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To: Dan Corrin <dan%engrg.uwo.ca@RELAY.CS.NET>,
        Chuck McKnight <mcknight@TUSUN2.MCS.UTULSA.EDU>,
        "James T. Perkins" <jamesp%metolius.wr.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: TML Bundle #172: Msgs 2148-2159
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Date: Sun, 24 Feb 91 21:01:11 PST
From: James T Perkins <jamesp%metolius.wr.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET>
Status: RO


TML Bundles come from the archives of the Traveller Mailing List,
maintained by James Perkins, traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com.

------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun Feb 24 21:01:07 PST 1991
From: traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com (TML Administrator)
Subject: TML Bundle #172: Table of Contents

-AMN- --Date--- --Sender--------- --Subject-----------------------------------
2148  14-Feb-91 d9bertil@dtek.cha Re: Lagrange-jumps, Velocities and 1/r^3 << D
2149  14-Feb-91 Adrian Hurt       Re: Jump distances and psionics << bonnevil@a
2150  14-Feb-91 Robert Crawford    << As for collisions while coming out of jum
2151  14-Feb-91 James T Perkins   Minor mail problems << Due to alt.desert_stor
2152  14-Feb-91 "Nick Christenson 100 diameter stuff. << There's been a lot of 
2153  15-Feb-91 Iain Fogg         Sensors in space << Since the current topic o
2154  18-Feb-91 grue@batserver.cs Re: sensors in space << hiya, Sorry about the
2155  18-Feb-91 grue@batserver.cs Starship loans... << hiya, I've just found an
2156  19-Feb-91 richard@oresoft.C PBEM Turn 10.6 (finally) << PBEM Turn 10.6 **
2157  19-Feb-91 geovision!achille Border Worlds << I have a question for anyone
2158  21-Feb-91 METLAY@vms.cis.pi The Border Worlds << ...are an Imperially-ali
2159  21-Feb-91 za057@zeus.unomah Digest Group's software << Did Digest Group e

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2148
From: d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se
Subject: Re: Lagrange-jumps, Velocities and 1/r^3
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 7:52:35 MET

Dan Corrin <dan@engrg.uwo.ca> writes:

> Second, There will be points, especially in a system with a large moon,
> where a jump can be safely made much much closer to the planet, than 100
> diameters. These would be small (perhaps even smaller than some ships),
> and uncertain to use, which would limit their use. Ships could only use
> these on an outbound leg as they would effectively be "islands" of
> acceptable gravity level.
  [..]
> The only bad part is that the points of low attraction between a habitable
> planet and the sun, may also be "islands". Due to the fact that an incoming
> ship precipitates out of jump space when it gets to "100 diameters" this
> might make leaving quicker than arriving.

  I agree with the second paragraph. There are numerous references that no 
matter how bad one misjumps, one cannot appear inside the 100 diameter sphere. 
Since it is possible to enter jump within this sphere, travel in jumpspace to 
another system or planet and appear at their 100 diameter sphere, I interpret 
this as meaning that when a ship cross the limit from the outside and in it will
be thrown out of jump.
  That would be a nasty surprise for anyone who tries to use the Lagrange points
for jumping. They reappear again just outside the same Lagrange point.

  One might argue that the ship should be immune to how normal space looks in a
line from jump entry to jump exit, and I agree with that, but ships are
obvioulsy affected by large bodies when they are "close to normal space" and 
about to exit jump, the same should be true if they've just entered jumpspace.

  A problem with using Lagrange points and basing the 100 diameters on local
gravitation is that it opens the possibility of jumping from a antigrav area
on the surface. (Hmm, and if one mounts the jumpnet and jumpdrive on the 
outside of the ship, and leave them behind, one has got the jump equivalent
of a massdriver for transport purposes. Imagine the savings if one transported
ore between two systems using just *one* jumpdrive but several hundred 
unmanned hulls and with a launch rate of one per 5 minutes or something:)
 
> Third, in a talk given by Mark Miller, he always intended there to be a
> limited (but large) number of points that a ship could jump from/to,
> otherwise piracy couldn't exist (qv my other article in this digest).

  There were an article by him in JTAS about this. Jumpdrives got very limited.
essentially, for each jump-number you could jump to the 100d of the largest mass
in the system. So to jump directly to Earth, you'd need jump-6.
  I don't imagine the system ever became a hit. Not only did it take lots of 
time for the characters to get to the main world if they had a standard ship
like a A or an S, but it required that you knew exactly how the system looked.

  It would also put a crimp on the very popular "jump to the middle of nothing"
to refuel or mothball a ship or whatever unless you happened to know the 
location of a suitable cometary nucleus above some minimum size.

> This next part is based on poor knowledge, but presumably, one would want to
> travel retrograde (behind the planet in its orbit) in order to get to safe
> jump distance quickly.

