Post on 30-May-2018
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Hi I'm Scomber.I'm a musician, a singer/songwriter/producer/author/
environmentalist/father based in Sydney Australia.
I believe that the best things in life are free and should not be
owned and controlled by some faceless corporation or
shadowy publishing/record company.
The creative process and its results should be democratic and
accessible too all...
Thats when I discovered the creative commons community.
No, I'm not a communist, not even that much of a lefty, but I've
figured out that restrictive copyright practices with its inherent
exclusions limits the growth of many creative pursuits.
Admiral Bob, one of the finest exponents of this culture puts it
like this; artists can and should contribute content to culturethat is unhampered by the kind of restrictions that treat art like
an imprisoned thing: dont alter it, dont move it onto a
different device, dont copy it, dont even listen to it unless you
re-license it.
The net result, I believe is a bland sameness that seems to
permeate most popular culture.
Profitability generally doesn't equate to quality.
Quality doesn't always lead to commercial success.This work is probably an example of both!
I'm not against commercial reward for art, its entirely necessary
but I'd much rather give something away for nothing. Thats just
me.
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I'd like to invite you all to take a little time to read and listen to
this book and its music as I release each chapter every two
weeks.
Mirror Mirror is a self published serialized multimedia e book
combining fictional sci-fi fantasy with DRM free music.
Each chapter has its own original song written and produced
in collaboration with the talented artists on ccmixter.org. .
If you are unfamiliar with creative commons licensing, a good
place to start is the creative commons website.
I'm blogging on my Blogger page and the updated ebook is
published on Scribd. All music and its attributions for can be
found on my home page on ccmixter.org
Here , I'll be uploading the stems and raw vocal tracks and
encouraging anyone out there to remix, cut up or mash this
original content to your hearts content.
So here's the first two chapters of Mirror Mirror and the first
two songs from the cc concept album of the same name.
http://www.ccmixter.org/http://creativecommons.org/http://scomber-mirrormirror.blogspot.com/http://www.scribd.com/scomberfreshhttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomberhttp://creativecommons.org/http://scomber-mirrormirror.blogspot.com/http://www.scribd.com/scomberfreshhttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomberhttp://www.ccmixter.org/8/14/2019 MirrorMirror Scomber Chapters 1-3
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Chapter 1
Three seconds of chat
It didn't seem that much at first.
Corey Mason, second year geek at Arizona State University,
pored over a trail of computer printouts from one end of his
room to the other.
It had been three years since NASA lost the twin Mars
missions, and notably the university had lost a huge
opportunity to get their instruments into space before thecurrent window closed. It would be another six years until
Mars was in such an easy-to-get-to position.
Most people had moved on to the next mission, their budgets
cut by a third. Drawn out congressional inquiries into the
failure of the two missions found the ordinary things.
The rocket guys concluded that the onboard navigation system
had somehow set the thruster jets of the orbiter five percent
askew. When the probe tried its first aero braking pass of Mars
it hit the atmosphere at the wrong angle, where it probably took
a perilous fiery nose dive to the red planet, burning up. For a
successful braking, the orbiter needed to intercept the thin
atmosphere within 1 degree of its nominal entry angle. Too
shallow an entry angle will cause the probe to skip off the
atmosphere back into space like a pebble on a pond. Too steep
Song Title: Mirror MirrorGenre: Dance/Pop
Music: Spinmeister
Arrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber
Lyrics: Scomber
Vocals: Sassygal
Backing Chatter: Jacinda Espinosa
= Download
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an entry angle would cause it to dive and burn up in the
atmosphere. At a velocity of 6.8 km per second, a temperature
of 1650 C and peak G forces of 12 times Earth's gravity, the
margin for error is slim. The Americans blamed key Europeancomponents and one billion dollars was lost in space.
While this was all occurring, the other craft speeding towards
Mars, the one containing the lander was only 800,000
kilometres from insertion. As the lander approached the red
planet it served as a relay station, accepting the extra data and
bandwidth from the orbiter as its partner used the thin Martian
atmosphere to slow itself down.
The plan was once the lander reached Mars and was ready to
land near the north pole, the roles would reverse. The Orbiter,
safely in orbit, would receive high bandwidth data from the
lander and then transmit it back to Earth.
