Part 4 (1/2)

”s.h.i.+ps ... people can live a long time in s.h.i.+ps.”

”Not that long.”

”There must be something! The power we've got, and this hypers.p.a.ce thing.”

Kliu shook his head. ”I can guess what you're thinking; we've been all over it. There's no way to get to the stars, and no way to move a planet out of its...o...b..t. Don't think we haven't been pounding our skulls, but the figures are hopeless.”

Tulan stared at the ulcerous image on the screen, built up by infra-red probing through the opaque atmosphere. ”She looks ready to fall apart right now. How much of her could you blast off?”

Kliu smiled wearily and without humor. ”We've worked that idea to the bone, too. If you could build a big enough projector, and mount it on an infinitely solid base, you could push something deep enough and accurately enough to throw off stuff at escape velocity, but it's a matter of energy and we can't handle one percent of what we'd need. Even if you could generate it fast enough, your conduits would melt under the current.” He got up and walked a few steps, then sat down again.

”Ironic, isn't it? All we can do is destroy ourselves.”

Tulan's mind couldn't accept it; he was used to thinking that any amount of energy could be handled some way. ”There must be something,” he repeated, feeling foolish as he said it.

He went over the figures he knew so well; the acceleration and the total energy necessary to drive a s.h.i.+p to the nearest stars. Even a s.h.i.+p's Pulsors, pouring energy out steadily, were pitiful compared to that job.

Schoolboys knew the figures; mankind had dreamed for generations ...

He sat up abruptly. ”This hypers.p.a.ce; didn't you tell me there were such things as velocity and momentum in it?”

Kliu's eyes focussed. ”Yes; why?”