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To: dan@engrg.uwo.ca (Dan Corrin), bfwong@ocf.berkeley.edu (Raven Blackburn),
        anthony@cs.pitt.edu (Michael Anthony Kapolka),
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Subject: TML Bundle #230: Msgs 2810-2818
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From: James T Perkins <jamesp@metolius.wr.tek.com>
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TML Bundles come from the archives of the Traveller Mailing List,
maintained by James Perkins, traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com.

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

Date: Sun Aug 25 21:00:20 PDT 1991
From: traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com (TML Administrator)
Subject: TML Bundle #230: Table of Contents

-AMN- --Date--- --Sender--------- --Subject-----------------------------------
2810  23-Aug-91 "Robert S. Dean"  A Discussion from GEnie << I'm sending the fo
2811  23-Aug-91 d9bertil@dtek.cha Mechinetools 3: Rifles << Machinetools 3: 7mm
2812  23-Aug-91 KELLOGG@ducvax.au K'Kree Merchant Ship << Hi, Just thought I'd 
2813  23-Aug-91 KELLOGG@ducvax.au Black Globes and Ships and Ceiling Wax and Ca
2814  23-Aug-91 KELLOGG@ducvax.au Inertial Compensators << Hi, According to the
2815  24-Aug-91 Chris G. Sylvain  Address Changing: Attention PBEM << Hello, al
2816  24-Aug-91 William Henry Tim Re: (2814) Inertial Compensators << Although 
2817  25-Aug-91 jpb               Standardized guns and ammo << Recntly someone
2818  25-Aug-91 KELLOGG@ducvax.au Ask Dr. Science... Inertial Death << (It's ti

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2810
Date:     Fri, 23 Aug 91 11:32:36 EDT
From: "Robert S. Dean" <rsdean@crdec8.apgea.army.mil>
Subject:  A Discussion from GEnie

I'm sending the following without commenting to the final essay appended due 
to lack of time today.

Have fun!

Rob Dean

You can lead a Horde to water, but you can't make it drink....

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


The following discussion of Agility is from GEnie:

 ************
Topic 8  Sub: Traveller Q&A                         
Get the official answers to your questions. Answered by the writ-
ers/Designers of MegaTraveller.
 ************
 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 331       Sat Aug 17, 1991
R.DEAN14 [Rob Dean]          at 20:24 EDT

OK.  Stupid questions department, and I would appreciate  knowing 
whether any answers are official.  I've had this discussion  with 
various people on  the Internet Traveller Mailing List.

How do I calculate agility?  If I have a ship with a 100MW  power 
plant, a drive that uses 60MW, 5MW of parasitic power  (controls, 
etc.)  and  30MW of life support, with no weapons (just  to  keep 
discussion simple) how much power do I use in the agility  calcu-
lation?

Preferred  answers on the TML are 5MW (what's left  after  every-
thing else is powered), 65MW (what's left after everything except 
the  maneuver drive is powered), and 60MW (the maximum  input  to 
the drive, regardless of any 5MW of left over power).

MY opinion is 60...but I could be wrong.

Rob Dean
 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 332       Sun Aug 18, 1991
C.BUSH3 [Clay]               at 01:55 EDT

   5 MW. (Short and simple answer.)
 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 333       Sun Aug 18, 1991
S.OLSON4                     at 14:34 
EDT

Clay's right, 5 is the amount you use for calculating agility.

Scott
 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 336       Wed Aug 21, 1991
R.DEAN14 [Rob Dean]          at 18:34 
EDT

My  cohort in crime on the Internet TML, Scott  Kellogg,  pleaded 
with  me to repost this fairly long message that we  concocted  a 
few  weeks ago on the subject of spaceship agility.  Please  bear 
with me...we were a little surprised at the short '5MW of course-
'answer  uptopic,  so figured that it would best for you  to  see 
where we were coming from.

Hope this uploads OK....

Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1991 14:22 CDT
From: KELLOGG@ducvax.auburn.edu
Subject: (2729) Revised Agility
Calculation Formula

<Text of TML Message 2729 deleted>

 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 337       Wed Aug 21, 1991
S.OLSON4                     at 20:21 EDT
 
 Rob,

    Hmmmmm....   I had a rather long and heated  discussion/argu-
ment  with Joe about this type of a topic a couple years ago.   I 
was  holding  that Agility should be limited by manuever,  but  I 
lost  (temporarily, anyway).  The major difference  between  High 
Guard  and MT is that Agility and Manuever are no longer  related 
AT ALL.  Your ability to manuever doesn't affect your agility, or 
vice versa.  The old disengagement rules made no sense when  they 
were  written, let alone now: you disengage by running away  from 
the  enemy,  not  by turning tight circles.   If  you're  turning 
faster than I am, but I'm faster, you can only get away IF I lose 
contact with you.

