The Devouring Tide

Another horridly written story by JRF, this time about an all-consuming, universe-destroying frontier of “non-spacetime” dubbed “Black Infinity”, a shock wave from the original big bang which is now catching up with the matter-universe. JRF has his genius of a protagonist postulate that our universe was a result of a pure thought process acting on absolute nothingness. To escape Black Infinity, far flung alien civilizations are attacking Earth as a temporary foot-hold (we’re getting visitors from as far away as the other end of the universe….). The genius builds “mathematical weapons” (“The basic energy quanta of those ships is rendered void because the mathematical postulations making them up are being cancelled out. My weapons are based on the probability waves of the electron, incorporating nine dimensions (!)”) to stop the aliens and also erects “mathematical barriers” (“they’re not dealing with material things but transfigurations”) to slow them down. In the end, he uses his mathematical energies to focus intense thoughts on Black Infinity and spawns a new universe.

The story features slower-than-light signals outracing FTL communication and a planet “infinitely closer to earth” than another body….all in all, a nice concept which would have been wonderful in the hands of Asimov or Baxter but completely trashed by JRF.