Day Trip - 09/Jun/2012
Before Spring, 2008, UK/Moon.
The rain had been bad, this late Winter[1]. Brains remembered when even the UK's erratic climate could be pretty confident of a cold Winter. Global warming, he guessed.
While the rain was annoying, it did have the advantage of putting-off people who might visit the disused airfield, over which he'd moored his invisible spaceship. He'd spent quite a bit of time, on the ground, in his personally invisible wheelchair, protected from wind and weather by forcefield. Looking, with both naked eye and binoculars, to see if his ship might might be spotted, say by bird watchers.
Eventually he'd moved it higher, a compromise between not leaving a rain shadow, and his fear of low-flying aircraft. Fortunately no kite flyers, or model aircraft enthusiasts, had run into it. Though, he'd had to tweak the forcefields to dissuade birds from perching there.
At nearly 20 feet in diameter and more than 65 feet long it, he supposed he should say 'she', couldn't be left just anywhere, even with invisibility. He'd come up with a fancy Japanese name, for the launch christening, but been using "SS Champ" (for 'champion') as 'work boat' just didn't seem enough.
Fighting quirks all Winter. Twice he'd ripped-out several days work on major subsystems, had a re-think, and started again. He knew there'd be some quirks, it was the nature of handwavium, but he wanted to be sure they were ones he could easily live with. Certainly nothing involving prayers to Murphy[2], or loud music to distract Eris, just to ensure things kept functioned.
Yesterday he'd finished Uran[3][4], then spent several hours getting to know her. He guessed she was the little sister he'd never had, wrapped-up in a 1m tall robot body. Today was final checks on the ship, finishing those little jobs that always got put off till the last minute. Uran being distracted by his manga and graphic novel collection; had he hid all the 'adult' ones?
He'd learned a lot building 'Champ', far more than throwing-together the 20-foot 'work horse', the "SS Gee Gee", Uran called her. As planned, enough room to put one in the hold of the other.
---
The launch party. A fortunately clear morning, though rain looked likely, later. He'd put a temporary railed platform, around the central top airlock hatch, cloaked by a portable invisibility screen.
"You mean I can really launch the ship?", Uran was almost beside herself. Brainless mumbled something, probably impolite, from where he'd wedged himself in the corner of the platform. He'd only come under protest, but Brains thought it a good test run for taking him to the upcoming Eastercon.
"Yes", and Brains handed her a piece of paper. She squinted at it, briefly, then stepped forwards, clutching the miniature champagne bottle, all 200ml of it. "I name this ship the 'SS Shuroyoku', and may Murphy bless all who sail in her!", and she broke the bottle, first time, on the invisible hull.
Then, she knelt-down, and kissed it. "But, you'll always be the 'SS Champ' to me!" Brains gently slapped himself on the forehead. "Just a load of over-ritualized nonsense", muttered Brainless, loud enough to get a glare from Brains.
"Right, tidy up, then back home to pack some lunch, for me." Brains handed a dustpan and brush to Uran, and she carefully swept-up the debris of the bottle, before wind and rain did its own sweeping. "Can I keep these?" "OK", replied Brains, "But let me make them up into some sort of display, for you. I know you can't cut yourself on them, but others might."
---
They'd taken it slow out of the atmosphere, a full half-hour, but once in space they'd flashed straight to the Moon, then around to the Far Side. The lack of view-ports made Uran impatient, even though she was connected, by her built-in comms suite, to the ship's scanners, and saw far more than Brains did on the wrap-around view-screen. "I bet I could modify these to use some sort of fibre-optic semi-direct feed, for emergencies", thought Brains.
They weren't doing any real navigation, just point-and-fly, but the ship was fast enough, with enough safety features, that Brains thought this wouldn't be a problem. Even Brainless seemed quiet, which Brains chose to take in a positive way.
The landing on the Moon, after following Brains map to the crater he owned, was almost an anticlimax. Brains flew out and down in his wheelchair, followed by Uran, who carried an unprotected Brainless in his wheelchair. Brains generously paused, to let Uran put her foot to ground first, for which he was repaid with a wide smile.
They looked around, at the crisp blackness, the untwinkling stars, the sharp shadows. Brains very faintly tasted gunpowder. "Maybe my forcefield isn't as impermeable as I thought?", he mused.
Uran experimented with some bounce walking, then turned to Brains, and her lips moved. "Hmph", thought Brains, "Obviously no sound, as no air. But, I've nothing to talk to her built-in communicator. Clever".
Brainless sat back, arms folded, but every so often looked around, when he thought the others weren't looking at him.
After maybe half-an-hour, Brains went back into the airlock, and brought out his surveying tools. A combination of traditional hard tech, and a waved toy science tricoder, told him what he thought he needed to finish the house plans.
Back in the ship they just sat for a while. Brainless read "Explorers on the Moon"[5], the Tintin book published in 1954, the year before Brains was born. But, Brains didn't think his heart was in it. Even Uran was a bit quiet.
After a while she remarked, "So, we'll be living here, full-time, by the end of the Spring? Just a few months? I was only born the day before yesterday, but that seems a big change. Are you sure?"
"Yes." And even Brainless looked up at his strong statement.
"If we don't go now they'll make it illegal. I promised Dad, before he died, that I wouldn't break the law without a really good reason."
"If you want to take a trip back to Earth, I'm sure we'll figure out a way. But, I, we, need to be here."
He grinned. "After all, my friends always tell me I'm a lunatic."
