Childers

by Richard F. Weyand

  The system periphery of most solar systems was by-guess-and-by-golly, with a huge safety margin. The system periphery of populated solar systems within the Commonwealth had been roughly mapped by the brute force method of having robot ships transition into and out of hyperspace at various locations and seeing which ones blew up. No detailed map, or any understanding of why that map was so, existed. Worse, the boundaries of the system periphery seemed to change over time. There was no understanding of why that would be either.

  What was known was you could go faster in hyperspace than normal space. How much faster was unknown, but it was about forty thousand times faster than normal-space light speed.

  This was a puzzle Jan could not leave alone. She informed Tactical Division of her plans for her thesis work, and they were enthusiastically approved.

  Jan started with the speed difference. What was special about forty thousand times the speed of light? She plotted various acceleration curves and time dilations as measured by ships in hyperspace, threw out outliers, calculated asymptotes, calculated error bars, calculated arithmetic means. As near as she could calculate from the tiny time dilations seen at the relatively slow speeds ships could attain at one or two gravities of acceleration, the absolute limit was somewhere between 39,800 and 39,900 times normal-space light speed. She played around with various universal constants, trying to fit that number. Given that it was in three-space, she also tried the cube of various numbers and combinations of numbers.

  Four-pi-e-cubed, written (4πe)³, is 39,858.

  Wait. What? Pi was a geometric constant. That suggested the maximum velocity in hyperspace was related to the maximum velocity in normal space by the geometry of hyperspace itself.

  Jan was commuting to the campus from Sigurdsen. There was a bus from the base that ran past the campus, and she walked to and from the bus stop across campus to the Math building. She wore the midnight-blue shipsuit and work boots of the CSF that had become her basic wardrobe. She was never hassled on these walks, even though she often returned to Sigurdsen late in Jablonka's twenty-five hour day or in the wee hours after midnight.

  One night late in the first semester, Jan was deep into the consideration of the geometry of hyperspace on her walk. As a result, she was less attentive than usual. A man wearing a mask snuck up behind and grabbed her, and tried to pull her between two buildings.

  Jan broke his grip with contemptuous ease, and kicked him four times before he hit the ground. She felt the bones break as she carried through with kicks she would have pulled in sparring. The final kick was a spinning roundhouse kick with the toe of her Navy work boot to the temple. That kick crushed his temple, and spun his head around so hard it broke his neck. He was dead before he hit the ground.

  Jan left the body laying where it had fallen, and continued on to her bus stop, once more mentally working on hyperspace geometry. She did not inform the authorities, either the Jezgra police, the university police, or the CSF. She thought no more of the assault and its conclusion at her hands than she would have of stepping on a bug.

  The campus newspaper two days later had the shocking story of the mugging and death of a university honors student. Later that day the police received an anonymous tip by electronic message that they should check the DNA of the 'victim' against the DNA profiles of recent rape cases. The entire campus was appalled to discover the well-liked senior undergraduate was a serial rapist who had terrorized the campus for the entire three-and-a-half years of his attendance. It was apparently an intended victim, and perhaps people who had come to her rescue, who had killed him.

  When university police tracked the electronic message with the anonymous tip, they found it originated from the account of the senior rape investigator in the university police department. He initially denied sending the message, but then admitted it and took credit for the discovery.

  The rapist's intended victim was never found. Truth be told, the police didn't look very hard.

  Jan was hard on the trail of the hyperspace problem. Assume for the moment there were points in hyperspace corresponding to all points in normal space. Assume also all these points were (4πe)³ closer together in every dimension. What would that mean?

  Well, the speed of light might very well be the same. That would set the upper bound of speeds in hyperspace to the value she had calculated.

  No universe with stars and planets would form in hyperspace. It was somewhat surprising that matter like spaceships could exist there, but they certainly could not have formed there.

  What else?

  Jan knew gravitational distortion of space-time was felt in hyperspace. That's how CSF ships navigated in hyperspace, from detection of gravitational curvature from nearby stars.

