The Space Sieve Read online



  THE SPACE SIEVE

  David Smith

  Copyright © 2007 Lehi David Smith

  Published by Lehi David Smith

  ISBN: 978-1-4657-9714-8

  CHAPTER 1

  THESE FEW WORDS

  YOU WILL WANT TO KNOW MY NAME, but it is unimportant. It suffices that I am the one who is relating this story. Were I to give you my name, you could not pronounce it in any case. I am a being from another dimension – and another universe – than the one in which you are living. And while you may be curious about my universe, it will also remain unknown to you, as will my physical form. These are not things you need to know in order to read this book. What this book is and why it came to be, on the other hand, is something you will need to know.

  It might have occurred to you that within the total expanse of all creation there are beings that are outside your comprehension. You might have surmised further, that such beings might have ways of amusing themselves that are also beyond your power to imagine, and that their “toys” so to speak, could be rather unusual. And while this is true and interesting, that alone it is not the reason for my producing this account.

  Think what would happen if one of you left something he liked to play with –something such as a chain saw, a welding torch, a lawnmower, a motorcycle etc. – in the company of less-intelligent creatures – in a monkey cage at a zoo for instance. Think of the death, of the mayhem. It would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

  Think now what would happen if someone in my realm – someone of true intelligence and power – left his plaything where it could fall into the hands of a lesser creature – indeed, into the hands of a creature such as yourself. That too would be interesting, wouldn’t it?

  In the case I wish to document here, there was a device left in the world of a lesser creature – your world – and it was most unusual, even by my standards. Indeed, it was the most powerful toy ever conceived by anyone, anywhere.

  And what happened to it? Well, let me simply say that you should be happy you are still around to read this document.

  And so, why did I write it?

  It is something that I do, so to speak. I like to catalog those instances where unusual playthings are left lying around. It’s a pastime for me. And as I said, this particular one was most unusual. (Moreover, in this case there was an additional reason for this book which I will make note of at the appropriate time.)

  So in creating this document, my intention was to create something for my own kind to enjoy.

  No, I am not referring to the book you are now reading – such written work would be far too crude for my kind to take notice of. At the same time I produced my document for my own kind, I also spawned this one, in your language, almost instantly, sort of like a burp after a meal. You may want to know how. Think about it this way. Suppose you have a thought. You are thinking about a place you have been. You can visualize it fully in your mind. And indeed, using my language I can convey such images instantly, and simultaneously. But now, imagine how long it would take you using your language to describe a location about which you are thinking, to another person. It would be so slow. It would be imprecise. It would be inadequate.

  And it would certainly not be worth my while. When I produced my document in my own language, I also spawned this crude one in your language in an instant, merely as a byproduct. How could I do something like that, you may wonder? To explain, I must digress to discuss your concept of time.

  Like so much else of what you take for granted, “time” is perhaps the greatest constant of your existences. It completely dominates and limits every one of you. It is your constant companion throughout your life as it stalks you, like a wild creature destined always to vex you. And then, time will ultimately kill you.

  Remarkably, it does not occur to you that this thing you call “time” is something relatively limited to your own existences, and to the reality in which you live. While time for you may be one of the most powerful and immutable aspects of your existences, it may not have occurred to you that it – time – does not constrain most creatures within the total sphere of existence, and indeed it is not even perceived by them. The only occasion for which they take notice of it – of time – is when dealing with creatures that exist within a realm of existence (a “universe” if you will) that contains time. In any case, now that I have digressed to explain something so basic, I reiterate that due to the abilities that I possess, the book you are now reading took me very little time to produce, after your manner of understanding.

  You should also recognize that while your kind has a rudimentary cognitive or “thinking” ability that has allowed you to develop primitive technology in a variety of areas, many of you also have an ability which you call “intuition” that allows you to understand much more. In other words, intuition can accomplish far more than thinking, for those of you who know how to use it. This ability plays a key role in this book. And yet intuition – for all its value – is entirely mysterious to your kind and indeed, cannot be described by your language! What a remarkable state of affairs.

  So therefore, I cannot give you a direct sense of the events in this book nor can I relate any of them to you simultaneously using something as singularly simple and linear as your language. I can only endeavor to describe them as best I can, using your words.

  Having then produced this book, I simply left it somewhere in your world in a place where it should eventually be discovered – in a place where it was, or will be, found. (You see how difficult it is to describe events in something as contrived as time, using something as simple as your language!) Someone of your kind will eventually come across my book, will read it, then will copy it, hand it out, and so forth. He may even take credit for having written it himself.

  Let him (or her) do so. It is of no consequence to me.

  And so as you read this book, and sit there like a baby it its crib looking out at the world around you and feeling yourself to be so well informed about what you can see and hear and sense, and confident in what you know and believing that you also know all that you don’t know, you will perhaps appreciate this momentary opportunity to take a brief glance out the window, if only that the wiser ones among you can begin to understand what inept and naive creatures you truly are.

  So now after having related these few words, I can begin this narrative. As you read, you should remember how difficult it is to describe the unusual events recorded herein using only your crude language. Your language at its best – and your kind does not use it at its best – is wholly insufficient to describe even those things about which you are familiar. You can imagine how inadequate it is to describe the events that I will now relate.