Flagship (27 page)

Novels not set in this future

Adventures
(1922-1926 A.D.)
Exploits
(1926-1931 A.D.)
Encounters
(1931-1934 A.D.)
Hazards
(1934-1939 A.D.)

Stalking the Unicorn
("Tonight")

Stalking the Vampire
("Tonight")

Stalking the Dragon
("Tonight")

The Branch
(2047-2051 A.D.)

Second Contact
(2065 A.D.)

Bully!
(1910-1912 A.D.)

Kirinyaga
(2123-2137 A.D.)

Kilimanjaro
(2235-2241 A.D.)

Lady with an Alien
(1490 A.D.)

A
Club in Montmartre
(1890-1901 A.D.)

Dragon America: Revolution
(1779—1780 A.D.)

The World behind the Door
(1928 A.D.)

The Other Teddy Roosevelts
(1888-1919 A.D.)

WORMHOLES

If you've been reading the
Starsbip
books, you know that the quickest way to traverse the galaxy at many multiples of the speed of light is by the use of wormholes. A science fiction invention, you say? Guess again.

The term "wormhole" was actually invented in 1957 by John Wheeler, an American theoretical physicist. The concept predated him by thirty-six years, and was theorized by Hermann Weyl, a German mathematician.

So do they break Einstein's laws of the universe? Well, Einstein didn't think so. He and a colleague named Nathan Rosen came up with Einstein-Rosen bridges, which are bridges between areas of space that get around the limitations posed by Einstein's special theory of relativity . . . and for the record, they inspired what have come to be known as Schwarzschild wormholes and Lorentzian wormholes.

There has even been some interesting cross-pollination. Carl Sagan, old "Billions and Billions," was writing his first novel,
Contact
(science fiction, of course), in 1985, and asked cosmologist Kip

Thorne to devise a wormhole that was traversable, at least in theory— and Thorne and his partners proceeded to do just that. The traversable wormhole is now known as the Morris-Thorne wormhole. (A side effect was that the science behind these wormholes allowed Thorne to make a legitimate, scientifically sound proposal for a time machine.)

Are
there wormholes in space?

Almost certainly.

Can we travel through them.

The obvious answer is no.

The optimist's and the science fiction writer's answers are: not yet . . . but stick around.

ETHICS

I hope the
Starsbip
books are fun, but like most science fiction, they also deal with serious human problems.
Starsbip:
Mutiny
examined the question of when (and if) you must refuse a legitimate order, regardless of consequences.
Starsbip:
Pirate
explored the unwritten rules of engagement for someone who is forced to operate outside the law.
Starsbip:
Mercenary
considered when (and if) you must refuse a job in your chosen field due to moral considerations.
Starsbip:
Rebel
was concerned with the reaction to serious abuse when it is committed not to yourself but to someone else, and what (if anything) must be done about it.

For
Starsbip: Flagship
, the question was in this week's headlines (as I write this in late May of 2009), and it concerns the debate over the harsh interrogation of prisoners. At what point, the American people are being asked to decide, is harsh interrogation justified? At what point does it become torture? And is torture itself ever justified?

Well, of course, every civilized person's first response is to say that no, of course torture is never justified.

Okay. We now know that waterboarding revealed the existence of a planned attack on a bank tower in Los Angeles, a plan that was thwarted only because the victim of the waterboarding, who had refused to cooperate with his interrogators for months prior to that, gave them all the vital details after his experience.

Unjustified?

I think a good many people's initial reaction would be yes.

Now let's pretend that my wife works in that building, and would be instantly killed when a plane rammed into it.

Still unjustified? I don't think so any longer.

So we come to the crux of it: Is torture acceptable under rigidly defined extreme circumstances, like saving five thousand Angelinos who would be in that tower? Or—everyone's favorite example—if it is the only way to find out where a bomb (possibly a nuke) has been hidden before it explodes?

But there's another consideration, too. Everyone will grant that waterboarding and similar methods are harsh methods of interrogation indeed. But
are
they torture?

After all, the terrorist who revealed the information about the tower was perfectly healthy the next day. He suffered no ill effects, and waterboarding him may have saved a few thousand lives. (Of course, it may not have saved them; we'll never know what continued gentler methods might have achieved.) But the fact remains that, unlike the torture American soldiers suffered at the hands of the Japanese in World War II, this man emerged none the worse for wear. Indeed, our US Navy Seals undergo waterboarding routinely to prepare them for it should they fall into enemy hands; no one has ever died or been permanently disabled by it.

Still, many feel that it is opposed to the principles outlined in the Constitution. There is an argument, perhaps valid, that using such methods makes us no better than our enemies. And there is another argument that until you
know
there is a hidden bomb set to explode in three hours, you apply all legitimate methods of questioning on the assumption that sooner or later you'll get the answers you need.

I realize there are two sides to the question, and each side is sure it has the morally correct position.

Which made it a perfect problem for Wilson Cole to come to grips with.

THE BALLAD OF

WILSON COLE

John Anealio

Lyrics

Verse 1

In the time of the Galactic Era in the year of 1966

Commander Cole had to wrestle control from the Polonoi running the ship. And despite his four medals of courage they court-martialed him anyway. The men of his crew came to his rescue and embarked on their own deep in space.

Refrain

Yes they say Wilson Cole was a hero and the captain of the
Teddy R.
He kept up the fight and he did what was right as he led his fleet through the stars.

Verse 2

Then it came to 1967

after the ship's mutiny.

They made a deal with David Copperfield

and they allied with the Valkyrie.

And he didn't make much of a pirate

Wilson has an honest man.

He went and retrieved
A Tale of Two Cities

and decided that he'd change his plan.

Refrain

Verse 3

Then they became mercenaries the year was 1968.

Their destination was Singapore Station

so they met at the Platinum Duke's Place.

Then they met the Teroni Jacovic

who became the ship's Third Officer.

Cole marshaled one thousand ships against a lunatic

Csonti retreated then went berserk.

Refrain

Verse 4

The Navy murdered First Officer Forrice at a brothel on Braccio II.

Cole went and avenged the death of his best friend killing the
Endless Night
and its crew. Then the Navy laid waste to the planet and Wilson searched for volunteers. He gathered a fleet that would never retreat as it defended the Inner Frontier.

Refrain

Verse 5

And then in 1970 Cole infiltrated Deluros VIII. He aimed his gun at the Admiral just as the sky filled

with enemies set to invade.

Wilson Cole led the
Theodore Roosevelt

and the ships of the Republican Fleet.

The enemy was defeated and the Secretary ceded

Cole's mission was finally complete.

Refrain

J
OHN
A
NEALIO writes songs about science fiction and fantasy. Alternate-tuned acoustic guitar picking, soaring synthesizers, and catchy pop hooks power his odes to androids, princesses, starship captains, and vampires. You can download "The Ballad of Wilson Cole" and many other original songs for free at
http://scifisongs.blogspot.com
.