A Star Trek type shuttle would act to plug the leak with some filler material stored in microscopic bladders in a layer on the inside of the hull, which is no fun, so let's assume you don't have that.

Let's also assume your characters don't have a hardening foam gun (the ejected foam would find the leak wherever it is - one need not know that part).

I mention these two facts because the lack of spacesuits implies there are so many failsafes that the spacesuit is statistically useless. Much like the absence of seatbelts in Star Trek style ships implies they never need to brake fast enough to kill passengers.

If you want realism, the enemy shot should contain an active agent to increase the size of the leak. (I know it's an enemy shot due to the source material - I also think it was handled well enough that we can accept the outcome).

njc wrote:

Into the woods,
It's time to go,
I hate to leave,
I have to go.
Into the woods-
It's time, and so
I must begin my journey.

Leaving on a jet plane
Don't know if I'll be back again
--oops wrong song

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13466390_10101369197516235_875390745754592370_n.jpg?oh=3d9c8cf8aa3493cb453a31792f5fd601&oe=5803D61D
Dear England: Do better

1,104

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

I believe the decision will strengthen the union... UK skuttles too many necessary measures. If they can just get out for a bit and let Germany and France sort things in there, the world will be a much better place

@Janet: Nay... you're still ahead of me in reviews. I've just been buried with work (boo! hiss!) and can't read as much as I'd like

quite a bit of that needs google translate

1,107

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

If the computer detects a massive object ahead of you

This detection... I presume it uses scanners that are faster-than-faster-than light?

force the traveler to circumnavigate massive objects

Turning...
it's a problem that comes up in [K a j o]s story when they learn that Taylor can "turn" and travel curved trajectories in hyperspace. Travel through space -- applying force to create velocity -- it's a concept we might have to leave behind.

I mean... what mass driver can you put on your back that might possibly spew matter away fast enough to propel you forward at that rate?

By simple kinematics, and ignoring gravitation, we might suggest a 1kg object that wishes to travel 15m/s forward must eject 0.5kg of matter backwards at 30m/s.
(This is a dreadful oversimplification since I don't account for a, t, and elasticity)
(Imagine how much more effort it would take for a ship to do this)
(Somehow this long rambling speech boils down to me agrees with your starlanes. Then a stardrive is more of a "raft" that keeps the ship's particile energized enough for it to stay in the starlanes where all distances are shorter)

1,108

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

If you are propagating faster than light (notice I used propagate rather than travel) you would likely translate through smaller objects without interacting with them. By its nature, FTL travel -- competing with the planck distance -- means a small system body cannot bring enough gravitation to bear on you to even cause a ripple in your path of travel (Notice, I've avoided saying momentum).

Neutrinos are much slower than your ships, and if I understand correctly, many of them can sneak through the Earth (I believe this feat is due to their mass, not their velocity) but the average comet vs your ships is not going to be able to compete

*Edited for spelling since my keyboard hates me

1,109

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Agreed. A distraction.

amy s wrote:

So what is the age of the person writing on this thread? Hmmm. Maybe three...

If you keep picking on Norm, there will be another Dr Ess

Edit: With some exceptions. Inga is a 7-yr-old but she narrates like 18 (at least, that's the goal)

I write within the age of my narrator, so I can see how the age thing could be misconstrued

1,113

(8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Yes, I discussed this at length. The answer I received was basically "hide everything" and that the default would remain "open to public"

Therefore I deleted the thread in question, along with anything else identifying, changed my pen name, changed all my titles, deleted all my forum posts, obfuscated my profile (which cannot be hidden despite the claim that it can), waited about 10 weeks and I see to be mostly free from searches.

I got one foot in the grave

1,115

(1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Depends on what the story is about. With a name like Galaxy Tales, and sufficicient prep work, you could get into a Caligula POV here.

Chapter House (book 6) best book I've ever read

amy s wrote:

I plan to write alternate endings and let people pick.

I pick the one where they're celebrating at the end and then a Mar shows up unexpectedly and eats everyone.

I hate killing my favorite characters

When you read 2-3 Acorna books or anything containing the name "Ender" you come to understand this problem troubles the big names of fiction.

Per K. Don't clarify. =simplify=. You've got a lot of mobile targets. Keep killing them like Game of Thrones until we're at the edge of our seats swearing at you that if you kill another we'll hate you as we buy the next book

Which sets me to wondering... if the next book is going to have the gang together... you're not going to have time to treat all 20+ characters. (Not unless you write a Robert Jordan-style phone book). I presume some of them must be flattened into bystanders. This would seem to imply they need their moment of closure now / here. I'm referring to threads like Tazar-Solace. You could get away with punting Malpiece-Jaylene's closure into another story since one hasn't heavily affected the other. I assume Petra and L are now permanently out of the loop so there's a few less loose ends to tie up.

Just looking at the story mechanics, the story kind of flirts with us that the jar has some effect on Jaylene (whether, for example, she is unable to destroy it at the end and Tazar is the one least affected, and throws it... or whether it's more insidious - a darkening of her spirit that can never be lifted).

Taking a step further back... is the story really about destroying the horror?Or is it about why Jaylene came back and why whatever is commending all the horrors wants to thwart that? Perhaps this question is best left to the greater story. I don't know.

Billy Joel: "Always the good die young"

(instrumental)

(Clarinet enacts the screams of man-eating apes)

Try to sneak in a few civilian deaths and one or more kittens

1,123

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

This may be a sticky-notes problem

Bonus points if the solution involves a man-eating crocodile

Personally, I'm super happy to be back in a universe where people can swear normally again.

You wouldn't believe how much pain it is editing out our swearing substitutes (like "Oh brother") and making sure that when my characters say sh*t they are actually talking about excrement. When someone describing his wife as having "uneartly beauty" doesn't make sense if your characters haven't heard of Earth.

Total pain in the neck!

Anyway, I notice you're headed in the direction that the characters cuss about magic. But you have other options.

Maybe they cuss about an animal that used to eat them at some point in their evolutonary history. For example, the Dingo. They might go "Holy bite from a Dingo" or "get out of town ya Dingo lover". (PS if you _bite_ into this idea, don't actually use Dingo. Use something cool like "kodo" (shortened from komodo) or "turt" (shortened from turtle))

1,125

(30 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

He's invented a defense for telepathy. On the other hand, no telepath can block electricity. Namika 1 telepath 0