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Wheelers (novel)
Encyclopedia
Wheelers is a science fiction
novel authored by English mathematician Ian Stewart
and reproductive biologist Jack Cohen
, figures notable for both their personal scholarly work and numerous individual and collaborative contributions to the world of science fiction
. The book was originally released in hardcover form in the year 2000, and a more common paperback printing was begun in 2001. It has enjoyed modest commercial success and is perhaps best known for its intriguing conceptions of alien zoology
and intelligence—hallmarks of Cohen
's renown work as a consultant on exobiology for books, movies, and television.
Though this is the first time the pair has written a fictional narrative
of their own, both Stewart and Cohen have worked continually with friend and fantasy author Terry Pratchett
on his best-selling Discworld
series.
and is set on a collision course with Earth by an advanced and hitherto unknown Jovian
species as a way of avoiding a devastating impact to their own world.
The story opens with a feeling of anachronism
, as two of the novel's central characters (Charles Dunsmoore, a career archaeologist
and his volatile graduate student Prudence Odingo) work in the year 2194 to interpret and preserve artefacts found in the vicinity of the Great Sphinx
, which is being disassembled in order to save it from the advancing waters of a clogged and flooding Nile River after the collapse of the Aswan Dam
. A lover's quarrel between the two sends Prudence off in a blind rage, and leaves Dunsmoore the sole caretaker of an important discovery—a position which catapults his career and sets the tension for the novel's second half.
Professionally and personally embittered by the success of Dunsmoore, Prudence begins a life of semi-legal interplanetary exploration (referenced by the book but never fully explained) and makes a living selling cosmic oddities to the highest black market bidder. This dangerous and profitable lifestyle acquaints her with legal authorities as well as the Belters—a group of Zen Buddhists
(known as The Order of the Cuckoo) who have populated and mined
both Earth's Moon and the asteroid belt
that lies between the terrestrial planets and the Jovian
worlds of the outer solar system. Her smuggling career culminates with the discovery of a trove of buried, wheeled, and presumably alien artefacts on Callisto
. She takes these 'wheelers' to earth intending to sell them, but a government investigation headed by Dunsmoore concludes them to be inauthentic.
As the story progresses, another main character materializes in the form of the aptly named Moses Odingo, son of Prudence's sister Charity and animal-handler extraordinaire. His life becomes one of the novel's several core plots, circumstance and apparent fate conspiring to send him on a worldwide journey of hardship and tribulation.
During this time, both Earth-bound scientists and the Belters notice that the innermost moons of Jupiter
have mysteriously realigned, altering the trajectory of a once unimportant comet
and setting in motion a direct collision with Earth. This is courtesy of the stuffily bureaucratic blimps—intelligent extraterrestrials living in the turbulence of Jupiter's upper atmosphere whose advanced gravity technology allows them to alter the orbital plane
of the planet's moons and thereby avoid the type of cometary impact which, obliquely, precipitated their exodus from an unknown 'Firsthome' to Jupiter itself.
Left with 12 years until impact and now convinced of the wheelers' authenticity, Earth's governmental authorities speed a mission to the Jovian satellites
in hopes of contacting the as yet unseen alien lifeforms. Dunsmoore is selected to lead the group, with the assumption that his experience with decrypting anthropological
artifacts on earth will aid in establishing communiqué with the Jovians. The years tick by without consequence as Dunsmoore and his team search in vain for evidence of alien life on Jupiter's moons, convinced by terrestrial scientists that the planet itself is entirely inhospitable to life (he is warned of the danger of this erroneous presupposition by, appropriately enough, contemporary science-fiction authors).
As the tension on Earth grows unbearable, Prudence Odingo flies her personal craft out to give Dunsmoore's team a push in what she believes to be the correct direction. Hacking
into one of the probes that Dunsmoore's been carefully bobbing around the lifeless stratosphere of Jupiter, Odingo's team sends the RCV
into the lower atmosphere, immediately encountering alien lifeforms both advanced and simplistic.