    Now, if you WANT to chop your manuever capability to increase 
your agility, that's fine, but excess power means what's said  in 
the  last sentence: "Excess power is the powerleft over from  the 
power  plant  after  all the crafts other  components  have  been 
powered."  Looks clear enough to me.

    Where did you get that "when the ship is in emergency status, 
the ship suddenly goes to agility=2"?  I can't find anything that 
suggests that result.

    "Double-Dipping" makes sense and would be legal as I read the 
rules:  nothing  prevents you from parceling  out  the  available 
power  in whatever manner you see fit, AS LONG AS YOU  DON'T  USE 
THE SAME MW IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE. After all, that's like getting
something for nothing.....

              Scott

 ------------
Category 11,  Topic 8
Message 338       Wed Aug 21, 1991
R.DEAN14 [Rob Dean]          at 21:06  EDT

 Where  I  come  from (-8, when it says "after  all  the  craft's 
_other_"  components have been powered", I have to  wonder--Other 
than what?  Given that on p.94 right column of my printing of the 
Ref's Manual the Emergency Agility rule says that I can cut power 
to  my  weapons and gain an agility equal to  my  manuever  drive 
rating, I was left with the impression that agility had something 
to do with maneuver. (-8

As  someone who cut my teeth on vector movement  in  Triplanetary 
(in  1976), I _know_ that a rotating ship is a ballistic, not  an 
evading, target, so I reject the current 'explanation' for agili-
ty  the same way I reject the maneuver rule that says that I  can 
move any number of hexes up to my current speed or circle in  the 
same  hex.  Give me a break... we have to accept a  few  'Physics 
Nullifiers' (tm) to play this game, but not that one. Anyway,  by 
the rules I have, what Scott says is true.  If I have a  merchant 
ship  with no weapons, I can  declare an emergency agility  equal 
to my maneuver rating, which has nothing to do with breaking  off 
under the current hex grid combat rules.

I  have no strong objection to going off in my own little  corner 
and  playing the way I like, but I hate to see things  like  this 
crop  up  in what is supposed to be a (generally)  reality  based 
game.

Rob Dean
 ------------

The following is an email message from GEnie:

Item    8057512                 91/08/22        03:26
From:   B.BORICH                        Bryan J. Borich
To:     R.DEAN14                        Robert S. Dean

cc:     B.BORICH                        Bryan J. Borich

Sub: Agility in MT

    THE FOLLOWING IS AN ARTICLE FROM SS&V #1:

                       AGILITY
                   By Bryan Borich
                   With thanks to
                     Mike Mikesh

    [This discussion took place prior to the development of SoPM1 
and therefore, there might be some conflict with the presumptions 
made  here that haven't been fully analyzed in relation  to  that 
book, though some updating has been attempted].

    When  Megatraveller  came  out, a change in  the  ship  rules 
occurred  concerning  maneuver  drives and  the  ship's  agility.  
Previous  to MT, these two abilities tended to  intertwine  (i.e. 
there  was  a  strong relationship between a  ship's  ability  to 
maneuver  and it's ability to dodge, reflected by it's  agility).  
In MT ship design this connectivity between the two now no longer 
occurs,  a  ship's agility has no relationship to  it's  maneuver 
drive.

    This  alteration tended to cause some initial  concern  among 
designer's  since reasoning tended to reside with the  idea  that 
agility and ability to maneuver should be intertwined.

    A  way around this problem was given by considering  the  way 
maneuver drives worked and how agility works and then considering 
inertial compensators as a possible solution.

    According to SoPM1 inertial compensators are directed by  the 
main  computer  in response to normal ship  inertia  from  moving 
about  and maneuvering.  Inertial compensators that are  involved 
in this process are initially available at TL 10.

    When one looks at the effect of maneuver drives installed  on 
a  vessel one notices that the mass of the ship has no effect  on 
the  drives  ability to propel the vessel, this is of  course  an 
advantage  of using either gravitic or thruster technology.   Now 
taking a look at the design of a ship's agility, the ship's  mass 
plays an important role here, therefore the heavier the ship  the 
less agility it tended to display (can't go below zero though).

    Taking  these things into account a theory occured  that  as-
sumed  that  a more primitive form of  inertial  compensators  is 
built  into  the ships as part of the maneuver  drives  and  hull 
structural  members.  These inertial compensators are  simple  in 
design  and are available at TL9 (in actuality the major  differ-
ence between the TL9 and TL10 compensators is the computer  elec-
tronics and the fine tuning necessary, requiring that environmen-
tal  compensators  be built through the entire ship where  it  is 
needed to protect the crew and cargo).

    These  structural  compensators  have a  limited  ability  to 
negate the
mass  of a vessel while trying to use agility however because  of 
insufficient power levels for the basic unit.  By increasing  the 
power  however, added ability to move in different directions  is 
added,  thus increasing the vessel's "agility".  This does  cause 
more  stress to the vessels structure however and makes  it  more 
difficult for the Environmental compensators to dampen the maneu-
vers involved.

