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THEUNIVERSE or nothing
by Meyer Moldeven
Copyright 1984 Meyer Moldeven
yarnspinner7191@aol.com
This work is under a Creative Commons License.
Table Of Contents
THEUNIVERSE or nothing
Table Of Contents
About Meyer Moldeven
Also by Meyer Moldeven
The Preface
The Prologue
Chapter ONE
Chapter TWO
Chapter THREE
Chapter FOUR
Chapter FIVE
Chapter SIX
Chapter SEVEN
Chapter EIGHT
Chapter NINE
Chapter TEN
Chapter ELEVEN
Chapter TWELVE
Chapter THIRTEEN
Chapter FOURTEEN
Chapter FIFTEEN
Chapter SIXTEEN
Chapter SEVENTEEN
Chapter EIGHTEEN
Chapter NINETEEN
Chapter TWENTY
Chapter TWENTY-ONE
Chapter TWENTY-TWO
Chapter TWENTY-THREE
Chapter TWENTY-FOUR
Chapter TWENTY-FIVE
Chapter TWENTY-SIX
Chapter TWENTY-SEVEN
Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT
Chapter TWENTY-NINE
Chapter THIRTY
Chapter THIRTY-ONE
Chapter THIRTY-TWO
Chapter THIRTY-THREE
Chapter THIRTY-FOUR
Chapter THIRTY-FIVE
Chapter THIRTY-SIX
Chapter THIRTY-SEVEN
Chapter THIRTY-EIGHT
Chapter THIRTY-NINE
Chapter FORTY
Chapter FORTY-ONE
Chapter FORTY-TWO
Chapter FORTY-THREE
Chapter FORTY-FOUR
Chapter FORTY-FIVE
Chapter FORTY-SIX
Epilogue
Afterwords
Appendix
The References
Words With(Out) Diacritics
Creative Commons License
about "zen markup language"
About Meyer Moldeven
Meyer (Mike) Moldeven was a civilian logistics
technician with the United States Air Force
from 1941 until 1974. He was an aircraft
emergency survival equipment specialist
in the Pacific Area during World War II and a
technical writer for several years afterwards.
During the Cold War he transferred to a USAF
base in North Africa where he developed logistics
plans for USAF-NATO emergency maintenance
of disabled aircraft that would land along the
North African coast after returning from missions
in any future war with the USSR. During the U.S.
post-Sputnik initiatives to create a national space
program, he critiqued aerospace industries' logistics
concepts on future space systems organization,
infrastructure and support. Among the studies
he critiqued was 'Space Logistics, Operations,
Maintenance and Rescue' (Project SLOMAR).
During the Viet Nam War, he was the senior
civilian in the Inspector General's Office at
McClellan Air Force Base, a major logistics
installation near Sacramento, California. As
part of his 'added' duties during 'Viet Nam' Mike
was a hotline volunteer in a suicide prevention
center and consequently, an advocate for
professionally-staffed 'suicide prevention'
capabilities throughout the entire Department
of Defense. He compiled documentation,
published, and widely distributed copies of
his book, "Military-Civilian Teamwork in
Suicide Prevention" (1971, 1985 and 1994.)
Mike's updated essay on suicide prevention
in the U.S. Armed Forces has been included
in his collection of memoirs, "Hot War/Cold War
Back-of-the-Lines Logistics", which is at:
http://hometown.aol.com/yarnspinner7191/
myhomepage/military.html
Also by Meyer Moldeven
Military-Civilian Teamwork in Suicide Prevention
Write Stories to Me, Grandpa!
A Grandpa's Notebook
The Preface
"It is difficult to say
what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday
is the hope of today and
the reality of tomorrow."
Dr. Robert H. Goddard
"There is no way back into the past;
the choice, as H. G. Wells once said,
is theuniverse or nothing.
Though men and civilizations
may yearn for rest, for the
dream of the lotus-eaters,
that is a desire that merges
imperceptibly into death.
The challenge of the great
spaces between the worlds
is a stupendous one; but
if we fail to meet it,
the story of our race will
be drawing to its close."
Arthur C. Clarke
The Prologue
The Present
A conclusion in the Report to the Club of Rome:
The Limits to Growth states: " within a time span
of less than 100 years with no major change in
the physical, economic, or social relationships that
have traditionally governed world development,
society will run out of the nonrenewable resources
on which the industrial base depends. When the
resources have been depleted, a precipitous
collapse of the economic system will result,
manifested in massive unemployment, decreased
food production, and a decline in population as the
death rate soars. There is no smooth transition,
no gradual slowing down of activity; rather, the
economic system consumes successively larger
amounts of the depletable resources until they
are gone. The characteristic behavior of the
system is overshoot and collapse."
Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation on
Economic Trends and the Greenhouse Crisis
Foundation, in Biosphere Politics: A New
Consciousness for a New Century (Crown Publishers,
New York 1991) reports how industrialized and
developed nations exploit the sea beds of the world
for their rich deposits of industrial minerals and
metals. He notes that the struggle between rich
and poor nations and multinational corporations over
minerals in the vast oceanic seabed is likely to be
heated in the years to come, especially as reserves
of land-based minerals approach exhaustion.
