EPSLOTS

"EPSLOTS" was the ungainly acronym for which their vessel was called. The EPSLOTS acronym came from the vessel ship designation "Europa Planetary Satellite LaGrangian Orbiting Tethered Station". Which is precisely what the EPSLOTS was. It was an orbiting laboratory/planetary station held in place by two forces...the single known LaGrangian orbital range of Europa and the stabilizing force provide to the tether connected to Europa.

Funding would never have been possible for the EPLOTS station without the near Europa flyby orbiting satellites coming in close contact with the oceans of Europa. Deep water temperatures and chemical compostion determinations and measurements had made the Europa satellite seem like a likely and targetable candidate for further planetary satellite exploration. DeepSoars distant cousin - the Europa Ice Needle Satellite had been sent on deepwater exploration of the satellite years earlier.

Bried contact had been made with the larger organisms and had detected the coonfirmable presence of xenomicrobiolical life. This sent the NASA Operations leadership and funding teams howling to congress for increased NASA funding - specifically targeted for further exploration and collection of xenobiological life forms since discovered in the Europa oceans. The funding vote was received almost unanimously by Congress (the one hold out being Senator Byrd).

An exploratory and operations committee formed at NASA almost the very next day. This was their day of triumph for further space exploration. It was noted that not only was this the most important step in space exploration of the century, it was (of course) the single most important discovery in the history of science since relativity. Even the policy wonks at NASA had to understand that the outpost station now planned for the Europa mission was to become a stepping stone for the ultimate and penultimate missions - further exploration of the solar system and beyond. EPSLOTS was to become that stepping stone.

Specimens

The first xenobiological specimens known in the solar system had been collected by DeepSoar - the first deep-ocean alien planet recovery and recording robot. The specimens collected were known as Suscus Busculus and Ethania Gigas. The latter appeared to be a simple, multicellular green plantlike organism that was capable of both photosynthesis and chemisynthesis. The former was a sausage-shaped annelid-like organism/animal. The specimens of the SB's were relatively small compared to other specimens detected in the ocean depths of Europa.

DeepSoar had recorded some faint video images of larger specimens of the SB's. But these were recorded as traveling in excess of 30 knots in the deep ocean. Their velocities and distances prevented even DeepSoar these larger specimens.

Ars Angier (captain) stared into Europa LaGrange's large observation tank and made notes on the SB's and the plantlike organism. The SB's appeared to be feeding (successfully) on the chemical nutrient mix administered by Dr. Inconnu and his team. To his worriment, Ars noted that the SB's would still feed on some of the plantlike organisms in the tank.

It was suspected that these organisms also fed on the high levels of microcellular life found in the oceans of Europa. But, ship quarantine policy required sterilization of xenomicrobiological organisms. Dr. Inconnu's microbiology team had cleared the larger organisms for transport to the large observation tank after several weeks in the quarantine tanks.

Having collected the first-known xenobiological's, however, the team felt that guarantees could be made for 100 percent sterilization of the larger organism. Earth-based communications with the operations and ground mission teams confirmed that the xenobiological's recovered by DeepSoar were of too much scientific importance not to recover and observe. The Europa LaGrange crew had felt the same way about it. Even DeepSoar - with his artificial intelligence capability program - had voted for it. It seemed like the logical thing to do. Besides, commented DeepSoar's vocal interface program, "They could make good pets". The comment was a surprise to the crew and even to DeepSoar's on-board operations team.

The Little World - A Novel by George K.

The Little World

This all happened, a long time ago.

...

