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From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison)
Subject: [LH][AD] Ride the Wild Surf
Message-ID: <CH8IpK.Enq@ibeam.intel.com>
Organization: Intel Corp., Hillsboro, Oregon
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 03:51:19 GMT
Lines: 308

[ADMIN]
This fits in before the Astral Dancer comes to ground, around the
time that all those meteors have been hitting ground.
Copyright 1993 Stephen Hutchison, thanks to Penny Hutchison, Rick Jones
and The Dreamer for their help and editing and character support and
all that good stuff.  Permission granted for distribution via Usenet
channels and for archival, all other rights reserved.


<<ON>>

{ Traveller's Pandimensional Atlas, p 3424i43 branch q1:Nexus

begin text::

Nexus is the fourth planet in a main sequence solar system with a
yellow dwarf star and the usual complement of ten planets, give or
take a few.  There are five main timeroads into Nexus.
<<BREAK>> <<Focus RoadFour>>

Road four goes to the middle period of the Oligarchy of Generica of the
Fountains at a category ten crisis point.  Interesting events include
the initial fold of a fourth order temporal warp, a series of magical
wars, a series of hazard-classified dimensional instabilities,  and a
recurring wormhole.

Further Information:: <<CANCEL>>
<<select WorldLaws>>

General World Laws, Nexus

begin text::

BasicLine == Terra,Faerie,Iskandar.
CorrolaryLine == DemiPlane(Horror)
Hazard == Game(death,destiny) road 4
Archetype mix:
        science 44(rigor),39(weird)
        spirit  56(gods),45(self),64(psi)
        magic   78(rigor),38(weird)
        spacetime porous,pliant
<<edit: enter Detail porous>>
{ Nexus and its neighbors and its parent-star inhabit a peculiar
  bit of spacetime.  For instance, the kinds of fundamental force
  that are found to operate there are more than the customary four.
  One of the extras is a peculiar, heavy but very tiny particle
  that might be about the size of a charm quark, that is much more
  prone to quantum tunneling than the usual particles -- and it
  tends to drag other particles along with it.  This has been
  identified as the probable cause of the porous nature of space
  around Nexus.  Then again it might be a coincidence.}

<<enter CrossRef "recurring wormhole">>
{ In any case, there's a heinous large and ugly leak in space
  in Nexus system.  A wormhole, occurring when the second and
  fifth planets line up equidistant around an ellipse with one
  focus at the parent-star; the wormhole forms at the second
  focus of the ellipse but quickly jumps to the point on the
  ellipse farthest from the star, as soon as it punches through
  to the other side.  The last four occurrences have focussed
  somewhere on the far end of the galaxy.  But the best part
  of this leak is that it makes a great place to surf. }

<<Are you sure you want to put that last bit in, Rafe?>>

<< Close entry >> 'Raelf looked across space to where his mate
was tacking outwards.

<<You think it's a bad idea?  Don't want a sales pitch in the
atlas?  We aren't getting paid y'know.>>

<<Oh.  Go ahead then.>>

<<You bring the tunes?>> 'Raf asked, tacking closer to Miro.

<<I got 'em,>> A'Ree retorted.

Erik watched, bemused, as the tall amazon in the white voidsuit
produced a black box and music began pounding around them.  More
casual magic -- there wasn't any air around them to carry the sound.
His body moved, automatic, adjusting the sail on the board he rode
to carry him closer to Lex.

<<This is station KANI carrying this message from Raye to Rafe...

   Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the worrrrld
   Just take a tip from this red hot surfer boyyyyyyy ... >>

'Raelf started laughing, and Erik shouted over to Lex.

{{What's so funny?}}

<<No need to shout, love.  Humor by incongruity.>>

{{ Oh.  By the towers ... Will you look at that! }}

The sun glinted off of eight triangular sails, the boards shifting
rapidly into the red as they picked up speed.  They were there.

The wormhole was a peculiar looking conglomeration of blue Cherenkov
radiation and the orange-red of excited hydrogen gas.  As the triangular
formation approached the spinning flower shape in the asteroid belt,
the solar wind stopped being enough to move them.  There was a second
wind coming off the wormhole itself, a glowing jet of ionized gasses
lit from behind by a violet radiance of discharging energy.

