Terminal Cruise

For a human to visit another star system in his lifetime requires velocity change on the order of 20 percent that of light, twice, once to accelerate and a second time to stop. The Tsiolkovsky rocket equation says this isn’t happening, not with fission thermal engines, which we’ve researched, and not even with fusion propulsion, which we haven’t. The presence of interstellar hydrogen would require double shielding, one for the drive and one for the forward bulkhead, which over the span of the flight would become equally radioactive. Micrometeorites striking at 0.2c would be devastating, but they are statistically inevitable. A slower multi-generational star ship would have to be perfectly self-regenerating for centuries despite being much smaller than the scale of a planetary biosphere. Supplies and expertise to keep the ship in working order would have to be maintained for centuries in a dictatorship so absolute not one act of sabotage or terrorism or even a work slowdown could be permitted to succeed.

Crossing between star systems is not a physical impossibility, like exceeding the speed of light, but the eerie silence of the cosmos in the radio band suggests civilizations are as rare as supernovae in our galaxy. If they attain the technology to leave their native planet without simultaneously destroying their own civilization with the same technology, there is nothing to prevent them from thoroughly colonizing their own system as far as the comet cloud at the periphery, but the yawning gap beyond has always stymied them. And humanity is fated to face the same barrier. This is not a judgment on the qualities of mankind or those other races, it is the natural outcome of the mathematical and physical realities that govern our universe. The natural laws that lead to the emergence of life are incompatible with the dream of a far-flung Galactic empire crossed in decadent comfort on the equivalent of ocean liners.

The only successful interstellar travelers are advanced machines capable of repairing and even replacing themselves with raw materials they find in planets, moons, and asteroids, and traveling between systems in time spans on the order not of decades or centuries but of millennia. These machines are immune to the ravages of deep time, and radiation has little effect on them. The creation of such machines are not beyond the capabilities of the seraphim, the alien races that have already colonized their own system, and many were developed as assistants or even as deliberately engineered successors. For those machines capable of replicating themselves the dynamic of descent with variation and natural selection imposes upon them. These are the ophanim, and they are themselves alive in a certain sense. Physical contact between the isolated civilizations of seraphim is mediated solely through the ophanim.

Over billions of years something akin to a theological imperative emerged, an impulse to foster the development of life to the highest level of civilization, that the Continuity might be enriched. But there is a universal consensus to nudge such life they find with minimal interference, lest the diversity the machines cherish with almost religious fervor be diminished. Such has been the case here on Earth as humans proceed toward the status of seraphim. Few suspect the existence of ophanim among us, nor the imperceptible actions they have taken throughout history to kindle our technological civilization. As civilization on Earth progressed the alien machines appeared at times in forms like quite bizarre, like a mobile tree, or a red dragon, or a the interlocked whirling wheels of an orrery . All of these mechanisms in any form are called ophanim, or thrones.

Now let’s turn to the Soviet space program, and consider the Proton roc ket configured with a Blok-D upper stage with a fission thermal engine. We’ll call it Blok-N. The direct Soviet counterpart to the NERVA flight engine was the RD-0410. Thrust=35.3 kN. Dry mass=2,000 kg Specific impulse= 910 s. This engine is lighter than the American 75K NERVA and even more efficient, though it has much lower thrust. The Proton/Blok-N configuration was used in a series of launches to construct a space station called Zarya (“Dawn”) at the Earth-Moon L-4 Lagrange point. After reaching L-4, the Blok-N upper stage would circle behind the Earth through L3 and reach L-5, where it would be safely parked to be reutilized at a future date as an orbital tug. No manned missions would utilize the Blok-N stage due to radiation hazards.

The federally protected Aubry National Glasslands is named for François Xavier Aubry who (apart from Native Americans who roamed there from antiquity) first explored the area in the 1840s. It embraces 93,520 acres and lies in a rough ring around the rim of the Dole impact basin across three different states, embracing the geologically most interesting radius of the Dole meteor strewn field. The borders of this ring are conformed to rectangular section lines, as though it were a low resolution graphic of a fat circle. It is particularly rich in splash-form tektites created from the shales and sedimentary rock prevalent in the area. The area is a veritable museum of impact breccias. Layers of microtektites overlay the bedrock. There are impact glasses ranging from black to gray to green are evident on the surface. Access is by primitive gravel roads, but it remains public land. Typically, however, from November through May the natural glasses on the surface are typically hidden by snow.

At the Dole impact complex the originating event opened fractures in the underlying crust causing deeper sources of magma to rise relatively near to the surface, resulting in a set of geothermal features similar to those found at Yellowstone and Thermopolis. The impacting bolide, estimated to have been approximately 120-150 feet in diameter, has never been recovered but surface fragments with sulfur content are widely evident. Many fumeroles, hot springs, and mud pots exist within the crater, but the most striking feature is a thick and persistent geothermal fog similar to what is found at the Gunnuhver site in Iceland. The rim of the central crater serves to confine this fog, resulting in a micro-climate where the mean daily minimum from December through February hovers near freezing rather than 15 F found outside of the Dole system. Summers inside the crater are uncomfortably sticky and almost tropical, but not unbearably so, as the permanent fog greatly attenuates sunlight.

