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106 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
106 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
TMP Technical Information
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Jay Shaffstall
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Copyright (c) 1990
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Jason Roe looked around the lab at the Tempus Fugit design team. He'd
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asked them together for a brief pep talk before the weekend. Next week
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they'd be involved in some of the most important work of the century; he
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figured they needed a reminder of just how much they'd already
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accomplished.
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"Thank you all for sticking around a little longer today. Most of you
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have been on the project from the beginning, but those of you that haven't
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may not fully appreciate the amount of effort that has gone into the Time
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Belt." He gestured toward the locked cabinet where the only two prototypes
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of the time belt were kept. He suddenly wished he had a glass of water
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handy.
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"Temporal theory itself was largely created in this lab, and made
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possible the temporal beacon that proved time travel possible. To create
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the belt itself, advances far beyond the limits of current science had to be
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made. The power source had to be independent and rechargable. There are no
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outlets in the Roman Empire." He paused, but they looked at him as if this
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were obvious. He'd have to upgrade the quality of the jokes for this
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audience.
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"Unification theory was pushed to new limits simply to provide a power
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source for this device. Now, the belt will be able to recharge itself using
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the gravitic potential in any time period." Roe hoped that the scientists
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understood what that meant.
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"The power involved in time travel is enormous, and required extensive
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advances in room temperature superconductors. You can now wear a miniature
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supernova around your waist and not feel any heat." Roe had always wondered
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about the term miniature supernova. Didn't the star have to be a certain
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mass, or something?
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"Computer technology had to be improved to handle the space time
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coordinate system, also created by this group. The relative motion of the
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stars and galaxies had to be boiled down to simple equations for use by the
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belt." Roe had seen these 'simple' equations once. By comparison, _War and
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Peace_ was a short sketch.
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"In short, while we are merely beginning our work on time travel and its
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effects, this team has done more to advance human science in the past three
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years, than everyone in the past decade put together. Once this information
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is declassified, the world will become a paradise indeed. You can all be
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proud of yourselves."
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* * * * * * * * * *
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Equipment:
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Temporal Beacon. This was the first working temporal device created.
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The original pair of beacons were created before many of the later
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advances, and thus are rather bulky. Each is about four feet on a
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side, and must be hooked directly to a dedicated main power line to
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function. Given that, however, they can send a radio signal to any
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point in time in a decade radius. The main limitation on range here is
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the lack of adequate power. Note--the beacon apparently does not work
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*every* time. A low percentage of signals beamed into the future have
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not been subsequently received. There is a minimum range of half a
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second.
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Temporal Transporter. So named because of an appearance similar to the
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transporter in Star Trek, but on a miniature scale. This device is also
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about four feet square, but most of it is a chamber to hold the object
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to be transmitted through time. This is also hooked to a dedicated
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power line, and has a maximum range of approximately twenty five years.
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It has a minimum range of three hours. There appears to be some sort of
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a parabolic curve to the energy requirements, rising to near infinity
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the closer you attempt to get to the time that you're transmitting from.
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Optimum range, where energy consumption is the lowest, is one year.
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Beyond that, energy consumption rises once again.
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Time Belt. While it has a bit too much electronics on it to be
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fashionable, the time belt was designed to be conealable underneath an
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overcoat. The belt has an onboard computer that would put IBM to
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shame, dedicated to the incredible number crunching neccessary for
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computing space time coordinates. The belt can also proved external
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power by way of a four foot superconducting cable. There is a means to
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save one set of coordinates to use as a home base. These coordinate are
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fixed, updated only when you are spending time in that time period.
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The hope is that this will allow a time traveller to make it back to his
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own time and place if a change in the past causes a new timeline to
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split from the original. The home setting may allow them to jump the
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timelines and get to where they belong. All theory, of course, but it
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may even work. The bels also has a chronometer indicating the current
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time and space coordinates. Unfortunately, it requires knowledge of
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temporal theory to interpet the coordinates. Ranges have been estimated
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as a minimum of one day, and a maximum of two centuries. Optimum is
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probably right around one decade.
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Period equipment. While no actual travel into the past has taken
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place, the project has laid in a supply of period clothing covering the
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major fashions for the past two centuries. Also available are period
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weapons and money. Any of this equipment must be checked out with the
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security guard.
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Press <CR> ! |