  Wait a minute. How strong were the gravitational signatures the navigation system used? Normal-space gravitational signatures were tiny at interstellar distances. There had been some measurements of this. She looked up that research. Forty thousand times stronger than the gravitational signatures read in normal space. Huh.

  So if normal-space gravitational signatures were replicated in hyperspace, but at (4πe)³ times the strength in normal space, why would that be? With the points all (4πe)³ closer together in hyperspace, the gravitational gradient, the change of gravitational potential per unit distance, would be (4πe)³ stronger because the denominator was that much shorter. Hyperspace was therefore much more curved than normal space in the vicinity of large masses.

  That also explained why ships were lost when transitioning within the system periphery. The gravitational gradient as you approached the star system was (4πe)³ stronger than the value where you exited into normal space. The discontinuity in gravitational gradient during transition created sheer forces that wrought havoc with the ship.

  The much weaker discontinuities further out, in flatter space, were still enough to tweak Jan's stomach when the transition was made. The sheer forces would be greater the larger the transitioning object was – they would be much stronger for something the size of a spaceship – and ultimately destructive within the system periphery.

  As Jan continued to work the problem, she also figured out why the system periphery seemed to change over time. The location of gas-giant planets like Earth's own Jupiter would also affect gravitation and curvature at the system periphery. If you were on the same side of the local sun as the gas-giant planets, the system periphery would be a bit farther out. If they were on the other side of the sun, it would be a bit closer in.

  As Jan worked with the field equations, she came up with a way to calculate the system periphery at any point around a solar system, given the location and masses of its planets, from first principles. She also found ways to modulate the hyperspace bubble CSF ships used to transition from normal space to hyperspace and back to lessen – or at least not make any worse – the sheer forces felt by the ship's structure.

  It took Jan two years to finish her doctorate in applied mathematics. Her PhD thesis – On The Nature Of Hyperspace, Calculating The System Periphery, and Reducing The Stresses Of Hyperspace Transition – was submitted first to the Tactical Division. It was immediately classified Top Secret. She defended her dissertation to a panel made up of senior scientists from the Navigation, Propulsion, and Shipbuilding Divisions of the CSF.

  By longstanding arrangement with the University of Jablonka, Jan received her doctorate in applied mathematics for a thesis paper no one at the university was allowed to read. Even its title was classified.

  Assistant Tactical Officer of CSS Jean d'Arc

  The normal career path for Tactical Division entrants was successful completion of BTS, followed by a shipboard tour as an ensign. Promotion to the rank of lieutenant followed.

  Given that Jan had not taken her first shipboard tour, it was unusual when she was promoted to lieutenant on the completion of her doctorate. That was purely on the basis of time in grade. The Assistant Head of Personnel for the Tactical Division, Rear Admiral Janos Stepic, had explained i
t to her.

  "It is unusual to be promoted to lieutenant in the Tactical Division without completion of a shipboard assignment, Lieutenant. There are a number of considerations here, however. One is that CSS Jean d'Arc needs an Assistant Tactical Officer, and on a battleship that's at least a lieutenant's berth.

  "Second is that we want to use the Jean D'Arc to test the actual system periphery of Valore. We want to do some testing of your techniques to make hyperspace transitions within the published system periphery, but outside the actual periphery your mathematics predicts. We don't want to do that here in Jablonka, because we are planning to keep the actual system peripheries a secret, and there's just too much commercial traffic here, a lot of it under foreign flags, to do that. We want to use the Jean d'Arc because battleships are so much tougher, she's likely to survive any, um, minor miscalculation."

  "Understood, Sir."

  "If your techniques test out, and we think they will, we will keep using the published system peripheries for routine navigation throughout the Commonwealth. If the tactical situation makes the use of the closer limit decisive in an actual combat situation, we will use the closer limit. We think that could be a decisive advantage, especially if it's a surprise.

