The principal quirk I had in mind for the Masaka is simply that its central computer does not appear to have become an AI of any stripe, despite deliberate attempts to awaken it... but Billy "Danger Will" Robinson and his mates can't be entirely certain that it hasn't. Odd things happen aboard.
I'm open to whatever other effects you feel like slapping on handwavium-reinforced concrete, though.![[Image: smile.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smile.gif)
We've got half light speed as the upper limit for in-system travel (does the Limit apply to other stars, or is it oddly only Sol?); if that applies to small vehicles, cars or Winnebagos, what should the big guys' speed be? A tenth light, or less?
Of course, the bigger you are the slower you may want to go. Tearing around at relativistic velocity in something huge and unsteerable = badness. By the originally proposed max speeds the Masaka could make it from Luna to upper atmosphere in maybe eighteen seconds, but anyone dumb enough to try that deserves what he gets.
Of course, he was talking about life in the Third Breath -- in that setting, a new and super-fast FTL drive had just begun to radically revitalize interstellar commerce after a thousand years of somewhat slower expansions and dark ages. There were enough long-separated colonies and species that almost anything a breakabout (spacer) could pick up could be sold at a profit somewhere else, so starships tended to be crammed to the gills with all manner of cargo.
We're not quite there yet. ^.^
Still working on what Danger Will's primary Earthbound cargo should be. I'm thinking massive amounts of water, delivered to India and other countries in desperate need. Not sure if it should be possible to gather it the way I'm thinking, though... could it be extracted from the gas giants' atmospheres? Is there enough oxygen there?
--Sam
"He's gonna EAT it!"
I'm open to whatever other effects you feel like slapping on handwavium-reinforced concrete, though.
We've got half light speed as the upper limit for in-system travel (does the Limit apply to other stars, or is it oddly only Sol?); if that applies to small vehicles, cars or Winnebagos, what should the big guys' speed be? A tenth light, or less?
Of course, the bigger you are the slower you may want to go. Tearing around at relativistic velocity in something huge and unsteerable = badness. By the originally proposed max speeds the Masaka could make it from Luna to upper atmosphere in maybe eighteen seconds, but anyone dumb enough to try that deserves what he gets.
Quote:The late great Brian Daley said it best: "In fact, if you've got your own starship, the only way you can be poor is by trying real hard."
Third thing: So far, the major industry up in orbit seems to be... transport, to people in orbit. We need exportable stuff, too. Admittedly, we've seen a spot of bounty hunting, some astronomy, and a bit of satellite lift/maintenance, but it looks like most of the folks who hit the skies are going up there to *live* - and they're still consuming earthstuffs, in the form of food and hardtech for upgrading. They're going to need some sort of industry up there, or something like it, and if we're going to be supporting a significant population of transport types (and that's the niche that almost everyone is going ot think of first) then they're going to need a lot of it, emplaced at various points around the solar system that don't move all that well.
Of course, he was talking about life in the Third Breath -- in that setting, a new and super-fast FTL drive had just begun to radically revitalize interstellar commerce after a thousand years of somewhat slower expansions and dark ages. There were enough long-separated colonies and species that almost anything a breakabout (spacer) could pick up could be sold at a profit somewhere else, so starships tended to be crammed to the gills with all manner of cargo.
We're not quite there yet. ^.^
Still working on what Danger Will's primary Earthbound cargo should be. I'm thinking massive amounts of water, delivered to India and other countries in desperate need. Not sure if it should be possible to gather it the way I'm thinking, though... could it be extracted from the gas giants' atmospheres? Is there enough oxygen there?
--Sam
"He's gonna EAT it!"