SS Kame

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Spacecraft Registry
SS Kame AKA SS Turtle
Original Enterprise.jpg
The Turtle Moves
Spacecraft Characteristics
Base HullCustom: 150m diameter, 225m long, 'tear-drop shape'
Drive TypeAnti-gravity (Speed Drive), Inertial (100G Acceleration Drive); FTL
Drive RatingMax velocity 0.025c (500c)
OwnerBrains
Faction'Scure
Launchednever launched; dropped into the Sun
PurposeLuxury Mobile Home, Disaster Recovery
Primary CrewBrains' whole family [1]
Operational StatusInactive; naked frame dropped into the Sun
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Created by Ace Dreamer.

The "SS Kame" (Japanese for Turtle) was a later vehicle Brains built. Initially it was just a design study, for the ultimate in safe travel, based on an unarmed version of the Lensman mauler. Then he created both a thousandth-scale model and a full-sized VR version that he could move a human-sized avatar around in. Then, after he finished his Lunar house, he built an immense underground ship-building dock, and constructed a skeleton of the ship, to tinker with.

He knew he'd never build it, the resources required were just too immense, and he remembered how long it took to build the far smaller "SS Champ". But, it kept niggling away, at the back of his mind, so he worked-out what he'd need in the way of robot construction workers, if he ever did want to finish it.

Why the 'Turtle' was (never) built

The attack on SerenityCon was what did it. By then his ship design included luxurious living quarters, lounges, hot springs, gardens and holographic gaming rooms. There was enough garage space for several "SS Champ", along with ship construction and repair workshops. The main workshops were as good as he could imagine, easily capable of constructing things the size of an articulated lorry plus trailer, or many smaller things simultaneously. But, still a lot of the internal space was unused.

After SerenityCon the empty space became hospital wards, operating theatres, medical labs, and hotel rooms [2], all carefully locked-off from the private living and control areas of the ship. He planned to include mind amplifiers, that would allow a robot with a brain of his design to effectively operate about fifty remote bodies, either mechanical or squish-bot, and systems to quickly make customised robots or squish-bots on demand, several at a time.

Brains planned to call in all his outstanding favours with the Morians to get the CHON resources he'd need to build the ship. He planned to explain why he thought it was a good idea, and between them they would use much of their stored stock. The layered defences were what was resource-expensive, even using Brains standard of mylar sheet, waved into nearly indestructible layers of the ultra-materials dureum, lux and relux, with waved aerogel between.

Instead, accompanied by Uran and his Uncle Jack, Brains dropped the skeleton of the never launched SS Kame into the Sun, a bit more than a week after SerenityCon wound-up.

Design Overview

As usual with Brains vehicles, the basic invisibility comes from meta materials, with negative refractive indexes, bending light and radar around them. Then the equivalent of super carbon black, absorbing all wavelengths. Layered on this are multiple image generation systems, which can produce holographic images in light and sound around the vehicle; this can also absorb light and provide a moderate level of electrical power.

The Turtle has no AI and relies on either a mind amplified human bridge crew, in highly buffered interface seats, or robots with brains of his design. The security systems are thorough and over-lapping, and record all attempts to bypass them [3].

There is no obvious engine, no obvious fuel, no source for the life support or the protective force fields. In fact they are there, painstakingly layered as patterns and circuitry into the inner walls, almost bottomless power storage accumulators, MEMs 'gyroscopes' for gravitic flight, superconducting ribbons, all protected by further layers of ultra-materials. Unlike in previous vessels these were constructed by robots, as a series of independent 'Function Nodes', linked together so even if only 10% of them remain the ship will still function.

Features

There is massive redundancy in the Turtle systems. In addition to the deep nested force screens and image projectors there are a solar conversion fields which can convert solar energy into electricity, over a radius of hundreds of miles.

There are structural integrity fields as well as inertial dampening ones. There is a gravitic inverter system designed to stand-up to gravity bombs and close passes to black holes. The ship's artificial gravity is at least as redundant as those in 'Star Trek' vessels. Some ship state rooms allow localised gravity control [4].

Getting around inside the ship involves zero gravity shafts, which go horizontally as well as vertically, with intersections. These are gently lit, and somehow prevent the falling sensation that troubles some in zero G. Localised force fields prevent painful collisions between travellers[5], though it is possible to get very lost. You have to switch shafts to get between the public and the private living and control areas of the ship. There are no 'turbo lifts', though there are conventional-looking 'hospital lifts' in the appropriate areas.

Even if the ship is badly holed a redundant set of atmosphere retention fields should prevent air loss. These are also used on the vehicle bays, to remove the need for air locks, and can extend 'boarding tubes' (with gravity) to enclose visiting space ships [6]. Note that the life support systems deliberately break up the ship's air into multiple self-contained 'cells', which do not mix (you can faintly feel as you pass between these).

There is also a powerful tractor-presser system to help in building and excavation work, and maybe upset attackers. Note that these are immune to first generation tractor shears. Yes, this ship does have second generation tractor shears.

The closest thing to weapons are beams which can, at short range, suppress cosmic energy screens. However, these beams don't shut-down life support systems (they covertly supply power to them). Fenspace has many different ways of generating power and it unlikely that many people rely on cosmic energy screens.

It is notable that this has a dual-drive system, gravitic (speed drive), and inertial (acceleration). This is due to Brains not trusting that someone wouldn't have a way of blocking speed drives [7]. Both drive systems have an FTL capability.

The Turtle is 220khex external, over 205khex internal [8]. The ship is 'tear-drop' shaped, roughly a cone 150m height and diameter on a hemisphere 150m diameter; 225m length.

Known Vehicle Quirks

  • It is possible to loose the Turtle if you leave it somewhere invisible, unless you are particularly careful (you may not believe this, but Space is Big).
  • If parked somewhere invisible, someone will almost invariably try and park in the same place.
  • If the vehicle is cos-playing, say as the original 'Enterprise' (Star Trek)[9], or 'Thunderbird 2', people wont believe it isn't the real thing.
  • Performs best if "Ghost Riders In The Sky" is playing quietly in the control room, but is usable without this.
  • Needs to get rid of absorbed energy, somehow, such as by a directed infrared burst (this is not a weapon).

Trivia

For once Uran didn't object to the name 'Kame' instead of 'Turtle'.

Notes

  1. probably with 100+ remotes
  2. with all support facilities
  3. there is no self-destruct system
  4. typically not above 2G or less than a tenth
  5. but beware Uran
  6. the image projector can make these look 'safe'
  7. Uran's suggestion that he might want to ram things is opposed to Brains anti-violence principles
  8. Hero System vehicle rules; a hex = 2mx2mx2m
  9. Brains has a virtual registration from the Trekkies to deal with this problem

Stories

Here's Jack