    Inertial compensators still have a limit as to their  ability 
to  negate mass, and when this is exceeded (which does not  occur 
under  normal speed and mass considerations that occur with  cur-
rent ship design, this is also why maneuver 6 cannot be exceeded, 
as  at  that point you would need to  continually  overdrive  the 
structural  inertial  compensators and thus burn them  out),  one 
needs  to  apply  more power, therefore you still  run  into  the 
lightspeed problem (needing infinite energy to move the  infinite 
mass essentially).

    In  an  actual emergency situation, a vessel  could  jury-rig 
controls  bypassing the normal energy conduits and feeding  extra 
power into the compensators (always presuming the ship had enough 
power that could be diverted from other uses).

    To jury-rig a bypass,
    Difficult, 10 minutes, Engineering, Education, Hazardous

    Bypassing  involves  the transfer of power  from  one  source  
(such  as a weapons system, life support system,  staterooms,  or 
similar system) to another.

(C)  Bryan Borich 1990

    (Excuse  the  poor  quality of the writing,  I  was  probably 
rushing  and trying to do to many things at the same time when  I 
threw it together)

    Feel  free  to  post the above to the TML,  and  include  the 
disclaimer.

=END=

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2811
From: d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se
Subject: Mechinetools 3: Rifles
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 91 17:40:06 MET DST

  Machinetools 3: 7mm and 9mm Rifles TL 4-13


Bolt Action Rifle 7mm

   This is the type of rifles that were common in the Terran armies during 
first and second World War. Typical examples are the Springfield 1903, the 
KAR-98K and the Nagant M1891/30. They were replaced somewhat by semi 
automatics just before, during or after WWII, but kept hanging on as civilian 
hunting rifles. All these rifles uses clips of 5 rounds, but internal magazines
are not uncommon in early military rifles or civilian weapons.

TL Item Rds  P/A Dmg Rng Aut Dng Sig Recl  Diff Len  Wt   Prc  Fail In  A I/D
4  Rifle 5   4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 4.85 979  0.75 -1  2 1/4
   Clip  5                                           0.02 22
   Lead  5   4/3  3                                  0.12 2.3
   HP    5   2/3  4                                  0.12 3.5

5  Rifle 5   4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 4.32 969  0.50 -1  2 1/4
   Clip  5                                           0.02 22
   Lead  5   4/3  3                                  0.10 2.0
   HP    5   2/3  4                                  0.10 3.0

6  Rifle 5   4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 3.93 988  0.50 -1  1 1/4
   Clip  5                                           0.02 22
   Lead  5   4/3  3                                  0.08 1.9
   HP    5   2/3  4                                  0.08 2.9
   AP    5   6/2  3                                  0.07 3.8

7  Rifle 5   4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 3.46 977  0.50 -1  1 1/3
   Clip  5                                           0.01 22
   Lead  5   4/3  3                                  0.07 1.9
   HP    5   2/3  4                                  0.07 2.9
   AP    5   6/2  3                                  0.06 3.8


Rifle 7mm

   These weapons are the approximate equivalents of fairly modern semi-
automatic battle rifles like the semi-auto version of the Fabrique Nationals 
FAL. They fire 7mm 8g bullets at approximately 850m/s. The TL9 APDS is a 2mm 
steel penetrator that is fired at 1500m/s due to it's low total weight. All 
designs of TL8 and above are bullpups.

TL Item Rds  P/A Dmg Rng Aut Dng Sig Recl  Diff Len  Wt   Prc  Fail In  A I/D
6  Rifle 20  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 4.32 1411 0.50 -1  1 1/4
   Clip  20                                          0.07 63
   Lead  20  4/3  3                                  0.33 7.7
   HP    20  2/3  4                                  0.33 12
   AP    20  6/2  3                                  0.27 15

7  Rifle 20  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.00 3.73 1386  0.50 -1  1 1/4
   Clip  20                                          0.06 62
   Lead  20  4/3  3                                  0.28 7.0
   HP    20  2/3  4                                  0.28 10
   AP    20  6/2  3                                  0.23 14

9  Rifle 20  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.60 3.14 1424  0.50  0  1 1/3
   Clip  20                                          0.05 64
   Lead  20  4/3  3                                  0.27 7.1
   HP    20  2/3  4                                  0.27 10
   AP    20  6/2  3                                  0.21 14
   DS    20  7/2  3                                  0.16 21
   APDS  20 11/2  3                                  0.16 43


Rifle 7mm Caseless

   I'm not aware of any contemportary semi-auto caseless weapon, but it would 
be madness to keep using the same old technology on higher TL's. All these are 
bullpup designs. TL10+ designs are gyrostabilized and the internal batteries 
can run they gyros continiously for 4 hours. The TL13 version has 280g of dead 
weight due to recoil purposes. This can be replaced with target designators, 
smartgun electronics, and so on.
   (A really strange type of ammunition would be a HPDS, ie a discarding sabot 
round where the thin core is designed to splinter inside the target. I'm not 
certain, but it seems legal (ruleswise) to me, but it is probably very illegal 
(lawwise). For a 7mm rifle, a HPDS would have a Pen/Att of 4/2 and inflict 4 
points of damage. It costs 4.5 times as much as a lead round and weighs as a 
DS)