  I don't think so, When you start to accelerate from the planet you already
have the velocity vector of the planet, so it won't make any difference if you 
accelerate ahead of it or retrograde.
  This is assuming that you have a drive that accelerate using normal physics.
If you use thrusters all bets are off:)
 
  [on vector preservation in jump]
> that they are normalized w.r.t. each sun, as I have done in the past, then
> why, considering that you are moving to a point where gravity and thus
> the effects of the sun are inconsequential on jumping, are they normalized?

  Perhaps the solution to this and the 100diameter problem is that it isn't 
gravitation that is the deciding factor, and that the unknown deciding factor
(that most physicists ascribe to the properties of jumpspace) decrease with 
1/r^3, and that velocities *are* normalized by the gravitation of the local
star (which decrease with 1/r^2)

> 				-Dan Corrin

- - -bertil-
- - -- 
>From the foolfile:
"The Baltic states are not occupied"  -  Swedish Foreign Minister Sten Andersson

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2149
From: Adrian Hurt <adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Jump distances and psionics
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 10:05:02 GMT

bonnevil@acc.stolaf.edu writes:
> 
> You'd still want approach/departure routes to the jump points in 
> controlled systems, so that the risk of collision would be reduced.

On the other hand, channeling the traffic into a few specified regions means
the density of ships increases drastically in those regions.  Most of the
system could be left without specified routes.  Space Traffic Control would
either do nothing, relying on ships' sensors and pilots to avoid collisions,
or at most keep a watch out, and warn any pilot whose ship was approaching
another ship, a restricted area, or any other source of danger.  The main
places where things would really need to be regulated would be the regions
in which traffic got denser anyway, i.e. near the starport and perhaps near
the gas giant.  (Although a gas giant is after all a planet, and a pretty big
one at that - unless there are 10^(my bank balance) ships all trying to compete
for refuelling, there should be little risk of collision there.)  Near the
starport, ships would be ordered into parking orbits until the approach to the
starport was clear.  Many ships simply wouldn't bother landing, and simply use
either their own small craft or shuttles provided by the starport.

- - -- 
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2150
From: Robert Crawford <betel%buhub.bradley.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: 
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 9:10:44 CST



	As for collisions while coming out of jump, I've always
thought of it more along the lines of the ships accelerating
(pre-jump) to match the velocity of the target star, then jumping,
then maneuvering to match with the target planet. Since the ship
maintains its velocity, this will bring out nearly stationary with
respect to the system it jumps to.

>This next part is based on poor knowledge, but presumably, one would want to
>travel retrograde (behind the planet in its orbit) in order to get to safe
>jump distance quickly. Thus one would have all the arrivals on one side of the
>planet, and the departures on the other, therefore "space lanes" of a sort,
>and no collisions.

	I like this system. However, just how accurate are jump drives
supposed to be? Again, my assumption is that they can get you near the
system you're aiming for, and, for good astrogators, relatively near
the planet.

>I'm sorry if I bother some people with these types of questions, but they
>are not just looking for scientific explanations of game effects. They
>are contridictions in the rules that should be explained in a semi-rational
>manner. (actually people bothered by these questions probably won't have
>read this far anyways).

	I'm curious too! Besides, when my campaign gets going, it's
going to have an engineer and a physicist playing in it... If I don't
think of some explanations for these things, they'll run away with
them!

Rob Crawford
betel@buhub.bradley.edu

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2151
Subject: Minor mail problems
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 10:14:39 PST
From: James T Perkins <jamesp@metolius.WR>


Due to alt.desert_storm newsgroup traffic, our site mail/news feed
("wrgate") has been overflowing its mail/news spool.  This causes it to
occasionally drop mail into the bitbucket without a trace.  If you have
sent mail to the TML or me in the last few days, and after a couple days
you see no record of it, please resend it.

James
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Traveller Mailing List Administrator	     James T Perkins @ Tektronix, Inc
traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com	     Beaverton, Oregon, USA
uunet!metolius.wr.tek.com!traveller-request  "Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2152
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 11:51:05 MST
From: "Nick Christenson, University of Arizona"
Subject: 100 diameter stuff.

 
There's been a lot of talk about this topic, most of the good stuff
has already been said so hopefully this will be a (final) summary.

My background is that I *am* a theoretical physicist (in training)
specializing in astrophysics.  That's just for the record.

Okay, first, unless the quantization on the gravity field is important
(assume it's not) the *strength* of the field should *not* influence
the motion of anything inside the star ship, including the jump drive.
Any object in free fall in a uniform field will not detect the fact
that they are in said field.  If the field is *not* uniform, then,
in the case of gravity, you will feel what we call tidal forces, which
as was pointed out, fall off as the cube of the distance.  Therefore
the person who pointed out that this was the origin of the 100 
diameter rule was exactly right for the best physical reasons I can
think of (thus minimizing the size of the Physics Nullifier Box needed.)
The 100 diameter rule will be subject to modifications due to density
of the object and length of the starship, but I don't think it will
play to large a role.  I'll do the math if anyone really wants to know.