Through a quirk of fate and timing, her team manages to save a blimp by the name of Bright Halfholder of the Violent Foam, part of a 'skydiving' rebel faction known as The Instrumentality. Odingo encourages Moses, now a young man, to make a harrowing high-speed journey out to the moons, hoping to use his uncanny knack for animal communication to establish a rapport with Halfholder.
The ploy works, but the Jovians—who live for millions of years and rely on an arcane and tedious system of legal councils—spend too long arguing and contemplating to successfully redirect the comet. The Instrumentality stages a successful coup, but in the end it is Dunsmoore (who has been redeemed by the threat to his home planet) who hijacks the alien gravity technology and pilots Io
into the comet itself, barely saving Earth from total annihilation—though millions die as the remnants of the comet and the ruined Io cascade into Earth.
alien lifeforms.
all but halted forward progress), there is a mix of far-flung futurism and relatively mundane tech.
may actually be a necessary factor in the formation of habitable terrestrial planets, as their mass deflects and breaks up potentially devastating threats. Earth-bound comets from outside the solar system tend to either slingshot
past Jupiter and launch into hyperbolic
orbits that take them far from the terrestrial planets, or may lose momentum and drift peaceably into the Sun. Without the incredible gravitational presence of Jupiter, it's possible that our planet would experience so many impacts and close calls as to prevent advanced evolution or even the formation of life.
All the same, Jupiter also pulls many objects from the Kuiper Belt
and Oort Cloud
, sending them into the inner solar system.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel authored by English mathematician Ian Stewart
Ian Stewart (mathematician)
Ian Nicholas Stewart FRS is a professor of mathematics at the University of Warwick, England, and a widely known popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is the first recipient of the , awarded jointly by the LMS and the IMA for his work on promoting mathematics.-Biography:Stewart was born...
and reproductive biologist Jack Cohen
Jack Cohen (scientist)
Jack Cohen, FIBiol is a British reproductive biologist also known for his popular science books and involvement with science fiction.-Life:...
, figures notable for both their personal scholarly work and numerous individual and collaborative contributions to the world of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
. The book was originally released in hardcover form in the year 2000, and a more common paperback printing was begun in 2001. It has enjoyed modest commercial success and is perhaps best known for its intriguing conceptions of alien zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and intelligence—hallmarks of Cohen
Jack Cohen (scientist)
Jack Cohen, FIBiol is a British reproductive biologist also known for his popular science books and involvement with science fiction.-Life:...
's renown work as a consultant on exobiology for books, movies, and television.
Though this is the first time the pair has written a fictional narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
of their own, both Stewart and Cohen have worked continually with friend and fantasy author Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
on his best-selling Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
series.
Plot summary
Wheelers chronicles mankind's first contact with an alien intelligence, a meeting which takes place out of necessity when a rogue asteroid enters the solar systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and is set on a collision course with Earth by an advanced and hitherto unknown Jovian
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
species as a way of avoiding a devastating impact to their own world.
The story opens with a feeling of anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
, as two of the novel's central characters (Charles Dunsmoore, a career archaeologist
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and his volatile graduate student Prudence Odingo) work in the year 2194 to interpret and preserve artefacts found in the vicinity of the Great Sphinx
Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza , commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt....
, which is being disassembled in order to save it from the advancing waters of a clogged and flooding Nile River after the collapse of the Aswan Dam
Aswan Dam
The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902...
. A lover's quarrel between the two sends Prudence off in a blind rage, and leaves Dunsmoore the sole caretaker of an important discovery—a position which catapults his career and sets the tension for the novel's second half.
Professionally and personally embittered by the success of Dunsmoore, Prudence begins a life of semi-legal interplanetary exploration (referenced by the book but never fully explained) and makes a living selling cosmic oddities to the highest black market bidder. This dangerous and profitable lifestyle acquaints her with legal authorities as well as the Belters—a group of Zen Buddhists
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
(known as The Order of the Cuckoo) who have populated and mined
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
both Earth's Moon and the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
that lies between the terrestrial planets and the Jovian
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
worlds of the outer solar system. Her smuggling career culminates with the discovery of a trove of buried, wheeled, and presumably alien artefacts on Callisto
Callisto (moon)
Callisto named after the Greek mythological figure of Callisto) is a moon of the planet Jupiter. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the third-largest moon in the Solar System and the second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede. Callisto has about 99% the diameter of the...
