terrene adj. 2

Contraterrene means just that—a type of matter exactly the opposite of ordinary or terrene matter. Instead of atoms composed of a positive nucleus surrounded by electrons, it consists of a negative nucleus surrounded by positrons.

They came finally to where a thousand flaring seetee suns had long before doggedly ‘crossed the street’ of the main stream of terrene suns.

The stripped seetee nuclei carried now terrific and unbalanced negative charges and repelled electrons, but tended to attract terrene atom nuclei. In their turn the stripped terrene nuclei attracted contraterrene.

It boils down to this; Argyle I is terrene matter and Argyle II is contraterrene, or negative matter.

We have the following observations regarding subspace: One is that the matter is unlike Terrene matter. The other is that there is a differential in time passage.

You are familiar with Quentin’s theory of our galaxy’s origin? That once there were two immense stars which collided—one terrene, the other contra-terrene? That the force of their explosion ripped the essence of space itself and filled it with ricocheting terrene and contra-terrene particles whose recurring violence warped matter out of space to form a galaxy? According to Quentin, the resulting galaxy was composed of terrene stars who are touched every once in a while by contra-terrene particles and go nova.

I searched my mind for an explanation. Contra-terrene matter, perhaps, from some distant island universe where matter reacted differently…drawing energy from somewhere, the energy it needed to find stability in its new environment. Stability as a terrene element—wonderfully, miraculously gold!

In the July 1942 issue of Astounding SCIENCE FICTION Jack Williamson, using the pen name ‘Will Stewart’, introduced the concept of ‘seetee’—contraterrene matter—to science fiction in the novelette ‘Collision Orbit.’ Seetee, as is now pretty generally known, is matter electrically opposite to normal or terrene matter, with a nucleus of neutrons and negative protons surrounded by shells of positrons. In contact with normal matter, the opposites are attracted to each other, react, and neutralize each other with total conversion of their mass to energy.

Mr. Stott—like all my other critics—misses the very point of the problem. Both parties, the terrene as well as the contra-terrene, entertain exactly the same viewpoint of the Universe. But this sameness cannot be communicated across the gulf that separates our form of physical reality from the one of the seetee world. Communication, therefore, has to go through a thought-translator. Mr. R. J. Olcott from Chicago (2250 West 112th Street) makes exactly the same mistake. He writes (in a letter not printed in Startling): ‘I contend that it makes no difference whether the intelligence is terrene or c/t. The human race has seen fit to assign to a certain type of charge the positive (yes) designation and negative (no) to the other…A ‘terrene’ life-form could assign exactly the opposite interpretation the same charges, and a c/t life-form could assign ‘terrene’ values to the charges that some terrene-substance form might give ‘c/t’ values.’

Efflux radiation is to ordinary radiation much as contra-terrene matter is to terrene matter.

If oxygen is the source of our power, and it requires energy to obtain it, whence comes the power to produce it? The answer is CT— contra-terrene matter, popularly called antimatter or null-matter—the same thing that powers the ships of the Navy. Rods of null-iron are merged with rods of terrene iron, converting into total energy: that is what powers our civilization. Iron is used because it can be handled magnetically; it is of course impossible to handle contra-terrene matter safely any other way.