The first craft, the orbiter, stopped transmitting 15 seconds
after the thrusters were first fired, 480 km above the Martiansurface. It got worse.
Twelve and half hours later the second craft, the lander, in the
words of the chief NASA Engineer, just disappeared from the
screen. Silence. Complete loss of contact. Not even the hum
from its ion propulsion system could be detected by any of the
large earth-based radio telescopes.
It couldnt have hit Mars after losing contact, with its lastcourse setting it past Mars and out beneath the ellipse below
the orbit of Jupiter in three years time. The Mars hoodoo had
struck again, and those little green men must have been
laughing at their neighbour's folly.
The printout that Corey had stretched before him was a jumble
of zeros dashes and crosses. Eight metres of paper represented
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the last 15 seconds of the orbiter. But these were not the
transmissions received by the approaching lander in relay
mode. Although they were weak, they were definitely the first
hand transmissions directly from the orbiter.Corey had already spent enough time looking for aliens by
staring at SETI data to know that it just didnt look right. The
image/positional data matrix didnt flow the way it should,
especially for a moving object.
Three small southern hemisphere radio telescopes had been
tracking the telemetry of the craft in the final stages of the
insertion for navigational purposes only but not collecting the
rich data. This was collected by the larger northern hemisphere
dishes that were better positioned for collecting a larger data
stream.
But a student in Australia, had collected the data inadvertently
while studying the magnetosphere of Mars. He had used the
extra listening bandwidth of his telescope not being used by the
Mars mission.
The relatively small sized dish at Siding Springs was rarelypointed at something so close, so this was his opportunity to
test some of his ideas. The observatory was primarily an
optical one, known world wide for its large refractor telescope.
Because the dish was so precisely focused on the spacecraft
approaching Mars - any stray radio waves, like the two
spacecraft talking to each other, send a small echo across the
region rippled across other frequencies.
Accidentally, this was detected and recorded.Corey had met Charlie Blake on the internet in a space nerd
chat room.
Corey was particularly interested in space forensics.
For every ten payloads launched into orbit he said, two
experience some sort of failure, and three literally blew up at
launch. Thats five angry and anxious investors each wanting
to know what happened to their 300 million dollars.
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Corey needed a contact that could look at the heavens from the
southern hemisphere.
Charlie wasnt your ordinary student. He was 56 or maybe 62,
full blooded Aboriginal and the type of person that didnt saymuch, but when they did, it was very timely and intuitive. He
started working at Siding Springs as a cleaner ten years ago.
Head astronomer Ray Phillips would often chat to Charlie and
was amazed with Charlies knowledge of the night sky and the
movement of the planets. Twelve months later Ray offered him
the position of onsite trainee with a four year external science
degree.
Ray had filled out his application and sent it off to the
department, putting his age down as 36. He got the position,
but even better, the ABC did a human interest story on him that
became a rare media nugget for the embattled Science Minister
of the time. Aboriginal done good.
Charlie was king of the kids. He could sit at the controls of two
radio telescopes and three optical telescopes. No more
scrubbing toilets and floors.
Corey picked up the phone.
Well I say its only 10.30 in the evening in Coonabarabran. he
said as he dialed Siding Springs number.
Charlie was in the control room. Most of the regular staff were
off on their Christmas break and it was basically just Charlie
and Ray Phillips, ten years older and still hadnt taken aholiday.
Ray and Charlie were camping out, the desk strewn with pizza
boxes and beer cans, with all their optical telescopes pointed
towards Venus, which was just about to be eclipsed by the
moon.
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An ordinary telephone ringing in the computer control room
seemed odd amongst the screens and control panels, but Ray
with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow picked up the phone.
He nodded a few times, grunted and turned to Charlie.Its ET calling home.
Charlie wheeled himself over on the government issued gas lift
chair.
Hey Corey, my junkyard pal, his voice silken and calm.
Corey wound into an excited mess of details, like a young child
telling a very big secret.
Slow down Yankee. Start from the beginning.
Well, its like this. Corey explained, calming himself down.