A new point, just because you jump from 100 diameters away from the 
nearest celestial body doesn't mean that you automatically arrive
that close to your destination, it only provides a lower bound.
How do you know where the body is that you want to get close to from
the next system?  If the system is well known, sure the library 
computer could keep an ephemeris for all the planetary information
and calculate it, but that could be a lot of worlds.  It assumes you
know what *direction* you're heading in from *exactly* or you don't
know where your coordinate axes for the planetary reference frame
will be.  My opinion is that it would be difficult to keep track
of this at best, and the consequences aren't too horriffic.

If one is jumping into Sol system and they don't know where all the
celestial bodies are, I'd just jump into the region between, say,
Earth and Mars orbit.  Or perpendicular to the plane of the system
(if that is known.)  And then accelerate to the planet.  Even at
only 1 g that won't take more than a couple of days, tops.  The
chance of actually hitting something in there is negligible.  Note
that if you aren't showing up in system at 100 diameters, that gives
the pirates (in a fast ship) much more time to match vectors and do
pirate things.  

Finally, the chance of hitting something 100 diameters away from Earth is
basically insignificant even if there are 1000 ships arriving on this
edge each day.  Finally, I see no reason to not be accelerating when
you jump.  So one should be able to make it to jump point that much
faster.

On a related note, assume the jump drive does not violate any 
conservation principles (except information density.)  Then one
ought to reenter jump space with the same momentum and energy as
when one leaves (when you're in jump space this gets transfered to
the vacuum zero point energy or some other magical hand waving
concept.)  This can cause interesting situations when jumping
to a star that has a high proper motion relative to the origin.
In that case, you may *want* to accumulate a lot of momentum
(relative to the center of the galaxy) before jumping so that
one doesn't have to accelerate half way to the planet, if you
see what I mean.  

Enjoy,

Nick Christenson
npc@electron.physics.arizona.edu

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2153
Subject: Sensors in space
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 12:33:46 X
From: Iain Fogg <iain@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au>


Since the current topic of discussion is about distances in space (in
particular, the 100 diameter limit), I's like to pose another related
question: How do you handle sensors in space?

In combat, a sensor ops roll has a difficulty profile according to
whatever sensor array you happen to be using, modified by Sensor Ops
skill or computer model and range. The range DM is -1 per square (or
25000 km). That means that even with a Simple sensor ops task and a
model 9 computer, anything beyond 450000 km is invisible. Here's how I
arrived at that number:

	 Best dice roll:  12
	 Computer model: + 9
	 -------------------
			  21
	Number required: - 3
	 -------------------
	  Maximum range:  18 x 25000 = 450000 km
	   (in squares)

That seems totally unreasonable to me, especially when some of the
sensor packages have a Interstellar range.

Notice that any planet size 5+ can't even detect ships out to its 100
diameter radius (without the help of navigation satellites, etc). That
seems really bizarre.

I don't _think_ I've missed anything entirely obvious, have I?

- - - Iain.

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2154
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 91 12:14:21 GMT
From: grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au
Subject: Re: sensors in space

hiya,
	Sorry about the previous message, it escaped be accident and
the configuration we suffer under here, doesn't allow us to stop wayward
messages (anymore).

[That's okay Paul - I fixed it before it got out to the list at large --
James]

Back to the topic itself...

>	 Best dice roll:  12
>	 Computer model: + 9
>	 -------------------
>			  21
>	Number required: - 3
>	 -------------------
>	  Maximum range:  18 x 25000 = 450000 km
>	   (in squares)
>
>That seems totally unreasonable to me, especially when some of the
>sensor packages have a Interstellar range.

After some thought about this problem, I've come up with a possible solution...
The tasks given in the space combat section of the ref's guide are for COMBAT
only.  They represent getting a usefull fix on the target.  At the range of
18 squares = 450000000 m = 4.5 * 10^8, it will take 1.5 seconds for light
to travel the distance (c = 3 * 10^8 approx).  So for a passive sensor, you
wait 1.5 seconds to detect something and and least 1.5 for your response to
get back (for lasers it is 1.5, for most other things it will be longer).
This is a totaly round trip time of 3+ seconds!!  In a combat situation this
is a VERY long time and the target will have maneuvered somewhat before your
response hits it.  For an active sensor things are even worse and the figures
come out at about 3 seconds to detect and 1.5 (min) response.  I agree that
a range of 18 is a but long even for space combat, but going down to a range
of 6 squares, you still have one second response time (which is still quite
large).

Basically, I'd say that the tasks given in the refs guide are for combat
purposes only and that they represent the getting of useful information.
For non-combat sensor scans, a new suite of tasks will have to be devised
which work out to a much longer range.  I haven't defined any such tasks
(yet :-), but I'd be interested in the TML's comments about the idea.


>Notice that any planet size 5+ can't even detect ships out to its 100
>diameter radius (without the help of navigation satellites, etc). That
>seems really bizarre.

This would have to be repaired, a ship that comes out of jump with its
transponder blasting away would have to be detected (it might take a while
for the detection to occur, but it would be known to be present).




