From: John Crimmins <johncrim@v...>
Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 23:40:41 -0500
Subject: [FT] FTL Travel
I've begun some more tentative work on my FT campaign, and I have become
curious...how many people use the "standard" GZG Jump system for FTL? Thanks
to David Brin, I'm working with the assumption that there are a number of
different ways to circumvent the laws of physics. Other than employing an
engineer with a really bad accent, of course.
My terrans use Jump gates. Not the B5 version--a gate is a
mechanical device that uses an ultragvity "lens" to pop a ship through a
temporary hole in space. The computer system running the gate appplies the
proper stresses and angles to the "lens" to put a ship at a point, say, 6.5
lightyears thataway. The advantage is that travel is instantaneous. Go through
the gate, and bang! you're there. The disadvantages are a bit more numerous.
For one thing, accuracy is questionable. The best gates available, owned and
operated by the U.N., will put a ship within three hundred miles of its
designated point of arrival, assuming that the distance traveled is five or
less lightyears. The longer the distance traveled, the worse the accuracy.
U.S. and corporate Jumpgates run a close second to the U.N. model, with the
Chinese gates running a distant third. It is worth nothing that the Chinese
are the only people who include cryosleep chambers in their ships as standard
equipment.... A gravity well will severely disrupt a jump, causing the ship to
emerge much closer to the source of the gravitational field than it really
wants to. For instance, a ship attempting to jump into Earth's orbit would
likely materialize somewhere near the planet's core; the precise effects of
this upon both ship and planet are unknown, but scientists have hypothesized
that it would be "messy". Generally speaking, ships are placed no less than
200,000 miles from a system's sun, and at least 10,000 miles from any
signifigant planetery mass. Larger planets, naturally, require a larger safety
zone.
Jump travel is strictly one-way. Unless there is another gate
somewhere near your destination, you are in for a long trip home. However,
most
terran fleets include "Gateway" ships--ships that carry the equipment
and tools neccessary to set up a permanent gate. Under most conditions, fleet
engineers can have a gate up and running within three hours. Given another few
days, the gate can be upgraded to commercial safety standards. Gates also
allow FTL communcation; most modern ships are equipped with a miniature gate
system through which signals can be beamed. As a result, communication over
long distances can be chancy, but it does allow sporadic contact under most
conditions. What this means is that most battle are fought in or near
planetary orbit. The defending ships will stay close to home; after all, they
know that any attackers have to come to them eventually. An attackers primary
goal is to reassamble a fleet that has been scattered by the vagaries of the
Jump process; but at least they have a few hundred thousand miles in which to
accomplish this before they attack.
On the other hand, I'm giving my Imperials a version of standard GW warpspace,
but putting a few twists on it. In my view, warpspace is nothing more than a
psychic projection, created by the vast Imperial populace and channeled
through their many telepaths. Originally, warpspace was an expression of the
collective human yearning for the stars, but as the mental health of the
Imperium has deteriorated, so has the warp. Now, it's the place where
nightmares live, and ships have only a 75% chance of surviving warp travel.
What this says about the Imperial psyche is obvious...and less than
heartening.
So how do other people work FTL? I have a few more alien races to deal with,
and I need some different ways for them to get around. I am personally fond of
the Pournelle Alderson Drive, so I am probably going to work that in with one
of the minor powers. Any other thoughts?