The data you sent me on Mars Express was good enough for
me to reconstruct the full 128 bits from the Orbiter crafts last
fifteen seconds.
But get this; about 3 seconds before the end of transmission,
the positional data is different to the final data relayed to earth
by the approaching lander. Its as if someone had edited a tape,
cut out three seconds, and replaced it with a copy of theprevious three seconds.
But this will blow you away; the exact length of the splice is
3.12 seconds. Thats Pye dude. I know enough about the
processors on board both craft to know that this number just
cant happen.
Charlie took a breath considering his response.
Are you sure its not just your decoding algorithm giving you
a false result on the data.No way, because I lined it up with the other positional data
and I still kept on getting the same answer. Corey stated
defensively.
Corey upped the tempo. Ill email you the full matrix .Why
dont you take a look at it overnight and call me in the
morning.
The hairs on the back of Charlies neck stood on end as Charlie
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realized that he might be able to explain the repeat of 3.12
seconds. Last week he had helped install a new receiver on the
secondary radio dish and knew a bit about parabolas. He had
better think about it further before he jumped to conclusions,Ill call you in the morning.
He paused.
You know I bet if went out into the bush I could find a grass
tree exactly 3.12 metres high. And wasnt that Michael Jordan
fella 3.12 metres high?.
And if I dropped a penny from a twenty metres high it would
hit the ground 3.12 seconds.
Corey interrupted.
I get your point. But pleasejust take a look at the pretty
pictures Charlie. Bye dude.
Corey hung up the phone and walked over to his PC and
emailed the full file to Charlie.
Charlie wheeled himself back over towards the main console,
catching Rays gaze briefly and secretly hoping that he hadnt
shown his excitement too much to his boss.Charlie gestured and asked Ray.
What you say we swing the gear around to Mars for a little
while before the guys get back on Monday.
Ray laconically said Are those Americans still looking for
Elvis? Don Crouchly reckons he saw him in that new deli in
town.
Charlie had known Ray long enough to know a joke meant yes.
Ray lifted his eyebrows. Ill give you a full 14 hours.Charlie smiled, his white teeth glowing in the low light of the
control room.
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Chapter 2
A bitter pill
That day Corey was on a high. He packed away his printouts
and decided to head down to the Three Stags to sink a few
celebratory ales.
The bar was only a short walk across the campus grounds and
then a shortcut through the car park of a seedy motel that
rented rooms hourly to truckers and other passer-bys.He walked in about 8 oclock to find the regular suspects
assuming their usual Thursday night positions. The carpet
reeked of stale beer and a small but committed crowd played
some pool sinking back some bourbon and beer. The jukebox
was playing a Hendrix tune that was weaving its way through
the thick smoke.
Scuse me while I kiss the Sky.
Corey nodded hello to a few regulars and approached the bar
for a drink.
The bar girl was slim and attractive.
Well, Hi there Mr Starman. She cooed, pouting and wiggling
her hips as she positioned herself in front of the beer taps.
All of Coreys university buddies had tried to woo Lisa but
without success.
Song Title: Bitter PillGenre: Blues/Rock/Soul
Music: Admiral BobArrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber
Lyrics: Scomber
Vocals: Scomber
Backing Vocals: Sassygal
= Download
http://ccmixter.org/people/admiralbob77http://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/Sassygal/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/Sassygal/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/admiralbob778/14/2019 MirrorMirror Scomber Chapters 1-3
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She had finished her freshman year still loyal to her Jimmie
who backed on to her folks farm in North Dakota.
Set me up with a supernova and a black hole chaser, thanks
Lisa.Lisa leaned on the tap and pulled a beer the way only she knew
how.
Whats the matter Corey, you look rather too cheery tonight.
She said as she cracked open a new bottle of Jack Daniels.
He shook his head. All I can say Lisa, is that I think Ive
stumbled across the biggest cover-up since Watergate.
What, the stars not going to shine tonight hun? she
questioned, mildly interested. Stargate I think is alreadytaken.
If I told you about it I would have to kill you. He said
continuing that old corny line.
She finished pouring the beer and leant over the bar, her eyes
large and doe like.
