Dark Mirror - Diane Duane [10]
“Harmonic interferences,” Data said. “Dissonances, canceling and partially canceling waves, chaotic sines—”
“Chaotic,” Hwiii said, “is the operant term. You hear confusion, a buzz; nothing comes through clearly, especially not the datum you most desire, the one pure note. Interference from matter itself isn’t the problem, though hyperstrings and matter are inextricably associated. But the more matter and energy there are in an area, the more hyperstrings there are, and the harder it gets to clearly read any one of them in order to find out what its properties mean.”
“Clear-hyperstring studies, then, would involve getting out somewhere where there aren’t many hyperstrings because there isn’t much matter or energy?” said Troi.
“That’s exactly it, Counselor. Our studies of hyperstrings are still in their infancy precisely because no one has spent enough time out this far, taking the kind of measurements that will allow us to understand what hyperstring properties mean. Once obtained, we can take that information and apply it to hyperstrings closer to the populated worlds, eventually using hyperstring detection and analysis to build a navigational system which will exist independent of the moving Galaxy: an absolute coordinate system, utterly dependable.”
“Such a thing would be an explorer’s dream,” Picard said. “Besides the limitations of the speed of today’s warpdrive engines, the other main problem hindering exploration out of the Galaxy has been the lack of navigational fix points close enough to a passing ship to be read accurately.” Picard reached out to his wineglass, smiling slightly: the prospect was exhilarating, even though it would not be his generation of starship captains who would experience it. “No need to sow thousands of beacons or squint at Cepheid variables that are too distant to be read reliably … or to hope the supernova you’re steering by in the next galaxy over will keep on behaving itself.”
“Yes, indeed,” Hwiii said. “Alternatively, we can learn to use hyperstrings to examine matter itself … even, perhaps, to predict what matter will do. That will come much later, and the implications for all the humanities are tremendous. But for the moment, the one x2-track of hy-lepton decay in the right place, the one string sounding the one note, will be enough for me.”
“The recurrent musical idiom, Commander,” Picard said, “is it the poetry of the scientist or the species?”
Hwiii chuckled. “Something specifically delphine? Probably not. All our peoples are musical to one degree or another; but the great singers are the humpbacks and blues—they’re the philosophers, music is everything to them. Us, though, we’re too practical: we and the orcas. Music is talk, yes, but the talk is more interesting … with each other or you or other species.” He looked over at the buffet table with an expression of satisfaction. “That salmon, now …”
He glided over to help himself. “Lemon,” he said, expertly squeezing a slice over the salmon. “Mmmm. … But anyway, the hyperstring researches. It’s early to be analyzing my data, but I’m seeing signs that the theory I came out to prove, of retrotemporal hyperstring oscillation, is true. That alone will create some noise when I get home, for some of my colleagues claim that such oscillations either cannot exist, because of some of the principles of quantum mechanics, or that they exist but are unreadable and unidentifiable as such because of the oscillations’ complexity. There’ll be trouble in the journals … if there’s not more immediate trouble here.”
“The Laihe’s statement to us,” Picard said. “Have you been able to make more sense of it than we have?”
“Some, I think, though translation is still a problem. I’ve been with