Chapter 10 – The Open Market
The following afternoon Ronnie and Angela teleported back to Janet’s home to say goodbye to her and the girls. Ronnie, Angela, and Janet had one last cup of coffee together before leaving to make the rounds to supply the customers of The Empress.
Ronnie and Angela were now standing in the ready room, ready to begin their adventures together, as man and wife. They were discussing Ronnie’s friend, Timms. Timms lived on the planet Keemus, in Universe Number Six. Ronnie explained to Angela that the entities on Keemus were Ancient Humans (although their real names are the Monsal’s), that existed thousands of generation before they colonized the planet Earth. Ronnie said they lived and had colonies on Earth many thousands of years before the Supross inhabited the planet that they named Earth. The Supross, which are the entities of the planet Quantum, in the galaxy of Fusion, where Janet and the girls live, inhabited the planet just a few hundred thousand years ago, but long after the ancients had abandoned the planet. Angela said all the universes, galaxies, planets and entities, confused her to no end and she would never figure it all out. Ronnie said that he had created a chart long ago that showed all the universes and information about each. He said he had kept the chart current over the years and would transfer a copy to her personal file. He walked into the control console, pulled up the chart, then said, “Computer, would you transfer a copy of my chart of universes into Angela’s personal file so she can understand the makeup of the cosmos?” Ronnie waited, heard three chirps and told Connie the chart was now available for her when she had time to study it. Ronnie continued explaining to Angela about his first stop and gave Angela information about his friend Timms. Angela sat down in the copilot’s seat, opened the file and listened to Ronnie explain about two mirror image universes. One universe was the one planet Earth was part of (Universe Number Two), and the other was the universe that the planet Keemus was part of (Universe Number Six). Then Angela wanted to understand about mirror image planets and what the word mirrors had to do with universes, and why the scientists called them such. Ronnie sat down beside Angela in the pilots chair and asked if she was certain she had time for the complicated discussion. Angela said that she had nothing but time, and really wanted to understand the universes. Ronnie pulled up another screen with the universes drawn out in their correct positions in the cosmos, with the beginning of time shown as Earth’s universes big bang. Ronnie explained that he had used Earth’s universes big bang as a starting point, because he got confused if he tried to use any other starting point. Then he said, “Remember that this is not really the beginning of time in the cosmos, just the beginning I have used for the graph.”
Ronnie explained that the cosmos contained many universes, and as they had discussed once before, the scientists had now discovered over sixty-four universes. The universe that Angela had live in (the one planet Earth was located in) was Universe Number Two. Earth is in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the universe Janet and the girls live in is the Fusion Galaxy, on the planet Quantum. Ronnie explained to Angela that to locate one of his customers required a complete address. An example for Janet and the girls would be:
Universe Number Two
Galaxy of Fusion
Planet of Quantum
Continent of Julip
City of Luxinton
1002 Jumble Street
Ms. Janet Wilson
That is complicated, Angela commented to Ronnie, I am a spoiled woman that has only lived on planet Earth, and only used a simple address to locate another human on my own planet.
Angela said, “Kind sir, you have wandered from the original question. Ronnie, tell me about mirror universes.” Ronnie said, “That I have Angela, so let me begin this way. Universes are composed of matter, as is everything around us. If you look at matter at the atomic level, atoms contain electrons, protons and neutrons. Those three particles are then broken down into many more elements that I could not even begin to name for you. The idea of two universes being mirror images of each other comes down to the two elements, electrons and protons. A matter universe has electrons that have a negative charge, and the protons have a positive charge, just basic science class stuff. However, an antimatter universe has electrons that have a positive charge, and the protons have a negative charge. This is completely opposite of anything you would have learned in your science classes. Now let me tell you that Universe Number Two, the one Earth is located in, is a matter universe. Universe Number Six, the universe Timms lives in is an antimatter universe. That means that the basic atoms are of an opposite polarity, between Timms and me.” Then Angela said, “Kind of like male and female.” Ronnie said, “Not actually, males and females can join and be perfectly happy, but matter and antimatter, if joined, instantly annihilate each other.” Angela thought about all this and finally said, “So no human has ever touched the universe of Keemus.” Ronnie smiled, realizing she was understanding, and said, “You must define the word touched.” Ronnie explained, “Annihilation would be instant if we tried to land or teleport down to the surface of the planet that Timms lives on. Annihilation would also occur for the place we touched; the event would destroy equal amounts of matter and antimatter.” Angela smiled at Ronnie and said, “I guess you do not have to worry about your woman seducing your best friend Timms, do you? It would be rather obvious because of the huge charred hole in the ground.”