<<Take the spiral in,>> 'Raelf shouted to the others, from the point
position.  <<Phase to match the fifty-cycle current, catch the inbound
flux.>>

The ragged wing formation swung like birds in flight when they catch
the edge of a storm front, and was suddenly sucked into the maelstrom.
The music cut off with a burst of static.

Inside was not your usual place.  It was a collapsing tube, kind of
like surfing the Banzai Pipeline but during a tsunami.  The horizon was
a point off in the distance glowing bright blue; the universe was a
twisting, spinning cylinder made of violet light.  It wasn't empty
though: there was a hot stream of very thin gas being propelled down
the center by the magnetic pumping action of the currents of electrons
and other particles -- and there were some things that were still
larger than gas and dust.

About a third of the way in, the eight boards stopped, waiting at what
seemed like a stable place.  <<Check your buddy,>> 'Raelf directed.

<<Spark, Kev>> -- the mellow voice of the young visitor came across
over the loud vibration.

<<Lex, Erik, we're copacetic,>> -- a voice like the ocean's roar on
rocks echoed through the quiet-pool.

<<A'Ree, Miro, check,>> -- the female voice carried clearly across.

<<'Raf, 'Raelf, check>> -- the satyrlion growled.  <<We all be here, bro.>>

<<Incoming!>> Lex's voice called out.  A wave of chaos washed past,
making Erik's senses whirl and his heart pound with excitement.  Spark
called out a warning to him.

<<Careful, Shade, there's projectile matter coming up!>>

{{IT COULD MISS US}}  Even in the void, the ShadowMagic echoed strangely.

A spatter of small metallic rocks flashed past at high speed, variously
deflecting off, or passing harmlessly through, the elemental fields of
the surfboards.  The nickel-iron slugs were followed by larger objects,
though.  Four of these things loomed in the distance as Kev and Spark
set up for their outward trip.

<<We're ready.  Hey, one o' dem rocks ain't a rock!>>

<<Right,>> 'Raelf said.  <<A'Ree, 'Raf, you check it out, Miro, switch
and buddy with me.>>

<<Aye>>  'Raf slid up beside A'Ree, just as a second wave of turbulence
hit them.  The amazon flickered, replaced by the much larger form of
the barbarian, still clad in white.  He grinned at 'Raf.

<<Rough stuff ahead, hey?>>   They both angled sails in a direction that
made Erik's eyes hurt and shot up-spiral towards the approaching objects.

<<Erik, it's three pretty big asteroids.  The way this thing is moving,
it looks like they'll be heading towards Nexus -- we have to ... uh oh.>>

{{What's wrong?}}

<<The fourth thing is a ship.  Kev was right.  It's some kind of a space
travelling ship, about one-third into Heaven.>>

{{What?}}  Erik spun around in a small circle, ending up inverted with
respect to Lex.

<<Obscure notation for a partial shift into archetype-state.  'Raf shows
them taking some pretty severe spamming -- they're at a different energy
state than the wormhole and it's frying them pretty bad.  Kev, Spark, you
two head out, get ready to deal with ... oh no.>>

Four streaks of light shifted redly away from where they rested, towards
the exit from the Wormhole.  Erik spun back down to face the same direction
that Lex was facing.

{{I _hate_ it when you say that.  What's wrong now?}}

<<This is the source of that precog I've been getting all day.  The big
rocks are all headed straight for Generica.  You and I get to try making
them go elsewhere.  Miro and Number One have already gone off, there go
the kids .. You want to ride the rock or go out now?>>  Lex's voice rose
eagerly on "ride the rock".

{{ Oh, ride the rock, of course. }}  Erik smiled brightly at his mate's
youthful excitement.  It was contagious.

<<Cool.  Just remember to keep elemental focus in the board.>>  He
snapped the sail out, and Erik mimicked the motion, and they moved
slowly to where the three big rocks were spinning.  A kickback loop
and they pulled in behind the shockwave that the middle asteroid was
creating, and Erik found himself automatically kicking in and out
of the shockwave, Lex grinning in approval as he did the same thing
on the other side.

<<Like a dolphin followin' a ship, dude,>> he laughed.  Erik looked
back momentarily.

'Raf and H'ro were spiralling around the near-mirror field of the ether
ship's protective wards.  Huge lances of purple lightning would arc
towards the ship, every few seconds, rendering the wards momentarily
visible, even without Erik's magesight.  Each time a bolt struck, the
ship's protection faded.

