Hello, my name is Charles

by on October 18, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

It was the orbital elevators that made us a true space faring species. We could only boost small numbers of people and cargo into orbit before then, leaving most exploration to major government or semi-government agencies like NASA. But once we built the elevators we could send people and cargo up or down all day, every day. And once you get out of the gravity well it takes very little fuel to go anywhere in the solar system. Interstellar travel was still too expensive for the masses, but the solar system was our playground and humanity spread throughout it in a matter of decades.

 Comment 

Hello, my name is Jack

by on October 17, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The Shang ship got away. It did something we’re still trying to figure out. We were far enough back in hyper with our jamming up that it didn’t see us. But we could see it. It’s like it deployed a kind of energy sail or something. And then it just…dove deeper into hyper than I’ve ever seen any ship go. It was going 10,000 lights effective and still diving when we lost it. I don’t know how deep it went, but I think it was headed for the Sagittarius Arm. Yeah, I know…that’s crazy. But it’s the only thing that makes sense. Even if it violates everything we know about physics.

 Comment 

Hello, my name is Betty

by on October 16, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Everyone already knew how the Battle of Japan had gone. The Japanese lost. But theTwilight season four premier did what no one else had yet done on any “mere” entertainment program. They secured the rights to use Empress Aiko’s likeness in full. The former Princess Aiko had long been a fan of the Dixie and Twilight series, and she was eager to let them show the evacuation of Japan from her perspective. Due to time and acting talent, they scanned her body in and generated the footage digitally. It wasn’t the first time that was done either, but the production team pulled it off well enough that few suspected until the credits rolled. That gained them another Emmy nomination.

 Comment 

Hello, my name is Charles

by on October 15, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

There were only two ways to lift anything from a planetary surface into orbit before Contact. The first was to strap it onto a rocket engine at Cape Canaveral or any of the other launch sites around the world. That was expensive but secure. Most spy satellites were placed in orbit by rockets that way so nobody could peek inside of them. Then there were the orbital elevators. There were six on Earth and most major worlds had at least one of their own. Most cargo went up or down using the elevators because it was so much cheaper than using rockets. We still use them now.

 Comment 

Hello, my name is Jack

by on October 14, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

I didn’t just think of going outside the galactic arms on my own you know. I wasn’t just some wanderlust person looking for someplace new to look at. I had an actual mission. I’d been tracking Shang ship movements for months and found a discrepancy. There was a ship that left but never arrived. There’s more than one actually, but this was the first I found and I was curious. So the short story is that I followed this ship. As far as I could. As far as our engines could take us. Right past the end of the stars.

 Comment