The “What if?” for this story is this: Suppose we apply the vast machinery of Hilbert spaces to wavefunctions that describe a thought. To do that, we need to know how to transform from one type of space to another.
Transformations
In their simplest form, transforms take a function depending on one variable and turn it into a function depending on a different variable. One of the best known is the Fourier transform that turns a signal described by its behavior at various times into a function described by its behavior at various frequencies. Conceptually, a transform is analogous to a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The cocoon acts as the transform, causing the change. Just as the characteristics of the caterpillar determine those of the butterfly, so the characteristics of the original function determine those of its transform. Many types of transform exist, and they operate between many types of spaces, often involving conjugate variables. For example, we can transform a function that depends on position to one that depends on momentum.
A difference exists between caterpillars and functions, however; you can do an inverse transform on a function to turn it back into one that depends on the original variable. It would be like the butterfly spinning a “reverse” cocoon that would transform it back to a caterpillar! The ability to go back and forth is an entertaining aspect of what I call Kyle space in the book.
The wavefunction for a particular thought varies with position. The fictional “Selei transform” converts it into a function that varies with thoughts in a particular location. That wavefunction would be localized on that thought and its tails would be other thoughts less and less related to the main as you move away from the main peak. So here is the game: If we can describe the wavefunction for a certain thought at all positions, then we can transform it into a space that describes the wavefunction for all thoughts at a certain location. The closer the thoughts are that gave rise to the function in our universe, the “closer” the peaks of their transforms are in thought space, aka psiberspace or Kyle space. The Kyle operators in the books have brains that are neurologically better developed to interact with psiberspace. They use gateways that transform their thought processes from our universe into the thought universe and then reverse transform their thoughts back into our universe.
Kyle space has other fun extrapolations that can be found in others of my books, such as Spherical Harmonic (and its essay at the end of the book). Also, it is possible to play other “What if” games with wavefunctions that describe human beings. I will leave it to the reader to find out what those are in this novel. Enjoy!
Time Line
Circa BC 4000
Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon
BC 3600
Rise of the Ruby Dynasty
BC 3100
Raylicans launch their first interstellar flights
Rise of the ancient Ruby Empire
BC 2900
Ruby Empire declines
BC 2800
Last interstellar flights
Ruby Empire collapses
Circa AD 1300
Raylicans begin to regain lost knowledge
AD 1843
Raylicans regain interstellar flight
AD 1871
Aristos found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire)
AD 1881
Lahaylia Selei born
AD 1904
Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate
AD 2005
Jarac born
AD 2111
Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac
AD 2119
Dyhianna Selei born
AD 2122
Earth achieves interstellar flight
with the inversion drive
AD 2132
Allied Worlds of Earth formally established
AD 2144
Roca born
AD 2169
Kurj born
Roca marries Eldrinson Althor Valdoria (Skyfall)
AD 2204
Eldrin Jarac Valdoria born (Skyfall)
Jarac Skolia, Patriarch of the Ruby Dynasty,
dies (Skyfall)
Kurj becomes Imperator (Skyfall)
Death of Lahaylia Selei, the first modern Ruby
Pharaoh, followed by the ascension of Dyhianna
Selei to the Ruby Throne
AD 2205
Major Bhaajan hired by the House of Majda
(“The City of Cries” and Undercity)
Bhaajan establishes the Dust Knights of Cries
(Undercity)
AD 2206
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria born
Major Bhaajan solves the case in The Bronzed Skies.
AD 2207
Del-Kurj (Del) and Chaniece Roca born
Major Bhaajan solves the case in The Vanished Seas
AD 2209
Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei Valdoria born
AD 2210
Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia Valdoria born
AD 2211
Denric Windward Valdoria born
AD 2213
Shannon Eirlei Valdoria born
AD 2215
Aniece Dyhianna Valdoria born
AD 2219
Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin Valdoria born
AD 2220
Eldrin and Dehya marry
AD 2221
Taquinil Selei born
AD 2223
Vyrl and Lily elope at age fourteen and create
a political crisis (“Stained Glass Heart”)
AD 2227
Soz enters Dieshan Military Academy
(Schism and “Echoes of Pride”)
AD 2228
(The Final Key)
AD 2237
Jaibriol II born
AD 2240
Soz meets Jato Stormson (“Aurora in Four Voices”)
AD 2241
Kelric marries Admiral Corey Majda
AD 2243
Corey Majda assassinated (“Light and Shadow”)
AD 2255
Soz leads rescue mission to colony on New Day
(“The Pyre of New Day”)
AD 2258
Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk)
AD 2259
Soz and Jaibriol II go into exile (Primary Inversion
and The Radiant Seas)
AD 2260
Jaibriol III born, aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia
(The Radiant Seas)
AD 2263
Rocalisa Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria meets Coop
(“Soul of Light”)
AD 2269
Vitar Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)
AD 2273
del-Kelric Qox Skolia born (The Radiant Seas)
AD 2274
Aliana Miller Azina born (Carnelians)
AD 2275
Jaibriol II captured by Eubian Space Command
(ESComm) and forced to become puppet emperor
of the Trader empire (The Radiant Seas)
Soz becomes Imperator of the Skolian Imperialate
(The Radiant Seas)
AD 2276
Radiance War begins, also called the Domino War
(The Radiant Seas)
AD 2277
Traders capture Eldrin (The Radiant Seas)
Radiance War ends (The Radiant Seas)
AD 2277–8
(Ascendant Sun)
Jaibriol III becomes the Trader emperor
(The Moon’s Shadow and The Radiant Seas)
Dehya stages coup in the aftermath of the
Radiance War (Spherical Harmonic)
Imperialate and Eubian leaders meet for
preliminary peace talks (Spherical Harmonic)
Jason Harrick crashes on the planet Thrice
Named (“The Shadowed Heart”)
Vyrl goes to Balumil and meets Kamoj
&
nbsp; (The Quantum Rose)
Vyrl returns to Skyfall and leads planetary act
of protest (The Quantum Rose)
AD 2279
Althor Vyan Selei born (the second son of
Dyhianna and Eldrin)
Del sings “The Carnelians Finale” and nearly starts
a war (Diamond Star)
AD 2287
Jeremiah Coltman trapped on Coba
(“A Roll of the Dice” and The Ruby Dice)
Jeejon dies (The Ruby Dice)
AD 2288
Kelric and Jaibriol Qox III sign peace treaty
(The Ruby Dice)
AD 2289
Imperialate and Eubian governments meet for
peace negotiations (Carnelians)
AD 2298
Jess Fernandez goes to Icelos (“Walk in Silence”)
AD 2326
Tina and Manuel return to New Mexico
(“Ave de Paso”)
AD 2328
Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok
(Catch the Lightning; also the duology Lightning
Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II)
Taken together, Lightning Strike, Book I and Lightning Strike, Book II are the story told in Catch the Lightning, but substantially rewritten and expanded for the e-book release. The e-book version of Primary Inversion is rewritten from the original and considered by the author as the best version.