							Pauli
seeya

Paul Dale               | Internet/CSnet:            grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au
Dept of Computer Science| Bitnet:       grue%batserver.cs.uq.oz.au@uunet.uu.net
Uni of Qld              | JANET:           grue%batserver.cs.uq.oz.au@uk.ac.ukc
Australia, 4072         | EAN:                          grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz
                        | UUCP:           uunet!munnari!batserver.cs.uq.oz!grue
f4e6g4Qh4++             | JUNET:                     grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2155
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 91 12:28:26 GMT
From: grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au
Subject: Starship loans...

hiya,
	I've just found an interesting quirk in the starship/trading
rules in MT.

	A Free Trader costs MCr36.915 (from the Imperial Encyclopedia p81).

	The purchase a starship (same source p89), you put down 20% of
the purchase price (MCr7.383) leaving you with 80% to pay off (MCr29.532)
You pay MCr36.915 / 240 per month = Cr153812.5  You pay this for 480 months,
this is an interest rate of 5.57% per year.  To me this seems a little low.
I'd rate a starship as a high risk investment (piracy, skipping repayments,
bad luck) and it would be quite a large investment.  I don't know what the
interest rates for such investments in the USA are but here in Aust, they are
much much higher than 5.57% (but we do have excessively high interest rates ;-)

	Either the Imperium's banks are a little on the stupid side, or they
get some kind of Imperial subsidy for financing free traders.  No bank would
underwrite a loan on the conditions above (unless the person wanting the loan
could guarantee it in some way or they were a well known buisness-person).

	Comments anyone?




							Pauli
seeya

Paul Dale               | Internet/CSnet:            grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au
Dept of Computer Science| Bitnet:       grue%batserver.cs.uq.oz.au@uunet.uu.net
Uni of Qld              | JANET:           grue%batserver.cs.uq.oz.au@uk.ac.ukc
Australia, 4072         | EAN:                          grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz
                        | UUCP:           uunet!munnari!batserver.cs.uq.oz!grue
f4e6g4Qh4++             | JUNET:                     grue@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2156
From: richard@oresoft.COM (Richard Johnson)
Subject: PBEM Turn 10.6 (finally)
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 91 15:24:28 PST


PBEM Turn 10.6  *********************************************************

My deepest apologies for seeming reticent lately.  especially I
apologise to those of you who asked to join the game, just as mail
service was disappearing.  Send in a brief character sketch, and
whether you want to be R-alpha native, Aslan, or Alcyon crew.  (If
the last, we'll talk the CO into using a "frozen watch" or	something.)   
I promise not to apologize any more for taking so long.  Let's just 
say there are lots of extenuating factors.  Because of this nonsense, 
you probably will notice that this turn is a little short, and not 
many people are talking.  Could be for many reasons.

Hope this turn sort of makes sense.  I've taken some really big liberties 
with a few of your characters, but tried really hard to keep it in 
character.  I did this to keep the story line consistent, and have it 
all start to make sense.  If	you don't like it you can chew me out 
publicly or privately.  :-)

Don't mail in your next turn-action right away.  go ahead and prepare it, 
but hang on to it.  I still don't have mail completely sorted out at agora, 
or between agora and my machine at home.  I've been slipping into work at 
night and clandestinely putting the turn together there (and work just 
moved across town).  When I get the mail working (right now I think a new 
set of old-style	address aliases will do the trick), I'll send you all mail.  
THEN you can send in your next turn. 


Richard
**************************************************************************

Part 1:  Somewhare in the Uncharted Depths of Space...

"Aiwi.  Wake the others and ensure we're ready to depart jump."  The cool
Aslan reflexively licked the back of his paw as he scanned the ship's 
system holos.  A deep purr-growl spontaneously and quietly emerged from
his throat as he thought of a real discovery for the Clan.  "Let's see
where we are now."


In the darkness, a sudden blue flare appears briefly, and then changes
color and dims, fading through the spectral colors, the outline of an 
exploration vessel appearing as its grid loses the last of its charge.

The only visible companion to the ship is a yellow-green star, about two 
weeks journey away.  No other bodies appear on any of the scans, but there 
is a	strange neutrino flux, seeming coming from almost every direction in 
the ship's forward arc.

"For the glory of the clan!" Akhou roars.  "Find us some food and
some fuel, and let's see what makes this star flicker."



**************************************************************************

Part 2.  Aboard the Alcyon

<recap>
The Alcyon has gone to general quarters.  The bridge crew is busy
trying to set up a comm link and verifiable sensor readings.  The
armory overflows with volunteers packing powerful sidearms.  The
engine room is recharging jump caps and bringing up engines as fast
as possible.  The Aurora has opened it's outer hatch and is preparing
to receive Anton for emergency medical treatment.

Outside, a large force of apparantly Imperial (somebody's Imperium)
vessels has jumped in and is rapidly slowing, probably to turn and
approach the ships rendezvoused for transfer.	This fleet is now
about 2 AU away, and heading the wrong (or right) way -- away.