. She takes these 'wheelers' to earth intending to sell them, but a government investigation headed by Dunsmoore concludes them to be inauthentic.
As the story progresses, another main character materializes in the form of the aptly named Moses Odingo, son of Prudence's sister Charity and animal-handler extraordinaire. His life becomes one of the novel's several core plots, circumstance and apparent fate conspiring to send him on a worldwide journey of hardship and tribulation.
During this time, both Earth-bound scientists and the Belters notice that the innermost moons of Jupiter
Jupiter's natural satellites
Jupiter has 64 confirmed moons, giving it the largest retinue of moons with "reasonably secure" orbits of any planet in the Solar System. The most massive of them, the four Galilean moons, were discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither...
have mysteriously realigned, altering the trajectory of a once unimportant comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
and setting in motion a direct collision with Earth. This is courtesy of the stuffily bureaucratic blimps—intelligent extraterrestrials living in the turbulence of Jupiter's upper atmosphere whose advanced gravity technology allows them to alter the orbital plane
Orbital plane
Orbital plane may refer to:*Orbital plane *In anatomy, it refers to a specific area of the maxilla...
of the planet's moons and thereby avoid the type of cometary impact which, obliquely, precipitated their exodus from an unknown 'Firsthome' to Jupiter itself.
Left with 12 years until impact and now convinced of the wheelers' authenticity, Earth's governmental authorities speed a mission to the Jovian satellites
Jupiter's natural satellites
Jupiter has 64 confirmed moons, giving it the largest retinue of moons with "reasonably secure" orbits of any planet in the Solar System. The most massive of them, the four Galilean moons, were discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither...
in hopes of contacting the as yet unseen alien lifeforms. Dunsmoore is selected to lead the group, with the assumption that his experience with decrypting anthropological
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
artifacts on earth will aid in establishing communiqué with the Jovians. The years tick by without consequence as Dunsmoore and his team search in vain for evidence of alien life on Jupiter's moons, convinced by terrestrial scientists that the planet itself is entirely inhospitable to life (he is warned of the danger of this erroneous presupposition by, appropriately enough, contemporary science-fiction authors).
As the tension on Earth grows unbearable, Prudence Odingo flies her personal craft out to give Dunsmoore's team a push in what she believes to be the correct direction. Hacking
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
into one of the probes that Dunsmoore's been carefully bobbing around the lifeless stratosphere of Jupiter, Odingo's team sends the RCV
Remote control vehicle
A remote control vehicle is defined as any mobile device that is controlled by a means that does not restrict its motion with an origin external to the device. This is often a radio control device, cable between control and vehicle, or an infrared controller...
into the lower atmosphere, immediately encountering alien lifeforms both advanced and simplistic.
Through a quirk of fate and timing, her team manages to save a blimp by the name of Bright Halfholder of the Violent Foam, part of a 'skydiving' rebel faction known as The Instrumentality. Odingo encourages Moses, now a young man, to make a harrowing high-speed journey out to the moons, hoping to use his uncanny knack for animal communication to establish a rapport with Halfholder.
The ploy works, but the Jovians—who live for millions of years and rely on an arcane and tedious system of legal councils—spend too long arguing and contemplating to successfully redirect the comet. The Instrumentality stages a successful coup, but in the end it is Dunsmoore (who has been redeemed by the threat to his home planet) who hijacks the alien gravity technology and pilots Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
into the comet itself, barely saving Earth from total annihilation—though millions die as the remnants of the comet and the ruined Io cascade into Earth.
Government in the novel
The book pits the earth and its inhabitants against a universe of diplomatic but equally narcissisticNarcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
alien lifeforms.
Human
- Earth in the novel is divided into two enormous political conglomerateConglomerate (company)A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
s—those of Ecotopia and Free China. These are demarcated by the contemporary political, economic, and cultural divisions between the WesternWestern worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
and EasternEastern world__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...
