Teknologien hedder “Slipstream“. Den forudsætter at der i rummet er nogle baner mellem forskellige solsystemer, hvor man med den rigtige (slipstream)teknologi kan rejse i overlyshastighed*. Det gør det muligt at rejse mellem solsystemer selvom de ellers ligger langt fra hinanden.Jeg forestiller mig noget a la de rumormehuller man hørte så meget om i 90erne. Så langt så godt.

For at et solsystem kan bruge den der slipstream er man nødt til at ha’ nogle “slipknots”, men hvad de er og hvordan de ser ud, ved jeg ikke. Jeg tror det står i teksten, men det er desværre den del af teksten som overhovedet ikke forstår . Her er hvad der står i bogen:

“Slipstream points (slipknots) are located above and below the plane of the ecliptic for the system, at a distance roughly 5 AU (astronomical units) above and below the poles of each system – a point directly above (and below) the barycenter, which is the point around which all bodies in the system revolve. How close you need to be to this point is determined by the technology level of your slip system – a small device capable of translating the ship across unknown distances pre-determined by hidden geometries.

(Diaspora s. 17)

 

Hvad betyder det? Er der en slags rumstationer, hvor skibene kan “hoppe” fra og til? Ligger de der stationer inde i solen (er solen ikke det punkt hvorom alt matter rotere?)? Hvorfor skal de der slipknots, som jeg går ud fra er noget andre end rumstationer, både ligge over og under the plane of the ecliptic. Hvad mon astronomical units og the plane of the ecliptic er?

Et par sider senere står der noget om “Slipknot Stations”, i forbindelse med at forskellige solsystemer kan ha’ forskellige technology level** (forkortet T og et tal) og derfor har forskellige muligheder for bruge slipstream-teknologien:

“At T2, slipknot stations must thrust constantly (or maintain a thrust, coast, re-thrust pattern, yo-yoing very slowly above and below the knot) in order to stay near the slipknot. As a result, they are expensive to maintain, requiring a constant influx of reaction of fuel and r-mass required is small as the thrust needed is extremely tiny (less than a ten thousandth of a gravity for a Sol-sized system). Poor systems may not maintain a slipknot station at all, however, and most will not bother maintaining one for each knot.

 

At T3, slipknot stations keep their position with photon sails, some aligned to accept pressure from the sun and others maneuvering slowly to accept pressure from laser stations at convenient locations (near fuel or population sources) in orbit in the system.

 

At T4, stations hang at the slipknot with no obvious means to do so. The technology they use to accomplish this is non-Newtonian. It may involve anti-gravity or perhaps some “free” energy source. There may be a way to latch onto whatever the slipknot actually is, and use the knot itself to keep station.”

(Diaspora s. 20)

 

Jeg forstår at der er forskel på de forskellige slipknots alt efter systemets T, men jeg ved stadigvæk ikke hvad de der slipknots er.

 

 

 

*) Hedder det virkelig det på dansk?

**) Technology level går fra T-4 til T4. T-4 er stone age. T4 er on the verge of collapse. Vi er, altså os på jorden i dag, på T-1 (atomic power).