TL Item Rds  P/A Dmg Rng Aut Dng Sig Recl  Diff Len  Wt   Prc  Fail In  A I/D
8  Rifle 40  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.70 3.96 1397 0.75  0  1 1/3
   Clip  40                                          0.08 88
   Lead  40  4/3  3                                  0.38 28
   HP    40  2/3  4                                  0.38 42
   AP    40  6/2  3                                  0.27 56

9  Rifle 40  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.65 3.21 1424 0.50  0  1 1/3
   Clip  40                                          0.08 90
   Lead  40  4/3  3                                  0.38 28
   HP    40  2/3  4                                  0.38 43
   AP    40  6/2  3                                  0.27 57
   DS    40  7/2  3                                  0.15 85
   APDS  40 11/2  3                                  0.15 170

10 Rifle 40  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.60 2.91 2138 0.50  0  1 1/2
   Clip  40                                          0.08 135
   Lead  40  4/3  3                                  0.37 28
   HP    40  2/3  4                                  0.37 43
   AP    40  6/2  3                                  0.26 57
   HE    40  2/1  5                                  0.14 85
   DS    40  7/2  3                                  0.14 85
   APDS  40 11/2  3                                  0.14 170

12 Rifle 40  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.50 3.08 1319 0.50  0  1 1/2
   Clip  40                                          0.07 83
   Lead  40  4/3  3                                  0.37 29
   HP    40  2/3  4                                  0.37 43
   AP    40  6/2  3                                  0.26 57
   HE    40  2/1  5                                  0.14 86
   DS    40  7/2  3                                  0.14 86
   APDS  40 11/2  3                                  0.14 172

13 Rifle 40  4/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.45 2.56 1201 0.50  0  1 1/2
   Clip  40                                          0.07 75
   Lead  40  4/3  3                                  0.37 29
   HP    40  2/3  4                                  0.37 43
   AP    40  6/2  3                                  0.26 57
   HE    40  2/1  5                                  0.14 86
   DS    40  7/2  3                                  0.14 86
   APDS  40 11/2  3                                  0.14 172


Rifle 9mm

   Medium-heavy hunting rifles. They fire either a 9mm 17g bullet at 820m/s or 
a 3mm steel penetrator at 1500m/s I frankly don't know about any real-world 
counterpart to these either, perhaps some heavy sniper rifle:( but they are in 
the Imperial Encyclopedia so here they are:

TL Item Rds  P/A Dmg Rng Aut Dng Sig Recl  Diff Len  Wt   Prc  Fail In  A I/D
7  Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 1.10 5.85 2022 0.50 -2  1 2/5
   Clip  10                                          0.06 64
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.29 4.8
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.29 7.2
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.23 9.6

9  Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.70 4.74 2041 0.50 -1  1 1/3
   Clip  10                                          0.06 64
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.28 4.8
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.28 7.2
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.22 9.6
   DS    10  8/2  3                                  0.16 14
   APDS  10 13/2  3                                  0.16 29


Rifle 9mm Caseless

   Caseless versions of the above. All are bullpup and the TL10+ versions are 
gyrostabilized. The high recoil force the TL12 version to have 520g and the 
TL13 version to have 1240g of dead weight.
   (As an example, a TL13 smartgun sensor that fits well inside the TL13 9mm 
Caseless rifle will give a +4 to hit against moving objects out to 820m, +2 
out to 1640m and cost 230 Cr)

TL Item Rds  P/A Dmg Rng Aut Dng Sig Recl  Diff Len  Wt   Prc  Fail In  A I/D
8  Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.75 5.78 2022 0.50 -1  1 1/4
   Clip  10                                          0.04 64
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.20 9.6
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.20 14
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.14 19

9  Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   Rifl 0.70 4.71 2022 0.50 -1  1 1/4
   Clip  10                                          0.04 64
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.20 9.6
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.20 14
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.14 19
   DS    10  8/2  3                                  0.08 29
   APDS  10 13/2  3                                  0.08 58

10 Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.60 4.08 2723 0.50 -1  1 1/3
   Clip  10                                          0.04 86
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.19 9.6
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.19 14
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.13 19
   HE    10  3/2  5                                  0.07 29
   DS    10  8/2  3                                  0.07 29
   APDS  10 13/2  3                                  0.07 58

12 Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.55 3.77 2622 0.50  0  1 1/2
   Clip  10                                          0.04 82
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.19 9.6
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.19 14
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.13 19
   HE    10  3/2  5                                  0.07 29
   DS    10  8/2  3                                  0.07 29
   APDS  10 13/2  3                                  0.07 58

13 Rifle 10  5/3  3  Dst  -   -  Med Med   R+G  0.50 3.77 2517 0.50  0  1 1/2
   Clip  10                                          0.04 79
   Lead  10  5/3  3                                  0.19 9.6
   HP    10  3/3  4                                  0.19 14
   AP    10  7/3  3                                  0.13 19
   HE    10  3/2  5                                  0.07 29
   DS    10  8/2  3                                  0.07 29
   APDS  10 13/2  3                                  0.07 58

- -bertil-
- -- 
"Med ett sjyst ja"rnro"r sla^r man va"rlden med ha"pnad!"

