A BRIEF HISTORY
© 1999 by J. A. Stubbs
Around the time that the Solarin astronomer, Edmond Halley pondered the motion of stars, planets, and comets; the Alliance was forged. Before, there had been a vast number of independent star systems; and empires. There were dominions, leagues and holdings, everywhere. Each fiercely protected their own borders and interests. And viewed their neighbors with suspicion; or envy.
Emperors, War Lords, and Despots; fought for the control of several worlds. Whether it was for planets with resources they needed. Or systems which were strategic to their defense. Or for use as military bases, to invade other worlds. There was no authority or recourse to stop them. All one needed to do to avoid punishment for crimes on one world, was to flee to another one.
Since each world, or group of worlds, kept their own laws. Every system had different legal directives; and there were no universal mandates which applied to all planets. Philosophies differed from world to world. So there was little agreement about what was illegal. Nor always an accord about what was a crime. There was also the local preference for enforcing their own laws first.
Just as each culture had its own laws and customs, they often had distinct dietary and physical needs as well. Differences like these influenced how they saw reality. In some cases they gave them insight into unexpected advances with their technologies. And a few of these worlds developed unique approaches to common problems. Such as efficient drive engines for their star ships.
Interstellar societies need reliable star drive engines; and a number of drive designs existed at the time. But there were always new prototypes under development. Often these units were tested for their power and efficiency. Or graded on their production costs and unit service life. Unfortunately, history shows us that some engine designs were not tested long enough.
When the Fontil developed the Aiszch Drive System, they were the first to discover this reliable star drive principle. It was a stable unit; and could run for several thousand hours, before needing servicing. It was also more efficient than most drive engines. So they were smaller than other units with equal power. But the Fontil were not the only ones to learn of the Aiszch Drive.
The Pandarsi and the Hinnin both built a version of this same type of engine. The Fontil even contracted to sell Aiszch engines to the Pilmissi. It soon was the preferred power system for those four races star ships. And they used it exclusively. Before long there were hundreds of Aiszch Star Drive units in service. Which gave them a small competitive edge.
While these drive engines had many favorable features; they also had one major flaw. It wasn’t discovered for more than twenty years. But the Aiszch Engine emitted random pulse waves of Tintic radiation. Although that wasn’t harmful to most lifeforms. And the radiation levels from the engines were slight. Which was well below their margin for safety.
However, that pulse wave affected the unborn fetuses of many species. The pulse wave caused unexpected; and at first, undetected mutations in any fetus within the engine’s field. And the longer they were exposed to it, the more they were mutated. But the mutation was specific. It altered these children’s minds, making them telepathic.
A Brief History Continues here. Or return to:
Alliance Space, or the Science Fiction list, or the Reading Library.
Thank you,
Wil Sansflaw