When the Peloran, Roderan, and Shang gave us examples of their gravitic drives, it revolutionized our future in a way that even the improved hyperdrives did not. True control over gravity, rather than simply beating it into submission with a rocket, gave as a whole new universe of possibilities. In the short term, we armed some of our warships with them. In the long term, we tore the other examples apart and learned how to practice a whole new field of science.
One of the things I’ll always remember Arkadia for is the amazing parties. You’ve never been to a real low-gee dance until you’ve been to one of theirs. You can drift forever, in air without end, no walls as far as the eye can see. There is nothing like it in all the worlds.
Antigonia is not the only moon in the Arkadian Ring of course. Over the millennia, they’ve towed most of the surviving rubble from their old home star to the ring. Most of it is asteroid-sized, but there are many very small moonlets and a few actual moons. Antigonia is the largest surviving fragment of the original Arkadian home system though, since the Ennead literally ripped everything larger than it apart.
The Peloran, and the Roderan and Shang when they came, did give us at least a few examples of “surplus” hyper and gravitic drives. The hyperdrives were faster and hardier than our own, and most of the samples were torn apart for study and replication. We retrofitted a handful of them into existing naval warships though, and those hybrid ships became the fastest warships we owned. The Russians and Chinese did the same thing of course.
I had another good day today. I sat back, a drink in my hand, and watched a world I’d never been to go by before my eyes. Tomorrow I have a job to do, but today I just enjoyed life. Everyone needs to take time to do that from time to time. It’s even more important with modern life spans. I can’t imagine working at the same job, doing the same things day after day, for over a century. Or longer. So take a break. Make a change. Live your life, not your work.
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