was the usual rustling of papers and clattering of coffee cups and eyeing up of the biscuits that went on at important meetings, and even though the world might be coming to an end, the men still chatted about their golf and their children.
Regalia Mason smiled to herself. She never chatted and she never ate biscuits.
She waited to be introduced. She waited to hear the facts she already knew about the Time Tornadoes and yesterday’s perplexing events. Some of the physicists thought that Time had ripped – that a hole had appeared in the fabric of Time, rather like the hole in the ozone layer.
The geophysicists, who studied the impact of volcanoes and earthquakes on the spin of the Earth, were asked if the tsunami in Thailand had anything to do with the strange behaviour of Time. Everyone agreed that after that disaster the Earth had shifted about one millimetre on its axis, but no one could agree that such a thing could make a difference to Time.
The sinister man from MI5 wanted to know if humanactivity could affect Time, just as human activity had affected climate change.
Regalia Mason could see the impatience on the faces of the scientists. They wanted equations, calculations, not James Bond-style plots.
Regalia Mason spoke. ‘I think it highly likely that human beings
have
affected Time.’
There was a pause in the room.
‘Is it not strange that the faster we have learned to go, the less time we seem to have? The whole of the Western world is in a hurry, and the developing world is racing to catch up.’
‘I said all this was something to do with China,’ said the sinister man from MI5.
‘I do not believe it is anything to do with China,’ said Regalia Mason.
‘Well, Pakistan, then.’
She ignored him. ‘Which of you here has not said, this week, that you are running out of time, that you have no time, that time is short, or how time flies?’
‘Those are merely figures of speech,’ said Sir Bertie, adjusting his red silk white-spotted tie with irritated fingers.
‘I disagree,’ said Regalia Mason. ‘I believe they are clues.’
Stephen Hawking tapped a single sentence into his voice computer.
‘Einstein and the clock in the city square?’
‘Of course, of course,’ Regalia Mason nodded.
‘What’s that story? I don’t follow,’ said the sinister manfrom MI5. Regalia Mason smiled at him. He had the vague idea that this was frightening, but he didn’t know why. She was such a beautiful woman. She began to explain, as though talking to a rather nice child she might eat afterwards.
‘Einstein’s Theories of Relativity always began with simple pictures in his mind. As a boy, he wondered what it would be like to race alongside a light-beam. Later, he imagined himself zooming away at the speed of light from the big clock in his city square. As he looked back, he realised that the hands on the clock were standing still. This is because when we travel at the speed of light, Time seems to stand still. Travelling faster than the speed of light, Time would appear to go backwards.’
‘Could you just remind me what is the speed of light?’ said Sir Bertie.
‘300,000 kilometres per second,’ the whole room answered at once.
‘That’s quick,’ said the man from MI5.
‘Indeed it is quick,’ agreed Regalia Mason, ‘and it is a paradox that at the speed of light Time slows almost to a stop, but at lower speeds, our speeds here on Earth, we seem to be forcing Time to move faster.’
‘You’re saying that our planes, our computers, are speeding up Time?’ said Sir Bertie.
‘I am saying that Time is distorting. We have evidence of that. I am saying that people commonly perceive Time differently than they once did. We feel that our days are not long enough. Well, perhaps they are not.’
‘What Dr Mason says about perception is absolutely right,’ said Susan Greenfield. ‘The human brain is highly subjective.’
‘But Time is not subjective!’ said one of the men. ‘There is
Regalia Mason smiled to herself. She never chatted and she never ate biscuits.
She waited to be introduced. She waited to hear the facts she already knew about the Time Tornadoes and yesterday’s perplexing events. Some of the physicists thought that Time had ripped – that a hole had appeared in the fabric of Time, rather like the hole in the ozone layer.
The geophysicists, who studied the impact of volcanoes and earthquakes on the spin of the Earth, were asked if the tsunami in Thailand had anything to do with the strange behaviour of Time. Everyone agreed that after that disaster the Earth had shifted about one millimetre on its axis, but no one could agree that such a thing could make a difference to Time.
The sinister man from MI5 wanted to know if humanactivity could affect Time, just as human activity had affected climate change.
Regalia Mason could see the impatience on the faces of the scientists. They wanted equations, calculations, not James Bond-style plots.
Regalia Mason spoke. ‘I think it highly likely that human beings
have
affected Time.’
There was a pause in the room.
‘Is it not strange that the faster we have learned to go, the less time we seem to have? The whole of the Western world is in a hurry, and the developing world is racing to catch up.’
‘I said all this was something to do with China,’ said the sinister man from MI5.
‘I do not believe it is anything to do with China,’ said Regalia Mason.
‘Well, Pakistan, then.’
She ignored him. ‘Which of you here has not said, this week, that you are running out of time, that you have no time, that time is short, or how time flies?’
‘Those are merely figures of speech,’ said Sir Bertie, adjusting his red silk white-spotted tie with irritated fingers.
‘I disagree,’ said Regalia Mason. ‘I believe they are clues.’
Stephen Hawking tapped a single sentence into his voice computer.
‘Einstein and the clock in the city square?’
‘Of course, of course,’ Regalia Mason nodded.
‘What’s that story? I don’t follow,’ said the sinister manfrom MI5. Regalia Mason smiled at him. He had the vague idea that this was frightening, but he didn’t know why. She was such a beautiful woman. She began to explain, as though talking to a rather nice child she might eat afterwards.
‘Einstein’s Theories of Relativity always began with simple pictures in his mind. As a boy, he wondered what it would be like to race alongside a light-beam. Later, he imagined himself zooming away at the speed of light from the big clock in his city square. As he looked back, he realised that the hands on the clock were standing still. This is because when we travel at the speed of light, Time seems to stand still. Travelling faster than the speed of light, Time would appear to go backwards.’
‘Could you just remind me what is the speed of light?’ said Sir Bertie.
‘300,000 kilometres per second,’ the whole room answered at once.
‘That’s quick,’ said the man from MI5.
‘Indeed it is quick,’ agreed Regalia Mason, ‘and it is a paradox that at the speed of light Time slows almost to a stop, but at lower speeds, our speeds here on Earth, we seem to be forcing Time to move faster.’
‘You’re saying that our planes, our computers, are speeding up Time?’ said Sir Bertie.
‘I am saying that Time is distorting. We have evidence of that. I am saying that people commonly perceive Time differently than they once did. We feel that our days are not long enough. Well, perhaps they are not.’
‘What Dr Mason says about perception is absolutely right,’ said Susan Greenfield. ‘The human brain is highly subjective.’
‘But Time is not subjective!’ said one of the men. ‘There is
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