Debbie D. wrote Thinking about the voyage of the London set me thinking about what made the spaceships go in the future.

David Whatever it was, it could have been turned around and used as a weapon

from Blake Blake: Let them think you are dead. Plasma ammunition is scarce.

from Rescue Dayna: Each of these is a different mode. You clip them into the basic handgun and you've got a weapon for every occasion: Laser, plasma bullet, percussion shell, micro grenade, stun, drug.

from Duel Zen: Three plasma bolts launched and running.

David Plasma was used in the weaponry of at least two non-Federation groups, and Federation Pursuit Ships used the same raw material in their weaponry.

from Star Drive Tarrant: But Orac, Dr. Plaxton was head of the Federation Space Drive Research Center. Orac: At the time of the Federation's collapse, the doctor was developing a new space drive system that used light to exert thrust instead of plasma: the photonic drive or the Star Drive machine, as it is known.

David That same plasma was the primary propellant of Federation craft.

Avon: We can't risk a patrol detecting plasma radiation from sustained thrust. ... Slave: No external or internal sensors are functioning in the main drive plasma chamber or the main thrust tube

David Scorpio used plasma to exert thrust too.

We are not told what plasma was. It is unlikely to have been the hydrogen nucleus with a photon, because Plaxton's photonic research was something new. It couldn't have been hydrogen with a tachyon because until the time of Egrorian, tachyons were theoretical.

from Horizon Blake: The ore is important to them, that much I understand. Ro: It is important to us all. It is needed for the latest hyper-space ships that will send men into new galaxies. We are one of the only two planets with a rich seam of monopasium-239.

David With the closure of Silmareno to the Federation, the latter had only one source for monopasium, which closure would have provoked a change of policy, doubtless to increase mining at the other source of monopasium, and also to accelerate Drive building programmes.

Ro speaks of these ships as being in existence at the time of speaking but his use of the present and future tenses is confusing (see messages 38791, 38914, 5, & 6). The difference lies in the number two-three-nine. Ro's tone suggests a difference between monopasium and monopasium-239, the implication being that the Federation knew about monopasium in general before discovering isotope 239.

from Star Drive Avon: If we want to keep this heap of ironmongery operational, we have to visit Altern Five in order to recover selsium ore to make fuel crystals.

David The monopasium ore was likely processed similarly to selsium, ie. converted into fuel crystals.

Debbie It seems the Liberator was different - the alien in Sarcophagus said that it could go indefinitely by recharging itself (on what?).

David On crystals?

from City Tarrant: I had no choice, Cally. We've got to have those crystals for the weaponry system. ... Look, without those crystals, the main blasters are useless.

David If the weaponry system runs on crystals, the main drive might also run on crystals but thinking of the Liberator as a gift of the cosmos, a different track reveals itself. The Green Bulb at the rear reminds one of switching in electricity. Electricity requires something on front as well as behind; if there is no circuit, there is no propagation of electrons (assuming electricity is merely the movement of electrons). The switch in the circuit makes or breaks the circuit.

from Cygnus Alpha Jenna: There was certainly a lot of power in it. Did you get a blackout effect? Blake: Yes. Jenna: So did I. Avon: Negative hyperspace. Blake: You mean we crossed the anti-matter interface?

David If hyperspace has a negative component which the Liberator can make use of, perhaps time also has a negative component, which also can be made use of. Whereas positive time travels in the direction we are familiar with, negative time travels in the opposite direction. Time travels in two streams: One moves from the past through the present and into the future; the other moves from the future through the present and into the past.

The two streams of time are separate but when the negative stream is twanged, a connection between the two streams becomes possible. It becomes feasible for the two streams to join and produce a circuit. In that event, a space-craft that distorted time would resemble a switch. In the same way that electricity requires a switch and circuit, so the cosmos requires a Time-Distort mechanism and the streams of time (and space). The cosmos requires time-distorting craft is what I am conjecturing.

Debbie (on ships recharging themselves) We do not hear about this with the Federation ships. I presume they do not use some type of petrol, as they would keep running out in the middle of a battle. You can just imagine it - all pursuit ships stranded somewhere and Travis having to walk back with an empty can. So they must also have either had some sort of recharge facility, or else refueling tankers every so often.

David In series one and two, where the Federation was strong, refuelling was not an issue

from Volcano Servalan: This is Servalan calling Federation battle fleet commander. ... Your position is confirmed. Maintain until further instructions. B.F.C.: Very Well, Madam President. But I would remind you I do have fuel problems. Can you bring me nearer the objective?

from Orbit Egrorian: The shuttle will run out of fuel in twenty minutes from now. It will hit the ground in a marshy area some two hundred and seven miles west of here.

Debbie I guess the London being a much slower type of ship hardly used any juice of whatever sort.

David The London seemingly doesn't refuel for the duration of its journey, which period is arguably some sixteen months return. This is possible under the law of the conservation of momentum and the fact they gave a higher priority to fuel than water

from Way Back Avon: Why all the questions, or is it merely a thirst for knowledge? ... Dainer: I'm always thirsty, Vila.

Debbie You can hardly imagine Servalan putting up with an 8 month trip - she seemed to be jetting about all over the place.

David Forget Servalan. Durkim is the real power

from Star One Officer: Flagship Galileo reports Galactic Eigth Fleet under way. Estimate achieve coordinates in four hours. Officer: Cruiser Beagle now estimating rendezvous in three hours and seventeen minutes. Officer: Flotillas Fourteen and Sixteen confirm four hours and eight minutes. Durkim: But what happens in the meantime?

David Durkim is anxious, anxious over hours. He knows the flotillas will arrive at that remote spot in hours, not days. Durkim's attitude has integrated within it the knowledge of a recently increased capability of the Federation's Battle-Cruisers. The Federation has, within the second series, made some progress from ordinary hyper-space plasma thrust (but is not necessarily inter-Galactic).

Debbie It can't have been some sort of drawing energy directly from vacuum as that would imply limitless energy, but you never hear of any of the ships either refuelling or doing anything similar. The Liberator could recharge itself quite quickly.

David Perhaps plasma was a combination of hydrogen and mono-pasium (pasium, plasium, plasma ?). Monopasium came from only one source (after Horizon) but hydrogen is given freely by the cosmos.

DC

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