Dont worry, you can go ahead, Im already in the bad books
with my folks and Jimmie for not coming home for Christmas.Theres just too many assignments and theres no way this
place was going to give me any time off. Besides my old man
reckons he wont pay any tuition fees unless I change my
major to something that would help him back on the farm.
He reckons reciting Shakespearian sonnets to the hogs wouldn't
make them grow any faster.
Thanks Lisa. Corey replied as he took his beer and bourbon
chaser over to one of the vacant booths near the pool tables.He sat down and stared into his beer.
It just didnt make sense. Surely if a second year student could
see something so obvious, so inconsistent, the official inquiries
would have too.
He trusted the source data that Charlie gave him from the Mars
orbiter in its final seconds. But why was the lander data so
unblemished?
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Up to the point of the landers disappearance all
communication and relay systems were fully functional. All the
lander should do is to amplify the original orbiter data as it
approached insertion. If there was a cover-up why would youforget about something so basic? But who would have a motive
to change the final data stream, assuming it could be done,
when there was so much riding on the success of the mission?
Then what had happened to the lander twelve and a half hours
later?
He sipped his beer and was ready for the chaser.
A couple of guys were playing pool at the adjacent table.
He turned around in the booth to grab a cigarette and was
astonished when he noticed that the large mirror wall behind
the booth reflected an image of the guys playing pool. Regular
stuff. Same thing but everything backwards. He remembered
what his forth grade science teacher had once told him about
mirrors. Right is left, unless left is right. Oh, and tilt one way
away and be out of sight.
Mr McDonaugh was a retired World War Two code breakerturned school teacher. It took Corey twelve years to realize
what the old Scot really meant.
Face a mirror and hold your right hand up and wave to
yourself.
You know you are waving with your right hand, even though
the person in the mirror is waving with their left.
Mr McDonaugh would demonstrate this to all of his new
school students.Your brain since the age of about one understands mirrors;
You brush your hair, clean your teeth, do your make up and its
automatic.
Now lets say in a mirror you see a person you have never met
approach you from behind, him too waving his hand.
Is he right handed or left handed?
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What if he was flashing up a newspaper headline?
Could you read it?
Corey gazed into his bourbon and pondered;
What if the distance to the mirror was vast, like Earth to Mars.Even at the speed of light, it took a full 10 minutes for light or
a radio signal to reach Earth. What we see now happened 10
minutes ago.
The guy playing his shot on the pool table was now right
handed, playing from left to right down the table. But the
mirror showed a left handed player still playing left to right.
Corey looked up and noticed the booths opposite also had
mirror backing.
He then stood up and he could see the pool players reflection
in the other mirror but also the reflection of the mirror behind
him.
He asked Mr McDonaughs question again;
Right is left unless left is right.
Its all about perception.
The 3.14 seconds had to be a reflection (at a distance) ofanother 3.14 seconds.
He looked into and then sipped the rest of his beer and thought
that Charlie might be able to figure something out when he
spoke to him in the morning.
Is this seat taken?
Corey looked up and was startled to see a woman, probably in
her late twenties hiking up her tight short skirt to sit down inthe seat opposite in Coreys booth.
Hi Im Miranda. she said.
She definitely was too classy to be a local, Corey thought to
himself.
She had long black hair that framed a set of enormous almond
shaped eyes. And those legs, well they definitely werent from
these parts.
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He found it difficult to avoid her ample cleavage as he looked
up wondering what to say next.
Im Corey". He stuttered. "Pleased to meet you Miranda.
She reached forward and grabbed his hand at first like awomans handshake but then with an urgency that Corey felt
up his spine.
Im so glad that Ive found a friendly face at last. My car
broke down about twenty miles out of town and I had to endure
a trip into town with the scariest tow truck driver Ive ever
seen.
It sounds like you need a drink then Miranda.
Just ask your girlfriend for a slippery nipple. She said
looking down towards her own breasts.
Corey could feel himself blushing as he stood up and headed
for the bar.
Behind the bar, Lisa was stacking the glass washer and turned
her eyes, brightening as she saw it was Corey.
One of your best Slippery Nipples for the lady. He said.
Lisa was shocked for a moment and then began to mouthYou know I cant drink at work Corey
Stopping herself short when she saw a rather long set of
womans legs swaying out of the booth. She hadnt noticed
Miranda enter the bar.
