And then the angel spake, saying... (Lorna Learns a Lesson)

[Taken from The Only Gift, © 2010. Used by permission.]

Raymond opened his hand and revealed a luminous golf-ball-sized orb cradled in his palm. It's luster exceeded Raymond's own and it seemed to have no definite surface.

“Oh!” said Lorna, wide-eyed. “It's beautiful! What is it?” She reached out to touch it.

“It's a universe,” said Raymond.

“What does that mean?” She reached as far as she could, but her fingers didn't seem to be getting any closer. She withdrew her hand, examined it and frowned slightly.

“You can't touch it,” Raymond was saying. “The space-time continuum's a bit contorted.”

“But what is it?”

“A universe.”

“So you said. What's it mean?”

“It means it's a universe.”

Lorna glowered at him from beneath her well-groomed eyebrows. He grinned.

“A universe,” she said. “Like ours. Only you can hold it in your hand.”

“Like ours,” he agreed, “a tenth of a nanosecond after the big bang.”

“If you say so. Where did it come from?”

“It's part of me.”

“What part?”

“It's a particle of my body. It's one of my cells – like the cells in your body.”

“You mean your body is composed of millions of these?”

“You've got more cells than that.”

“I've never counted them. Billions?”

“Try trillions.”

“Trillions,” said Lorna. “OK. Suppose, hypothetically, that you're not pulling my leg. That lovely little bauble contains all the matter and energy of an entire universe?”

He nodded.

“And your body consists of trillions of them.”

He nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Now we've got that straight. With all that mass, why're you not creating a black hole where you stand?”

“Very good question.”

“And your very good answer?”

“First, I can control it better than that.”

“Naturally.”

“Second.... Well, it's a bit technical.”

“Try me.”

“OK. Gravity is a multi-dimensional field. Each higher dimension dilutes its strength by many orders of magnitude. Your unified field theorists calculate that it must be operating over at least eleven dimensions to be as weak as it is.”

“Eleven.”

“At least.”

“Spacial.”

“So they say.”

“Uh, huh. I can't comprehend a fourth spacial dimension, so it's no difficulty at all not being able to comprehend seven more.”

“My body's a nineteen dimensional object.”

“Why not.”

“That dilutes gravity's strength to where it nearly controls itself.”

“Perfectly clear.”

“This little ball is simply one cell of my body that has been compressed down to six dimensions.”

“Obviously. Why's it just sitting there?”

“I'm constraining it.”

“Of course. What if you weren't?”

“It would expand at the speed of light, annihilate Earth in a few milliseconds, the solar system in a few hours, this galaxy in a few hundred thousand years, and continue wrecking havoc in the universe for billions of years.”

“Sounds undesirable. I assume you won't do that.”

“Actually, I couldn't.” He closed his hand and the orb disappeared. “There are forces beyond me who are protecting Earth.”

“That's a relief. So it's just a jewel. You can't do anything with it.”

“Except create a universe.”

“How? They won't let you.”

“I'll create it somewhere else.”

“There's a somewhere else?”

“Lots of somewhere elses.”

“Naturally. The universe is not universal. And I suppose you can visit these somewhere elses any time you want.”

“Pretty much.”

“And you're free to create universes there. Full size. No one complains.”

“No problem.”

“Sure. How?”

“I'd move the orb to a plane in a different dimension. One that doesn't overlap this universe. Or any other universe. Even gravitationally.”

“Tricky. How would you find such a place?”

“Not tricky at all. There's an infinite number of them.”

“Naturally. How many universes have you created?”

“None, so far. Not permanently. We talk to people. See what they've done. Work with them. Play around with parameters. Get advice. Copy things we like. Great fun. We'll settle on a design one of these days.”

“Sure. Give yourself a billion or two years to get the hang of it. Who's 'We'?”

“My wife and I.”

“You've got a wife?”

“Eloise. You've never met her? She spends her free time nest planning. She's the artist. She'll probably create our first universe herself. Without my help.”

Lorna pursed her lips. “You know, some of that I almost believe. I've seen you do amazing things. You're gods. Two gods.”

“Hardly.”

“Why do you hang out with us?”

“You're important. All our projects are important. One of Father's children is more important to Him than any or all universes.”

Lorna rolled her eyes.

“Secondly, we're not gods.”

“You create universes.”

“Your point?”

“You can create trillions of universes.”

“That would deplete our bodies a little.”

Lorna giggled. “Do all cosmics have bodies like that?”

“Yes.”

“And all released luesenes become cosmics when they resurrect?”

“Just as you will,” said Raymond.

“Spare me.”

“You don't want to?”

“Absolutely not!”

“What kind of a body do you want?”

Lorna didn't have to think long. “One just like this one, except that I want it to be healthy, beautiful, and eternally young.”

“You're describing the kind of body received by Father's least worthy children.”

“Perfect fit.”

“One would think you mean that. Lorna, you're a mortal luesene! Do you know what that means?”

“Yeah. It means I'm blessed – far above my worth.”