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2812
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1991 12:45 CDT
From: KELLOGG@ducvax.auburn.edu
Subject: K'Kree Merchant Ship

Hi,

Just thought I'd try to see how K'kree starships translate to
MegaTrav.


K'kree Merchant TL15 "Xeekr'kir!" Class

CraftID:	K'kree Merchant TL15, MCr 1570.153
Hull:	(5400/13500) Disp=6000, Config=7SL, Armor=40G,
		Load=28990, Unload=30723
Power:	(49/98) Fusion=13155MW, Dur=30/90
Loco:	(108/216) Maneuver=1, (162/324) Jump=2, MaxAccel=2.74,
		NOE=190, Cruise=750, Max=1000, Agility=2
Comm:	Radio=System*2
Sensors:	A-EMS(Planet), P-EMS(Interstel)
		ActObjScn=Dif	ActObjPin=Dif	PasEnScn=Simp
Off:		HPoints=12
Def:		DefDM+4
Control:	Computer Mod2*3, LrgHoloDisp*2, HoloHUD*21, HoloLink*21
Accom:	Crew=44(Command=5, Bridge=10, Engineer=15, Maintain=12,
		Stewards=6, Medic=1) Passenger=43, 'Staterooms'=87,
		BasicEnv, BasicLS, ExtendLS, G-Plates, I-Comps
Other:	Fuel=16885.8kl(1 jump-2+30dy), Cargo=550.5Kl,
		Scoops, Fuel Pure=57.2hr, ObjSize=Lrg, EmLevel=Mod
Remarks:	The standard K'kree merchant as found in alien module 2
and described extensivly in challenge 28.
	The ship is owned and operated by a merchant family.  The
command, maintainance, steward crews are normally considered
'passengers'.
	In the Two Tousand Worlds freight charges are 10 times
normal, because of the huge operating costs just to transport
550Kl of cargo.
	There are five engineering robots (Master +4 slaves as found
in 101 Robots) in the crew (counted above reducing the organic
engineering crew to 10.
	Note that there are no 'staterooms' as there is only
one communal room for the entire crew.  An allowance of 648Kl is
made for each K'kree aboard at a cost of .8Mcr (Twice the cost of
a normal stateroom and 12 times the size.   Fuel purification
takes 2 standard K'Kree days.  The ship is not normally armed,
but there is sufficient power and controls set aside for 12
turrets of triple beam variety.  Any mix is possible, but that is
the maximum allowed.

Scott Kellogg
Those who live by the Horde will die by the Horde...

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2813
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1991 12:46 CDT
From: KELLOGG@ducvax.auburn.edu
Subject: Black Globes and Ships and Ceiling Wax and Cabbages and Kings

Hi,

I wrote this a long time ago when the thread of conversation was
still going.  I just found it in my files and thought I'd send it
in anyway.  Hope you don't mind.
Scott 

Black Globes, and Ships and Ceiling Wax and Cabbages and Kings.

	The wind rose in a freezing scream that chilled even through
their battle dress as Boer and Zdeldi leapfrogged under cover up
the side of the mountain	toward the rising white tornado that
emminated from the valley on the other side.  The plume rose
hundreds of kilometers into the sky of Tool's World in a gigantic
mushroom cloud.
	Boer was the first to reach the summit and he crawled the
last meter to prevent being sillouhetted at the mountain crest. 
Zdeldi watched as the familliar Zhodani battle dress froze
scanning the valley below.  "What is it?" he growled.  The Aslan
from Darrian crawled the interveneing space and turned his battle
dress sensors on the jetting white plume.
	Infra red signature was cold.  Really cold.  The plume read
out as a stream of liquid air vaporizing as it screamed up toward
orbit.  Zdeldi scanned for the source of the jet but could detect
nothing.  It rose as a perfectly round plume from the valley
below.
	"Hloch, are you getting this?" called Boer over their
scrambled circuit.
	In the G-Carrier, Hloch examined the pictures relayed by the
teams sensors, "Clear view, suggest you attempt psionic
penetration."
	Zdeldi reflected on the fortune of serving in the Darrian
Navy Special Arm.  His security clearance required that he be
psionically trained.  Concentration, was difficult in the roaring
wind, but he suddenly was inside the mind of someone in there. 
Two men, undoubtedly the ones the team had followed were arguing
with a third man in there who's mind Zdeldi could not touch. 
Zdeldi looked through the mind of one of them and saw the bridge
of a ship.
	"It's a ship." he announced quietly.
	"Boer," called Hloch.  "Use your clairvoyance and get a
picture of their bridge.  I think I know what's going on...
Zdeldi, read Boer's mind and transmit the picture to me...."