Snowball is spraying hydrogen in an enormous swath between the Alcyon
and the incoming fleet.  This is playing havoc with your (and their)
sensors.  Anslinger is maneuvering erratically, spraying neutrinos in
all kinds of different direction, and all kinds of different energy
levels.  The "scout" is presently on a collision course with one of
the larger ships, at a closing speed that is becoming relativistic.


<turn>
====================

In engineering, Kimball Redd settles in and begins to monitor and
adjust fuel flow and pressure.  He looks around to verify just who is
in engineering right now and where they are.  He spots Abuko giving
instructions to Aaron and Fitz.  Slide, the new guy seems to be
settling in nicely on the corrsponding panel on the opposite side of
the control room, and Ralf seems to be helping him out, or at least
wondering what's gonna happen next.

Some of the physical scientists come in, look around and head toward
Johann.  One of the new guys, who is it?  MT?  Yeah, MT head directly
for the open overhead panel and starts to latch it into place.  Ah, a 
real engineer in there with those gravitron-weenies.

Where's Zben?  Did he make it in?  Oh yeah, on the bridge.  Good, now
rf they decide to shut down internal radio links, I know who I'm working 
with anyway. 

One other thought - If we get boarded, how many people in engineering are
armed? - Mine's in my cabin, not that I fancy taking on Imperial Marines
with a HEAP snub pistol, but you never know. And does general quarters
include vac-suits? - I never heard an answer to that one.  I notice
some of the folks here have 'em on and some don't.

We sure haven't had any time for training.  Hope everything is
holding together OK.  "Slide, you haven't had long to get to know the 
layout - you managing OK?"

"No problem.  Nicely laid out."

The numbers here would astound a non-engineer.  Nothing to full fuel
flow in under 30 seconds.  Wow!  Let's see, 500 tons per minute,
that's ... 114,000 plus liters per second at full flow.  Rate of
change is over 38 kl/s/s.  I can hardly wait to see those pipes when
we get out of this one.



=======================

Rigo Edmondsen slowly opened his eyes and shook his head as a jagged 
pain thrust itself from one temple to the other.  Ouch!  What happened?  
He had been sitting at the desk in his stateroom, enjoying a snack and
reading "Lord Alderon and The Rebel Fleet", an old favorite of his,
when... what?

The alert!  That was it!  Ignoring the pain Edmondsen rose to his
feet in one fluid motion and checked the wall clock.  Five minutes!
He had been unconcious for almost five minutes.  As he quickly
tapped his percomp for a transcript of any messages recieved during
his unconciousness, he looked around the stateroom and tried to
reconstruct how he had been knocked out.  When the jump alert had
sounded he had jumped for his bunk and carelessly knocked over his
snack.  Then, when the call for action stations had come, he had
jumped out of his bunk, placed his left heel squarely on the
sandwich, gone over backwards and neatly knocked himself out on
the bunk edge...

As he zippered up his vacc suit and grabbed the life support
unit he felt his ears grow red.  Good thing no-one back home would
ever know this.  The hero of the Groober Block Riot felled by a
ham sandwich!  He gave a small sigh of relief as the comp told him
that no messages had been directed at him.  He buckled on the stun
pistol and, after a short hesitation, his gauss pistol,
automatically checking the load and charges.  As he left his
stateroom he gave a small prayer to Snafu, god of fools, rogues
and cockups, that no-one would ever demand an accounting of him
for those missing minutes.
    
Falling instinctively into the deceptively fast lope of the
urban sniper-hunter, incessantly checking in all directions for
enemies, he thumbed his communicator onto the generalist's band.
    
"Whitfield?  Edmondsen here. I can't fill any crew post except 
communication, so I'm on my way to the armoury.  Unless you countermand, 
I'll put myself under Farouk	and help as a guard.  Edmondsen out."

<Mac> "I've got no problems with you working with Farouk.  Good Luck." 

As he comes around the corner, Rigo is pulled up short by a beehive
of gauss and energy pistols leveled at him.  Stopping, and speaking 
verrrry slowly, he says "Need any help?  I'm qualified on all infantry 
weapons, but best with an ordinary rifle."


===================

On the bridge, Zben turns to his panel.  "Computer, re-align main radio 
and laser arrays to position of incoming bogie traffic.  Calculate speed 
and [...etc] (synaptic I/O must be good for something)."

A few moments later, Zben turns to Etienne.  "I have established full 
high speed data links with all attached ships (actually, it was part 
of the whole communications set-up), so all you have to do is call it 
up."


Etienne glances at Zben then looks, somewhat suspiciously, at the sensor
console.

"Ahem...Computer...Please display all sensor data from Scout ship Aurora 
in Sectors 50 to 100 of the Alcyon's main Holodisplay.  Apply all data 
manipulations currently running on the Alcyon's sensor data to everything 
from the Aurora...[long pause] Thank you."