A vodka, baileys and pineapple coming up. She said turning
towards the spirits, hoping that he hadnt heard what she had
said.
Whos the babe, then Corey? Is your sister in town?Your guess is as good as mine. Corey replied shrugging his
shoulders.
says her name is Miranda and her cars been towed here, Im
just a shoulder to cry on.
Lisa had finished making the drink.
Would your lady friend like a cocktail umbrella Corey? she
asked, her tone sarcastic.
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It beats me, but if you want to check her out, come over to the
booth and Ill order a beer. He said as he turned and tenderly
handled that slippery nipple towards the booth that Miranda sat
in.She was even more beautiful than he could remember when he
left her last time to go to the bar.
Her skin was a warm golden colour and her hands strong, her
fingers long and slender.
Now what do you do with your time these days sweetie she
asked batting her eyelids,.
Well I look at the sky a lot. Corey replied, attempting to be
funny.
She smiled politely and gestured to her drink,
Have you ever wanted to taste a slippery nipple like this one
before?
She asked, her lips ready, as if she was ready to say more.
Corey reached over and tasted the cocktail, swirling the taste of
pineapple and alcohol over his tongue to the delight of
Miranda.
That was the last thing Corey could remember that evening.
He woke up in his room to the sunlight and the chatter of the
local robins at his window. He was in bed and butt naked
except for his socks.
He sat up, head throbbing, his eyes taking a while to focus.
He was sure he hadnt dreamed about Miranda and began to
look around for signs that she had been in his room. Nothing.No bra, panties or hairclip, anywhere.
Except for a long black trench coat draped over the chair.
He sat up and lipped his arms into the warm folds. He couldn't
remember her wearing a coat of any kind let alone one so warm
and comfortable. It smelt of her, thats for sure. He reached into
an inside pocket and found a crisp piece of folded paper.
He unfolded it and read it;
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Thank You for a wonderful night.
I wish my car broke down more often in this neighbourhood.Thanks for all your help
Good luck with your Martian chasingIm sure to see you again soon.
Miranda xxx
Some wonderful night when I cant remember a thing. He
said to himself as he checked his supply of condoms to gage
his possible success. He looked down to where he kept his files
and was alarmed to find the printout and the disks missing.
His panic was short lived when he realized that there would be
a copy on his PC and he had emailed Charlie a copy last night.
He tried to boot up his PC to find the entire operating system
gone. The hard drive had been wiped clean and all the previous
data was done.
But surely Charlie still had the original data and receivedCoreys email.
He wet his face with cold water, got dressed and set out for the
other side of campus to find Lisa. Maybe she knew what
happened last night.
He found Lisa in the library where she turned with a brief look
of contempt as their eyes met.
So hows it going loverboy? she asked.You tell me. I cant remember a thing.
Corey beckoned Lisa to sit down in one of the vacant group
study rooms.
Im telling you Lisa, I cant remember anything after tasting
her drink.
Lisa paused. Yeah, I saw you sip the drink as I brought your
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beer over.
She didnt even take another sip as far as I know, but handed
me back the cocktail, saying something bitchy like this one is
taken. About five minutes later she stood you up and headedyou hand in hand out the door without even a goodbye. I
thought you were such a rude bastard.
Corey stood up and gave Lisa a quick peck on the cheek.
Thanks Leese. Ive got to go.
By the time Corey was half way back to his room, the reality of
what had happened hit him.
The cocktail was spiked, she had taken him back to the room,
fucked him (hopefully) and then taken the data.
A hundred questions began to swirl around.
Who was she?
What had she put in his drink?
Why would she want the files?
How did she even know what Corey had discovered?
He unlocked the door and entered his room and sat down on
the bed.He picked up Mirandas note and read it again.
What does she mean by thanks for your help?
Corey assumed she meant the data matrix, it wasn't like he
towed her car.
He immediately thought of Charlie.
He picked up the phone and called Siding Springs.
Ray answered the phone.Hello Ray, its Corey. Is Charlie about?
Ray swung back on his chair for a moment reaching to capture
the data that he and Charlie had spent most of the day
collecting.