Raymond shrugged. “That's true enough. For all of us. OK, when it comes your time, you'll get the body you want. But don't get too smug about your current modest body. It's composed of tightly encapsulated packets of incredible energy, relatively speaking.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know Einstein's energy equation?”

“E=mc²? Of course. Everybody knows that.”

“And you weigh... what? 50 kilo?”

“120 pounds,” she said.

“OK, 54. Plug that into Einstein's equation. Then compare the results with the known yield of nuclear weapons. If all the energy of your body were to be suddenly released, it would be like hundreds of America's largest nuclear bombs going off at once. Or dozens of Russia's. It would wipe out northern California and probably plunge the world into nuclear winter.”

Lorna was finally silent and wide-eyed.

“You've already got a powerful body,” continued Raymond. “And that would be another choice you might have, a bit better than the comfortable, beautiful, young body of the least worthy. Honorable but not fully dedicated people will get the comfortable, beautiful, young body but will also be able to access its power. Not quite cosmics, but much above the dishonorable. Anyway, in mortality, the body doesn't suddenly give up all its energy. These packets are tight! And are held together by strong forces. Scientists in your world are able to free only a tiny portion of this energy from a small set of elements. The 'universe' packets in my body are also tight and they are held together by forces a few orders of magnitude stronger.”

“Are there higher bodies than yours?”

“Many.”

“What are they composed of?”

“You mean like Father?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let's explain it this way. Scientists in your world – both planes – have characterized the universe down to 10^-43 seconds after the big bang, 10^-36 meters in diameter. That's a particle smaller than anything that could be seen in your most powerful microscopes, much smaller even than the cells in my body. Earlier and smaller than that...? Well, they know of no laws of physics that give a clue as to what the universe was like then.”

“What a surprise. But you know.”

“Well, some scientists theorize the universe could have started infinitesimally small.”

“10^-36 isn't infinitesimal enough?”

“We're talking infinitesimal.”

“OK,” said Lorna, shrugging.

“And those scientists are right.”

“Who'd of guessed it? So the universe did start out as an infinitesimal.” She thought for a second. “And are you saying that God's body is composed of these infinitesimals?”

Raymond nodded.

“Packed infinitesimally close, I presume.”

“Insightful,” he said.

“That's true?!”

“Your words.”

“But that means His body is composed of infinite mass and energy!”

“And complexity,” he added.

She stared.

“Stunning, isn't it.” He grinned.

“Terrifying,” she said. “I'm not sure I can ever talk to Him again. Even in hallucination.”

“You'll get used to it. It's reality. It's the way things are.”

“What do you mean?”

“Take this universe. You find it so amazing. The Hubble telescope is going to reveal secrets that will astound humanity. Released level one scientists are following its results as closely as the mortals because they think it may help reveal the secrets of far-jumping. But the universe is a vaporous and tenuous thing. Relatively small bits of mass and energy, like this...” He opened his hand and the orb reappeared. “...spread out over a volume a few billion light-years in diameter. It gets its stability from its size. What happens in one place scarcely affects the rest of it. But, locally, in any given small area, it's fragile.”

“But why does it exist? As an incubator for earths?”

“There's only one earth.”

“What?!”

“OK. Let me restate. There are trillions of earths. Trillions of trillions. I don't know how many. But each has its own universe. There's only one in this universe.”

“One? Why all the wasted space?”

“It's not wasted.”

“It's not?”

“No. Look. This earth has already emitted tens of millions of cosmics, myself included. In the near future I'm told it will emit billions, yourself included. Lorna! Sh! Don't say it!”

He touched her slightly open lips with his finger.

“Our primary job, as current cosmics, is to help nurture this huge set of emerging new cosmics. That's what I'm doing now. With you.”

He looked at her pointedly. She rolled her eyes.

“All of you,” he continued, “will have dramatic new powers you won't know what to do with nor know how to handle. New cosmics are like toddlers. They have to be watched constantly. Otherwise we've got the cosmic equivalent of smashed china, deleted word-processing files, speaker wires pulled off the amplifier, Mommy's watch flushed down the toilet, and, of even more concern, the risk of them falling into the swimming pool, running out into traffic, or ingesting cleaning solvents from under the sink. The house has to be baby-proofed and it's best to shut them up in a place full of brightly colored toys that fit together in interesting ways and produce intriguing sounds and flashing lights. I assure you, this universe is none too big to provide such controlled environments for billions of newly minted, half-baked cosmics. Present company not excepted.”

Lorna was laughing.

“The universe is already lighting up like a fireworks display,” he continued. “In a few million years, the light from this display will start arriving at Hubble.”

“OK,” she laughed. “Are you a toddler?”

“It's not been that long ago. I could tell you stories! But now I'm more like a grade-schooler. I can leave home once in a while for education. I can watch the babies, change their diapers, feed them, play with them, keep them from killing each other. I'm not quite up to the full, near-adult, baby-sitting qualification of a teenager. In fact, I still need baby-sitting myself. But I can help.”

Lorna was still giggling.

“Are you still worried about having a cosmic body?” asked Raymond.

“Maybe not,” she laughed. “I feel quite... toddlerish.”