Artist's impressions of a Federation Beamship
Beamships | Mothership or Carrier | Starships | Space-Lab Arks | The Phantom Ship | The Etheric Ship
Beamships
"Now, these UFOs are actually inter-dimensional shuttles, commonly called here Flying Saucers for their shape. They are capable of altering their vibratory rate down to the rate of this dimension, thus solidifying and becoming visible here. Or conversely, fading-out into invisibility from here. This produces the effect of materialization or dematerialization, even halfway states when they show on radar, yet not visible - or when visible in a fashion, but not detectable by radar. That effect caused much confusion among the observers in this world over the last thirty years."
(...)
"Once the longe-range mothership transited into this dimension, then the scout discs called 'flying saucers' can shuttle back and forth to it and roam all over this planet at will. They do this either solidified or invisible, as long as their energy storage lasts, which is usually longer and easier with their smaller masses. This mode of theirs is called 'non-locked' transit. The saucers navigate here by magnetic strong spots. These are strong focal patterns of natural or artificial, magnetic emanations that occur at many places. In Ontario, there are quite a few of them, like the one in the Huntsville area."
(...)
I found the saucer's actual size to be about twenty-five feet in diameter, ten feet high from top to bottom, plus another two feet perhaps for the upper dome. I guessed its true color for light grey. I walked around it a few times, looking for some door, or indication of an opening. There were none. Equally set apart around the circumference, there were three oval shaped portholes. I couldn't peek through them, for they were above my eye-level, as the saucer squatted on three ball-like protrusions that raised its bottom about three feet from the rocky ground. There would be no marks left by the landing gear on that rock; so far I didn't detect any burn marks, either. Yet, there was the definite smell of ozone, as if some high voltage corona-discharge was being produced by the saucer's hull. Maybe it was wise not to touch.
Mothership or Carrier
Looking through another porthole, I spotted a totally new object that hovered about maybe a quarter mile from us. It was some fantastic, jumbo-sized flying saucer, probably waiting for us! It was at least a hundred feet wide and maybe forty in height, disc-shaped, with a huge dome on its top, with myriads of multicolored lights flickering through its translucent hull. Must be some kind of carrier mother-ship, I thought.
Starships
(Excerpt from “About My Space Friends”)
"Welcome aboard, esteemed Earthean visitor. Please, feel free to roam the ship, ask questions from anyone; and let your host, Argus the envoy from Federation Central assist you."
Just like the captain suggested, Pavel started to roam and explore. First, he moved around the bridge itself, scrutinizing the stations of the navigator, the helmsman, the science op, the communicator, the engineer, speaking briefly with each officer in turn. They all talked readily, explaining facets of the starship's functioning - which Pavel understood in general lines but not in particular details. The underlying concepts were radically different from that of Earth's technology. And the gap seemed far too big, even with computer terminals spewing forth mountains of requested data and references on mere voice command. Nonetheless, his scientifically inclined mind still much appreciated the graphic description of such intricacies as e.g.:
- particle beam weaponry,
- defensive deflector-shields,
- subnucleonics based propulsion,
- transporter and tractor beams,
- computerized life-support systems.
Argus showed him around the 12 decked vessel, from living quarters for the 500 strong personnel through recreation and medical areas to the engineering domain. Though far smaller than the co-lossal SLA, this starship of the size of an Earthean aircraft carrier was still gigantic. And even though such a starship in auto mode could he run by two or three men, the fully manned version was more preferred for the sake of human participation and rare employment creation in a labor-free Utopian society.
Space-Lab Arks
Artist's impressions of a Space Ark in Gerard K. O'Neill's book "The High Frontier"
(Excerpt from “The Buzz Andrews Story”)
You are on a Space-Lab Ark of medium class (Federation registry No: SLA 8701). It is cylindrical in form with a multi-species crew and scientists totalling 3000. It's cigar-shaped construct, 1.5 miles in length, is made up of 18 'stacked' sections (each one is itself a gigantic saucer, independently navigable) joined together. Maximum 'stacking' in this class of assemblage is possible up to 33 such sections, not counting the general service modules and the nose-cone command module. Each saucer segment (module) is a carefully laid out environmental mini replica of its originating home-world planet. The ones assembled here are just a random sampling out of the many non-humanoid world civilizations under exploration by our Federation (Interdimensional Federation of Free Worlds, that is).
This Space-Lab Ark is a veritable mobile exhibition, a cosmic showcase of 12 differing worlds, plus the interconnecting service modules. Each 'world-exhibit' module displays some of the originating planet's most typical geographic features, flora and fauna, as well as history and culture - all open, to be visited by anyone from any other world, in appropriate protective gear if need be.
