Erls wrote:One of my great desires is to see in a future Manticore Rising book the first (and second and third) transits of the WJ. Read about the ships coming out, finding their bearings, and realizing "Holy &#*@", we are x LY closer to "THIS SYSTEM".
I can't help but wonder what that first crew experienced when it popped out of the WH, took its bearings, and realized how close it was to Beowulf, perhaps the first daughter of old Earth herself. Did they immediately start trying to find the terminus to jump back to Manticore, or did they go spend weeks on Beowulf establishing relations? How did Beowulf react when it realized they were now almost 500 LY closer to the Haven system - the crown jewel of colonies at that point in time? And, how did Manticore react when the ship finally returned to inform the Star Kingdom that their wormhole went to Beowulf itself, a couples transit from Sol and the very founding of humanity?
Going a step further - how did the parties react when the Trevor's Star terminus was discovered? That shaved another 150+ LY off the transit to Haven. How did Haven respond when it learned that over 600 LY of transit between it and the Sollies was erased due to the WJ?
What impact did this have on Manticoran politics? Was Breakwater still around fighting against the concept of Manticore building its own ships? Did he try to argue that MPARs should control the WJ? How did this permanently change SKM politics - and did it help create the ancestors of the political parties present in Honor's time?
RFC - please ensure these questions are answered (at some point)!!!
I have a related idea that would be very interesting.
I think it would be great to see a short Shadow of Saganami prequel. It can start with the ecstatic reception of HMS Harvest Joy by the Lynx inhabitants, followed by their quick decision to ask for annexation by the SKM. Then, it would describe the reactions of other Talbott Cluster players, starting with one Bernardus Van Dort.