[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
to class the second day of classes, since we d had nearly a month of
physical conditioning before we started learning the knowledge basics.
This class was held in one of the rooms off the hall where we had first
gathered. Wyendra and I sat in the second row. Everyone stood when the FS
major walked into the classroom.
At ease. Take your seats. The dark-haired man in the black and silver
singlesuit of the Federal Service nodded brusquely. He surveyed the class I
am Major Cheng, and I will be your instructor for engineering.& Before we get
into the engineering basics, Commander Almyra has requested that I address one
of the practical aspects of your training. Cheng paused. Why don t we put
you in space with a ship and keep you there until you learn? Because piloting
doesn t work that way. Neither do your bodies, and that s another kind of
engineering.
First, we don t have antigravity, and it takes gravity to keep people in top
shape. Acceleration or deceleration at one gee is a fair substitute, but
that s only good for insystem travel. Once you reach orbit, you re dealing
with weightlessness again. Trying to spin ships or stations doesn t work
either. It plays havoc with designs and maintenance, especially with the mass
requirements. It is extraordinarily expensive. Since the interstellar space
program is a net resource drain, we design to optimize energy and resource
usage.
So the simplest solution is to train you under the same circumstances you ll
pilot and travel under. That means time on Earth getting in top shape,
Page 42
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
followed by a short period in weightlessness, followed by constant gee
acceleration to a destination and then weightless. Then, in some form or
another, you repeat the pattern. He smiled. Now that we ve covered that for
the major, we ll get down to the engineering basics of why you re here. He
looked out over the class. Why do we have a basic engineering class at all?
The guts of an LDD are very simple in theory, and impossibly complex in
practice. That s just the drive, and that doesn t take into account the
magscoops and fusactor conversion system that creates the reverse spin fields.
Except for the three of you who are physicists and engineers & we d have to
take every hour of every day of your training period, and it still wouldn t be
enough. So & why?
I had a good idea, and a better idea that it wouldn t be the best thing to
attempt an answer.
Apparently, everyone else thought the same way, because the classroom was
silent.
Cheng grinned, not exactly pleasantly. I expect answers. This isn t status
game-playing where withheld information gets you points and where enthusiasm
is considered gauche.
Several people nodded and offered hands, not raised enthusiastically. Mine was
one of them, unfortunately.
Candidate Alwyn, your answer?
Because we need a working knowledge of the power we control, ser?
Not just a working knowledge, but a practical and emotional understanding of
exactly what an interstellar ship and Gate system are. You are expected to
learn all that, and you ll be tested on it, and not in just the conventional
spit-back-the-knowledge ways, either. I don t mind telling you why because
those of you who won t appreciate it never will, and those who do can pat
yourselves on the back for the next three seconds. Cheng paused theatrically.
The reason pilot training is so tough has nothing to do with mechanics.
Mechanically, mentally, and physically, every single one of you has already
been qualified as having the talent to be a pilot. That s just the beginning.
As I noted before, a space vehicle represents an enormous resource commitment
that we cannot afford to lose except under the most dire of circumstances.
Second, a space vehicle capable of going to the stars is potentially the most
destructive weapon ever developed in human history. We don t want just any
brilliant young officer sitting at those controls. We want someone who fully
understands that, and yet who can still make nanosecond decisions the right
decisions.&
As Cheng continued, I began to understand. At least I thought I did, but that
was also something I decided to keep to myself.
Chapter 18
Raven: Vallura, 458 N.E.
I didn t sleep well the night after talking to Mertyn, and I d already been up
early the next morning reworking some of the package for Klevyl, even though I
didn t have any feedback. When a methodizer doesn t get feedback, there are
usually only two reasons. Either you did a good enough job, and the client
doesn t want to pay for more work on that project, or it s beyond them
unexpectedly good or even more awful. Being too good can be worse, sometimes,
than being awful, because no one wants to admit that someone outside the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
to class the second day of classes, since we d had nearly a month of
physical conditioning before we started learning the knowledge basics.
