Free On a Beam of Light by Gene Brewer

apple, “For one thing, he wanted to know how old the universe is. “
    “How old is it?”
    “Infinitely. “
    “What?”
    “You remember—it keeps expanding and contracting, forever and ever. “
    “Oh. Right. “
    “Flynn wasn’t satisfied with that. He asked him how long the present expansion has been going on. “
    “What did prot tell him?”
    “He said, ‘How do you know it’s expanding?’ Flynn started to explain the Doppler effect but prot cut him short with: ‘When the UNIVERSE is in the contraction phase you’ll still have the same Doppler shift. ‘ Flynn said, ‘That’s ridiculous. ‘ Prot said, ‘Spoken like a true homo sapiens. ’”
    “Anything else?”
    “Yes. He wanted to know how many planets there are in our galaxy, and how many of them are inhabited. “
    “What did prot say?”
    She swallowed some of the food bulging in her cheek. “He said there are a trillion planets in our galaxy alone, and a proportionate number in all the others. And guess what percentage of these are inhabited. “
    “Half of them?”
    “Not that many. Point two percent. “
    “Is that all?”
    “All? That means there are several billion planets and moons in the Milky Way teeming with life. “
    “How many of these creatures are like us?”
    “That’s the interesting thing. According to prot, a lot of the beings around the universe resemble us. ‘Us’ being mammals, birds, fish, and so on. “
    “What about humans?”
    “He says that humanoid beings have arisen or are evolving on some of these, but that they usually don’t last very long. About a hundred thousand of our years, on the average. “
    “Not a very pleasant prospect. “
    “Not for us. “
    “What else?”
    “Dr. Flynn wanted to know how we can accomplish hydrogen fusion as an energy source. “
    “And prot wouldn’t tell him, right?”
    “Oh, he told him, all right. “
    “Really? What’s the secret?”
    “You won’t believe it. “
    “Probably not. “
    “It only works with a certain substance as catalyst. “
    “What substance?”
    “Something found on Earth only in spider excrement. “
    “You’re kidding. “
    “But it’s not just any old spider poop. “
    “It’s not?”
    “Nope. Only that from a particular species indigenous to Libya. The stuff comes in little gold pellets the size of poppy seeds!” She started to giggle.
    “Is this prot’s idea of a joke?”
    “Flynn didn’t think so. He’s already trying to figure out how to get into Libya. ” Then she became more serious. “Guess what else?”
    “I can’t imagine. “
    “He wanted prot to give him a demonstration of light-travel. “
    I finished the last tiny curd of cottage cheese. “Did he comply?”
    “Yes. “
    “What? He disappeared again?”
    “Not exactly. He got out his little flashlight and his mirror, but just then a cat ran by. It meowed, and everybody turned to look at it for a second. When we looked back, he was on the other side of the room. Dr. Flynn was flabbergasted. So was I. I had never seen him do that before. ” Her eyes were bright as a squirrel’s.
    I couldn’t hide my skepticism. “Sounds like a pretty neat trick. “
    “Dr. B, do you know anyone else who can do that trick?”
    “Well, did prot tell him how it’s done?”
    “No. He said we’re not ‘ready’ for light-travel. “
    “I figured as much. “
    Another bite and the cheek swelled up again. “Then the physicist jumped in. That got pretty hairy. She asked prot about all kinds of alpha and omega stuff. I’ll have to do some studying to figure it all out. But one thing I understood. “
    “What’s that?”
    “You ever hear of quarks?”
    “They’re supposed to be the fundamental particles of atomic nuclei, aren’t they?”
    “Mm-hm. But inside of them are smaller particles and inside of them still smaller ones. “
    “Good God. Where does it all end?”
    “It doesn’t. “
    “What did the physicist think of all this?”
    “She wanted