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"Conspiracy theories are big because they're comforting. Any conspiracy is infinitely less multiplex than the real deal, which is multiplex to the point of being unknowable."
- William Gibson
 |
| Sub-C | ||
| Of ships, older models that travel at speeds below that of light. |
| Irma Gordon was one of the original settlers of the Riga system. Origin unknown. Probably born out in space — in one of the old sub-C ships. A strange feeling drifted through him. The little old creature. The centuries she had seen! The changes. |
| Technovelgy from The Impossible Planet,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Not Known in 1953 Additional resources -
|
Stanley Schmidt used the same expression in War of Independence (1982):
"At that time our ancestors didn’t even know the Redskins existed, and the incident scared them silly. They stopped trying for the stars for about a third of a century. Things didn’t get going again until Kokes stumbled onto c-barrier tunneling and people met the Redskins. They found out in a general way what happened to the Columbus, but they still didn’t know where it wound up. Well, it wound up on Midnnoa.”
Murray nodded. So the wreck on Midnnoa was the Columbusl The Chercqs, then, were not just any shipwreck survivor descendants. 'They were one of the two oldest human colonies outside the Solar System — and still one of the most remote.
Compare to ftl from The Enchanted Forest (1950) by Fritz Leiber, which is as far as I know the first use of this abbreviation for faster-than-light from Islands of Space (1931) by John W. Campbell, which is as far as I know, the first use of that phrase in science fiction.
"Okay, brace yourself. You may remember there was a false start before interstellar expansion from Sol really got going. A pair of sub-c ships called the Mayflower and the Columbus set out together for Alpha Centauri. The Mayflower made it. The Columbus hit the wake of a Redskin warpship bound for Alpha Persei and disappeared.
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Impossible Planet
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Impossible Planet
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
| The New Habitable Zones Include Asimov's Ribbon Worlds |
| Will Space Stations Have Large Interior Spaces Again? |
| Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution |
| Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri |
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