<<Heinous,>> 'Raf's voice came distantly.  <<They don't have seventh order
wards up, hunk-o-my-heart.>>

<<Course not,>> H'Ro replied.  <<They don't need 'em, most o' the time.
Fives'll do the job almost everywhere.>>

<<'Cept when they get sucked into a wormhole,>> 'Raf continued.  <<Think
we can weave a small booster?>>

<<No time.  Hey, Lex, is Erik still here?>>

{{I'm here,}} Erik replied.  {{You want a protection for the ship?}}

<<Yeah, only has to last another two minutes.>>

{{THE BOLTS COULD ... }}

As he spoke,  there was a blinding roar, and one of the giant violet
thunderbolts shattered a ward, arcing inside.  A wave of chaos again
washed down the twisting conduit, but this time, they reduced the
intensity of the violet-glowing discharges along the snarled space that
made up the wormhole's walls.  The glow diffused, spreading out.

{{... STOP STRIKING}} -- Erik shook with the effort he had expended.

<<C'mon, dude, keep your center,>> Lex warned him, as the mouth of the
wormhole came into view.  Erik's vision cleared as he forced himself
to concentrate.  There was a moment of distortion as they left the
wormhole and were spat out into normalspace.

Kev and Spark were spinning around the first rock.  Miro and 'Raelf had
the second rock, and Erik and Lex were no longer being pulled by the third.

Erik noted with detachment that Kev and Spark were having some kind of an
argument over how to do their part.

<<No, Spark, dat won't work...>>

<<Aww, let me try it.>>  Spark did something that Erik felt (dimly, in
the strange environment of Space) as an attempt to call on Elemental
Earth.  The leading rock responded to the invocation, providing a weak
gateway.  <<Spark, it's not gonna wo....oops.>>

The gate snapped hard back into the rock.  <<Grampa Kev, what happened?>>
Spark spun around, lining up with the other youngster.

<<Someone planetside took da gate ya open't an' tried ta weave da rock
inta some kinda curse.  See da black stuff in da aura dere?  I don't
think it has da kinda mass ta do what ya wanned ta do anyway.>>  Kev
pulled his hair back and jammed his baseball cap back down on top of it.
<<Can't pull power outa nothin' on dis plane, an da rock don't have enuff
ta do what you was tryin', not wit'out ya turn part of it ta energy, an'
its fulla whenciton charges from da wormhole, da whole thing woulda blown.>>

<<Oh.  I understand now.  What about throwing things at it?  Kinetic
energy to change trajectory?>>

<<Just push,>> 'Raelf advised from a distance, as he and Miro lined up
on their rock, and the lightwebs of their sails spread out thin.

Erik joined Lex on the surface of the small world, and they did likewise.
Minutes passed.  The flower-shape of the wormhole abruptly vanished as
it closed in the distance.

The silence was eerie, just the quiet breathing as eight people fought
to change the paths of three giant rocks.  Erik found himself going into
a sort of work-trance, as he shifted the sail to catch as much light as
he could.

A tingling sensation like the return of feeling to a hand woke him from
the trance, and he and Miro spoke at the same instant:  <<Atmosphere,
a minute away.>>  Miro grinned and continued.  <<All disengage.>>

They pulled back away from the rocks.  A shower of light streaks was
visible below, as the nightside of Nexus came into view.

The rock that Kev and Spark had been riding bucked and veered again,
heading down at a sharper angle than it should have.  An inarticulate
shout of outrage came from Kev, but he was interrupted.

<<Kev, we need you and Spark here,>> H'ro's voice came distantly.  The
translucent form of the field around the ship was beginning to flicker
as they approached atmosphere.  <<Follow us in, we gotta handle the
landing prep.>>  Kev and Spark nodded, and with graceful flipping moves
they were headed downward.  Below them, the errant rock made a hot
streak of blinding blue-green, spitting off sparks, winking out with
a bright flash as the part that hadn't burned away, hit Generica.  A
few seconds later, two other bright flashes followed, one hitting in
a desert far south of Generica, the other striking in the heart of a
war zone to the north.

{{Lex, how do we get down from here?  I would go to Air, but the pressure
is too low, I'd be stretched all over the upper winds.}}

<<Just let it pull you down until the wards snap on, we'll go into
elemental Air once we get into enough atmosphere.>>

They spiralled down.