This class was held in one of the rooms off the hall where we had first
gathered. Wyendra and I sat in the second row. Everyone stood when the FS
major walked into the classroom.
At ease. Take your seats. The dark-haired man in the black and silver
singlesuit of the Federal Service nodded brusquely. He surveyed the class I
am Major Cheng, and I will be your instructor for engineering.& Before we get
into the engineering basics, Commander Almyra has requested that I address one
of the practical aspects of your training. Cheng paused. Why don t we put
you in space with a ship and keep you there until you learn? Because piloting
doesn t work that way. Neither do your bodies, and that s another kind of
engineering.
First, we don t have antigravity, and it takes gravity to keep people in top
shape. Acceleration or deceleration at one gee is a fair substitute, but
that s only good for insystem travel. Once you reach orbit, you re dealing
with weightlessness again. Trying to spin ships or stations doesn t work
either. It plays havoc with designs and maintenance, especially with the mass
requirements. It is extraordinarily expensive. Since the interstellar space
program is a net resource drain, we design to optimize energy and resource
usage.
So the simplest solution is to train you under the same circumstances you ll
pilot and travel under. That means time on Earth getting in top shape,
Page 42
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
followed by a short period in weightlessness, followed by constant gee
acceleration to a destination and then weightless. Then, in some form or
another, you repeat the pattern. He smiled. Now that we ve covered that for
the major, we ll get down to the engineering basics of why you re here. He
looked out over the class. Why do we have a basic engineering class at all?
The guts of an LDD are very simple in theory, and impossibly complex in
practice. That s just the drive, and that doesn t take into account the
magscoops and fusactor conversion system that creates the reverse spin fields.
Except for the three of you who are physicists and engineers & we d have to
take every hour of every day of your training period, and it still wouldn t be
enough. So & why?
I had a good idea, and a better idea that it wouldn t be the best thing to
attempt an answer.
Apparently, everyone else thought the same way, because the classroom was
silent.
Cheng grinned, not exactly pleasantly. I expect answers. This isn t status
game-playing where withheld information gets you points and where enthusiasm
is considered gauche.
Several people nodded and offered hands, not raised enthusiastically. Mine was
one of them, unfortunately.
Candidate Alwyn, your answer?
Because we need a working knowledge of the power we control, ser?
Not just a working knowledge, but a practical and emotional understanding of
exactly what an interstellar ship and Gate system are. You are expected to
learn all that, and you ll be tested on it, and not in just the conventional
spit-back-the-knowledge ways, either. I don t mind telling you why because
those of you who won t appreciate it never will, and those who do can pat
yourselves on the back for the next three seconds. Cheng paused theatrically.
The reason pilot training is so tough has nothing to do with mechanics.
Mechanically, mentally, and physically, every single one of you has already
been qualified as having the talent to be a pilot. That s just the beginning.
As I noted before, a space vehicle represents an enormous resource commitment
that we cannot afford to lose except under the most dire of circumstances.
Second, a space vehicle capable of going to the stars is potentially the most
destructive weapon ever developed in human history. We don t want just any
brilliant young officer sitting at those controls. We want someone who fully
understands that, and yet who can still make nanosecond decisions the right
decisions.&
As Cheng continued, I began to understand. At least I thought I did, but that
was also something I decided to keep to myself.
Chapter 18
Raven: Vallura, 458 N.E.
I didn t sleep well the night after talking to Mertyn, and I d already been up
early the next morning reworking some of the package for Klevyl, even though I
didn t have any feedback. When a methodizer doesn t get feedback, there are
usually only two reasons. Either you did a good enough job, and the client
doesn t want to pay for more work on that project, or it s beyond them
unexpectedly good or even more awful. Being too good can be worse, sometimes,
than being awful, because no one wants to admit that someone outside the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]