Okay, here's the retcon in two parts, one that's kinda controversial and one that's really controversial.
First part: We drop the difference between Speed and Acceleration Drives entirely. All engines "accelerate" to move in a straight line. The engines we normally call "speed drives" still have their special space-opera characteristics - reactionless, gleefully ignoring the laws of inertia, stymied by gravity wells, etc. - but they still thrust to get anywhere. This would, IMO, remove an arbitrary distinction between engines that nobody pays any attention to anyway.
Second part: The slowdown. We slow down maximum travel velocities from a ceiling of 20% light speed to (roughly) a band between 0.02% and 2% light speed. The following table I put together to give you a rough idea of the band, in terms of (speculative) boosting power & their times from Earth to Jupiter during opposition:
Vehicle Type Boost (in Gs) Earth-Jupiter Time
-------------------------------------------------------------
RH Asteroid 0.15 18 days 18 hrs
Freighter 0.33 12 days 15 hrs
Standard Fencar 0.5 10 days 6 hrs
Fast Fencar 1.5 5 days 22 hrs
Epsilon Blade 6 2 days 23 hrs
Ptichka 10 2 days 7 hrs
Ga-15 25 1 day 11 hrs
Magnificent Midnight 35 1 day 5 hrs
This wouldn't affect interstellar speeds (still a flat 500c) or interwave communications, of course.
Rationalization: It occurred to me that given the top velocity curve we've got now, the pattern of settlement doesn't make that much sense. Think about it; we've got lots of people settling in cislunar space, not quite as many people around Mars and Venus, about half that in Jupiter and almost nobody past that. If the entire solar system is accessible with 24 hours of flight from Earth, the settlements should be way more diffuse than they actually are. So instead of raising the bridge & screwing up the entire setting, we lower the river and increase travel times.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
First part: We drop the difference between Speed and Acceleration Drives entirely. All engines "accelerate" to move in a straight line. The engines we normally call "speed drives" still have their special space-opera characteristics - reactionless, gleefully ignoring the laws of inertia, stymied by gravity wells, etc. - but they still thrust to get anywhere. This would, IMO, remove an arbitrary distinction between engines that nobody pays any attention to anyway.
Second part: The slowdown. We slow down maximum travel velocities from a ceiling of 20% light speed to (roughly) a band between 0.02% and 2% light speed. The following table I put together to give you a rough idea of the band, in terms of (speculative) boosting power & their times from Earth to Jupiter during opposition:
Vehicle Type Boost (in Gs) Earth-Jupiter Time
-------------------------------------------------------------
RH Asteroid 0.15 18 days 18 hrs
Freighter 0.33 12 days 15 hrs
Standard Fencar 0.5 10 days 6 hrs
Fast Fencar 1.5 5 days 22 hrs
Epsilon Blade 6 2 days 23 hrs
Ptichka 10 2 days 7 hrs
Ga-15 25 1 day 11 hrs
Magnificent Midnight 35 1 day 5 hrs
This wouldn't affect interstellar speeds (still a flat 500c) or interwave communications, of course.
Rationalization: It occurred to me that given the top velocity curve we've got now, the pattern of settlement doesn't make that much sense. Think about it; we've got lots of people settling in cislunar space, not quite as many people around Mars and Venus, about half that in Jupiter and almost nobody past that. If the entire solar system is accessible with 24 hours of flight from Earth, the settlements should be way more diffuse than they actually are. So instead of raising the bridge & screwing up the entire setting, we lower the river and increase travel times.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information
"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"