Ronnie just laughed at Angela; she certainly had a vivid imagination. Angela was still a little confused, and asked, “How do you and Timms communicate, and how can you trade goods if our products are matter and theirs are antimatter.” Ronnie explained that they communicated the same way everyone else does in the cosmos, with the Super 11 transceiver. Ronnie said that he needed to explain the second question and then she would understand. “You see Angela; we have to convert everything that we transfer from one type of universe to another, before the transfer can take place. This conversion process occurs within a system located just outside of the Keemus universe, named the Open Market, which I will be showing you probably late tomorrow. Everything that transfers between The Empress and the Keemus universe will pass through the Open Market.” Angela asked, “Why is it called an Open Market instead of a matter converter?” Ronnie explained, “Because it looks like a huge tunnel and we pass The Empress thru it; the walls look to contain storage shelving, thus the name, Open Market.”
“When The Empress passes thru the tunnel, the system converts the items we want to purchase to matter, and then teleports the items to our cargo bay. The items we wish to sell are teleported from our cargo bay to the shelving, and wait for the buyers to pick them up. If the items we sell need conversion to antimatter, the system completes the process before the transfer of the items to the buyer’s cargo bay. Now you have an understanding of the mirror image universes.” Ronnie looked at Angela, and then said, “Now that you have a mental picture of the Open Market, I want to warn you that when you see it for the first time you will be very surprised and feel like an ant walking down the center of the four lane expressway on the planet Earth.” “It’s really that big?” Angela asked Ronnie. Ronnie said, “You cannot possibly imagine how big until you are there and see it with your own eyes; you will be very excited and amazed my friend.”
Angela looked at Ronnie and asked one more question, “Ronnie, how did you learn about all this, how did you understand how to build and program your eleventh-dimension time travel computer? I now understand after talking to Janet that only certain people receive a travel computer, only certain minds are capable of controlling a travel membrane like The Empress. Can you tell me the answers to all my questions, my husband? Where did you go to school; were you raised and educated on the planet Quantum with your sister Janet? I have so many questions; so many questions that I hope you can explain all of them to me.” Ronnie just smiled at her, and then said, “Angela, I am talking as fast as I can; I can and I will tell you everything, but that telling may take weeks, years, maybe our entire lifet
ime. You must be patient and I will fill your mind with such wonders that you will never want to return to the simple life you lived on planet Earth. You will want to time travel into eternity, back to the beginning of time, forward to the end of time.”
Ronnie looked at Angela and said, “Right now, my body needs food; are you hungry?” Angela stood up and told Ronnie that she was starving. She reminded Ronnie they have not eaten at all today; it is way past time to eat. Ronnie joined Angela in the kitchen and put water on the stove to perk coffee in a pot. Angela was surprised to see Ronnie actually perking coffee just as her father did when she was a young child. As the aroma of the coffee began to permeate the vessel, Angela stepped close to Ronnie, put her head on his shoulder and quietly cried. Ronnie asked what had caused the tears, and Angela told him the smell of the coffee perking just brought back wonderful memories of her father making breakfast for her and her mother on a Sunday morning before church. Angela stepped back from Ronnie and dried her eyes. Ronnie kissed her on the cheek, and told her he hoped she would always remember those wonderful times; those are the memories that make our lives worth living.
When the food replicator had created the hot food they had chosen, they sat at the table together and ate quietly. When Ronnie had finished his food, he began talking to Angela about the questions she had asked him. He said he would start with her question about his childhood and were he went to school. He explained that his birth parents had died shortly after his birth. Foster parents raised him and Janet until they began college. His father was a mathematics professor at a local college; his mother was an astrophysicist at the same college. The funds from their life insurance policies paid for his and his sister’s college. He explained that he had received his master’s degree in the science of astrophysics, and then received his doctorate. He had written his dissertation on, The Laws of Quantum Physics and the Relationship to String Energy. He had then published that work, and most major colleges were presently using his published dissertation to teach the theory of string energy around the cosmos. When he finished his education, the IFTT hired him. After six years with them, they issued him a license to manufacture and operate an intergalactic travel membrane for commerce. He spent another two years teaching to earn enough money to fund the components required to build his travel computer. When he had the travel computer completed, he created The Empress and began stocking it with the goods needed to support the needs of the entities throughout the universes.