In the time before there was time, there was nothing. All was black and empty - devoid of any matter, energy, particles, light, all things known to us. In no time at all an event horizon had formed. The event horizon created its own singularity. The singularity had no measurable dimension. It could have been as small as the period on this page, it could have been large as the known universe. No scale existed and no scale mattered.
Having formed the intial singularity, the event horizon expanded into two. The second event horizon also created its own singularity. Two singularities in two event horizons combined to form one degree of freedom.
One degree of freedom created a dimension. In no time at all, one dimension expanded the two event horizons. More singularities came into being as did more dimensions.
In no time at all, the number of dimensions became n-dimensional and the number of singularities became infinite each in its own dimension. An infinite number of degrees of freedom were available in no time at all. And then an infinite number of singularities each existed in their own dimension.
It created an n-dimensional manifold tat contained all the degrees of freedom all the dimensions. The singularities were all next to each other and yet each had their own dimension. This manifold became the continuum.
The continuum expanded in no time at all, into more dimensions. This created an m-number of manifolds. The space continuum was formed. And time - as we know it - was waiting to be born.
Without time, the manifolds had no form. And the singularities were disordered. In no time at all, the singularities had developed a simple order. The singularities had spin, negative spin or no spin.
The singularities with spin created time with a non-reversible movement. Time existed. And the space-time continuum came into being.
The spin and negative-spin singularities moved throughout space-time with their new creation, time. The 0-spin singularities formed into vast continuum which occupied only the space continuum.
After a stupendous amount of time, the spin and negative-spin singularities had ordered themselves into groups of positive-spin and negative-spin singularities. The 0-spin singularities remained timeless and neutral.
All singularities were - by the old definition - singular yet infinite in number.
The negative-spin singularities formed themselves into clusters too gargantuan and complex to describe. The positive-spin singularities formed into m2-manifolds, complex but definable.
Lifeless and insensate, yet these bodies were in opposition to each other.
A compliment of positive-spin singularities would almost encountering negative-spin clusters would almost always absorb the negative cluster.
In this fashion, vast wars were waged by the positive-spin complements against the negative-spin complements.
Whole battles were played out between clusters and compliments over the course of trillions upon trillions upon trillions of years.
Over the course of such a stupendous amount of time, whole compliments of positive-spin clusters vastly outnumbered and overcame the negative-spin clusters and complements.
After billions of eons, the whole space-time continuum combined with the 0-spin singularities from the space continuum and the vanishingly small number of negative singularities.
All of the manifolds and all of the m-dimensions became filled with mostly positive-spin singularities.
Squeezed out then by the order of positive-spin singularities, the negative spin-singularities retreated - like a vanquished enemy - to the farthest ends of the space-time continuum. Here, they arrived a a last event horizon - which was an Omega horizon - the border at which time ended.
The positive-singularities attempted to interact with the 0-spin singularities, but this was futile. The 0-spin singularities were, by definition, totally inert to the influence of all other singularities.
Over the course of a billion eons, the positive-spin singularities nucleated and began to repel each other.
The space-time continuum, unable to contain the r5epulsive forxces of the positive-spin singularities expanded to accomodate the nucleation of these entities.
The positive-spin space-time continuum began to break away from the 0-spin continuum. In this sense, the space-time continuum exploded into an infinite number of universes between the two event horizons.
This explanation is not accepted as the Big Bang we acknowledge today...

...

This ancient event expelled the unsensing 0-spin and negative-spin singularities into the newly born universe. These entities survived the explosion of the Big Bang and were left to circle around the resulting cataclysm. Lifeless and formless, these entities appeared doomed to circumnavigate the newly formed universe. Oblivious and inert to its existence...but this was not be so for long. The new universe had only a single event horizon, manifold and unoccupied dimensions. Unrestricted by the old, previous space-time continuum the 0-spin and negative-spin singularities, they were able to occupy the new dimensions of time and space. But, there was only a limiting factor imposed by the single universe. Only 10 degrees of freedomexisted in each, so only a total of 1 singularity could occupy them.

...

The remaining singularities could only endlessly approach the new event horizon. The new exvent horizon existe din the other continuum. And, eventually, came to occupy the region known as the Unknown continuum.

...

At the other end of the space-time continuum, on the far end of time. The universe was coming to a close. It was the cosmic year 147 ( 10 +E 147 years) and the universe only a had a few cosmic years left in its existence... The universe, in its life had remained open yet flat. Had an infinite number of singularities been possible, it's possible the Universe would have remained truly Infinite, in both time and space.
But infinities exist only it the formal sphere of mathematics. And ,as such, all infinities stop short of the enigma number, Omega. All proceses, entities, objects, real numbers, space, time, information...etc. were eventually bounded by some limitimg factor, some enigma number - like the Omega. Omega existas as a boundary between the knowable continuum and the unfknowable continuum.
In cosmic time, Omega was only a few years away - but, still unknowable. Real, yet indefinite and undefinable.

In these last cosmic years before Omega, all light, energy, matter, entitites, objects, life, even singularities, etc... became separated by stupendous gaps in space. Then density of the universe had been stretched to the penultimate limit of W -E1.
The galaxies and stars we had known had evaporated into the growing nothingness and simply ceased to exist. Only a few brown dwarves and ancient black holes rolled through the cosmic wasteland.

...
To be continued?
George Koprowicz
6/01/2006