| Author | Message | ||
     RAdmToddMarshall |
The face on Todd Marshall’s face was stern, and were it not for the trademark glint in his eye, one might think that the Admiral was upset about something. Officers bustled behind him in the construction control center that had been set up on the ground within Alexandria, the various schematics and construction diagrams on the walls shedding an eerie blue light, which gave the room a tint that had earned it its nickname – the Fishbowl. Marshall’s arms were crossed, and he watched silently on the large main viewer as workbees, tugs, and support craft swarmed like so many ants over the vessel that was taking shape around a singularity. With its elongated ovaloid superstructure and large ring encircling one of blue strings, the vessel bore a nostalgic similarity to Vulcan craft of old. It was of moderate size – perhaps as large as Vladivostok. Three docking platforms ran across the vessel’s spine, large enough to accommodate Wraith-sized craft or smaller. It carried no weapons, but its sensor and computer suite had been optimized for sublight computing speeds. The technicians and engineers had taken to calling the ship the “Tuberider” in reference to the perceived never-ending cylinder that was the Fourth Chamber. Marshall’s curious sense of humor, on the other hand, had led to the ship bearing another name. On the bow the ship bore in modest sized lettering characteristic of Old English the simple title, “Ship of Fools.” The Admiral hated most things he could not immediately understand, and this blasted asteroid was the epitome of all that irked him. Alicia’s less than forward behavior, the harnessing of the Omega particle, the Catapult and the Fourth Chamber; he felt as if it was all goading him, laughing at his lack of understanding. It was only through sheer will to crack Xanadu’s secrets had he thrown himself into creating the vessel. Studying the singularities, experimenting with small craft and reviewing the experiences of the Spectres when the facility was first discovered had been his first step. The forces that acted on any matter closing the distance to the singularities were surprisingly logarithmic in nature. The closer one approached a singularity, the faster they were propelled along it. It not such a simple matter, however, of calculating the force stresses on larger vessels, nor determining the structural integrity required and the optimum configuration for a vessel to take in order to ‘ride’ the singularities. But, months after the idea of such a vessel had struck him, here it was, taking form. How far it would go and what it would discover remained an unknown, but one thing, Marshall was sure of. If it didn’t succeed, he was liable to really go mad. |