Then Ronnie stopped talking and poured another cup of coffee. As he sipped the steaming beverage, he looked at his wife who was sitting with her mouth hanging open and with eyes that looked like she was in a trance. Ronnie waved his hand in front of her face and asked if she was listening to him, or if he was talking to the fabric of the travel membrane. She smiled and said, “My husband, I do not know what to say. I barely finished high school with C’s, and now I am married to a man with degrees in subjects I cannot even pronounce without stuttering. I have married a man who wrote a dissertation on some form of math that only God himself could possibly understand, and then published that work, which now serves as a platform at many major colleges. I am speechless my husband, totally speechless.” Ronnie looked at her and asked if he had answered all of her questions. Angela sat and thought a moment, no longer able to remember the damn questions she had asked him earlier.
As they sat at the table, Angela decided to talk to the computer for a moment, “Computer, I need to ask you a question, please.” “Angela, I am always ready to answer any question you may have.” “Computer, can you read me the meaning of the word, love, from one of the dictionaries of Universe Number Two, the planet Earth to me.” “Angela, I have that information ready for you; shall I begin?” “Please begin, my friend.” “The definitions of the word, love, which I have chosen for you, are written in the World Book Dictionary, published in the Earth year of 1976 AD. Angela, I will paraphrase as I read the description. Love: Fond or tender feeling; warm liking; affection; attachment: Strong or passionate affection for a person of the opposite sex. A person who is loved, especially a sweetheart: The kindly feeling or benevolence of God for His creatures, or the reverent devotion due from them to God, or the kindly affection they should have for each other:” “Computer, you may stop now, I thank you for helping me with the word.” Angela looked into Ronnie’s eyes and said to him, “I love you my husband. I love this travel membrane and the computer. I love the life I am living with you. I love the friends I have made in the last few days. I love the feelings of pleasure when your hands touch my body. I love the dark when my friends are near to help me fight my monster. I love sitting here with you, listening to the most wonderful adventure story I could ever imagined. I love the happy tears I shed when I think of my parents, your parents, our friends and family. Ronnie, I love life and I want to create a new life for us to share.” Ronnie, “Are you ready to begin discussing our future together; are you ready to discuss creating a child for us to love? My husband, am I being impulsive and childish to ask for a child so soon after our marriage?”
Angela sat back in her chair and let her words settle into Ronnie’s mind, let him ponder his response. She looked down to her hands, turning them over, and over, in front of her; she pulled on her fingers, she tucked her hands under her legs. She swiveled in the chair, she tapped her feet on the floor, she moved around as if she was about to explode, she did everything in her power to comfort herself until her husband was ready to speak to her questions. Ronnie watched her for a full minute (probably an hour to Angela), allowing her to wait any longer would have been cruel.
He stood up, reached down for her hand. When she stood up, he put his arms around her waist, and then whispered quietly in her ear, “Shall we begin practicing, now?” Angela kissed him hard, and then he took her hand and walked with her to his bedroom, a place where she would be very comfortable. A place where he could slightly dim the lights but still provide plenty of light to keep her fears from flooding in and spoiling the moment. As the door shut, the computer began to dim the lights, slowly, so very slowly, so slowly that Angela did not realize what was happening, she was much too involved with her husband’s hands, slowing unzipping the flight suit she was wearing, gently touching her in ways that only her own fingers had ever touched her before. As the two lovers slid under the covers of Ronnie’s bed, Angela realized this practice session (as Ronnie had called it) might be the real thing if the slight rise in her body temperature this morning was an accurate predictor of coming events.
Two weeks later, Angela hugged her husband, placed his hand on her belly and said, “Ronnie, please meet the child we have created.” Before Ronnie could respond, Angela turned from him and ran to the bathroom. Ronnie walked to the bathroom door, waited patiently until he was certain Angela was okay, and then headed to the kitchen to make her some hot tea to settle her stomach. When she had been up for awhile and her stomach felt better, he would poach a hen’s egg for her, and make her some toast (as she called it), bread roasted over a hot burner.
Ronnie planned to visit the Open Market today, an experience that Angela would never forget, but he would wait until she was feeling better and in the copilot’s chair with him. Ronnie’s had delayed his earlier planned trip to the Open Marker until now because of the needs of two local customers. Today’s trip would be Angela’s first trip to the Open Marker and she would never forget this wonderful adventure. Ronnie had traded goods in this Open Market at least five times, but its expanse and high technology still overwhelmed him, and made him feel very small.