Sam said.
“The Wheel turns, generating centrifugal force,” Martha explained.
Sure enough, the passage led downward, and as they went, gravity increased. They were coming into the rim of the Wheel.
“No space personnel?” Brom asked.
“No human personnel,” Sam said. “The Wheel is alien.”
“We didn’t build this?”
“It is an outlier of the starfish vessel, placed as an interface.”
“How did we get here so suddenly? There was no blast of jets, no acceleration, no multi-gee.”
“There was, but we were in stasis. That makes it easier.”
“How did that happen? There was no warning.”
“It is a field,” Sam said patiently. “It encloses the whole residential section of the rocket. We strapped down only as an archaic precaution.”
“I told you about stasis, dear,” Aliena said.
“That was you on the voyage from your home planet. I had no idea we had anything like that.”
“We didn’t, until recently,” Sam said. “It is starfish science that they are bequeathing to us. One of many significant gifts, such as star travel and antigravity.”
“It is not antigravity, technically,” Aliena said. “What you call gravity is actually a deformation of space in the vicinity of mass. That can’t be nulled, only countered.”
“Countered?”
“A moon in orbit about a planet is in the spacial deformation surrounding the planet, but the diversion from its state of rest generates the seeming centrifugal force that exactly balances its fall toward the planet, so it remains in free fall. Thus the deformation is countered.”
“ Seeming centrifugal force?” Sam asked. “We use it all the time.”
“There is no such force, merely resistance to diversion from rest.”
“This is too technical for me,” Sam said.
“How do you seem to counter gravity when it is not a moon in orbit?” Brom asked, interested though he did not understand it any better than Sam did.
“Magnetic repulsion, mainly, when on the surface of a planet. Higgs field modification when accelerating in space.”
“Modification?”
“Mass is an effect of passage through the Higgs field. Some objects interact more strongly than others, as with your lead versus feathers. We put an object, such as a spaceship, into stasis, then shift its substance to something that impinges on the field less, in effect diminishing its mass. That makes it easier to accelerate.”
Brom exchanged a glance with Sam. Both of them were baffled. “Is it okay if we just call it antigravity?” Sam asked.
“Perhaps I am not phrasing it well.”
“You’re doing fine. We simply are not physicists.”
“I apologize for forgetting,” she said contritely.
“Why are the starfish so generous?” Brom asked.
That one Sam could answer. “They believe, and we agree, that there is more profit in trade than in war.”
“What are they getting from us?”
“Biology,” Aliena said. “Earth is robustly diverse, far more so than Starfish world, and the intricacy of life is a magnitude more complicated than that of any machine. We will make better machines when we better understand the diversity of life. We are studying your viruses and bacteria, and will progress to plants and animals and fungi. It is marvelous information.”
“But they could make a virus to destroy all life on Earth!”
“They could,” Sam agreed soberly. “But they won’t, because that would ruin the prospect of mutually profitable trade.”
“You’re very trusting!”
“Please, beloved, you must trust me,” Aliena said. “I would never try to harm you.”
“You I trust. But not necessarily your species. We need more reassurance than just their word.”
“He echoes the paranoia of the masses,” Martha told Aliena. “This is why your presentation must be perfect. We don’t want to stir latent hostility.”
“I see,” Aliena agreed, disturbed. “I thought that when he accepted me, he accepted my role.”
Brom saw that he was caught on the wrong
“The Wheel turns, generating centrifugal force,” Martha explained.
Sure enough, the passage led downward, and as they went, gravity increased. They were coming into the rim of the Wheel.
“No space personnel?” Brom asked.
“No human personnel,” Sam said. “The Wheel is alien.”
“We didn’t build this?”
“It is an outlier of the starfish vessel, placed as an interface.”
“How did we get here so suddenly? There was no blast of jets, no acceleration, no multi-gee.”
“There was, but we were in stasis. That makes it easier.”
“How did that happen? There was no warning.”
“It is a field,” Sam said patiently. “It encloses the whole residential section of the rocket. We strapped down only as an archaic precaution.”
“I told you about stasis, dear,” Aliena said.
“That was you on the voyage from your home planet. I had no idea we had anything like that.”
“We didn’t, until recently,” Sam said. “It is starfish science that they are bequeathing to us. One of many significant gifts, such as star travel and antigravity.”
“It is not antigravity, technically,” Aliena said. “What you call gravity is actually a deformation of space in the vicinity of mass. That can’t be nulled, only countered.”
“Countered?”
“A moon in orbit about a planet is in the spacial deformation surrounding the planet, but the diversion from its state of rest generates the seeming centrifugal force that exactly balances its fall toward the planet, so it remains in free fall. Thus the deformation is countered.”
“ Seeming centrifugal force?” Sam asked. “We use it all the time.”
“There is no such force, merely resistance to diversion from rest.”
“This is too technical for me,” Sam said.
“How do you seem to counter gravity when it is not a moon in orbit?” Brom asked, interested though he did not understand it any better than Sam did.
“Magnetic repulsion, mainly, when on the surface of a planet. Higgs field modification when accelerating in space.”
“Modification?”
“Mass is an effect of passage through the Higgs field. Some objects interact more strongly than others, as with your lead versus feathers. We put an object, such as a spaceship, into stasis, then shift its substance to something that impinges on the field less, in effect diminishing its mass. That makes it easier to accelerate.”
Brom exchanged a glance with Sam. Both of them were baffled. “Is it okay if we just call it antigravity?” Sam asked.
“Perhaps I am not phrasing it well.”
“You’re doing fine. We simply are not physicists.”
“I apologize for forgetting,” she said contritely.
“Why are the starfish so generous?” Brom asked.
That one Sam could answer. “They believe, and we agree, that there is more profit in trade than in war.”
“What are they getting from us?”
“Biology,” Aliena said. “Earth is robustly diverse, far more so than Starfish world, and the intricacy of life is a magnitude more complicated than that of any machine. We will make better machines when we better understand the diversity of life. We are studying your viruses and bacteria, and will progress to plants and animals and fungi. It is marvelous information.”
“But they could make a virus to destroy all life on Earth!”
“They could,” Sam agreed soberly. “But they won’t, because that would ruin the prospect of mutually profitable trade.”
“You’re very trusting!”
“Please, beloved, you must trust me,” Aliena said. “I would never try to harm you.”
“You I trust. But not necessarily your species. We need more reassurance than just their word.”
“He echoes the paranoia of the masses,” Martha told Aliena. “This is why your presentation must be perfect. We don’t want to stir latent hostility.”
“I see,” Aliena agreed, disturbed. “I thought that when he accepted me, he accepted my role.”
Brom saw that he was caught on the wrong
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