THE BETTER-THAN-LIGHT DRIVE
Created out of the need for a trek beyond the Sol System with an efficient, interstellar propulsion system the Better-Than-Light (BTL) Drive has met and exceeded all expectations. Using the centuries old idea of leading an ass with a carrot, a self-contained gravity source is created ahead of the ship, thus drawing itself towards an unreachable point.
The BTL Drive uses three particle accelerator coils to generate gravity streams focused 50M ahead of the ship. These coalesce into an ever-increasing mass, providing forward momentum. The greater the mass, the greater the forward momentum.
The “better” portion of the Better-Than-Light Drive stems from the effect the intense gravity has on space-time near the ship. As gravity becomes greater, so too does the “warping” of space-time around the gravity mass. Imagine a throw rug 10M long, and you wish to walk as far down that rug as you can using the least amount of effort. By grabbing the rug and bunching it up, you can step over the folds in the rug and arrive at the very end in one stride. The BTL Drive does the same thing with space-time. Not only does it have actual forward motion, but it also compresses space and time allowing travel over galactic distances with little expense. (1)
With the intense gravity fields created and experienced by the craft, new technology had to be developed for safe BTL travel–not only for our ships, but the valuable crew and passengers therein contained.
The hull of the ship, and many of the structural components, are created from a space age material called Polyaluminite (2). It is a solid and workable compound with liquid qualities that help it withstand the rigors of excessive gravitational pull. For an example, we turn to the simplest child’s toy–a rubber ball. The ball can be squished, pulled, bent and smashed, yet it retains it’s original shape. Our ship is not “rubber balls” by any means, and is certainly not “gravity proof”. The compound merely inhibits internal ship systems from being torn from the hull during times of extreme gravitational force.
To keep the ship intact through these extremes, the Polyaluminite hull must be further protected from the physical certainties of gravity. To achieve this Kessler developed an electric field, which created intense sub-atomic bonds in certain substances. Through his testing he noticed that even the most liquid of polymers, when subjected to this field, were unbreakable even when pulled to a molecule-thick strand.
This same field surges throughout the ship’s hull and support structure, ensuring safe passage of our technology into the future and into history.
(1) BTL Drive can generate infinite mass if allowed to do so, however this would not be beneficial to space-time in and around the vessel. Safeguards ensure that the gravity created never exceeds the Chandreskar Limit.
(2) Polyaluminite is a registered trademark of Kessler Technologies and is not commercially available at this time.
IMPLEMENTING A RECHARGE TIME
The Better-Than-Light Drive is an extremely powerful device, and as such requires a substantial amount of energy to activate. It is very reasonable to levy a one to ten-day recharge time as the depleted energy reserves are slowly recharged by the atomic generator on board the rocketship. This time period could be extended if the power source is not operating at peak efficiency.
DISABLING THE BTL DRIVE
GENERAL WEAR. Obviously, a machine as sophisticated as the BTL Drive will have many working parts, all subject to general wear and tear over the course of time. Entropy is a harsh mistress, but it is an unforgiving fact of life in the great big playground that is outer space.
DESTRUCTION
Power surges, space battles, and even micro-meteoroid collisions can all ruin many of the BTL Drive’s delicate components, or those of the Kessler Field. The XXX tines are especially susceptible to impact from small, fast-moving space debris. Travelling to a new and different solar system, the crew will find it notoriously difficult to call Earth Mission Control manufacturer for replacement parts. Scouring planets for anything remotely resembling equipment that can fix a rocket ship in disrepair can be an adventure in itself. Stumbling across contemporary or advanced civilizations and bartering or looting for resources will often be the crew’s only recourse for any kind of long-term survival.