The universe is governed by two separate sets of laws: those that hold within a strong gravitational field, and those that hold outside of a strong gravitational field.

A strong field is defined to be that which exists around an object out to a certain radius, the latter being proportionally dependent upon the object's mass. In the case of the Sun, this radius lies 50 astronomical units out from its centre. This radius is usually called the Lipsey Barrier. Objects within the barrier are governed by Einstein's various laws. Outside of the barrier Spark's Laws hold sway. These are basically similar to Einstein's Laws, with one major exception: under certain conditions it is possible to exceed the speed of light.

According to both Einstein and Sparks, as a vessel approaches lightspeed, its mass goes to infinity, the amount of energy required to accelerate it to lightspeed goes to infinity, and the relative passage of time within the vessel goes to zero. However, Spark's Laws state that "if a sufficiently infinite amount of energy is applied to the acceleration in a sufficiently brief period of time, c ceases to be a barrier, the normal laws of dimensionality can be circumvented, and so it is possible to cross large distances in zero time." In effect, a vessel will leap across a long distance instantaneously. The length of this "jump" is dependent solely on the amount of energy which can be put through a ship's drive in the shortest period possible. The more energy in a shorter period, the longer the jump.

The major components of a superlight star drive have long been as follows: a power source, a capacitor (a mechanism for storing large amounts of energy, but capable of releasing it very quickly), and the drive motors themselves. These three components underwent a continuing evolution until the concept of travel through "normal" spacetime was superceded by more sophisticated methods of interstellar travel.

Since faster than light travel consumes enormous amounts of energy, nothing less than a hydrogen - helium (ie. type I) fusion pile was feasable as a power source. This was initially paired with an ionic capacitor, and an ion warp drive, as it evolved in both the original First Galactic Empire, and the renaissance Orion Arm civilizations. This allowed for a jump of up to two light years, followed by a recharge time of a day or so ("real" time).

The next step was the development of the type II (hydrogen to helium - helium to carbon) pile. Coupled to an ionic capacitor and drive, this allowed jumps of up to 10 light years in length.

By 2073AD in the Orion Arm, the tachyon converter had superceded the ion warp. This, along with improvements in capacitor technology, lengthened the jump range to 15 light years. After this came the conversion drive, still connected to a type II pile, permitting a jump of 20 light years.

The type II fusion pile was finally made obsolete late in the 23rd century by the reactant drive. While only offering a marginal improvement in jump range (to 22 light years), it was a much more compact unit, which meant it could be installed in smaller ships. In addition, it was a far cleaner drive than the conversion unit, which gave rise to highly radioactive exhausts. On the other hand, reactant fuel was not readily available in the interstellar medium like hydrogen. This meant that reactant drive ships had to carry their own fuel supplies, nearly wiping out their size advantage.

The reactant drive was superceded less than thirty years after its introduction by the antigravity drive. This unit was even more compact than its immediate predessor...so much so that it was possible to return to the type II fusion pile as a power source, and therefore regain access to interstellar hydrogen as a fuel again. In addition, jump range increased slightly to 23 light years.

By now, however, travel through "normal" spacetime was starting to be replaced by other means of movement. In the First Galactic Empire this was the matter transporter; in the later Orion Arm this meant ships powered by the Interuniversal Phase Effect Translator (IPET). For the FGE, the evolution of "normal" stardrives ended here. The Oasis in the Orion Arm carried it one step further, taking the Vacuum Energy Source which powered its IPET ships, and installing them in place of the type II fusion piles in its normal ships. In the final incarnation of Orion Arm technology, ships travelling in Sparks Space could jump 25 light years at a time.

Depending on the quality, sophistication, and type of star drive, making a jump could range from being all but unnoticeable to being a gut wrenching experience. Upon leaving a world, a ship would usually accelerate to as high a relativistic velocity as its drive could handle within Einsteinian space. Once the Lipsey Barrier was crossed, the ship would jump. This part of the voyage would take zero time; however, due to the nature of the physics of the capacitor, usually only one such jump each day or so ("real" time) was possible without recharging it. In order to minimize the effects of time dilation on multiple jump voyages, the earlier technology ships would decellerate to a low velocity while their capacitor recharged, then accelerate again and Jump. With the advent of the Vacuum Energy power source, however, it became possible to place the capacitor within the contact zone, where relativity could not affect it. Therefore the ship did not have to decellerate in order to recharge. While the capacitor would still take about a day to recharge in non-relativistic spacetime, to the people aboard a ship travelling at near c, time dilation would make it seem like a mere instant.