  "Third is that we don't want to hold up your career. Good ship's captains are hard to find, and you are already on that track given your BTS scores. That's not a promise, but I get paid to read the tea leaves."

  "Understood, Sir."

  "Also understand, Lieutenant, there is no promotion for a line officer beyond lieutenant without a shipboard assignment. And somehow I don't think you want to become a staff officer, like me."

  "No, Sir. No offense, Sir."

  "None taken, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

  Back in her room, Jan reviewed the stats on the CSF's newest battleships.

  As a Cleopatra-class battleship, CSS Jean d'Arc had a total complement, officers and crew, of twenty-four hundred. There were six crew cylinders arranged around her hull, and each was thirty percent bigger in diameter than those of the Aquitaine. This gave each deck seventy-percent again the square footage of the decks on a light cruiser like the Aquitaine. There were also three more decks in each cylinder. Two adjacent cylinders were considered topside, and the other four were below decks.

  With three times the crew complement of the Aquitaine, but over four-and-a-half times the square footage, the compartments and crew spaces aboard the Jean d'Arc were commensurately larger than on the smaller ship. It even had an Enshin bouting area in the gym.

  The Jean d'Arc was much more massive than the Aquitaine, and it was also much slower. While it's cruise acceleration was still one g for crew comfort, that was not at 60% power, but at 90%. She could barely make 1.1 g at full power, where a heavy cruiser could make 1.4 g, a light cruiser 1.7 g, and a destroyer could top out over 2 g.

  The Jean d'Arc also had superior weaponry. Six battleship-grade beam weapons were mounted on struts protruding from between the cylinders.

  Jan reported aboard the Jean d'Arc the month after her seventeenth birthday.

  After reporting aboard, Jan met with the captain and the XO in the captain's ready room. As she had done her homework, she was not surprised to find Senior Captain Jerry Lutzdorf and Captain Bo Stewart waiting for her.

  "Hello, Lieutenant. We meet again."

  "Yes, Sir. It's good to see you, Sir."

  "And perhaps you remember Captain Stewart here."

  "Yes, Sir. It's good to see you, too, Ma'am."

  "Lieutenant Childers. Or should I say, Doctor Childers," Stewart said.

  "Oh, no, Ma'am. They'll be sending me sprained wrists and such." Jan looked back to Lutzdorf. "I'm surprised to see you two still together, Sir."

  "Actually, it's not still. It's again. It has been three years, Lieutenant. And Senior Captains have some prerogatives where selection of personnel is concerned. You'll notice some others from the Aquitaine on board as well. Takahashi. Voipers. Cho."

  "Really, Sir? That's great."

  "And it's not really an accident the Jean d'Arc was selected for your testing, Lieutenant. Senior captains have some prerogatives there, as well. When they asked around for ship 'volunteers' for this project, the XO here and I were enthusiastic. We had noted your career progress – that was nicely done in BTS, by the way – and when we heard it was your mathematical theories that were going to be tested, we sort of held up our hands like second-graders and said, 'Pick me. Pick me.'"

  Jan laughed.

  "That's good to hear, Sir."

  "Lieutenant, your work has the potential to radically increase the lethality of the CSF in operations, and our abilities to protect Commonwealth planets, at least until it leaks out and everybody starts doing it. You don't need to be stuck with some captain who's lukewarm on the idea and grouses about jumped-up lieutenants. We know better, and we really want this to succeed."

  "That's really good news, Sir."

  "And give Fleet HQ credit. They thought it was really good news, too. It's pretty easy for a stick-in-the-mud captain to poison something like this. We're not going to do that. It's too damned important. So why don't you plan on briefing us and the department heads on what we're about on this? On the way to Valore, once we're in hyper."

  "I'd be happy to, Sir."

  "Excellent. In the meantime, you should report to your own department head, the senior tactical officer, Commander Jurgen Chavez. Dismissed, Lieutenant."