Sorry Corey, hes gone walkabout for a couple of days. You
just missed him. Says he has to think something over.
What do you mean walkabout? Corey sounded concerned.
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Its an Aboriginal thing to do. Ray explained. Its a bit like
you or me going on holidays to recharge the batteries. As far as
I know hed be well and truly bush by now. Oh, but he did give
me a message to give you. He said thanks for the data andthere's an email Ill send to you now. He wanted you to see his
latest Mars data and I'm just running the comparative for the
lazy bastard."
And oh yeah, nearly forgot, he asked me to tell you to look
after yourself.
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in
Chapter 3
Drawn to the Bread Knife
Sidings Springs is situated 18km from the small town of
Coonabarabran indland New South Wales.
Fifteen million years ago the normally stable continent of
Australia floated over a hot spot in the Earths interior andcaused a cataclysmic event as the pressure penetrated the soft
crust. A shield volcano, 200 kilometres in diameter spewed
relentlessly for 400,000 years. The result was a chunk of Earth
lifted 800 hundred metres above the surrounding plain and
dotted with numerous dykes and fissures. These are long since
extinct, the softer ground around eroded away and today the
mountain range sits high and proud over the western plains of
New South Wales, a ragged scar on the grassy plains. The
Observatory stands elevated and clear, reaching into the dry air
off the desert plains stretching to the west.
This is Charlies land. Sacred land. The Warrumbungles. His
father and his fathers before him had carved their existence
amongst the basalt spires and winding rivers. Kangaroos and
emus by the thousand, the streams full of fish and tortoises.
Song Title: Climb upon the BreadnifeGenre: Acidpheric/Ballad/Rock
Music: Scomber
Acoustic Guitar & Mandolin : Mirko M ichalzik
Additional Samples: Subliminal, onlymeith
Didgeridoo : Afrit
Arrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber
Lyrics: Scomber/BoHeart
Vocals: Scomber
Backing Vocals: BoHeart
= Download
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Charlie remembered the stories that his grandfather had told
him as a child.
The aboriginal Australians saw themselves as part of the earth.
Land, body and spirit as one.Everything around you had an explanation.
It was the Dreamtime, when the Earth was created, and the
rainbow serpent carved its way through the rocks to form the
valleys and rivers .
Time was a transient thing, held in suspension by dreaming and
the means with which a soul progressed along its journey,
eventually completing the circle to the place it began. Charlie
remembered how his grandfather would explain the stars.
They are pebbles tossed across a flowing mantle. Like
flowing rivers, across the night sky, determining our fate and
our fortune.
The Kamilaroi clan of Aborigines had belonged to the
Warrumbungles for close to forty thousand years. Now theyhave scattered to the cities, lost to their homeland. Charlie felt
a dull ache in his heart as he realised he was one of the few
remaining with a daily connection to his homeland.
It was getting dark as Charlie climbed the steep track that
wound its way along the eastern edge of the canyon. The moon
hung low, ready to set, with just a thin crescent rimming one
side of the disk. Short and sharp thunderstorms carved narrowpaths through the canyon. In fading light, Charlie saw the last
golden outline of the rocky peaks and walls to the west. He
remembered coming out here with his father and grandfather.
The path they chose may have differed but there was only ever
one destination.
A one metre by 30 metre basalt spike towering above the thick
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hakea bushes.
The breadknife.
They might walk up via the river and through the canyon or
over the high plateau but they would always reach thebreadnife.
It was a place to complete something of importance.
Tribal elders had once held court there, exacting punishment
and making peace with neighbouring tribes.
Charlie knew this country well.
As a child Charlie's extended family would often refer to him
as "Walooga", the single child. It wasn't until much later in life
that Charlie discovered that the name was really just meant for
him. Though the translation was difficult, not just in words but
in context, it basically equated to the western concept of
"prophet".
For years Charlie felt angry with his father for not fully
explaining how he was "Walooga" and what he was supposed
to do with this burden.
Was he supposed to have kept his people on the land? Howcould you be a prophet if there is nobody left to enlighten?
