In the last Universe post, I discussed corpses and body contracts in the Polyslate Dystopia universe.
This time I’m going to talk about faster-than-light (FTL) drives.
When a fictional universe spans hundreds of planetary systems, having a mechanical explanation for travelling long distances becomes a requirement. It doesn’t have to be “hard science fiction” but I personally lean toward the less magical answers.
There are a lot of examples of FTL devices in the science fiction genre. Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Farscape, Babylon5, Warhammer 40,000, and Battlestar Galactica are some big name’s with different explanations. Alternatively, FTL can be ignored in favor of cryogenic sleep capsules – see Aliens, for an easy example.
Enter inclusion drives and splash drives – as well as the violent mechanics and the corporations that produce them.
Inclusion drives are for “small” vessels. These high-powered micro drives are a thing of luxury and intimidation. Only the wealthy or well-supplied have access to them – which also aligns with the corporations that produce them. Personal shuttles, fast transports, and the various types of specialized frigates and drones are all nice-to-have vessels. The majority of goods and transportation occurs on much larger ships.
This makes collecting the smaller ships a point of pride for the regional pirate factions – and the gangs and tribes under their banners.
Travelling with an inclusion drive is similar to wormhole travel. If you’ve read Pickpockets you’ll have a detailed understanding of what the pilot experiences inside the wormhole.
The end of the wormhole is nasty though. No clean exits here. The area around the point of egress (“landing point” feels too disingenuous doesn’t it???) is filled with a piercing scream. Perhaps that’s due to bad aerodynamics, inside the wormhole, being amplified… perhaps space can feel some sort of pain as a small vessel rips through it like a lightspeed bullet… or perhaps there’s something else screaming. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
Regardless, when the ship does arrive at its destination, there’s an explosion of cosmic particles and energy. It’s all a colossal event with strands of cracking energy, tentacles of antimatter, and other less-understood materials reaching out and doing damage to anything they come in contact with.
And in the center of the maelstrom, the small vessel is ejected at high speed – flipping and spinning. Blind, out of control, and highly vulnerable to collisions and anything potentially targeting it, pilots have to get things under control very quickly – good thing they’re loaded up with cybernetics and implants to help them do so.
I’m going to roll out several posts this week. Tomorrow, we’re going to talk about Splash Drives. And then on Saturday and Sunday, we’re going to dive into the corporations that build these and the roles they play in the Polyslate Dystopia universe.