Worlds. - Free China shares similarities with today's People's RepublicPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
; for instance, there is an emphasis on traditional Chinese culture and medicine (the trade in poached animals for the purposes of concocting elixirs and potions from their bonesTraditional Chinese medicineTraditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
is an important plot point in the novel). Further parallels to modern ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
include purposeful isolationismIsolationismIsolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one's country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc., seeking to devote the entire efforts of one's country to its own advancement and remain at peace by...
and two-way information control.
Blimp
- The blimps are for the most part egalitarian on an individual basis, but their governance is handled at the topmost levels by an oligarchicalOligarchyOligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
group of EldersElder (administrative title)The term Elder is used in several different countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority...
who are constantly mired in mindlessly bureaucratic detail that makes any decision a lengthy process. They are aided by administratively minded symbiauts which take the roles of secretaries and stenographers, reinforcing the council members' natural memory for bylaws and precedents. - Blimp culture has been irrevocably shaped by the tragic loss of Firsthome, and the society at large has come to value personal safety over individualism or cosmic equanimityEquanimityEquanimity is a state of mental or emotional stability or composure arising from a deep awareness and acceptance of the present moment. Equanimity is promoted by several major religious groups.-Stoicism:...
. - The Instrumentality is a rebellious faction which is ostensibly concerned with the possibility that redirected comets might impact intelligent life on other planets—even Poisonblue, as they call the Earth. Despite this seeming goodwill, the blimp Halfholder comes to understand through the course of the novel that they are as much concerned with political gain as moral fortitude.
- Skydiving, or free-falling from one floating blimp city in the attempt to land on another, is an illegal activity used by rebellious groups or individuals to demonstrate against the current order. This wanton disregard for personal safety flies in the face of established protocol and is therefore considered punishable in the extreme.
Technologies in the novel
Wheelers, which begins in the year 2210, is set over a backdrop of future technologies which play a role—though not an especially defining one—in the story.Human technology
Due to The Pause (a period of time in which fears over unreliable A.I.Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
all but halted forward progress), there is a mix of far-flung futurism and relatively mundane tech.
Personal communication
- The Internet has been replaced by the Xnet, commonly referred to as 'the X.' Much like the 'net today, it facilitates communication, information exchange, hacking, and even personal navigation (courtesy of a GPS-like orbital tracking system).
- All citizens of Ecotopia wear wristnodes (often shortened to 'nodes) which allow personal communication and access to the Xnet, presumably through some intuitive holographic display.
- Television has been replaced by vidivid technology, or VV for short. Details are scarce, but the implication is that it, like a wristnode display, is holographic.
Conveyance
- Cars and trucks are the average means of travel for the citizens of Ectopia and Free China, but government agencies and elite clandestine operationClandestine operationA clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed.The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental...
s may own helicopters. - Spaceships are available, but remain expensive luxuries. Prudence Odingo owes hers, the Tiglath-Pileser, to services rendered for the Order of the Cuckoo. There is no interstellar travel in human hands, though late in the novel a system of slingshot rocks are used to propel Moses' travel to speeds far beyond those attainable by conventional engines.
- The Order itself owns a giant hollowed-out asteroidAsteroidAsteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
which has been made to recreate the majesty of TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
(the original home of The Order, now under the power of Free China—much like todayTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
). Like the giant alien ship of Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's novel Rendezvous with RamaRendezvous with RamaRendezvous with Rama is a novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1972. Set in the 22nd century, the story involves a cylindrical alien starship that enters Earth's solar system...
, the New Tibet Habitat contains an artificial world complete with sacred mountains like Chumulangma and achieves normal gravity via centripetal forceCentripetal forceCentripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens...
.
Gravity tech
- The Order of the Cuckoo, who continued advancing during The Pause and who make a living shuffling around and subsequently mining large asteroids, have developed mass driverMass driverA mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. Sequential...
s. The novel describes these as "linear trebuchetTrebuchetA trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
s powered by magnetic induction motors." By manipulating a gravity field with pure mass, they can alter the course of the relatively hefty pieces of iron and other metals that The Order deals in.