News media reported in October 2000 that the
People's Republic of China announced plans to
explore Earth's moon for useful substances. On
October 15, 2003 the PRC launched into Earth
orbit its first manned rocket.
In a speech on January 14, 2004 the President of
the United States of America unveiled a new vision
for space exploration. He called on the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to
" gain a new foothold on the moon and to prepare
for new journeys to worlds beyond our own."
"We do not know where this journey will end," said
the President, "yet we know this: Human beings are
headed into the cosmos." White House Press Release,
January 14, 2004.
##
The Future
The Interstellar Mining and Teleport System
The System consists of two terminals, each of
which includes an integral, fully robotized capability
to conduct internal command-and-control,
self-maintenance and repair, and logistical,
teleportation, communications and other functions
and operations essential to its unique mission. The
terminal positioned in orbit above Alpha Centauri is
designated the Extractor and the terminal positioned
along the Solar System's rim is designated the
Collector.
The Extractor selects and draws pre-designated
elements, minerals and other usable substances
from the Alpha Centauri star system, and collects,
accumulates, converts and channels the matter
into its spunnel transmission subsystem for direct
interstellar transfer to the Collector.
The Collector receives the product, converts
it into its original form, identifies, classifies,
quantifies and records constituents and mass;
refines and ejects the raw product for transport
to and storage along the solar rim or at a location
that Authority determines to be more suitable.
The Extractor and Collector terminals are
constructed four million kilometers beyond Planet
[...]... loaded into the recon-patroller's computer as authenticator for the mission and demolition and laser gun settings The computer adjusted thrust and vector to bring the ship to the 'fire' point and engage the countdown and sequence to launch, arm the warhead, and follow up Missile launch was at six seconds Without warning, the computer froze The frame of the pilot's enclosure glowed red, then white An... back, turned his head to scowl at the view tank Together, they contemplated the forming scene The Admiral's outburst had given subject matter guidance to the computer The display shifted to the Planet Pluto Special Zone Two tiny red lights flashed rapidly at the coordinates where the attacks had occurred A steady blue light tracked the hijacked stores Selvin continued "The entire sector from which this... quickly over the diplomatic chasm that had formed between the UIPS and the Outer Region after the dissolution of the first United Planetary System He summarized the complex alliances that had evolved among the independent governments beyond the Asteroids following the secession, and moved on quickly to the initiatives of his Ministry to reconcile inter-regional differences "The issue of the transit... an overview of the Outer Region The scale reduced planets, satellites, and stations to the colored pinpoints of light with which they all were long familiar The computer adjusted to focus on a magnified Plutonian sector The Uranus and Neptune orbits, although contained within the tank displays, were cut out by the compression The Slingshot Construction Site rode the rim "Updating, the latest reports... submit." Throughout the discussions, the Strategic Concepts Computer flashed a continuing display As each topic was opened for discussion the view tank portrayed the corresponding regions, sectors, planets or satellites, shifting from one to the other as needed to clarify points under discussion or accompany the exploration for alternatives The lower section of the tank registered the computer's quantification... and they're going to clamp a tow beam on the stores and haul them off to some subsurface storage or assembly shop Once the weapons are assembled, installed and calibrated we could be on the receiving end of more nastiness." Leaning forward over the table, he looked directly at the President His hand transformed into a fist, and he pounded the table in cadence with his words "Mr President," he said, "the. .. outposts is formally designated The Interstellar Mining and Transport System Authority acknowledges that the mission, launch and assets acquisition processes intrigued the whimsical fancy of the solar community during pre-program definition studies and the System was nicknamed "Slingshot" THE UNIVERSE or nothing Chapter ONE The recon-patroller's leg and torso-pads fine-tuned their tensions as Lieutenant... product), loads the product into launch hoppers and dispatches it to the Collector Critical to the program's success is timing the Extractor's launch Piggy-backed to Planet Pluto during construction, the Extractor uses the planet's orbital momentum for launch The launch window is precise and short-lived along Planet Pluto's outbound orbit; there is only one launch opportunity in centuries for the Extractor... Intelligence and Diplomatic Protocols, and to the Commander of the UIPS Space Forces as he took his seat at the head of the long table An abundant mane of white hair framed his aged features; his stony glare reflected the rage they shared A panel in the wall slid upward to reveal a two-meter square well A cylindrical view tank filled its available space The tank cleared to the United Inner Planetary System's... on the UIPS for each transport or other vessel that enters space contiguous to their planetary and satellite orbits They insist that such space is legally within their natural boundaries, and that by merely passing through, we trespass Restitution, they claim, is in order "Negotiations remain in limbo The impasse will, quite likely, remain for some time Our position is unchanged: the fees that they .
Dr. Robert H. Goddard
"There is no way back into the past;
the choice, as H. G. Wells once said,
is the universe or nothing.
Though men. rest, for the
dream of the lotus-eaters,
that is a desire that merges
imperceptibly into death.
The challenge of the great
spaces between the worlds