Report to Sor Karina of Nina since my escape from the Terran prison followed by data from the
celestial event predicted by the late Abbot Djovedhe.

(first message)
Sidere35170249.2{Sol}0227.5Local//For:Sor Karina.jrrchrrbeep...
...escaped in Bhotang vessel tsjrrchrrbeepfrwweefrrbrrspltdlpdlt.transmitting as we go to warp five
.sshhhjrrchrrbeepfrwweeprtdrpdrt.resuming assignment ffrrrchrrcgchcjbeepfrwweepctdcpdct.do not
send Away Team.yirrchrrbeepfrwweeptdpdt.proceeding with previous assignment on my way back
jrrchrr beep.. frwweeptdpdtsshshshshhsjrjrsssss....

(second message)
Sidere35170249.8{A Centauri}0130.5Local//For:Sor Karina.jrshzrrrbip...
...finally dropped out of warp sp.. tsjrrfrwweechrrbeepfrrbrrspltdlpdlt..s bucket of bolts... sshhhjrr
..chrr ..beepfrwweeprtdrpdrt..pparently they have not foll chrrcgffrrrchcjbeepfrwweepctdcpdct.. now
we'll see if the Abbot wa..yirrbeepfrwweezzyaowp..the Professor's dream ..sshhhjrrchrrbeepfr
wweeprtdrpdr... proceeding....jrrchrrbeepfrwweeptdpdtsshshshshhsjrjrsssss....

(third message)
Sidere35170249.2{Sol}0000.0Local//For:Sor Karina of Nina
...diverting all available power to the failing transmitter in this ancient sh ..sjrrfrwweechrrbeepfrr..
brrspltdlpdlt ..the Abbott was right... repeat... the Abbot was right...the ship's recorders seem to be
work...chrrbeepfrwweeprtdrp...this is incredible! never in my wildest dreams did I think I would
witness such a celestial event...hhjrrchrrbeepfrwweeprtdrpdrt..this is incred ...chrrcgffrrrchcjbeep
frwweepctdcpdct.. do not have enough power to return unaided...yirrbeepfrwweezzyaowp...please
send Rescue Ship to these coordinates ...sshhhjrrchrrbeepfrwweeprtdrpdr...slowly drifting into one of
the outer planets' atmosphere... must conserve power...chrrcgffrrrchcjbeepfrwweepctdcpdct..please
send Rescue Ship to these coordinates...will continue transmitting until ...pctdcpdct... burn up
estimated 43 hours from now... please send Rescue ship to
these....jrrchrrbeepfrwweeptdpdtsshshshshhsjrjrsssss....

(message from F.L.P. Bernardina)
I thank you for the timely rescue. I am now safely aboard the F.L.P.Bernardina. Most of the precious
data has been rescued as well. I am still under "house arrest", namely, all my communications are
decrypted until I can show that I was indeed following the Abbott's orders. I trust that this will reach
to you before I arrive.

It is clear to me now that the Abbot did not reveal our plan to Abbess Demiana as he said he would.
It is tragically unfortunate that he is not alive to see his brilliant logic vindicated. We will hope for
such powers from his successor. I must now shed light on the reasons for my absence and this
voyage.

You and I and many others had often heard Abbot Djovedhe complain about insomnia. This is not
unusual in people of his age. One of the many things that he did when he found sleep unattainable
was to roam the repositories of The Library of Dreams. He was particularly interested in the Theta 5
archive which, of course, he searched for the hallmark topic of our Order. He was the first to propose
a mathematical description of a suspicion that has lurked in the minds of humans since time
immemorial. He, as many others, was personally convinced that where most dreams are simply
nightly "furniture rearranging" activities of the brain, some of the most vivid dreams are "time-
space" folds, that is, true jumps in space or time or both.

By shear luck or coincidence, call it what you will, he found a particularly vivid dream of a Professor
Polonius J. Peepers back in the dark ages of Terran history. Being an astronomer at heart, the Abbot
was so fascinated by the nature and content of the images that he felt this was a possible proof for the
theory of time-folds. The clarity of the images left no doubt that they were based on astronomical
observations of the time and that they centered around the puzzle of the orientation of the spin axis
of Uranus, one of the outer planets of the star Sol (Sidere35170249.2} . With great perseverance the
Abbot hunted the planetary orbits of that system until he found a triple conjunction (as seen from the
planet Terra) involving the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. He tried to show me the formal
reasoning that led him to this particular event but the brilliance of his mathematics were, at that
time, beyond my comprehension. I trusted the Abbot and felt honored that he would confide in me to
that extent and was surprised when he asked me to go back to that time and record the event that he
felt sure occurred at that conjunction.

We could not hope to divert scientific research funding to this project. Nowadays all the effort goes
to the colonization of the inner arm of the Galaxy. The fad will fade in time, but meanwhile we
decided that the matter was to be kept in utmost secrecy. So, I left for Terra to explore the
wildernesses of the NorthAm in Terra diocese as I told you in my first letter after the long silence. I
was imprisoned at the time, sentenced to one year at hard labor by the despot Justinius Beesy-Ness
himself. I managed to escape in an ancient Bhotangh vessel. I must confess that I took the liberty of
borrowing it as I was in much haste and could not readily reach the owner. At any rate, a short space
jump took me to Alpha Centaury (only 4.2 light years away but it took 2 days to reach it... can you
imagine?). Then came the simple matter (in these times) of modifying the ship's drive for the time-
space jump back to the shadow of Saturn at the time of the conjunction. All power diverted to the
main engine and a failing transmitter meant probably barely intelligible messages. I hope they were
understandable.

When I arrived at the appointed time and place I was completely overwhelmed by the spectacle in
progress. I have recorded as much of it as the ship's scientific equipment would allow. I have placed
the most salient points of the event in the repository at www.cyberpass.net/~asesared/abbot.htm in
his honor.

I will attempt to summarize the event, though no words will ever do it justice. At the precise time of
conjunction a time folding took place that rippled through the ship as THE PADDLE appeared
(Good God! Sor Karina, you could see stars within that paddle!) and the planet Uranus itself folded
so as to offer its pristine polar regions to THE PADDLE. Then, stroke after stroke followed which
sent shock waves through the whole planet until the polar regions were thoroughly reddened.
Finally, the continuing ecstatic vibrations that rippled as far as Saturn abated while THE PADDLE
tumbled slowly out of sight. The axis of rotation of the planet had been changed. I know you, and
many others, will think me crazy but the evidence is at www.cyberpass.net/~asesared/abbot.htm,
from the Professor's dream to the final stroke.

I will gladly confess to charging my travel fare to Terra to the Order as well as borrowing a space
vessel for justifiable scientific research. As is customary for our Order, I will confess what sins these
may be to Abbess Demiana if necessary. Whether such confession is necessary will be up to her
judgement. If necessary I will also gladly volunteer for public punishment by a member of the Sisters
of St. Perejil de Cuerva. As volunteer, I retain the options of choosing who will administer the
punishment and of warming up in preparation. By the time this ship reaches Nina I will have
processed most of the data so that the entire celestial event can be viewed in slow motion. Perhaps
you would be interested in a first and very private preview...

Respectfully yours
Fra Umberto

data taken from the Bhotangh vessel very shortly after the time of conjunction

data taken at the end of the celestial event predicted by Abbot Djovedhe

the central image in Professor Polonius J. Peepers' dream - this was probably a composite of both polar
views of Uranus at that time.