“You see, “ the presenter, seated at the console of a small shuttle, said to camera, “all three humans had realized that nuclear fusion emits vast quantities of X-rays, and that degenerate matter allows you to store vast quantities of gases in a highly compressed form—”. In the background it becomes apparent that the shuttle is gliding past an enormous derelict starship. “—until you want to fuse them. At which point you introduce a stream of interstellar medium into the gravity well, gases spiral onto the degenerate mass, and BOOM”
“Two gases do that better than any other, and it was a distant descendant of Robert Bussard who combined them most efficiently, and the gases that she combined in her version of the interstellar ramdrive, like the one floating behind me, were the degenerate carbon of a white dwarf fragment and the molecular hydrogen collected by her ramscoop field.”
The ancient vessel passes from view, and in the distance a gleaming white starseeder comes into focus. “If you direct compressed gas onto confined degenerate matter, and open an aperture in the magnetic containment field, you get….” The presenter swivels in their seat and points out the starboard observation window “—THAT!”
The star drive on the relativistic
colony vessel flares to life. “Destination…the galaxy”
#Tootfic #MicroFiction #PowerOnStoryToot #Title_Connections