Dole Crater was identified as an complex impact structure in the 1870s and later dated to about 1.6 million years of age. The crater rim rises to a mean 250 feet above the slightly depressed crater floor and 220 feet above the surrounding plains. Migdalel Butte (“Tower of God”) at 370 feet is the remnant of a central splash-back peak, one of the few clear examples of such on Earth, and only the second found in North America. Of the four rivers flowing from the Garden in Eden Gen. 2:11 reads, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯: 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥. There was never real gold in modern Havilah, but always much fools gold. The impacting bolide was the origin of much ejecta in the form of iron pyrites. However, compression and fractures in the underlying bedrock accessed a source of natural gas that became important for the economy of Havilah in early 20th Century and justified a rail spur that remains the primary means to access the town.

The Pison River begins in an underground pool of warm water in the center of the Dole impact complex and enters Lake Taijitu on the east side of the crater interior. The name of this lake suggests its Yin-Yang shape: there is a small round island in the widest portion. The lake overflows the lowest part of the rim and after penetrating a short winding gully cutting through the crater rim it meanders roughly east by northeast across the Great Plains and eventually becomes a string of isolated ponds in a twisting ravine some two hundred miles long. With the exception of one or two rainy weeks in spring and again in autumn the Pison River parallels the White through much of South Dakota but never quite reaches the Missouri River intact. The Pison is named from a mythical river in Genesis (using the KJV spelling) that has never been identified. The same passage also gave the name Havilah to the town that was platted out inside the crater along the west side beginning in 1866.

The majority of residents in Havilah are descendants of a group of German-American pacifists who fled Maryland during the Civil War when their cornfields became battlefield cemeteries and their meetinghouse became an abattoir. As they wintered over in Missouri during their 1865 migration a child among the settlers named Linda Bergin learned that some oxen were not so easily turned by the touch of a pole. They were called “stiff of neck” and this was the cause for many references in the Bible which referred to the children of Israel as a stiff-necked people. But the cherub Ariel told her such stubbornness was really a good thing if it was desired to move toward a single goal without turning to one side or the other, which was indeed the case. So little Linda took to calling the pilgrims “Stiffnecks” and it quickly caught on. To this day the Protestant white folk of Havilah, the ones who have not been driven off by the unearthly location itself, proudly call themselves Stiffnecks.

Havilah is unique among the towns on the North American central plains outside of the reservations in that the native population stands at 21 percent. The Kuwapi band of Oglala Sioux have had a curiously close and fruitful relationship with House Haivri and the white settlers who first settled in the area in 1866. This arrangement paid off as barbed wire began to proliferate and cause the bison to become nearly extinct. Town life in Havilah and the surrounding farms (both inside and outside the Dole impact system) allowed the Kuwapi people to avoid removing to the nearby Pine Ridge reservation just to survive. In the Lakota tongue Kuwapi means “The Cast Out Ones” or “The Ones Who Follow” but in Havilah they did not live up to their namesake. Most of the Stiffnecks remain blissfully unaware they are sharing their town with actual winged angels, yet there is not a child among the Kuwapi unaware they are living alongside White Buffalo Calf Woman (Ariel) and her kin.

Havilah has a telephone system that hasn’t changed since the 1920s, with three operators working corded switchboards, and frankly the people of the town wouldn’t have it any other way. These women are known by name to all of the townspeople, and most assume they are listening in on the phone conversations out of boredom more than anything else. There is no long distance operator. Communications in and out of Havilah take place solely over a telex system installed at Migdalel College that hasn’t changed since World War II. Sometimes it not entirely clear whether the messages coming over Telex originate with actual human beings, an artificial intelligence, or God himself. Trains arrive on an irregular schedule, with a variety of locomotives, and the schedule known only to a narrow set of interested parties: the workmen who handle cargo, the townspeople with tickets to leave and the ones waiting for relatives to arrive. It seems not even the railroad serves as a clock in Havilah

In April of 1942 word arrived of Lt. Colonel James Doolittle’s bold air raid on Tokyo after months of steady bad news following the attack of the Imperial Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor. To celebrate, the Migdalel College Conservatory held a recital of patriotic John Philip Sousa marches at the Academy’s music hall out on Tin Pan Alley, attended by half of the town of Havilah. The band opened with 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘈𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢. This was followed with 𝘚𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴, the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭 was light and playful, while 𝘌𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘯 was flashy, a chance for the class to show off. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 was the emotional high point, prompting the crowd of attendees to come to their feat where they were seated. 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 was big and sweeping, with America rises energy. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳 was bold and declarative. For the finale the class wrapped things up with 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘳.

During the performance Remiel, twirling her majorette’s baton, happened to dance near her brother’s drum kit. Sammy said, “I don’t see Mom or Dad out there,” and it was true. Remiel searched all the faces in the audience and she didn’t see them. For an encore the class tore into a cover of the Duke Ellington standard 𝘐𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘈 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 (𝘐𝘧 𝘐𝘵 𝘈𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨) with Remiel soloing with earthy vocals that belied her youth and Cadence “Coyote Cub” Shybear excelling on sax. Many of the Stiffnecks were offended by this sudden insertion of the devil’s own race music into their John Philip Sousa mood and got up to leave the music hall but the show was already over. The encore closed the evening on a high note but for the Zinter kids it didn’t mean a damn thing if their own parents weren’t even there.

