Barrington Bayley SF Gateway Omnibus: The Soul of the Robot, The Knights of the Limits, The Fall of Chronopolis

‘Essentially our effort is designed to be a continuation of the exploratory sagas of ancient time,’ he began. ‘As you are aware the difficulty with the ancients’ method, apart from its slowness, is that it requires a permanent tunnel. Eventually all available emptiness is drawn into this tunnel, necessitating that the entire population should migrate along it and take part in the exploratory drive.

‘An alternative, much preferable method is for the drilling vessel to fill up the tunnel behind it as it proceeds, thus becoming a genuine vehicle isolated in solidity – thus leaving the Cavity intact. In the old days this was impracticable since there was no way of solving the supply problem. No vessel could possibly carry enough sustenance to support its crew during time periods which might extend to years or generations. But today the situation is different!’ Erled’s voice rose as his obsession gripped him once again. We are no longer limited to the vibro-drill. The modern tunneller works by disassociating solid matter into a perfectly fluid dust which, as the solidity-ship moved forward, it passes to its rear through special vents and simultaneously reconstitutes into the original rock. With this type of system almost incredible speeds can be achived – close on forty miles per hour. Furthermore, by now it has proved its reliability, having been employed for over a generation in the vessels that are used to survey the close rock environs of the Cavity. The time is long overdue when we should rediscover the passion of the ancients for the discovery of new worlds!’

The vibrant voice of the Proctor of Worship answered his declamation. ‘The ancients were endowed with intense religious zeal and embarked on their migrations in search of God, not of new worlds,’ Erpiort said critically. ‘Dauntless and resourceful though they were, it is also true that the ancients were at the primitivist stage of religious knowledge. To our more sophisticated intellects it is obvious that God is not to be found by travelling through the horizontal universe, no matter to what distance. Why should we repeat their follies?’

Erled knew exactly what Erpiort was driving at. It had been recognised for a long time that the universe was stratified. In any transverse direction the rock remained, as far as was known, unchanged to infinity. Downwards, one entered a Region of Intense Heat, while if one attempted to travel Upwards one encountered a Region of Impassibility. Above this region, which could be entered only by the souls of the righteous after death, God was acknowledged to dwell. Conversely the profound Region of Heat was a place of torment reserved for the souls of the wicked. Both regions were held to be infinite in themselves, but to Erled, or indeed to anyone else in the room, the very idea of travel either Up or Down for more than a few hundred miles was virtually a metaphysical notion. These transcendental directions were literally beyond possible human experience. Only horizontal directions had any practical meaning, and it was these that one normally meant by infinity.

Erled’s interest was not religious, though he agreed that to hope to find God by travelling through the rock was naive. ‘But what of the urge to discover new worlds, to determine once and for all whether there really are other cavities in the solidity?’ he countered in a dismayed tone. ‘We should not stifle such aspirations, surely?’

His dismay was caused by the fact that this aspiration was, to him, a burning ideal that had become second nature, and he simply could not understand why some other minds did not appear to share it. ‘Besides, the discovery of unknown cavities would make new emptiness available for mankind,’ he added placatingly.

Erpiort’s mouth twisted cynically. ‘The ancients also exercised their minds with this hypothesis of other worlds,’ he remarked. ‘As we all know, they found nothing. Your proposition has come at a very unfortunate time, my fellow. A deposition is currently before the Holy Synod to declare the Doctrine of One Cavity, long preached by all devout priests, an article of faith! This deposition, if accepted, will make it a heresy to believe anything other than that God made but one cavity in the whole of solidity!’

‘But that may not be true!’ Erled blurted. ‘Why, Ereton, who is working with me on the project, has produced a calculation – hypothetical, I admit – to show that there may be a definite ratio of emptiness to solidity in the universe. If the ration is one part emptiness to one quadrillion parts solidity, as he thinks, then there must be innumerable cavities –’ He broke off, suddenly aware that he might be causing trouble for Ereton. ‘Well, at any rate shouldn’t the matter be decided scientifically?’ he ended lamely.

‘Silence!’ thundered Erpiort. ‘The age of cold intellectualism is over, along with the age of religious disputation. We have entered the age of faith!’

Erled fell silent.