Each module-core is hermetically sealed in itself, accessible through transfer chambers from its Torus Ring's service corridor. All such corridors and Interconnecting passageways are climatized to oxygen-breathing human types since this SLA (Space-Lab Ark) is run by a human crew of 400, besides carrying 200 humanoid-type Federation scientists. Each module is completely self-sufficient and is being looked after by its own 'native' crew of 100, besides carrying a contingent of 100 'native' scientists, whether they be chlorine or methane breathers of fiery or icy climates with varying gravities. These non-humanoid 'natives' may be aquatics, amphibians, crustaceans, reptilians, mammalians, avians, large insecteans and a wide assortment of multi-podals - just to mention a few possible types.
Each module was built by its host planet according to requested standards in order to fit into a Federation SLA assemblage, the purpose of which is to provide facilities for learning about each other's worlds - bumanoids and non-humanoids alike. While 'on the road' with this show, we can explore each other's ways, and stop off to explore other worlds as well. The SLA is capable of intergalactic and interdimensional travel. It's also capable of entering any planet's atmosphere and even landing underwater - mostly in a disconnected mode, module by module. The larger sized Arks are about 10 to 20 times bigger and up.
The Phantom Ship
"Well, my friend, the carrier that brought you here, will fly you now into the outer reaches of the Chaos Barrier proper, near to the special shuttle for the Guardians' visitors, the Phantom Ship."
(...)
The Phantom Ship looked somewhat like a giant, opaque jelly fish, multi-sectioned as a ringworm; complete with several fins of glassy substance, and with a cluster of rocket tubes protruding from its tail. What seemed to be its head, was a large 'nose' dome, ringed by seven torpedo-tube openings through slanted portholes.
Now the Phantom Ship's belly opened up, and disgorged a saucer that sped away out of sight. Another saucer appeared from the outside, bouncing, rocking, apparently aiming to get into the open belly - which seemed rather impossible. At this moment, a purple beam of moiree patterned light, obviously a net-like energy 'tractor-beam', reached out from the belly and pulled the saucer in. Soon that saucer got disgorged, just like the first one. Afterwards, my saucer started to wobble towards the 'Phantom', and in turn we got also grabbed by the tractor-beam and got pulled into the belly. The saucer opened its door...
Artist's impressions of the "Phantomship" : a shuttle to the Guardians' world
(...)
Informations from the onboard computer of the Phantom Ship:
"I was made specifically to navigate these stormy and distorted spaces of the Great Chaos Barrier, where any rigid-structure conventional spacecraft would be soon torn apart, or twisted and crumpled like a tin can, self exploded or imploded, self-electrocuted or pulverized. Incidentally, my ship-body could not function well or survive long outside the Chaos either, in the so called 'normal space'."
(...)
"My body-ship travels on a zig-zag course to avoid head-on impacts of lateral space-time lesions. We travel at normal-space standard cruising speed, at one tenth of light speed, that is. My propulsion and internal energies are based on a multiple-power drive:
- conventional sub-nucleonics,
- flux-fields,
- anti-gravitrons,
- even some ancient type solid-fuel units.
Depending on momentary conditions, I use them interchangeably, for no one particular drive could be solely trusted upon."
The Etheric Ship
Soon, an etheric ship will land here to take you through the 'Eye' into the Chaos Barrier region. This ship to come is more like a thought-form, created by the Council for the occasion. Once its job done, this ship will just dissolve. Propelling force will be your increasingly heavier material vibrations, direction finding by your phantom-skin's natural 'homing' on the Phantom-Ship. Most ingeniously simple.
(...)
A faint glimer of light appeared in the starless, indigo sky, coming in our direction. As it was closing in to land near us, it turned out to be a diamond-shaped, bluish-white, delicately transparent space vehicle. Matter of fact, it looked rather like a fragile thought-form...
"Here is your etheric transportation, ladies and gentlemen. Just walk up and get into your respective compartments. The rest is automatic."
Diamond shaped shuttle for the astral plane
(...)
We boarded a diamond-shaped 'etheric ship' and each occupied a separate compartment. The flight, itself, was more like a free fall, going back through the 'black hole' to the waiting phantom Ship on the other side. Nearing the crossover spot from the 'beyond' back into the physical Cosmos, our diamond ship just broke up into seven compartment shards that, in turn, also disintegrated. The Phantom Ship then 'homed in' on each of our phantom-skin suits, activated its tractor beam and hauled us in one by one. (Buzz Andrews)