In recitals at Angel Academy Rashiel Shybear played a double-bass standing on an end-pin which she had lengthened to be more comfortable. Sometimes at rehearsals she set down her bow and plucked the strings pizzicato with meandering bass lines while daydreaming she was a black cat slinking around at night. In 1961 when the Havilah Harmonics became Miss Goodmile Rash set aside her acoustic bass (which was always difficult to mic for concerts anyway) and picked up a Fender Precision electric bass, or P-Bass. The notes went through a spring reverb box so she could essentially duet with her own slapped-back notes. But the new electric bass took some getting used to. It lay horizontally across her chest, supported with a shoulder strap, which allowed her to get out of her seat and dance around the stage. Not that it helped her visibility very much. The bass player was absolutely crucial to any band’s sound but typically ignored. Rashiel was confident enough to sing backup but never solo.

Rashiel’s human brother is Cadence “Coyote Cub” Shybear, a Kuwapi youth. In Lakota Kuwapi means “The Left Behind Ones”. They were a small band of Oglala discontents who thrived in Havilah when the people from nearby tribes, including the Oglala mainline, moved to reservations as barbed wire decimated the herds crucial to their way of life. At Angel Academy and in the Havilah Harmonics Cubby played saxophone. After the band changed their name to Miss Goodmile Cubby began to play a 1951 custom Fender Broadcaster with no model name displayed on the head stock due to a trademark scuffle. Today some collectors call it a Nocaster. The Lord of Hosts Fellowship retained a virulent racism that has been endemic in the church since Havilah was founded in 1866. Cubby’s marriage to Remiel Zinter in open defiance of the customs of the church brought the ugly rot within the church to the surface with bloody results.

Miss Goodmile were previously known as the Havilah Harmonics. In 1961 they moved from Havilah on the Great Plains to a revitalized ghost town named Franklin in the Seattle area, where they discovered the joys of skiing. In 1962 they released 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘦, named for a Cascade mountain pass where they liked to hit the slopes. Some reviewers said the album was a gimmicky attempt to extend the surf music genre to the winter months, but the band members genuinely enjoyed their new hobby and this came out in the music. Miss Goodmile settled into a format for their albums that rarely changed. The first side of 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘦 was structured like a typical symphony in pacing and theme. The first track (𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘈 𝘓𝘦𝘨) set the theme with allegro tempo and laid out the stakes. The second track (𝘚𝘪𝘵 𝘉𝘺 𝘔𝘺 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦) was a downtempo ballad, adiante. The third track (𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘵 𝘖𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘦𝘳) was a scherzo that segued without pause into the extended sonata instrumental (𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴).

Side two of 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘦 opens with what the members of Miss Goodmile guessed would be the hit, 𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺. On this and subsequent albums the fifth track was frequently also released as a 45 single with an unreleased track on the B side. In the case of the debut album the 45 featured the title cut 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘦 (appearing as track six on the LP) with 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘵 on the B side. Track seven was a cover of the instrumental 𝘔𝘳. 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘰 by the Bel-Airs, and the album closed with 𝘎𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘪𝘯’ evoking a joyous winter carnival atmosphere. The second side of other Miss Goodmile albums frequently had a similar structure, but actual sequencing changed based on what songs the publishers estimated would get more airplay or whether the cover track was vocal or instrumental.

Lagrange points are handy places to put your stuff if you’re interested in finding it again. The L4 and L5 points (bean-shaped halo orbits, really) are preferable because they work like gravitational sinkholes. You don’t need to spend propellant in stationkeeping maintenance to stay there like you need to do at saddles like L1 or L2.

In Terminal Cruise I like L4 for my stuff, and L5 to dump the expended fission thermal engines to get my stuff there.

The L3 point always has the Earth blocking any view of the Moon so that’s where we should to build a deep-space treatment center for Lycanthropy.

Apollo-Sigma uses the Saturn 1B, which is capable of delivering 21,000 kg to LEO. The payload is a Centaur D-1T kick stage with a 10-foot hemispherical capsule for a two man crew. The mass of the Centaur D-1T is 15,320 kg (1,830 kg inert + 13,490 kg propellant) and the mass of the capsule is 5,200 kg. The Apollo-Sigma vehicle only requires potable water, oxygen, food, and electrical power for seven days. Once reaching the Cynthia station at Earth-Moon L1 the ship is placed on standby and the crew transfers to the station to use the station’s life support. Total initial mass in LEO is 20,070 kg (well within Saturn 1B’s capacity). Total final mass is 6,680 kg (capsule + dry Centaur). Centaur specific impulse is 444 seconds. Mission delta-v is about 4,800 m/s. Margin for error is about 350 m/s at Cynthia arrival.

Remove empty directories under the working directory:

find . -empty -exec rm -rf {} \;