 |
    © 2004 Andrew Dormeier
"Front viewscreen on, forward view, no magnification," Sol commanded the computer. The screen lit up and showed the same red-orange that had consumed them hours ago. Wait, something was different: the colored seemed more defined, more detailed. "Aft view," Sol ordered. A new picture came up. The same red-orange covered the screen, but in one spot, there was a hole ejecting more rust colored gas. A hole requires some kind of surface, which meant.
"Sir," Falinor said, "I believe the gas is very diffuse here, much closer to the density of open space than that of a nebula." "Get on the scanners. Let's find out how big a gap we are in. I'll bring the shields and weapons up just in case." Five minutes later, Falinor looked up from his console and turned to face Sol's chair. "We are in a roughly cylindrical tunnel in the nebula, roughly 120,000 kelemus in diameter. The bump we felt was the ship tearing through the wall of this cylinder, which is comprised of more compressed gas than what we were traveling through. Without the shields up, the sudden change in density slowed the ship down enough for us to feel it, but not violent enough to kick in the emergency ghost compensators." "So we felt it because it was such a small deceleration rather than a large deceleration." "Precisely." "How ironic. But what could have made this tunnel? It's huge. Could a ship have. but it would have to be enormous!" "Or moving incredibly fast without ghosting, which would be very hazardous in the dense gases of this nebula." "A civilization without ghost drive?" "Perhaps." "But why would they travel through the middle of a nebula?" "The vast amounts of hydrogen present would provide ample fuel for fusion drives. If their intent was to build up speed without carrying their own fuel this would be an excellent way to do it." "Yes, a ramscoop ship. That could explain it. Set a course to follow this tunnel." "Setting course. The sensors show a noticeable drift of the wall gases in one direction of the tunnel, down the cylinder to our port side. If it was a ship, it would have been traveling in this direction." "Good. If it is a ship maybe they have a hanger we can use to repair the Gallant Force." |
 |