The computer quetly goes about it's work, setting aside one section
of the holo for the requested information.  "Sir," it speaks "I have
taken the liberty of also adding all available sensor information,
from all available sources, to the main holodynamic view."  The display 
clears somewhat, as Alcyon's computers start muscling the data now 
arriving from four sets of sensors.  The additional information, and 
the attendant information gained by parralax starts restoring color 
and depth to a display that was rapidly deteriorating.

<Etienne> Without looking up from the sensor controls...  Cursing in 
French, under his breath.  "Never heard of an airlock with no safety 
overrides!"

"Charyn, help Zben with commo.  You maintain the links with the Anslinger, 
the fuel barge and the scout.  Zben can handle communications with the Imps.
If any."

"Zben, don't transmit anything without Commander Ger's orders, but let us 
know what they're saying, as soon as anything reaches us."

<Charyn>  "Aye aye, Sir." Charyn uproots one of the movable acceleration 
couches and replants it at the Comm console, edging Zben over to the right 
a little bit (Charyn is apparently a leftie).

"Hi Zben, I'm Charyn Robins.  Pardon me while I muscle in on this half
of the console."

She pauses for a moment, studying the layout, then makes and brief poke
at the console.  It instantly reconfigures the panel to standard Vilani
mercantile Comm display layout.  Her hands fly over the panel with
deliberate and practiced motions, as if from memory, with a few clever
twists of inspiration.  After 15 seconds her rapt concentration relaxes.
Most of the data has been rearranged into a setup a little different
from the standard layout.  She pulls a strand of hair back from her
face, leans back a little; a pleased, detached smile drifts across
her lips.

"Links with Anslinger, fuel barge, and scout are open and functioning...
Internal ship communications active."

She efficiently opens a small window in the corner of her half-panel on
Navigation, Sensor, Engineering, Security, and other ship functions, so
she can scan the status of all bridge functions secondary to Comm.  She
pays a little heavier attention to the Nav and Sensor displays.  Then
she reprograms her commdot to place her on all appropriate ship
frequencies.

<Zben>  "We now have laser hookups with the sensors from the scout,
the Anslinger, and the Snowball."

Now the holo truly clears with the adidtion of the information
gleaned from the other side of the gas cloud.  Eleven ships are
visible.  Three seem to be of a typical 2000T Imperial cruiser design. 
One is a tender of some kind.  Three are fuel barges, much like
Snowball.  Two are 500T escort vessels, and two are fast pickets. 
These last two already are peeling away from the rest of the fleet
and preparing to engage the Turskaad scout.  The display indicates
weapon range for those combatants in ~6 minutes.  About 4 minutes
remain before you might hear any initial signals from the Imp fleet
(or them from you), and about 24 before any round-trip signals.

<Etienne> "Niishu, will we have jump coordinates by the time 
engineering is ready?	By the way, any idea yet where we're heading 
on this next jump?"

<Nishu>  "The nav computer is working on those coordinates now.  It 
shouldn't take long; all the equipment on this ship is state of the art.  
If we do have to jump, Engineering's charge time will be the limiting 
factor."

"I'll report when it's done and try to figure out where we're going."



========================================

Upon getting the word from Lazer to man the laser turrets on
the 'Talisman, Thul runs to the central Fire Control station about
his ship and 
        1) Lifts the safety cover off a switch
        2) puts it in the Bridge Station Overide position.
        
satisfied with this, he pell-mells to the 'Talisman's bridge and
throws himself into the pilot's position.  Thul grabs a card that
he has stashed under the FC panel and methodicly goes through the
checklist that his previous gunner provided him. A red enunciator
indicates "Fire Control Panel Active".  Grabing a square device
with three buttons on it, he presss the left button.  On a screen
a table of selections pops up and he follows it down through the
choices 
   "Fire Control" ---> "Sensor Source" ---> "Passive All" -->
   "Process" ---> "All" ---> "Computer" and releases the button.

        This set of choices in an instant sets up the following conditions:
        
        1)  Only passive sensors are being used in conjuction with the 
        fire control system.
        
        2)  All sensor input is processed through the ship's computer
        to sync up the fire control.
        
        3) Disables all but navigational active sensors.

He then selects

        "Sensor" ---> "Process" ---> "MTI"  (Moving Target Indicator)
        

Thul then selects

        "Compute" ---> "Firing Solution" ---> "Passive" --> "Contacts/All"
        
On another screen, (right ref?) the firing solution on all bogeys
is displayed with a confidence level for each.  (Pretty mediocre
considering the sensors being used.)

On a computer console he types "load gunnery 6" "load auto/fire"
"load auto/target" "load select 5"

Lastly he selects

        "Weapons" ---> "Lock/Soft" ---> "Safe"
        
This downloads the firing solution to the turrets for the targets
and awaits target selection.


Over the security circuit he reports in to Lazer.
"Lazer, Thul here,  the 'Talisman's fire control system has
 firing solutions for our bogies.  Weapons are in soft-lock and
 safed.   Using passive sensors only.  CIWS activated. Awaiting orders"


================================

Dr. Limner on the medical channel:

If we can recover Anton's foot, we might be able to reattach it.  Of course,
this would involve re-growing a great deal of flesh.  Anton would be out of
action for quite some time, and we can't be certain of whether the cloned
nerve tissue would take.  I remember researching this area some many years
ago.  Let's see...  No, I'd have to go back to my old notes.  I could be of
assistance if you want to pursue this course -- after I check them, though.