Charlie also knew enough about history to know that prophets
generally appeared when there was a need for one and worse of
all, were generally dead and buried long before anyone realize
their significance. In the emptiness around him he wondered if
anyone would ever hear his sermon on the mount, let alone
what he would say when he got there.
It was getting increasingly difficult to negotiate the steep slope
as he wound his way through the scrub over the last boulders
before the plateau. The darkness was playing tricks with his
eyes and the constant shrill of cicadas and crickets made it
harder to concentrate on the washed out track.
He thought about Corey, and how he would hope to begin to
explain his theory on the Mars data. But he still had some
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thinking to do.
He hoped that Ray had sent Corey the latest data.
Take a look in the mirror
Corey could hardly believe his eyes. After restoring his
software, he checked his email and was pleased to see a new
data set of Mars that he could compare to those of the lost
probes.
He sat down, coffee in one hand and keyboard on the other and
lined the data up. It didn't matter that he didn't have the older
data anymore. All he had to do is run the data through his
algorithm, print out a matrix and then take a look, something
like an ink blot.
After studying the patterns of numbers and letters he noticed
the new matrix did not have a bulge at the end of each wave
like his original data. At the speed of light (zero on the matrix),
time seemed to have been slowed by approximately 3.14
seconds in the disaster data. Assuming the speed of light isconstant, this placed the point of disturbance at 1200
kilometres beyond Mars' orbit.
Yet the "disturbance" seemed to be well defined and sat in a
perfect geostationary orbit, which any first year student would
tell you was impossible at this altitude.
It was then Corey noticed that there were footnotes with the
data.
Ray had included a note that read;
"We checked the magnasphere around Mars again, and there
seems be a thousand fold increase in activity on the far side of
Mars.
For the next six months Earth is chasing Mars in its orbit
towards opposition and we don't really get a look at about 40%
of the surface and the space behind it.
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The Mars Surveyor probe is ten years old and on its last legs
but reports no major change to the Martian surface in the last
eight years it has been orbiting.
Something big is happening. Either Mars is somehow ready tochange her orbital tilt on a massive scale - something we don't
quite understand, or there is an object the size of Manhattan,
weighing about one sixteenth of our moon hiding from us on
the other side.
Be careful Corey. I'm sure we're not the only ones to have
noticed it... Ray Phillips."
Corey repeated the words, "an object the size of Manhattan and
one sixteenth the weight of the moon."
It occurred to him that such an object, real or just
electromagnetic, could feasibly act as a mirror, bouncing back
a radio signal. This might explain how his mirror theory fits in.
At light speed, three point four one seconds is about double the
distance between the Martian upper atmosphere closest to us
and the phantom on the other side.
The earth had known for the last hundred and forty years that
Mars has two so called "moons". Deimos, a 35 km long potato
shaped piece of rock and its little brother, Phobos, a much
lower orbiting chunk, hurtling in a perilously close path around
Mars. It encircles the planet twice daily rising in the west and
setting in the east. It is so low that it is not visible from all parts
of the planet. In a mere 20 million years it will crash into theMartian surface.
It suddenly dawned to him that if a phantom object existed
with that mass it would surely be seen in rather large change to
the orbit of these moons.
He picked up the phone to Siding Springs and dialed the
number.
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Ray answered the phone in his typical laconic manner.
"Hi Ray, its Corey, I've got to get in touch with Charlie.
There's something funny going on with Mars.
"Don't worry Corey, I'm on top of it.But I wish that Charlie would have told me what was going on.
I guess you're going to ask me about the orbits of our two little
Greek friends;
Terror and Fear.
"Well let me say that poor little Phobos as changed his apogee
by about 10 kms and its orbit has become much more elliptical.
I've never seen anything like it in all my life, but then again
I've only been alive sixty one years.
I wish Charlie had involved me earlier.
Charlie's Manhattan theory seems to be the only plausible
explanation.
If the body is purely magnetic, an aurora gone crazy, it should
have a gravity effect no where near what we are seeing. Mars
just doesn't have the mass or the magnetosphere to create a
magnetic storm of this magnitude.Yet the effect looks so strong at a single point that its possible
that good old Newton's laws breakdown under such conditions.
