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"It was [H.G. Wells'] adolescent fiction, his imaginative stories, that live forever - and yet are not acknowledged in literature classes as being great literature. So to hell with the academics!"
- Greg Bear
 |
| Trans-Oceanic Rocket | ||
| Also, a rocket-plane. |
According to the story, it takes a mere 5 hours to cross the Atlantic. Ironically, the supersonic (and now defunct) Concorde made the trip in just 3 and 1/2 hours.
| I was rushing over the ground toward the glittering, silver-winged projectile that was the Baikal. A glowering officer waved me on, and I dashed up the slant of the gangplank and into the ship; the port dropped and I heard a long "Whew!" of relief...
There's a friendly atmosphere aboard a trans-oceanic rocket. The passengers are forced into a crowded infirmary for anywhere from seven to twelve hours, and there isn't much room for moving about. Generally, one strikes up an acquaintance with his neighbors; introductions aren't at all necessary, and the custom is simply to speak to anybody you choose— something like an all-day trip on the railroad trains of the last century, I suppose... Afterwards we walked along the narrow aisle to the glassed-in observation room up forward. |
| From The Worlds of If,
by Stanley G. Weinbaum. Published by Wonder Stories in 1935 Additional resources -
|
It is also called a "rocket-plane".
(The Trans-Oceanic Rocket Plane)
Five hundred people were picking themselves up from the floor, were trampling each other, milling around, being cast helplessly down as the great rocket-plane, its left wing but a broken stub, circled downward toward the Atlantic.
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'Is an extra-factual memory that convincing?' Quail asked.
Megastructures have repair robots, which have repair robots, ad infinitum.
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Perfect for clot-busting in the human brain. No Raquel Welch and no lasers, though.