	Hloch looked at the strangely assembled crew as he briefed
them.  Ael Yael, Imperials, Zhodani, Darrians, Vargr and Aslan
all united against a common but very powerful foe.  "Ladies and
Gentlemen," he began, pointing to the picture of the white plume. 
"What we are flying against is a black globe."
	Confused faces in the audience looked at each other.
	"A black globe is essentually a field which absorbs energy. 
ALL energy:  light, heat, radiation, kinetic, the strong and weak
forces of nuclei AND gravitational.
	Now, some of you may or may not have heard of gravitons. 
Gravitons are particles very like photons.  Photons are pretty
easy to understand.  An particle with a certain amount of energy
emmits a photon.  This photon doesn't have mass, but it does have
energy.  This little packet of energy strikes another particle
giving it more energy.
	Right.  Now gravitons are emmitted by particles with mass
and they are absorbed by other particles.  This action pulls the
particle back toward the particle back toward the first one.  The
farther you get away from those masses the fewer gravitons from
it you will intercept.  Thus the 1/R squared relation; just like
photons.
	The thing about gravitons is that they don't often effect
other particles:  Very small cross section.  That's why when you
stand on top of something you don't weigh any less.  Most of the
gravitons pass right through what ever you stand on and a few
interact with you.  You also emmit gravitons so any that do
interact with you won't be missed by anyone above you.
	Now, I see Alaya shaking her head.  Ok, so I've simplified
the quantum theory of gravity.  Please remember that while Boer
here is a great teleport commando, he's had no formal scientific
training.
	Ok, now the black globe absorbs not just the gravitons an
object of its size and mass would normally, but ALL of them that
would pass through it.  A black globe in a gravitational well
will create a zone of zero gravity above it.
	Thus, above the ship out there in the mountains is a pillar
of zero gravity.  The atmosphere in this pillar has equal
potential energy therefore equal pressure.  The air is drawn in
at the base and expands in the upper atmosphere.  That is our
tornado.
	However, the huge number of gravitons being absorbed by that
globe means one hell of a lot of energy.  If you put a space
craft in the zero gravity zone all you would have to do is give
it a shove and it would just drift up to orbit.  And with the
gale winds blowing you wouldn't even need to shove very hard. 
THAT is the kind of energy that is absorbed by a black globe.
	From the conversation Zdeldi overheard inside the ship we
know the energy influx is being used for crystal manufacture. 
Those blasted crystals must be hard.  The energy used to create
them is enormous.
	All of this is irrelevent to our mission, but you need to
know what we're taking on.  Back when I first started out as a
naval architect I worked on the 'Thunder Fox' class:  black
globes.  A number of us working on the project speculated on
black globes close to a planet surface.  Testing and models said
that at tech level fifteen,  you can't operate a globe below low
orbit.  Obviously, these folks are operating at a very high
level.  But even they must be under a strain.  Absorbing all the
gravity, and sitting in what must be a rising lake of liquified
gasses condensed by the absolute zero black globe.
	Now.  That ship could be very easy to destroy.  If we bring
the 'Alexandria's lasers to bear on it from orbit they might be
forced to raise the globe up full.  Right now, according to the
densitometer readings, it's flickering at a rate of seventy three
percent so they are only absorbing a fraction of the energy that
they might be.  If they absorbed the full force of gravitational
energy, they would undoubtedly overload their energy sinks and
blow the ship to tiny tiny pieces.
	Problem:  the 'Alexandria' being only a scoutship doesn't
have much firepower.  And besides we need information.  That ship
can answer a lot of questions.
	The weapon we have best suited for the attack is psionics. 
Telepathy and clairvoyance seem to work through the globe.  This
may be because it is only flickering, but they might work even if
the globe is fully raised."
	Hloch turned and looked his audience in the eye
"Suggestions?"
	Boer scratched his beard as he considered the problem. 
"Well, if we want to shut down the globe there are two ways I can
think of.  One, we could try a scrambler mission, using
clairvoyance and telekinesis to operate the black globes
controls.  Or, two a teleport commando operation to get inside
and shut it down.  Problem is, I don't know a thing about globe
controls.  I might blow the ship."
	Ryke Poe spoke up, "I've operated globe equipped ships in
the IISS."
	Zdeldi turned to the imperial scout.  "You aren't psionic,
but if I act as a telepathic relay we can direct Boer and Alaya
and the other teleports what to do."
	Alaya shook her head.  "We don't know what how the globe is
going to effect psi ops.  I would advise against trying to
teleport in without more information.  I think the scrambler idea
is safer.  Besides, if someone hit the wrong switch and the ship
does go up, at least our people won't be inside.  Once the globe
is down, we send in the teleport troops and they let in the
rest...."