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind
Before Spring, 2008, UK/Moon.
The rain had been bad, this late Winter[1]. Brains remembered when even the UK's erratic climate could be pretty confident of a cold Winter. Global warming, he guessed.
While the rain was annoying, it did have the advantage of putting-off people who might visit the disused airfield, over which he'd moored his invisible spaceship. He'd spent quite a bit of time, on the ground, in his personally invisible wheelchair, protected from wind and weather by forcefield. Looking, with both naked eye and binoculars, to see if his ship might might be spotted, say by bird watchers.
Eventually he'd moved it higher, a compromise between not leaving a rain shadow, and his fear of low-flying aircraft. Fortunately no kite flyers, or model aircraft enthusiasts, had run into it. Though, he'd had to tweak the forcefields to dissuade birds from perching there.
At nearly 20 feet in diameter and more than 65 feet long it, he supposed he should say 'she', couldn't be left just anywhere, even with invisibility. He'd come up with a fancy Japanese name, for the launch christening, but been using "SS Champ" (for 'champion') as 'work boat' just didn't seem enough.
Fighting quirks all Winter. Twice he'd ripped-out several days work on major subsystems, had a re-think, and started again. He knew there'd be some quirks, it was the nature of handwavium, but he wanted to be sure they were ones he could easily live with. Certainly nothing involving prayers to Murphy[2], or loud music to distract Eris, just to ensure things kept functioned.
Yesterday he'd finished Uran[3][4], then spent several hours getting to know her. He guessed she was the little sister he'd never had, wrapped-up in a 1m tall robot body. Today was final checks on the ship, finishing those little jobs that always got put off till the last minute. Uran being distracted by his manga and graphic novel collection; had he hid all the 'adult' ones?
He'd learned a lot building 'Champ', far more than throwing-together the 20-foot 'work horse', the "SS Gee Gee", Uran called her. As planned, enough room to put one in the hold of the other.
---
The launch party. A fortunately clear morning, though rain looked likely, later. He'd put a temporary railed platform, around the central top airlock hatch, cloaked by a portable invisibility screen.
"You mean I can really launch the ship?", Uran was almost beside herself. Brainless mumbled something, probably impolite, from where he'd wedged himself in the corner of the platform. He'd only come under protest, but Brains thought it a good test run for taking him to the upcoming Eastercon.
"Yes", and Brains handed her a piece of paper. She squinted at it, briefly, then stepped forwards, clutching the miniature champagne bottle, all 200ml of it. "I name this ship the 'SS Shuroyoku', and may Murphy bless all who sail in her!", and she broke the bottle, first time, on the invisible hull.
Then, she knelt-down, and kissed it. "But, you'll always be the 'SS Champ' to me!" Brains gently slapped himself on the forehead. "Just a load of over-ritualized nonsense", muttered Brainless, loud enough to get a glare from Brains.
"Right, tidy up, then back home to pack some lunch, for me." Brains handed a dustpan and brush to Uran, and she carefully swept-up the debris of the bottle, before wind and rain did its own sweeping. "Can I keep these?" "OK", replied Brains, "But let me make them up into some sort of display, for you. I know you can't cut yourself on them, but others might."
---
They'd taken it slow out of the atmosphere, a full half-hour, but once in space they'd flashed straight to the Moon, then around to the Far Side. The lack of view-ports made Uran impatient, even though she was connected, by her built-in comms suite, to the ship's scanners, and saw far more than Brains did on the wrap-around view-screen. "I bet I could modify these to use some sort of fibre-optic semi-direct feed, for emergencies", thought Brains.
They weren't doing any real navigation, just point-and-fly, but the ship was fast enough, with enough safety features, that Brains thought this wouldn't be a problem. Even Brainless seemed quiet, which Brains chose to take in a positive way.
The landing on the Moon, after following Brains map to the crater he owned, was almost an anticlimax. Brains flew out and down in his wheelchair, followed by Uran, who carried an unprotected Brainless in his wheelchair. Brains generously paused, to let Uran put her foot to ground first, for which he was repaid with a wide smile.
They looked around, at the crisp blackness, the untwinkling stars, the sharp shadows. Brains very faintly tasted gunpowder. "Maybe my forcefield isn't as impermeable as I thought?", he mused.
Uran experimented with some bounce walking, then turned to Brains, and her lips moved. "Hmph", thought Brains, "Obviously no sound, as no air. But, I've nothing to talk to her built-in communicator. Clever".
Brainless sat back, arms folded, but every so often looked around, when he thought the others weren't looking at him.
After maybe half-an-hour, Brains went back into the airlock, and brought out his surveying tools. A combination of traditional hard tech, and a waved toy science tricoder, told him what he thought he needed to finish the house plans.
Back in the ship they just sat for a while. Brainless read "Explorers on the Moon"[5], the Tintin book published in 1954, the year before Brains was born. But, Brains didn't think his heart was in it. Even Uran was a bit quiet.
After a while she remarked, "So, we'll be living here, full-time, by the end of the Spring? Just a few months? I was only born the day before yesterday, but that seems a big change. Are you sure?"
"Yes." And even Brainless looked up at his strong statement.
"If we don't go now they'll make it illegal. I promised Dad, before he died, that I wouldn't break the law without a really good reason."
"If you want to take a trip back to Earth, I'm sure we'll figure out a way. But, I, we, need to be here."
He grinned. "After all, my friends always tell me I'm a lunatic."
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind