The Sword and the Plough (35 page)

Goldilocks planets
are those worlds that are the right
distance from their sun, neither too hot nor too cold… They are
also neither too big nor too small. In other words, they are “just
right”…

In our own solar system, only Earth and
Mars are in the
Goldilocks
zone.

Orion Spur / The Milky Way Galaxy

Our solar system is on the outskirts of
the
Milky Way Galaxy
, some 25,000 light years from its centre, in a minor
spiral arm called the
Orion Spur
.

The six planets of the Earth Commonwealth of
Planets in this story are set in the Orion Spur, as it would seem
unlikely at this time we will ever travel farther.

The Jupiter Trojans

The Jupiter Trojans are a sizeable group of
asteroids in the same orbit around the sun as Jupiter. They are
dark reddish or burgundy in colour. Many are more than 1 km in
diameter, others no more than rock size.

Wormhole

A wormhole is a hypothetical passageway
through space-time that could offer short cuts for space
travellers.

Einstein’s theory of general relativity
proposes this possibility.

Quantum Physics

Quantum
Physics
is the field of
study that defies much of what scientists once believed about
elementary particles.

Progress in this field of science may well
lead to applications not yet dreamed of by science fiction
writers.

Dark
energy

Dark
energy
is a form of energy
postulated to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe.
If this theory is correct, dark energy contributes some 68.3% of
the total energy in the known universe.

Dark energy should not be confused
with
dark matter
.
The latter is a
hypothetical substance, which may account for some five
sixths of matter in the universe. Currently undetectable, its
presence is theorised by its gravitational influence on visible
matter.

Antimatter

Antimatter is a form of matter composed of
antiparticles. These have the same mass as ordinary matter
particles, but opposite charges. Collisions between
p
articles and
antiparticles lead to the annihilation of both, resulting in a
release of energy.

Multiverse

Many cosmologists, physicists, and others
believe our universe might be just one of an infinite number of
universes. There is some scientific merit to this hypothesis, but
it is perhaps unlikely that true scientific testing of the theory
will ever be possible.

The reader will no doubt have recognised
that the science referred to for the
photon engine, wave
gun, light-bolt weapons
and
the like are as much fiction as this story. Vessels that can travel
as fast as or faster than the speed of light may never be
possible.

However, if we consider the century not long
passed, and the incredible, indeed mind blowing advances in
technology it produced, it is not difficult to imagine that the
21st and 22nd centuries will create wonders far more astonishing
than any I have suggested.

Who would dare predict the future fifty
years from now, let alone a hundred or more?

However, there is one thing in the future
I am certain will prove to be true. Those who look back a hundred
years from now will be amazed at how different their world is to
ours in almost every way. Let us hope that the
difference
is to the
benefit of humankind, and that no backward steps have occurred
along the way. There have been enough ‘dark ages’ in our
history.

Carl Hubrick was born in Auckland, New
Zealand. After graduating from Canterbury University, he worked as
a television director in Christchurch for the NZBC. Later, he
attended Christchurch Teachers’ College, and over the years has
taught at primary, secondary, and adult levels. He has also taught
English to speakers of other languages.

Carl is married with four grown-up sons.

The Hubrick family home was
red
zoned*
and later
demolished, along with several thousand other homes after the
February 22, 2011, Christchurch earthquake.

Carl and his wife now live in Rangiora, North
Canterbury.

*
Red Zone
–
land unsuitable for
rebuilding.