Blimp technology
Blimp technology is organic in nature, and is constructed biologically using pheremones and other chemical tools.Cities
- Blimp cities are alive. Made of the combined efforts of trillions of tiny gas-filled creatures, they are actually enormous organic coloniesCoral reefCoral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
. Over billions of years, self organization sets in and the masses of foam become gigantic floating platforms, trailing specialized tendrils that sift food and nutrients from the densely populated atmosphere in method similar to that of the plankton feedersPlanktonPlankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
of Earth's oceans. This being the case, cities can become sick (either through accident or at the hands of rebel groups like The Instrumentation) or starve of their own accord—though, like any living system, repair is possible if the issue is caught in time. - Once the 'cities' have formed slabs, intelligent creatures like the blimps can move in and, through biochemical methods, guide the growth of buildings, roadways (for the symbiauts), and other staple civic structures.
- Blisterponds are the closest that any blimp comes to a permanent residence, and these specialized chambers can be used for short, recuperative rests of for long periods of stasisStasisThe term stasis may refer to* A state of stability, in which all forces are equal and opposing, therefore they cancel out each other....
.
Symbiauts / Wheelers
- An important part to the functioning of blimp society, the symbiauts are biomechanicalBiomechanicalBiomechanical may refer to:*Biomechanics, the application of mechanical principles to living organisms*Biomechanics , system of actor training developed by Vsevolod Meyerhold*Biomechanical Art, the style of H. R...
creations that are organically constructed by and actually within the blimp body. Blimps evolved this ability after migrating to Secondhome, where the element-rich atmosphere necessitated the ability to filter and pass metallic waste. While blimps of old used to merely let this waste fall back into the atmosphere, the new society learned over time to guide the construction and programming of basic machines. In time, the art of offcasting (or producing a symbiaut) grew more refined, producing mobile designs with wheels (what the humans would later dubb 'Wheelers') and eventually gravity drives (though vestigial wheels remained as a means of energy-conserving locomotion). By Halfholder's time, the symbiauts had become an integral part of both the individual and social life.
Gravity tech
- Through the developments precipitated by symbiaut advances, the blimps were able to remotely construct Diversion Engines inside the moons of Jupiter, which allow them to control the orbits and alignments thereof. There is little explanation of this technology, though the term "repulsion field" is tossed about.
Role of Jupiter in the Solar System
A portion of Wheelers fiction is based on current theories that the presence of gas giantsGas Giants
Gas Giants were a pop rock band from Tempe, Arizona, formed as a successor project to the Gin Blossoms. The group was known as The Pharaohs when they formed in 1997, but changed their name after their label, A&M Records, merged with Universal Records and the band changed hands, re-signing with...
may actually be a necessary factor in the formation of habitable terrestrial planets, as their mass deflects and breaks up potentially devastating threats. Earth-bound comets from outside the solar system tend to either slingshot
Gravitational slingshot
In orbital mechanics and aerospace engineering, a gravitational slingshot, gravity assist maneuver, or swing-by is the use of the relative movement and gravity of a planet or other celestial body to alter the path and speed of a spacecraft, typically in order to save propellant, time, and expense...
past Jupiter and launch into hyperbolic
Hyperbolic
Hyperbolic refers to something related to or in shape of hyperbola , or to something employing the literary device of hyperbole .The following topics are based on the hyperbola etymology:...
orbits that take them far from the terrestrial planets, or may lose momentum and drift peaceably into the Sun. Without the incredible gravitational presence of Jupiter, it's possible that our planet would experience so many impacts and close calls as to prevent advanced evolution or even the formation of life.
All the same, Jupiter also pulls many objects from the Kuiper Belt
Kuiper belt
The Kuiper belt , sometimes called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a region of the Solar System beyond the planets extending from the orbit of Neptune to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive...
and Oort Cloud
Oort cloud
The Oort cloud , or the Öpik–Oort cloud , is a hypothesized spherical cloud of comets which may lie roughly 50,000 AU, or nearly a light-year, from the Sun. This places the cloud at nearly a quarter of the distance to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun...
, sending them into the inner solar system.