Scott Kellogg

PS.	A while ago, someone accused the black globe of being a
perpetual motion machine.  Well the answer to this is quite
simple:  OF COURSE IT'S A PERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE!!!
By absorbing heat the way it does, it violates the third law of
thermodynamics so by definition is is a perpetual motion machine. 
The projected heat death of the universe is 0.4 degrees kelvin
(or is it 4 degrees kelvin?)  Anyway that is an amount of heat
that would be absorbed by the black globe.
	Rob Dean says he doesn't like them.  Frankly, I don't
either.  That is why I am adamantly in favor of their absorbing
gravitational energy:  It puts severe limits on what they can do!

Particle Man,
Particle Man,
Doin' the things a particle can!
What's he like?
It's not important.
Particle Man

Is he a dot?
Or is he a speck?
When he's underwater does he get wet?
Or does the water get
him instead?
Nobody knows.
Particle Man		Particle Man, by They Might Be Giants

	"Dr. Feynman, what exactly is a particle?"
	"You know, I always wanted someone to ask me that.  As far
as I can figure, it has a tendancy to exist!"

'And they shall beat their Hordes into plowshares...'

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2814
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1991 13:27 CDT
From: KELLOGG@ducvax.auburn.edu
Subject: Inertial Compensators

Hi,

According to the folks on GEnie, agility works like this:
(assuming I am understanding them correctly)
Rob, Can you please forward this to them?  They might be
interested.

The Inertial compensators nullify the mass of the people,
equipment, objects, cargo etc inside the ship.  Therefore
a ship has a mass of zero (or near zero) and then the
ship is capable of bursts of (nearly) infinite acceleration.
{I may be reading this wrong so I will assume that we are
only nullifying the effects of inertia, not mass}
[That way we only half completely destroy Newton's laws]

Ok, Now what happens when a mechanical device is placed inside
this hypothetical mass nullifying field...  Well, a mechanical
watch will instantly wind down.  Any pendulum which depends
upon it's mass and inertia will instantly fail.  A gyroscope
will not work at all. {It works because of it's angular momentum
but with no inertia, it will not work at all.}

What about something dear to the heart of most trav players:  a
Gun?  Well, no inertia...  How is a bullet with no inertia
going to hurt anyone?  Nope, a bullet with the inertia of a feather
thrown REALLY hard is not going to do it.  ;-)
KE weapons are useless.

Well, What about the good old human body?  Hmm, inertialess blood?
Bones with no inertia?  Sounds worse than micro-gravity for the body.
A few days in such a field and the body will weaken from lack of
exercise worse than any crew ever exposed to micro-gravity.
	What about on the moleqular level?  Suddenly every atom and
molequel in the body has no inertia.  Will normal chemical processes
still work?  I doubt it. (I'm a physicist not a chemist)  I am afraid
that if you change one physical law, all the universe will come
tumbling down around your ears.  The human body is adapted to have certain
chemical reactions going on in the body constantly.  If you affect the
physical world with some sort of field, you will change the chemical reactions
going on.  I'm afraid if you entered the field you would probably drop dead
instantly (oops no inertia... you would float dead instantly)

How do I explain inertial compensators?  Well, as I see them they are
grav plates which project a field in the opposite direction of the
ship's drive.  There are auxillury ones in the other axes of the ship to
compensate for lateral and rotational movements.  (the area around the
pilot's couch has a weakened field allowing the pilot to feel how the
ship is moving without getting flattened by 6G's.
	Control of such plates is simple.  The main drive is computer
controlled.  The computer merely directs the compensators to create a field
of equal and opposite strength to the acceleration of the ship.
So when the ship is acclerating a 6G's an object in the ship will be
subjected to the acceleration and this is cancelled by the artificial grav
plates of the inertial compensators also putting out 6G's.
	This is a much SIMPLER method of cancelling out the effects of the
ship's drive.  It doesn't violate any new laws of physics.  (other than
anti-grav) and it doesn't impose a 'field' which affects the normal
laws of physics in ways that are not well understood, but will certainly
result in the death of any and all passengers aboard.

Scott S. Kellogg
Anyone wishing to discuss this with me please send me e-mail and
I would be glad to call you telephonically (provided it is'nt TOO
long distance... I'm only an underpaid grad student after all)

Look out!  The Horde!

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2815
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 91 00:13:21 -0400
From: Chris G. Sylvain <cgs@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: Address Changing: Attention PBEM

Hello, all

I am going back to the wonders of second year law school, so as of
Saturday, the TML and PBEM stuff should go to my old address, which
was (and is) npsylv@wmvm1.cc.wm.edu

Thanx.

nps

Support the Second Amendment!

