A Theological Fantasy
"Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left."
- Isaiah the Prophet -
I'm on a day hike with my father, enjoying the foothills above Innsbruck. We're stopped for lunch at a rustic mountain way station, where we've met a couple of sweet gals. Both are super bright tech geeks, here on a break from working on a demanding project. But it's the redhead I can't take my eyes off. Her latest comment has my head spinning:
"We've got a whole lot of universe filling to do, and that ain't gonna happen using rockets."
I have to know what her plan is for traveling to the stars. Dad and Red's friend have lost interest in the conversation, and are standing at a nearby railing discussing the design of a tram arriving in the fog.
"OK, so I've read about other launch mechanisms; rail guns, Lofstrom loops, space elevators—even balloons floating their way to orbit. Is that what you're talking about?"
"You're not thinking big enough. Those may be better ways to get off the planet, but then we're still confined to the solar system. Our next stop is more than four light years away."
"Well, we do have eternity."
"Right. So, are you a 'Getting there is half the fun' kind of guy? Much as I appreciate the gift of endless days, I don't want to spend decades sealed in an airtight bubble on a trajectory between stars."
Hmmm. Red may have a point. But, how bad could it be if she were in that bubble with me?
"What do you propose? Give me some details about this brain-bending project you're here resting up from."
"In a word: translation."
Planting tongue firmly in cheek, I say "I speak a little Spanish..."
Red swings and I duck. "Oh, you meant something else?"
"Think about it. There are two trillion galaxies in the universe, and that's all we know about so far. With maybe 100 billion habitable planets in each, and an average distance between galaxies something like a hundred kiloparsecs, "conventional" travel is really out of the question."
Red's absolutely right. Now that I'm beginning to see her point, my excitement is growing.
"I get it. You're right, I don't want to spend all my time in a can flying through interstellar space."
I flash on an old TV show, recalling one particular image. "You're talking about a Tardis, aren't you?
"A what?"
"A Tardis. Science fiction, or at least it was until I realized that's what you have in mind. A Tardis is a fictional device that travels between places without needing to traverse the intervening space."
"Sorry, I never read much science fiction, but that's the idea. Our preliminary research seems to imply that the universe is built on a coordinate system. We believe it may be possible to move objects from place to place by what amounts to simply changing their coordinate address."
Mind blown.
Now I totally get it. I can't begin to imagine how it might be done, but I know this: I want in, more than I remember ever wanting anything in my life.
My brain is in high gear now. Is there really a universal coordinate system? What's the baseline reference point? Everything in the universe is in dizzying motion... It might be a little embarrassing if you wanted to visit a planet orbiting Gliese 667 C to end up inside the star. "Cool" red dwarf or not, I suspect it would be too hot for comfort. Without a doubt, there are more than enough fascinating problems to solve.
Not one to back off from territory angels fear to tread, I pop the question.
"Do you need any help? I'm a pretty good gofer, I have some other notable skills, and I definitely want in."
It may be just the most recent data point in my new life of delightful surprises, but Red's broadening smile confirms my long-held belief in God's good, sovereign plan for me.
"Welcome to the team."
That should explain most of it. That's the story of how I got involved with my very first significant project here in The Glory.
Maybe her face will explain the rest. Red (not her true name, but that's what I call her) is not the least bit hard to look at. By some miracle, I was able to convince here that I'd be an asset to the project. Besides fetching her coffee, I've somehow managed to contribute one or two ideas to move the project along.
Will we succeed?
We're already well on our way.
For much more of 
