n7axw wrote:fallsfromtrees wrote:
But I don't think Herlander worked on the spider drive, so he may well not have any knowledge to add to the effort.
You might well be right on this one. His specialty was the streak. But it is possible that he knows enough about the general concept to give Sonja and Shannon a clue as to where to start dabbling with the idea.
And, it should be remembered, it's an old truism that knowing that something can be done is half the battle of doing it. So who knows how it will turn out?
Don
You know... If we don't know any differently and all else being equal, it's more likely that two breakthroughs represent two different applications of one fundamental breakthrough than two totally independent one. Both the spider drive and the streak drive represent unusual interactions with hyperspace walls: tractoring the alpha wall in the one case, safely penetrating the iota and kappa walls in the other. If the root of both is one advance in hyperspace physics, Herlander Simoes, as a mathematician doing work in the field, actually may be able to offer some slight information about the spider drive - or perhaps something that someone else may connect to the spider drive (cue Team Foraker-Hemphill), even without knowing the connection himself or having the background or cast of mind to make it.