If you decide to use prosthetics, it would still put Anton out for a while,
but as you know would be a bit more certain.

Let me know what you think is best.  Until then, I'm going to try to get to
some of my equipment to see what the devil could be going on outide.

Limner, out.



Joachim's voice comes over the medical channel:

Ian, I'm scrubbed and preped in sickbay.  Where is the amputation?  If
there's no chance for recovery of the missing part, what do you
recommend for a prosthetic?

Christian, we can handle Anton here.  There's no need for you to rush
over if your current work is more important.


<Alliara>  Is there anything I can help with?


<Ian>  (Panting) "I'm almost to Aurora now."  Puff  Puff "Not really
anxious to start running again."  Puff Puff "Doc, where do we go?!"


<Doc Van Der Merwe>  Bring 'im in now!  Joakim, Limner, get here on
the double!  The	medical facilities aboard the Alcyon are adequate, 
but all of the really important stuff is aboard the Aurora, where the 
main Surgery is. 

He's coming to the Aurora for three reasons: that's where the equipment
is, I'm CMO (& prob. the best skilled & a surgeon), and I have special
expertise in bionics anyway.... Besides, I was just doing some routine
checklists...



Joachim on the medical channel:

Anton's going to be out for a while no matter what we do.  Even with
time modification these things take a while to recover from.

I'm a bit skeptical about rejoining a freeze-dried foot, but then
vacuum medicine is hardly my specialty.  'Vouf certainly has some
interesting, ... um, err ... hands.  Think we could something like
that for a foot?

We have to stabilize Anton first.  Prosthetic decisions can wait until
the current major crisis is concluded.

Joachim, out.



================================
bsck on the bridge...

<Niishu> "Etienne, I have that information now.  Jump is layed in,
waiting for engineering.  We should arrive 1.115 AU from this star
here."  A pip on his holo brightens.  It's 5 parsecs away, no known
planets, and has a very rhythmic brightness oscillation.  I'd say
*that's* R-alpha.

"If we jump within the next seven minutes, it should be much, much
harder for the fleet to trace our ionization trail."

<Ger> "Etienne, jump as soon as engineering is ready.  Are we still
in Imperial space?

<Etienne> "Aye, sir.  Just barely.  This is the last location
clearly claimed in the latest set of charts."



=================================

Back in engineering, Slide is watching the fuel disappear at an
appreciable rate.  "Nav, Slide.  How much fuel is needed for the next
jump?"  

<Niishu> It's a 5 parsec jump Slide.  That's about all I've got right
now.  How 'much longer till you're charged?"

<Slide> Caps say 73% charge now.   Probably 5 minutes and we'll be
ready.  Just get us there.  Out."

Now, let's see, ... yeah. we've got enough hydrogen.  Hope we don't
misjump.  We sure don't have enought for a second.  What the ... !!!	 
Slide gasps as he sees the fuel flow in number 4 conduit suddenly 
skyrocket and and the pressure plummet.  

"Engineering.  Emergency!  Overide this bank!  Break in number 4
feed!"  Slide immediately sets to work re-balancing the load to the
governors and capacitors while Redd gets to work on the fuel
routings.


At that instant, as Daniel Sylvmain crosses from Abuko toward the
rear of the control room, the overhead panel bursts open and
inundates him with supercooled hydrogen, freezing him in mid-stride
like a baroque statue, and lowering the temperature in the
compartment rapidly.

MT, the second nearest person, is splashed and knocked accross the
control room, sliding to rest not too far frm the front door,
unconsious, and in serious hypothermia.

Engineers and scientists begin donning helmets and gloves, as a
flashing amber beacon cast macabre shadows across the control room,
now glazed with frost.

With practiced hands, Redd secures the feed through the number 4
conduit, bypassing the break, and Slide's panel.  Alarms begin
sounding again, and the air-tight doors close.  Lets see.. gotta
reroute pronto or we're in deep guano.  Ah, number eleven - bypass
through Talisman's fuel hookups and hope she holds.

"Slide, I've got it sealed, hope your maintaining balance.
 Abuko, Redd.  Got it bypassed through Talisman, and secondary on
 Paladin.  Hope they hold together."

Then, stopping to get his gloves and helmet on, Kimball notices the
frostbite forming on his fingers, and on the spot on his lip where 
he'd	been biting.  "Oh shit" he mutters quietly.


<Abuko>  "Somebody get over there and prop him up before he falls
over and shatters."

"Sickbay, Engineering.  Stand by for hypothermia victims."

"Leadfoot, get onto that break STAT!"

Glancing at his portable panel repeater, Johann studies the fuel
flows for a minutes, then switches to the piping diagrams for the
interconnects.

