Metaphysical Science Fiction by Dr. A. R. Davis

Imperial Technology

The Empire has most of the usual sci-fi technology you would expect. What they lack is enough engineers to build everything, thus they enslave brainpower from their conquests. They are also constantly at war, which hampers progress.

Transcomps

Universal translators worn as jewelry or implants that allow all the species to communicate. They are supported by the massive computing power of the Empire, centralized in the Library on Origin. It is all kept up to date and synched by the Library ships in the fleet, and the colonial libraries on the planets of the Empire. They update and synch automatically as devices near each other. Obviously they also provide surveillance also.

Assimilation drugs

The assimilation drugs gradually change the Breeze physically into the conquered species. Only used by the Imperial Governor of a conquered planet.

StarShips

Unlike the ghostships, the ships in the Cluster can only reach 1/4 C. Many go much slower than that. This means that they can voyage from star to star in about 1 impyear. Longer voyages are possible but are less frequent: military expeditions, migrations. Although many ships are quite large, carrying tens of thousands of citizens, those individuals journeying between star systems are only a fraction of the population of the Empire.

Almost all ships are propelled by generating photons in a fusion engine and directing them onto solar sails to pull the ships along. They can not go much faster than 1/4 C because the materials in the solar sails break down under a higher load.

In order to gain velocity the ships and everyone inside them must accelerate from a fixed position. At the end of the voyage they must decelerate. F = ma. This acceleration simulates a gravitational force. Force equals mass times acceleration. Unlike the speed of light, C, which I break metaphysically, this series attempts to deal with this practically. A typical person can withstand 5g of force, while military pilots can take up to 9g. On my starliners we can limit the acceleration to 1g, and the passengers will be quite comfortable. Military ships can start and stop under normal conditions with 2g of force, more under emergency conditions.

Between the acceleration and deceleration phases of a voyage, there is a period of constant velocity which would cause weightlessness. This can be handled in the traditional way by spinning the ship to generate an artificial gravity caused by centrifugal forces. Centrifugal force is an outward force caused by an object being made to follow a curved path instead of a straight line. The equation for the rate of rotation is: O = 9.55v(g/r) where O is the rate of rotation in revolutions per minute (rpm) g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2 or 32 ft/s2) r is the radius of the spaceship donut in meters or feet

The transition into and out of artificial gravity will occur on Roll Day. All the compartments on the ship will slide what was the floor onto what was a wall. (See diagrams) The passengers will be weightless for some time while this transition takes place. (I imagine some sort of Escher stairs scenario)

However, what of the smaller ships, the ones too small to spin? We will have to rely on the gravity engineers. In the fist two books we have introduced anti-gravity based on dark matter, for example, the flikes. In book three we have the ag-floaters, common throughout the Empire. Individual devices also assist the large Breeze to still fly. So, I will have to imagine an artificial gravity coating that can be painted on the hulls of the smaller ships. It is expensive, and so is impractical for the larger ships.

Finally, there must be occasions where characters are weightless. For example, when ghostships enter orbit above a planet, at the upper terminals of space elevators, in the shuttles, in the ag-floaters that reach orbit.

GhostShips

Ghostships

The ghostships can travel faster than light. However, their propulsion and their operation are a mystery. Every one seems piloted by an individual of a normal species, but each has a companion Wildthing. The Wildthings are assumed to be another species of Sentients from one of the stars in the Cluster. The Empire and everyone else have tried to reverse-engineer/hack the ghostships, but it is well known that is impossible and can have disastrous results.

Dark matter crystals

Is an invisible, mass bearing, non reflective crystal that reacts to consciousness and intention. It powers the ghostships. Cassidy needs Katie and Joe and the others to solve its mystery by themselves.

Weapons

Skoleme moon mashers

Suicide pilot missiles that deliver gravity bombs to tear a planet apart.

Gravity tugs

Gigantic machines that drag moon debris into a planet’s atmosphere.

The Memory Moons: ... an orbiting museum consisting of multiple spheres, each the size of Spaceship Earth from Disney

The Ark: ... the memory moon with the dark matter crystal installed