  Jan had a private berth on the Jean d'Arc. It was much larger than the guest cabin she had occupied on the Aquitaine three years before. About twice as big, which just meant you didn't have to collapse the chairs when you folded the bunk down, and the toilet had a fixed partition. On ship was on ship, and that's all there was to it.

  She was stowing her increasing collection of belongings when there was a buzz at the door. She went to the cabin door and pushed the open button. Standing in the hall was Senior Chief Voipers. He had another stripe on his arm – and was that some grey at the temples? – but was otherwise as she remembered him. He saluted her.

  "Senior Chief! How are you? Shipmates well met."

  "Ma'am. Uh, Senior Chief Cho and I were wonderin' if you would permit us to give you a little 'welcome aboard' dinner. Introduce you aroun' below decks."

  "Why sure, Senior Chief. It would be good to sit and chat a while. Where and when?"

  "How about 18:00 hours, Ma'am? In the Chief's Mess?"

  Now that was special. No one aboard a CSF ship, not even the captain, was permitted in the Goat Locker, the Chief's Mess, without permission. It was a tradition that went back to Earth's sea-going navies. Jan raised an eyebrow.

  "In the Goat Locker, Senior Chief? Are you sure I'm welcome?"

  "Well, I'm the leader of the Goat Locker, Ma'am. And your, um, reputation precedes you. Not just the Aquitaine. Larson. Baker. Nokimuri. Maybe even a little incident in Jezgra a year or two back. Word gets aroun' below decks, Ma'am. And no one forgets you were one of us first."

  "Thank you, Senior Chief. I would be honored to attend."

  Senior Captain Lutzdorf and Captain Stewart considered having a dinner to introduce Jan to the department heads of the Jean d'Arc that evening. When they were informed by the chief petty officer who ran the Officer's Mess there was a welcome dinner for Lieutenant Childers in the Chief's Mess that evening, they decided the introduction to the Jean d'Arc's department heads could wait until tomorrow.

  At 18:00 hours, Jan knocked on the door of the Chief's Mess. She was wearing a plain, midnight-blue CSF shipsuit, without any insignia or indications of rank, as she had worn aboard the Aquitaine. Since she was not 'in uniform,' they would not be required to salute her or extend the military courtesies of address due her rank. In the Goat Locker, their home aboard ship, it just seemed polite.

  There were usually about thirty senior chief petty officers on a CSF battleship, with over a hundred chief petty officers. When the door opened and she was let in to the Goat Locker, it looked like al
l of them were present. The aromas of steak and lobster filled the room, and was that chocolate cake she smelled? Oh, my.

  Voipers came up to her, started to salute, and then noted her plain shipsuit. He nodded instead.

  "Hi, Senior Chief."

  "Here in the Goat Locker, it's 'Max,' Ma'am."

  "Well, then, here in the Goat Locker, I'm Jan, Max."

  "I couldn't, Ma'am."

  "Max, in here, we're just old friends and below-decks shipmates. C'mon, introduce me to your friends."

  So Jan was introduced around the Goat Locker as Jan, and that's how she was addressed all evening. No chief or senior chief ever showed her anything less than the respect due her rank outside the Goat Locker, however. In fact, other officers and crew aboard the Jean d'Arc on this cruise would always remember the immense respect with which the diminutive young lieutenant was addressed by all the senior non-coms aboard ship, most of whom had been in the service longer than she had been alive.

  "How is our testing going so far, Lieutenant?" Lutzdorf asked.

  Department heads were all present in the captain's ready room for a review of where they were and what they would do next. Jan consulted her notepad.

  "We first made six hyperspace transitions each, up and down, at the published system periphery using standard techniques, to set a baseline using the stress gauges placed on the ship by the Shipbuilding Division before we left Jablonka.

  "We next made the same twelve hyperspace transitions using the hyperspace modulation techniques derived from the theory. For the softer upward transitions, the modulation techniques reduced the low transition stresses on the ship by 20%. For the more difficult downward transitions, the modulation techniques reduced the larger transition stresses on the ship by 80%. A subjective reduction in discomfort was also reported by crew members.