Time is bent and matter can transform freely with the energy
around it. A total flux where energy is the natural state and
matter is just a fortunate consequence. As a parabola in four
dimensions, this may explain your pye, Corey."
Corey responded, "but how does the mirror fit in? and thenbegan to answer his own question.
Surely the last few seconds of the Mars probe is clearly an
image of the previous 3.14 seconds. I watched a couple of guys
playing pool the other night at the local bar, and looked at their
reflection in the wall mirror behind me. The right handed
player now looked left handed but he was still positioned at the
same end of the table. The positional data corresponding to the
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last few seconds of the transmission is completely reversed.
The right handed player not only looks like a lefty but is
playing his shot from the other end of the table. What we are
seeing is therefore not a mirror, at least any kind that I knowof, but more a fresh image.
It's like when you face a person, your right is their left and
your left is their right. If you have ever raced one of those
remote controlled cars towards you you'll know what I mean.
We could be looking into the back end of some kind of black
hole and being a shown a different version of ourselves".
Ray leaned back in his chair and was surprised that Corey
hadn't already asked him to take another look at Mars.
"You know Corey, it wouldn't be a bad idea to focus our
attention squarely on that patch of space on the far side of
Mars. I've got 24 hours to get it done before the rest of the guys
get back from their Christmas break and then I'm stuck behind
a desk again."
I have already spoken to my mates down at Stromolo and overat Parkes and they are willing to give me 40 minutes air time at
eight oclock this evening. We have positioned the three radio
telescopes in an array, so effectively our combined dish is 400
km wide. What ever this object is we should get a fair look at
it.
Corey could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck.
"Can you call me right away if you find anything new?" He
said vaguely, his mind already racing towards a thousandpossibilities.
"Oh, and I can tell you that Charlie's OK." The flying doctor
guys spotted him camped on the very top of the Breadknife this
morning burning a small fire.
Dammed if I can understand the attraction.
If I did that they would arrest me but if you're Kamilaroi its
OK. I hope the old bugger doesn't slip and get himself killed."
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Walooga
Charlie had fought his way through the hakea scrub to reach
the breadknife that evening. It was about eleven o'clock, themoon had set and the stars above shone as brightly as they
could. The breadknife was the eroded remains of a volcanic
dyke. Lava forced through a weak point in the sedimentary
rock long since weathered away. Now only a jagged bony
blade.
Charlie located the meeting stone and sat down on it. From his
small pack he pulled out a number of 35mm film canisters. He
then removed his clothes. His fingers felt the rock in the
darkness, walking across its surface like his ancestors had for
the last forty thousand years. They brushed across the
smoothened surface until he found four shallow wells in the
rock. He opened a couple of canisters and poured out the
powdery ochre paint base into one of the depressions. He then
patiently mixed his powders with water, one the brilliant ivory
white of crushed pyrite.He looked up fixing his gaze skyward, and began to apply the
paint to his torso and face just like the last time he had done
this, 30 years ago.
The last time, at his ailing fathers urging, he had sought council
with his homeland, a confused young man. On that occasion he
was led out of the wilderness with a plan to rescue his life from
the cycle of alcohol and petty crime his childhood friends were
caught up in.He put the last of the ochre mix onto his forehead and fixed his
gaze on the Pleiads; the seven sisters, a cluster of stars, nothing
more than a faint smudge in the city, but here a brilliant clutch
of pearls.
The brightest star Alcone, aligned perfectly with the top of the
spire towering in front of him.
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With purpose and reverence he rose to his feet and began to
climb the breadknife, his fingers and toes searching and finding
the cracks in the granite face. His aging body now seemingly
fit and pliable, he reached the top and surveyed the viewaround him. Total darkness except for the dazzling ferment
above.
It was too dark to see the land and horizon and it gave him the
feeling of being elevated above the Earth, just that little bit
closer to the stars above.
The actual summit of the bread knife is of a flat topped wedge
of granite about one by three metres at the top and forming the
start of series of other jagged fingers of granite each lower than
the last. It certainly doesn't look like a breadknife when you are
close to it. More like a cathedral.
Charlie sat down, his legs crossed and limp, in the way his
people had before him. He slowed his breathing, and
descended into a deep sleep.
END CHAPTER 3