Due to the relativistic time compression effect aboard a ship travelling close to the speed of light, virtually zero time would seem to pass. To the people on the ship only the time spent recharging the capacitor would seem to pass...on early vessels. On vacuum energy/contact zone powered ships, it would merely seem like a succession of jumps were made in virtually zero time, then they would be at their destination. For instance, a ship capable of making 10ly / day jumps on a voyage of 3,500 light years would take 350 jumps and zero time (for the occupants) to get there. However, to an outside observer in "real" time, the voyage would take 350 days.

Making a jump was not without its hazards. A jumping ship could at no point in its superlight voyage pass through a Lipsey Barrier. Therefore, each jump had to be carefully planned out, and the space which was to be jumped through thoroughly charted. If the volume of space which was to be traversed was not well mapped, then the ship either had better have very good sensors with which to feel its way along, or be prepared to make a large number of short jumps. Most vessels tended to stick to well mapped shipping lanes.

Depending on certain circumstances, a number of things could happen to a ship striking a Lipsey Barrier while superlight. These variables included the point in the jump where the collision took place (ie. near the beginning, middle, or end), the length of the jump, the angle of the strike, the mass of the object within the barrier, and the strength of the fabric of the universe at that point. A ship could be hurled back into Einsteinian spacetime (though not necessarily in one piece, or in the expected location), or it could be thrown into either the Contact Zone or an adjoining universe. It could simply be anhillated. In a collision even time travel is possible, with the ship either being thrown forwards or backwards in time. Finally, combinations of any of the preceding fates might be possible, as well.

The Interuniversal Phase Effect Translator (IPET) was the next major step in space transport in the Orion Arm. Originally invented by the People (aka Elves), a ship equipped with this unit literally punches a hole through the fabric of spacetime into the adjoining contact zone, travels through it, and then punches back into the universe in a different location. This phasing in and out is done many times per second. Since it is possible to travel enormous distances in very little time in this way, the main constraint here is the accuracy of the navigational computers on the ship. It is very easy to get lost with a malfunctioning navicomp. As the quality of the navigational instruments improved, so the time which a ship had to spend essentially stationary in the universe decreased, and the time it could spend moving through the contact zone increased. The ultimate evolution of this type of drive was simply called the Contact Zone Drive, and enabled a vessel to move many thousands of light years in a day, and even into adjoining universes.

However, even CZD ships were governed by Einstein's and Sparks' laws, to an extent. Lipsey barriers could be pierced only at effective sublight velocities...or the consequences described previously could occur. However, it was possible for a ship to phase into an area within a Lipsey Barrier...as long as its "normal" spacetime velocity did not exceed c.

Matter transporters - initially developed by the First Galactic Empire - were also being rediscovered and improved by the Oasians. The latter first used them strictly for moving elemental raw materials - anything more chemically complex would become disassociated during the transporting process. With the application of the Vacuum Energy power source and more sophisticated transmitting and receiving devices, these units became more versatile. Nevertheless, it was not until the Oasis merged with the First Galactic Empire to become the Second Galactic Empire that they were improved to the point where it was considered safe enough to send people through them. The FGE had been doing this for millenia, with varying degrees of success.

In the 76th century of the Second Age the Superhurla Drive was invented. Using an enormous amount of energy, it was possible to jump though the contact zone and reappear in the universe at a location many tens of thousands of light years distant from one's origin. This became the preferred mode of intergalactic and interuniversal transport for the next 18,000 years, until the advent of the Intercosmic Blink. This latter device was basically a matter transporter powerful enough to send people and materiel either across the universe, or to its neighbours. Its development signified the apex of Mankind's technological evolution, and after it no more inventions of note were made in this field.

The appearance of the universe changes as the viewer's velocity increases. As speed increases, red objects are blue shifted into view (looking ahead - looking behind, they are red shifted out of sight). Cooler and cooler objects become visible in this way, until the 3 degree Kelvin radiation comes into view. After it gets blue shifted out of visual range there is nothing.

For descriptions of the Contact Zone and adjacent universes, refer to The Oasis, The Roah Power, and Eldanawar.

Return to the story page