"Redd, Slide, give me 110% on the conduits 1,2, and 3; then back off
Talisman's feed to 70%."  

"Bridge, Engineering.  We've had a fuel flow casualty.  We'll have to
postpone jump .. 2 minutes.  That gives us.. about  four minutes to go
before the caps are charged, emergency fashion -- if it holds.  Or,
if you prefer, we can do it in .. eight minutes very safely."


===============================
<Ger> "Engineering, Conn.  Give us a 6.5 minute charge; a little margin 
of safety, but not a lot."  

Turning to the assembled queue of non-bridge personnel, "Now,
gentlemen, we either vaporize ourselves, convince the natives, we are
NOT dinner, or escape with very little trouble.  In any case, you
have yourself a story, (gesturing toward Adrian) and you have
yourself some information about your competition (talking directly to
Jett).  Better get us some legal precedent quickly.  IT won't take
those guys very long to figure out where we went."

=================================
<Abuko (and the rest of engineering)>  "Whew.  Thank God for small
breaks.  Redd, reduce fuel flow to 100% on the primaries and 50% on
the backup.

"and somebody shut off that alarm."


=======================================
In the number 1 passageway:
"Engineering, Ian.  {puff} Almost got Anton to sickbay now.  {puff} 
Be down there in about two minutes.  {puff puff} Anybody at the armory 
got any first aid, {puff} or available to {puff} run down the hallway 
with a body? {puff, click} 

"Doc {puff} I got Lucan here. {puff} Can you send Dulinor down {puff}
or do you need him in Sickbay {puff}?"

Ian, Anton, and Lucan scoot through the Aurora's air lock as Dulinor,
the second medbot literally flies out the door and down the
passageway, siren blazing.	Docs Limner and Tabor jump aside as it
screams by, and then Tabor turns around and starts following it to
engineering.

<Doc Van Der Merwe> "Great.  Plug Lucan in there and we'll start 
feeding him the new programs while the others fetch the folks from 
engineering.  Ian, walk *WALK* down to engineering and help out."

The two doctors then carefully put Anton into a stasis module and
begin working.



=================================
The bridge's main holo display flickers slightly and its image gets 
a little poorer.

<Niishu>  "Sir, the Snowball just jumped." 

<Charyn>  "The anslinger wishes us luck.  Recommends we detonate the
hydrogen just prior to jump to simulate an on-board explosion."

<Niishu>  "Anslinger is gone, sir.  Now the scout, too."



<Ger>  Very well.  "Lazer, slave a single HE missile to the
Talisman's turret.  Thul, on my signal, blast the hydrogen cloud with
laser and the single HE.  ... Once.  

Maybe we'll get a fireball to remember on our way out of here."


<Lazer>  Roger.  
<Thul>   Locked and loaded.


=====================
Abuko silences the engineering alarm and opens the main control room
door.  Dulinor flashes in and grabs MT and Daniel, and hauls *ss out
of engineering toward the Aurora.

A moment later, Ian appears with a first aid kit, and a *very* large
thermos.  "Who wants chicken soup?"

A chorus of voices is heard.

=====================
<Niisu>  Got a green board, Sir.

<Etienne>  Ready for jump sir.

<Ger>  "Fire.  Engage."

The Alcyon literally sighs as the lights blink, then momentarily dim, 
in their pre-programmed pattern for jump initiation.  Outside, space
becomes bluish, and suddenly brilliantly white, just as it
disappears. 
					     
<Niishu> 99.99995% discharge sir.  We're gonna come out of this jump
within a few hundred meters of our programmed point.

*********************************************************************

- - -- 

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2157
From: geovision!achilleus!brian@uunet.UU.NET (Brian Dawson (Co-op))
Subject: Border Worlds
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 91 13:57:12 EST

I have a question for anyone familiar with the recent history of the
Spinward Marches and it's environs:

What are the Border Worlds?

The Megatraveller Imperial Encyclopedia doesn't say anything about them
(that I have found), and I lost track of the goings-on in the Traveller 
universe after the Fifth Frontier War.  Who controls the Border Worlds?  
Are they a captive government?  Where do their sympathies lie?

Brian. 
[bdawson@geovision.gvc.com]

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2158
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 91 11:27 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: The Border Worlds


...are an Imperially-aligned buffer state created from half of the 
beaten Sword Worlds Confederation at the end of the Fifth Frontier War
to limit the threat from a united Sword Worlds government. They are a
largely captive gov't and would gladly re-form with the SWC if Norris
would let them. Details may be found in THE SPINWARD MARCHES CAMPAIGN.

metlay
(TML historian)

------------------------------

Archive-Message-Number: 2159
Date: 21 Feb 91 15:19:00 CDT
From: za057@zeus.unomaha.edu
Subject: Digest Group's software

Did Digest Group ever deliver on the promised system generator for
Traveller?  They had it advertised in the back of the World Builder
Handbook, but I never heard if it was ever released or where to pick
it up...

David West


------------------------------

End of TML Bundle
*****************

