Preview: Nexus, Part 7
And we're done. Done. DONE.
You know the drill, this is only a preview. Some of the writing may change after its final visit with the editor.
Nexus launches for e-readers August 19th. I hope you've enjoyed the preview, and are looking forward to the full novel almost as much as I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. Check back soon for more previews. We'll be moving to The Necromancer's Gambit next. The Necromancer's Gambit is the first in a series of urban fantasy novels about a cell of mages in Portland, Oregon struggling to keep control of the magical community, and keep the darker magics in check.
Previously:
Chapter 1, Part 1
Chapter 1, Part 2
Chapter 1, Part 3
Chapter 1, Part 4
Chapter 1, Part 5
Chapter 1, Part 6
Happy reading!
Nexus: Chapter 1, Part 7
“How close to light are we?” I asked, ignoring the question. I remembered from the briefings that the force to push our ship, and hence the amount of energy that required, was roughly the mass of our ship multiplied by our acceleration. So by starting slow, and building slow, the savings on fuel were huge.
“Just rounding 70%.”
“Then we should already be reverse-Winkling.” Anything close to 70% of lightspeed and time effectively took half as long on the ship as off it. At about 95% of lighstpeed, the ratios reached for the sky and one year on the ship felt like ten to the rest of the universe and increased exponentially after.
“How long before we're in the Kennedy Window for the first few sensor pods?” I asked him.
The window was named for Andrew Kennedy, who invented the Wait Calculation. Basically, because of differing speeds, two bodies that leave the same point can reach their destination at radically different times. Kennedy was concerned with increases in technology, but the calculation had since been applied more broadly.
The Nexus was designed to fire sensor pods from tubes. Their initial speed was higher than the Nexus'. However, the Nexus continued to accelerate, and would eventually overtake the pods.
The purpose of the pods was to arrive at a planet flagged by earlier probes for closer inspection. The pods were designed to orbit a planet a couple of times, get enough info and slingshot back towards our trajectory to be picked up en route. Hitting Kennedy's Window meant getting the pod and its sensory data back early enough that we only stopped at planets that actually had someone to talk to on them.
“Ten minutes.” We were specifically targeting inhabitable planets. We didn't want mining rights to particular worlds; we wanted the rights for whole systems. So our mission was to seek worlds that might have competing claim, and break bread with them- if possible, make a deal. If not possible, at least make sure we marked off territory around them, to keep their expansion checked.
“There you are. You threatened to throw another engineer out an airlock?” I recognized the grating voice before I turned around. Pete Ferguson, HR rep and the company's man on the ship. He was the only unranked member of the crew, which was odd, because he was also number one in the ship's hierarchy- behind captain, of course. He was a stickler for the goddamn regs. He seemed to like me, but not respect me- an odd combination in practice.
“Is it somehow my fault you hired engineers who are 90% dick and only 10% brain?”
“I don't suppose you could tone down on the references to male genitalia,” he said. “I'm sure, at a minimum, that the female members of your crew aren't comfortable with it.”
Haley chimed in to defend me. “Actually, Mr. Ferguson, the term 'dick' originated in the 1500s, meaning 'fellow' or 'lad.' It was not until the late nineteenth century that the phallic connotation of the word surfaces in the written record.”
“She's in rare form this morning, isn't she?” I asked him.
“She?”
“With that voice I think it's obvious. You don't want to give our ship gender identity issues this close to the start of our mission, do you? You aren't deliberately trying to create a hostile work environment for our computer, are you?”
“I'll, uh, be in my office,” he said, slightly ducking his head as he turned away.
“Thanks for that, Haley,” I said.
“Anytime, captain.”
Check back next week to see Nexus' cover, and other space-piratey things, or join my mailing list to be notified when Nexus is available for purchase.
You know the drill, this is only a preview. Some of the writing may change after its final visit with the editor.
Nexus launches for e-readers August 19th. I hope you've enjoyed the preview, and are looking forward to the full novel almost as much as I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. Check back soon for more previews. We'll be moving to The Necromancer's Gambit next. The Necromancer's Gambit is the first in a series of urban fantasy novels about a cell of mages in Portland, Oregon struggling to keep control of the magical community, and keep the darker magics in check.
Previously:
Chapter 1, Part 1
Chapter 1, Part 2
Chapter 1, Part 3
Chapter 1, Part 4
Chapter 1, Part 5
Chapter 1, Part 6
Happy reading!
Nexus: Chapter 1, Part 7
“How close to light are we?” I asked, ignoring the question. I remembered from the briefings that the force to push our ship, and hence the amount of energy that required, was roughly the mass of our ship multiplied by our acceleration. So by starting slow, and building slow, the savings on fuel were huge.
“Just rounding 70%.”
“Then we should already be reverse-Winkling.” Anything close to 70% of lightspeed and time effectively took half as long on the ship as off it. At about 95% of lighstpeed, the ratios reached for the sky and one year on the ship felt like ten to the rest of the universe and increased exponentially after.
“How long before we're in the Kennedy Window for the first few sensor pods?” I asked him.
The window was named for Andrew Kennedy, who invented the Wait Calculation. Basically, because of differing speeds, two bodies that leave the same point can reach their destination at radically different times. Kennedy was concerned with increases in technology, but the calculation had since been applied more broadly.
The Nexus was designed to fire sensor pods from tubes. Their initial speed was higher than the Nexus'. However, the Nexus continued to accelerate, and would eventually overtake the pods.
The purpose of the pods was to arrive at a planet flagged by earlier probes for closer inspection. The pods were designed to orbit a planet a couple of times, get enough info and slingshot back towards our trajectory to be picked up en route. Hitting Kennedy's Window meant getting the pod and its sensory data back early enough that we only stopped at planets that actually had someone to talk to on them.
“Ten minutes.” We were specifically targeting inhabitable planets. We didn't want mining rights to particular worlds; we wanted the rights for whole systems. So our mission was to seek worlds that might have competing claim, and break bread with them- if possible, make a deal. If not possible, at least make sure we marked off territory around them, to keep their expansion checked.
“There you are. You threatened to throw another engineer out an airlock?” I recognized the grating voice before I turned around. Pete Ferguson, HR rep and the company's man on the ship. He was the only unranked member of the crew, which was odd, because he was also number one in the ship's hierarchy- behind captain, of course. He was a stickler for the goddamn regs. He seemed to like me, but not respect me- an odd combination in practice.
“Is it somehow my fault you hired engineers who are 90% dick and only 10% brain?”
“I don't suppose you could tone down on the references to male genitalia,” he said. “I'm sure, at a minimum, that the female members of your crew aren't comfortable with it.”
Haley chimed in to defend me. “Actually, Mr. Ferguson, the term 'dick' originated in the 1500s, meaning 'fellow' or 'lad.' It was not until the late nineteenth century that the phallic connotation of the word surfaces in the written record.”
“She's in rare form this morning, isn't she?” I asked him.
“She?”
“With that voice I think it's obvious. You don't want to give our ship gender identity issues this close to the start of our mission, do you? You aren't deliberately trying to create a hostile work environment for our computer, are you?”
“I'll, uh, be in my office,” he said, slightly ducking his head as he turned away.
“Thanks for that, Haley,” I said.
“Anytime, captain.”
Check back next week to see Nexus' cover, and other space-piratey things, or join my mailing list to be notified when Nexus is available for purchase.
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