There are two types of particles: fermions, the building blocks of matter, like quarks and electrons, and force carriers, like photons. Supersymmetry tells us that each building block can be translated into a force carrier, and vice versa.

"The supersymmetric twins, the s-particles, are no doubt inherently fascinating," said Wyman. "But for the businessman the magic comes when you do two supersymmetric transformations -- say, electron to selectron and back again. You end up with an electron, of course -- but an electron in a different place..."

And so Wyman hoped to have me leapfrog through Susy-space to the lithium-7 object. What he wasn't so keen to explain was what it would feel like.

Susy-space is another Universe, laid over our own. It has its own laws. I was transformed into a supersymmetric copy of myself. I was an s-ghost in Susy-space. And it was... different.

Things are blurred in Susy-space. The distinction between me, here, and the stars, out there, wasn't nearly as sharp as it is in four-space.

Can you understand that?

Susy-space is not a place designed for humans. Man is a small, warm creature, accustomed to the skull's dark cave.

Susy-space cut through all that.

I was exposed. I could feel the scale of the journey, as if the arch of the Universe were part of my own being. Distance crushed me. Earth and its cozy Sun were a childhood memory, lost in the grief of curved space.

Eyes streaming, I opaqued the window.

I slept for a while. When I woke, things hadn't got any better.

Trying to ignore the oppressive aura of Susy-space I played with the new monitor configurations, looking for the Susy-drive controls. It took me two hours of growing confusion to work out that there weren't any.

The Susy drive had been discarded after pushing me on my way, like a throwaway rocket in the earliest human flights.

I could see the logic of it. Why carry excess baggage?

There were two problems.

The trip was one way. And Wyman hadn't told me.

I'm not a strong man; I don't pretend to be. It took some time to work through my first reaction.

Then I washed my face and sipped a globe of coffee.

The translator box lit up. "Luce. What's your status?"

I crushed the globe; cooling coffee spurted over my wrist. "Wyman, you bastard. You've hijacked me... And I thought the inseparability link wouldn't work over these distances."

"We have a packet link; but apart from that, it doesn't. This isn't Wyman. I'm a Virtual representation stored in the translator box. I should think you're pleased to hear my voice. You need the illusion of company, you see. It's all quite practical. And this is a historic trip. I wanted some small part of me to be out there with you..."

I breathed hard, trying to control my voice. "Why didn't you tell me this trip was no return?"