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2816
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 1991 15:22:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: William Henry Timmins <wt0b+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: (2814) Inertial Compensators

Although I don't use MT, the way I handle inertia-less drives (which
seems like what the compensators do) is by creating an acceleration
field with no propogation.

ie- The 'inertia-less' drive in my SF games AREN'T truly inertia or
acceleration-less, they only seem that way on a macroscopic scale
because velocity is increased for all atoms simultaneously. The
acceleration one can use depends on the fineness of this velocity field,
as too high acceleration will start fusing atoms...

In the world where I first developed this idea their first field dumped
KE to every atom simultaneously. This had one huge problem- acceleration
of each atom was inversely proportional to it's mass... so at very high
accelerations, you would get a chromotogram of a ship... hydrogen in
front, scaling down to heavier atoms in back... :)

The ships of that period used massive cylinders of some pure substance
(usually iron, for a variety of reasons) attached by heavy struts to the
rest of the ship. Acceleration depended on the strength of the struts,
and had none of the useful effects of 'inertia-less'.

It was, however, reactionless. Or at least seemed that way. In reality,
it emited something like anti-gravity, with a propagation about light
speed, which pushed or pulled nearby bodies. Again a bit limiting.
Combinations of the technologies created reaction drives of ultra-high
efficiency, kinetic shields, which propogated impacts as ship-wide
accelerations, etc.

- -Me
[Pooh Bear incarnate.]

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2817
From: jpb <jpb%umbio.med.miami.edu@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Standardized guns and ammo
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 91 2:04:28 EDT


Recntly someone mentioned (I forgot to keep the message around, and
don't recall who it was) that rounds would not be interchangable
between tech levels.  I always assumed that there was some sort of
standard "Imperial 7mm" or "Imperial Marine 9mm long" like we have
today with such things as 7.62 NATO or .45 ACP.  Sure, you can
occasionally find non-standard stuff, but it seems to me that it'd be
much cheaper to produce rounds locally (maybe 1 world in the subsector
gets the contract and ships them to the bases).

As far as guns go, they are probably produced under contract from a
standard design so that troops do not need to be retrained when they
are stationed in different subsectors.

Of course, this all assumes that the Imperial Bureaucracy is smart
enough to go for the lowest co solution.    Or greedy enough to
realize the high bribe potential involved in awarding the Imperial Contracts.

Just a few incoherent thoughts.

Joe


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

Archive-Message-Number: 2818
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1991 17:08 CDT
From: KELLOGG@ducvax.auburn.edu
Subject: Ask Dr. Science... Inertial Death

(It's time once again to Ask Dr. Science,
So let's ask Dr. Science...)

That's ME!

(Jeannie from Hwig, Idaho writes:
Dear Dr. Science,
What would happen to the human body if there were no inertia?)

Thanks, Rodney!
Well, Jeannie, Let's ask one quick question:
What is air pressure?  Well, air pressure is caused by billions
and billions of little things called molequeles bouncing off a
wall like a handball court.  The inertia of these molequeles is
transferred to the wall in effect pushing against the wall with a
force.

Now if there was no inertia, then there will be no air pressure.

(Gee, Dr. Science!)

That's right Rodney!  Ok, now the human lungs work by expanding
the ribcage, creating a partial vacuum so that air will flow into
the lungs.  But, if there is no air pressure outside the lungs,
and no air pressure inside the lungs, no air will flow anywhere:
So, no air gets into the blood stream and you die.

(Gosh Dr. Science!)

But it gets worse Rodney!  Just as there is no air pressure,
there would be no pressure in liquids either.  So a person's
blood pressure would drop to zero also!  Now, the heart works the
same way as the lungs do.  So, with no blood pressure, the heart
will stop working causing death before you had a chance to die of
suffocation.

(Just a moment Dr. Science, what about Van der Waals forces?)

Well, it's true that Van der Waals force will give the blood some
tiny blood pressure, but I doubt it would be sufficient to keep
the blood flowing.  Heart efficiency would be drastically
reduced.  And if it were sufficient, you would just die from
suffocation.

(What about Chemical reacitions Dr. Science?)

Well, Rodney, BioChemistry was never my strong point, but I
suspect that the chemical reactions necessary to keep the
metabolism working would be badly effected.  Probably that would
kill you even before the heart would stop.

Anyway, Jeannie, to answer your question "what happens with zero
inertia?" in two words 'You Die'.

(Gosh Dr. Science!)

Well, Rodney, it's not all that crucial a question.  I think it's
more important to ask questions like "How many Primordials does
it take to change a lightbulb?"

(Gee, Dr. Science, how many does it take?)

{Yawn!!}  Who Cares?  {Snore!!!}

(Send your science questions to:
'Ask Dr. Science'
Kellogg@Ducvax.auburn.edu)
(And remember, He's not a real Doctor!)

I have a bachelor's degree!

(In Science!)

actually in physics...
Scott Kellogg
Never look a gift Horde in the mouth

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

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

