Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) (37 page)

Read Starship: Mercenary (Starship, Book 3) Online

Authors: Mike Resnick

I’ve been building this universe, politically and geographically, for a quarter of a century now, and with each passing book and story it feels a little more real to me. Give me another thirty years and I’ll probably believe every word I’ve written about it.
Appendix Three
 
CHRONOLOGY OF THE BIRTHRIGHT UNIVERSE
 
 
 
 
 
Novels not set in this future
 
 
Adventures
(1922-1926 A.D.)
Exploits
(1926-1931 A.D.)
Encounters
(1931-1934 A.D.)
Hazards
(1934-1939 A.D.)
Stalking the Unicorn
(“Tonight”)
Stalking the Vampire
(“Tonight”)
The Branch
(2047-2051 A.D.)
Second Contact
(2065 A.D.)
Bully!
(1910-1912 A.D.)
Kirinyaga
(2123-2137 A.D.)
Lady with an Alien
(1490 A.D.)
A Club in Montmartre
(1890-1901 A.D.)
Dragon America: Revolution
(1779-1780 A.D.)
The World behind the Door
(1928 A.D.)
The Other Teddy Roosevelts
(1888-1919 A.D.)
Appendix Four
 
SINGAPORE STATION A Short Infrastructure History
 
By Deborah Oakes
S
ingapore Station is known galaxy-wide for its unique diplomatic status and the vitality of its trade. Few stop to consider what a truly amazing engineering feat this aggregate station
represents. When Saville Station and the Lewis Outpost decided to combine forces, forming the seed that was to grow into Singapore Station, they possessed similar power systems, standard atmospheres, and construction techniques. Even so, they placed their combined station carefully at a Lagrange point in the new system to minimize gravitational stress on the structure. For the first fifty years, only stations with standard atmospheres were added to Singapore Station. Wherever possible, power and communication systems were integrated into the Singapore Station grid. Airlocks and docking facilities were used to join neighboring stations, or detached and moved to the ever-growing fringe of Singapore Station. Some sections became so interconnected that only business addresses revealed which station a section had formerly been. In other places, unique holdovers from a station’s history survive. Stresses on the total structure are balanced carefully and monitored continuously. In all Singapore Station’s history, there has never been an involuntary station breech or decoupling—a remarkable feat for so complex a structure. Both personnel and cargo lift shafts connect all sections with a dedicated transportation level. The lift shafts and stations of the transportation level are among the few structures built specifically for Singapore Station, rather than being cannibalized from merging stations. Cargo handling is automated, using spherical cargo pods and a magnetic induction system. All sections and ship docking facilities are connected by monorail on the transportation level. It is a characteristic of the station that mechanized travel laterally within the standard atmosphere levels is virtually nonexistent.
When a consortium of chlorine-breathing stations first approached Singapore Station with a merger proposal, there was considerable opposition from the infrastructure engineers. Interfacing two mutually deadly atmospheric systems carried a high risk. Of necessity, power systems and structural standards of the chlorine-atmosphere stations were radically different. Chlorine is a very active element, and corrosive to many metals, so the stations used massive natural and artificial stone analogs extensively. In the end, as might be expected for Singapore Station, a compromise was reached. A new level was created, not attached to the existing two levels at standard atmosphere, but on the opposite side of the transportation level. The new level was integrated into the overall structure flexibly, at the transportation level, and remained responsible for maintaining its own dynamic stability and services. Dedicated interfaces with the transportation system were limited, and chlorine breathers could use some facilities only when suited. This became the template for adding nonstandard stations to Singapore Station. The next level to be added was a negotiation level with no atmosphere, located “beneath” the chlorine level. Facilities are limited to conference rooms, computational services, and transportation and emergency facilities. Untenanted except for negotiators during conferences, it also serves as a buffer between the chlorine level and the ammonia-atmosphere habitats.
The ammonia-breathers’ habitats are a collection of interconnected cylinders and spheres with a wide variety of atmospheric pressure, gravity, and temperature. Many gleam beautifully, being coated with highly reflective materials to help maintain the low temperatures found on the moons that are home to many ammonia breathers. Some residents prefer an ammonia-methane mixture. Their habitats serve as an interface between the ammonia habitats and the final level on Singapore Station—the massive habitats of the methane breathers. Two of these enormous space stations are the newest nonstandard additions to Singapore Station. Huge flattened ovoids with massive structural ribs, these stations provide the high-pressure atmosphere required by the only known pure methane-breathing race, which developed in the atmosphere of the galaxy’s gas giants.
Just as new levels have been added for chlorine, ammonia, and methane breathers, so the standard atmosphere side of Singapore Station has continued to grow outward, reaching four levels, and over five miles in diameter at spots. In some areas, lateral connections have been limited by the architecture of the original stations. Highly connected stations tend to become commercial centers. Those with limited personnel access but good cargo access became havens for traders and the occasion local manufacturer. Any sections with overall poor transportation become mainly residential or warehouse space.
Occasionally, a feature on a merged station will prove unexpectedly advantageous. For instance, the experimental farm dome was once part of a research station. Enclosed by station growth, it is now lit by artificial light and maintained as York section’s own park—lined by some of the most expensive residences on Singapore Station. In another case, an enormous water tank, part of a radiation barrier on an early station, is now a favorite recreational stop on station, and serves double duty as an emergency water reserve. There are many such unique features to be found throughout the many levels of the station. Visitors wishing to see more of the facilities are encouraged to employ a local guide. Enjoy exploring Singapore Station.
Deborah Oakes is an aerospace engineer, a lifetime science fiction fan, and the secretary/treasurer of the venerable Cincinnati Fantasy Group.
 
Appendix Five
 
DUKE’S PLACE CASINO SCHEMATIC
 
By Deborah Oakes
 
Appendix Six
 
PIRATE QUEENS
 
By Mike Resnick
S
omething interesting happened on the way to writing this appendix. I began getting tons of fan mail about
Starship: Pirate
, and almost all of it concerned Val. Although she never
made an appearance until halfway through the second
Starship
book, she is clearly the most popular character in the series.
A lot of the letters asked how I came up with the unique notion of a Pirate Queen. So I guess it’s time for a confession: Pirate Queens have been around for even longer than the field of science fiction. And that led me to think that maybe you’d like to know a little something about their history.
Hugo Gernsback, who created the field as a separate publishing category with
Amazing Stories
back in 1926, defined science fiction (his first term for it, which fell flat on its face, was “scientifiction”) as a branch of fiction that would get young boys interested in science. Young girls were presumably too busy playing with their dolls.
But young boys didn’t have any disposable income during the Depression, so after Buck Rogers and Hawk Carse and the crew of Doc Smith’s
Skylark
had made their debuts, publishers decided that maybe they ought to start running some stuff that appealed to older boys—like from fifteen to ninety.

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