milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Yes, I did," Naraht says. "Hardly intensional, though. This little blighter's roar is far out of proportion to its size. Peter and I were exercising the better part of valor through the rock wall before we actually saw it and..." Full body Horta shrug. "At least it looks good where it is."

He ponders her question. "That seems reasonable. I'm no physicist, but, if this place was created to accomodate guests, I suppose it would have to be able to adjust to accomodate large numbers of them. Hmmm...I really should write to K's't'lk about this. She'd go nuts."

"It's not a problem for a physicist, really," Eska points out. "More a wizard, or a metaphysicist at the least. I'll mention it to Ray.

"Who's K'stulk?"

It's not that bad of a mispronounciation, really.

"Oh, she is a 'creative physicist' who has worked with us on the Enterprise a few times. Marvelous lady. A Hamalki."

There is definate fondness in his voice. "I really should see if there is any way to bring her here. She'd love this place."

Eska smiles.

"I have no idea what an Hamalki is. Your world really is quite unlike any I've heard of. What's she like?"

As an individual and as a member of her species, she means.

"Well, physically she is silcon-based like myself. However, that is where the resemblance ends. Her structure is crystaline and rather similar to some earth arthropods."

He chuckles. "Think of a quartz spider about half my size and you'll have a pretty good idea. She's...I believe the term is 'plucky'. With a charming sense of humor. And intellegent! Great Mother, she makes me feel like a sludge-brain sometimes when she's off on her warp field theories."

Eska draws her knees up to hug them to her chest in the delight of fascination.

"Amazing! I didn't know trolls - silicon based life forms - came in so many different varieties. The most exotic we have is the gargoyles.

"She sounds like an amazing woman. What's a warp drive?"

"Silicon-based life is not as prevelant as carbon-based," he says. "But we do have a fair amount of variety. You should see the Irdesh. There are a couple on our crew. They resemble giant snowflakes. Beautiful...but even more fragile than humans. The slightest jar can shatter and kill them."

Naraht shudders. "If it wasn't for inertial damper technology, they'd have no chance among us blundering brutes. Warp drive...well, that's the technology which allows us to cross light-years in mere days. It...well, it pushes the ship partially into an offset dimension where we are able to travel far past the speed of light in relative safety."

Eska gives him a suspicious look, comparative biology almost forgotten.

"It's dangerous to travel faster than the speed of light in your world?"

"Well, for one thing, the fuel we use to do so makes a thermonuclear bomb look like a wet firecracker," he says. "There has been some work in trying to break the lightspeed barrier by other means but...lets just say they have not been promising. Warp technology is safe enough. It's just that everything has a risk. It's all a matter of degree."

He snorts. "And you sure as hell don't want to run into a planet at that speed."

"But why?" Eska repeats.

"How fast does light travel in your universe?"

"Oh, sorry," Naraht says. "I keep forgetting that there might be differences in scientific knowledge between universes. The speed of light in vacuum is 299,792,458 meters per second. Incredibly fast, but, given the vast distances between stars and planets in my universe, it poses a formidable barrier."

"We measure astronomical distances in terms of 'light years'. Which is just what it sounds like; the distance light can travel through space in a year. That comes out to 9,460,000,000 kilometers. The closest star to my universe's Earth besides its own sun is 4.3 of these light years away."

"Considering that distances we travel are far, far greater than that...well, even a Horta would die of old age before getting to where we're going if we were limited to the speed of light."

"That's.... really really fast," Eska says uselessly. "At home it's more like five miles an hour."

Congratulations, Eska. You just managed to blow the Horta's mind.

He sits there for a moment, stock still as George grumbles in the cage on his back.

"You're serious."

"Of course I am," she says with a frown. "From the top of the Tower of Art you can watch dawn washing over the Sto Plains. It's an impressive sight."

It takes a few seconds for Naraht to digest that little tidbit. "After Milliways, perhaps K's't'lk should visit your world. The laws of physics there must be...interesting."

He shakes himself. "Well, I suppose that explains why we need warp drives in my universe."

Still grinning: "Well, of course the lasws of physics are interesting. The world is carried on the back of a turtle."

"I suppose they would have to be," Naraht says, still rather mind blown. "Well, I'd better let George out before he starts getting hungry. I'll see you later, Eska."