The seconds ticked away. Even Margot did not seem relaxed now. She
stared nervously at the chronometer, or watched Ramsey's lips as he
silently read away the seconds. A place where time did not exist, an
under-stratum of extension sans duration. An idea suddenly entered her
mind, and she was afraid.
If proto-man had colonized the galactic worlds between one and four or
five million years ago, but if time did not exist for proto-man, then
wasn't the super-race which had engendered all mankind still waiting in
its timeless home, waiting perhaps grimly amused to see which of their
progeny first discovered their secret? Or must proto-man, like humans
everywhere, fall victim to subjective time if objective time did not
matter for him?
Ramsey was saying softly: "Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five,
fifty-six ... blastoff!"
His hand slammed down on the activating key.
An instant later, having felt no sensation of acceleration, they were
floating weightlessly in the cabin of the little _Enterprise_.
* * * * *
"The qualities of radar," Garr Symm said, "exist in their totality in a
universe of extension. Time, actually is a drawback to radar,
necessitating a duration-lag between sending and receiving. Therefore,
Ramar Chind, radar behaves perfectly in hyper-space, as you see."
"Yes," Ramar Chind said, floating near the radar screen aboard the _Dog
Star_. At its precise center was a bright little pip of light.
_The Enterprise_....
"But don't we do anything except follow them?" Ramar Chind said after a
long silence.
Garr Symm smiled. "Does it really matter? You see, Chind, time actually
stands still for us here. Duration is purely subjective, so what's your
hurry?"
Ramar Chind licked his lips nervously and stared fascinated at the
little pip of bright light.
Which suddenly dipped and swung erratically.
* * * * *
"What is it?" Margot asked. "What's the matter?"
"Take it easy," Ramsey told her.
"But the ship's swooping. I can feel it. I thought you weren't supposed
to feel movement in hyper-space!"
"Relax, will you? There are eddies in hyper-space, that's all. If you
want an analogy in terms of our own universe, think of shoals in an
ocean--unmarked by buoys or lights."
"You mean they have to be avoided?"
"Yes."
"But this particular shoal--it's midway between Irwadi and Earth?"
"There isn't any 'midway,' Margot. That's the paradox of hyper-space."
"I--I don't understand."
"Look. In the normal universe, extension is measured by time. That is,
it takes a certain amount of time to get from point A to point B.
Conversely, time is measured by extension in space. On Earth, a day of
time passes when Earth moves through space on an arc one
three-hundred-sixty-fifth of its orbit around the sun in length. Since
there isn't any time to measure extension with in hyper-space, since
time doesn't exist here, you can't speak of mid-points."
"But this--shoal. It's always encountered in hyper-space between Earth
and Irwadi?"