captain amazed them with his knowledge of the stars and constellations. There didn't seem to be a single one he couldn't name, or tell its distance from Earth and details about its composition.
"You know more than most astronomers could keep in their heads, I think," Tony noted, unable to see the stars but nonetheless fascinated by the tour. "This is from navigating a ship?"
"From navigating a lot of ships, and of different types," the captain responded.
"Do you think there is other life out there?" Anne Marie asked him. "Strange creatures, alien civilizations, all that sort of thing?"
"Oh, yes," he answered confidently. "A vast number. The hugeness of the cosmos is beyond anyone's comprehension. Some of them may already have spaceships and be in contact or even commerce with one another."
"You mean in this solar system?" Tony responded. "I would doubt it."
"No, no, there's nothing else in our solar system worth mentioning. I mean beyond. Far beyond. Thousands and millions of light-years, in this galaxy and many others."
"You are a romantic, Captain," Tony said skeptically. "What you say about other creatures and civilizations might well be true, but those same distances would prohibit contact. The speed of light alone says no."
"Well, that is something of a stopper," Solomon admitted, "but not as much as you'd think. Gravity bends space, light, even time itself, and it's but one of a great many forces at work. If a ship could be built to withstand those forces and make use of them, both space and time might be bent, reducing a journey of many centuries to a matter of days or weeks. They once said that heavier-than-air craft could never fly under their own power, and for many years it was believed that the sound barrier was so absolute, its vibrations would tear an airplane apart. Nothing is impossible—absolutely nothing. It just takes a lot of time, work, ingenuity, and guts to eventually figure a way to cheat."
Tony shook his head. "My education was as an engineer, and I know about solving such things, but I believe that practical interstellar flight is just outside the rules of God."
"Well said, sir! You sound like a medieval pope!"
"Oh, stop arguing, you two!" Anne Marie scolded. "I don't care if it's possible or not, since even if it is, none of us will live to see it, but it is fun to imagine. I wonder what sort of creatures there are out there."
Captain Solomon looked at the stars. "Oz, and Olympus, and Fairyland, and a hundred other lands not quite imagined here on Earth. If you like, play a game. Suppose you could wish yourself up there, become one of those other creatures—what sort of creature might you like to be?"
She laughed. "I'm not much good at imagining creatures, and most of the ones on the telly are pretty slimy."
"Well, there'll be slimy ones, of course. But, if you can't think of some creature out of whole cloth, pick one out of mythology or classical fantasy."
"Umph! It's so difficult to do! I suppose I should fall back on the obvious, as my therapists would say in the old days. Lying there, unable to move for so long, I used to dream of being a racehorse. Isn't that a silly thought, even if an obvious fantasy for me? Anne Marie, interplanetary racehorse!"
"Well, be a centaur, then, or is that 'centauress'?" the captain responded in a light mood. I knew another centauress once, but I can't even remember her name . . .
"What about you, Tony?" Anne Marie prompted. "What sort of creature would you be? How about an eagle? Flying about, and with remarkable eyesight as well."
"Possibly," Tony responded, sounding a bit irritated with the game but nonetheless going along for Anne Marie's sake since she was getting such a kick out of it. "But, and I am being fully honest here, if such a thing were possible, then I should like to be whatever you were." And he meant it, too. The captain could feel the love that was there and was almost consumed with envy for this unfortunate blind and crippled
"You know more than most astronomers could keep in their heads, I think," Tony noted, unable to see the stars but nonetheless fascinated by the tour. "This is from navigating a ship?"
"From navigating a lot of ships, and of different types," the captain responded.
"Do you think there is other life out there?" Anne Marie asked him. "Strange creatures, alien civilizations, all that sort of thing?"
"Oh, yes," he answered confidently. "A vast number. The hugeness of the cosmos is beyond anyone's comprehension. Some of them may already have spaceships and be in contact or even commerce with one another."
"You mean in this solar system?" Tony responded. "I would doubt it."
"No, no, there's nothing else in our solar system worth mentioning. I mean beyond. Far beyond. Thousands and millions of light-years, in this galaxy and many others."
"You are a romantic, Captain," Tony said skeptically. "What you say about other creatures and civilizations might well be true, but those same distances would prohibit contact. The speed of light alone says no."
"Well, that is something of a stopper," Solomon admitted, "but not as much as you'd think. Gravity bends space, light, even time itself, and it's but one of a great many forces at work. If a ship could be built to withstand those forces and make use of them, both space and time might be bent, reducing a journey of many centuries to a matter of days or weeks. They once said that heavier-than-air craft could never fly under their own power, and for many years it was believed that the sound barrier was so absolute, its vibrations would tear an airplane apart. Nothing is impossible—absolutely nothing. It just takes a lot of time, work, ingenuity, and guts to eventually figure a way to cheat."
Tony shook his head. "My education was as an engineer, and I know about solving such things, but I believe that practical interstellar flight is just outside the rules of God."
"Well said, sir! You sound like a medieval pope!"
"Oh, stop arguing, you two!" Anne Marie scolded. "I don't care if it's possible or not, since even if it is, none of us will live to see it, but it is fun to imagine. I wonder what sort of creatures there are out there."
Captain Solomon looked at the stars. "Oz, and Olympus, and Fairyland, and a hundred other lands not quite imagined here on Earth. If you like, play a game. Suppose you could wish yourself up there, become one of those other creatures—what sort of creature might you like to be?"
She laughed. "I'm not much good at imagining creatures, and most of the ones on the telly are pretty slimy."
"Well, there'll be slimy ones, of course. But, if you can't think of some creature out of whole cloth, pick one out of mythology or classical fantasy."
"Umph! It's so difficult to do! I suppose I should fall back on the obvious, as my therapists would say in the old days. Lying there, unable to move for so long, I used to dream of being a racehorse. Isn't that a silly thought, even if an obvious fantasy for me? Anne Marie, interplanetary racehorse!"
"Well, be a centaur, then, or is that 'centauress'?" the captain responded in a light mood. I knew another centauress once, but I can't even remember her name . . .
"What about you, Tony?" Anne Marie prompted. "What sort of creature would you be? How about an eagle? Flying about, and with remarkable eyesight as well."
"Possibly," Tony responded, sounding a bit irritated with the game but nonetheless going along for Anne Marie's sake since she was getting such a kick out of it. "But, and I am being fully honest here, if such a thing were possible, then I should like to be whatever you were." And he meant it, too. The captain could feel the love that was there and was almost consumed with envy for this unfortunate blind and crippled
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