[X] My Assistant

[tacitus]

Hi, I've just written the first draft of a science fiction short story and I need little help with the plausibility factor . Since many highly educated people hang out in this forum (flattery will get me everywhere... I hope!) I thought this might be a good place to ask a few questions.

The story is about a colossal creature (think Titan-sized, as in the moon Titan) that lives amongst the stars, travelling from solar system to solar system, hibernating while in between. (Hey, I didn't claim it was original .) I'm not so concerned about the plausibility of such a species evolving as I am about how the creature is powered.

The creature's internal systems are powered (for want of a better word) by a fission reactor, which I think is okay. But its propulsion is powered by the burning of hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. as in rocket fuel) extracted from water - and this is the bit I'm unsure about.

I know hydrogen and oxygen can be extracted from water, and with a colossal nuclear reactor at its core there is enough energy for the creature to do so, but I just don't know how plausible this whole propulsion set up it. (I guess I can live with "unlikely", I just don't want to base the story on something that's "impossible".

An important aspect of the story as it is written is that the creature needs to stock up on its water supply and has to munch on moon-sized objects to do so (think Europa-sized or smaller in this instance). So its critical for the story that water, and the need to replenish its supply of water, plays a very large factor in the creature's life. I know we are talking colossal sizes and amounts of water here, but that's part of the nature of the story.

So, what do you think? Am I on the right track or careening off the rails?

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

[RedSky]

Reminds me of the old Star Trek "Planet Killer" episode.



A more recent TV example, the SciFi channel series from a couple of years ago, Lexx... about a huge dragonfly-looking ship that blew up planets and "fed" on the biological debris and water. The show was pretty bizarre, mainly about the wacky passengers. I didn't watch it often, but when the series ended after a few years, I saw the final episodes where Lexx was stranded in the Solar System, too low on power (i.e., hungry) to escape... so it blew up and ate the earth!

[ljk4-1]

Since your being is the size of a planet, why not give it a magnetic field so it can attract and scoop up interstellar hydrogen to fuel a fusion reactor to power itself through space ala the Bussard Ramjet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet

http://www.itsf.org/brochure/ramscoop.html

If it gets enough fuel this way, it might not even have to eat planets, but then that might diminish the dramatic possibilities. Or it might make your story even more original.

Of course let us not forget the ultimate consumer of worlds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactus

[Bob Shaw]

There have been even larger, though non-biological, entities in fiction.

Marvin the Paranoid Android, for example, had a brain the size of a planet, giving rise to some questions (such as: was it a very small planet, and: how big was the rest of him?). Or then there's mice, which are simply the extrusions into what we are pleased to call 'normal' space of pan-dimensional mega-beings.

As for propulsion, presumably something squid-like might have evolved, with material being ejected from the rear of the creature, resulting in it being propelled forward. A fairly crude system, I realise, and prone to all sorts of high losses and general wear and tear (if you were to try to consider what it might be like to be such a creature, then think about the strange black rings around Uranus, and weep).

On a more serious note, try reading John Varley's 'Titan'. And, did you know that to base 13, 6 x 9 = 42 after all?

Bob Shaw

[Bob Shaw]

Oh, and I nearly forgot: it's SF (prounounced 'Ess Eff') not Sci-Fi (pronounced 'Skiffy').

Ess Eff makes you think, while Skiffy makes you cringe...

Bob Shaw