive and one-third negative.

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