User:JohnB/Fanfiction/To Masser and Back

To Masser and Back

A Morrowind Science Fiction

by John B

(Note: The moon is called "Masser" in Morrowind. Earth is also called “Nirn”, but for clarity's sake, it is called “Earth”. Civilization hasn't yet developed a means to propel a spaceship to Masser, but Nelos Arano may have found a way to get there. The author makes no claims whatsoever that he knows anything about science. What you see here is the fruit of his feverish imagination.

Note: Stephen Hawking died on Mar 14, 2018 [both Einstein's birthday and π-day (3.14)], and it was while I was reading his A Briefer History of Time [London: Bantam Press, 2005] that I realized just how absurd this story is, and it's a good thing I made no claim of knowing anything about the physics of space travel. When I wrote this story, I had a false notion that gravity was a force, and the scene where the books are floating about inside the spaceship was supposedly due to the equilibrium of gravitational pull coming from Masser and Nirn. And it's easy to see why this is wrong.

"You can see why all bodies fall at the same rate. According to Newton's law of gravity, a body of twice the weight will have twice the force of gravity pulling it down. But it will also have twice the mass and thus, according to Newton's second law, half the acceleration per unit force. According to Newton's laws, these two effects exactly cancel each other out, so the acceleration will be the same no matter what the weight." [pp. 21-22] Note how the word "force" is used to describe gravity because that's what Newton thought it was, and for a long time what physicists continued to think it was--something akin to magnetism. Except that nobody could prove it. But it's easy to disprove. Consider: if the earth followed the Newtonian model, it would have had to follow the law of inertia [cf. muse{dot}tau{dot}ac{dot}il{slash}museum{slash}galileo{slash}the_law_of_inertia{dot}html] and crashed into the sun long ago. Instead, it has orbited the sun during the millions of years of its existence and will continue to waltz around for millions more.

HOWEVER, "Einstein's theory of relativity is based on the revolutionary suggestion that gravity is not a force like other forces but a consequence of the fact that space-time is not flat, as had been previously assumed. Bodies such as the earth...move in curved orbits because they follow the nearest thing to a straight path in curved space, which is called a geodesic. Technically speaking, a geodesic is defined as the shortest (or longest) path between two nearby points." [p. 38] The book gives an illustration of how a flight from New York to Madrid would be 102 miles longer if it followed the latitude rather than the geodesic, which is a long arching curve that follows Nova Scotia and Newfoundland before crossing the North Atlantic and curving east-southeast (viz. on the Mercator map) to Madrid. (Note: Google topic=68898.0 in theflatearthsociety{dot}org for the Tokyo-LA flight debate. It will bring you a good laugh.)

ERGO: if the books in the above-mentioned scene are floating around inside the spaceship, it's because the spaceship is actually falling imperceptibly in an orbit around Masser, as we see happen inside the International Space Station as it falls towards earth, not because there is an equilibrium of gravitational forces. Having realized this, I had to decide how to make this story square with the facts. For one thing, I would have to reconcile the fireball and slow-fall spells with science, and that is simply impossible. Let's keep the story as is.)

Floating free as a bird / Sixty-foot leaps it's so absurd / From up here you should see the view / Such a lot of space for me and you

Oh you'd like it / Gliding around get your feet off the ground / Oh you'd like it / Do as you please with so much ease

(The Moody Blues, "Floating" from To Our Children's Children's Children, 1969)

Publius Quintus of the IBI:

There was a knock on Duke Dren's office door in the castle of Ebonheart.

"Enter," he responded languidly.

The door opened and Publius Quintus of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation (IBI), Department of Unexplained Phenomena, entered.

"Ah, Publius," the duke said rising from his seat, "just the man I wanted to see. Please take a seat."

The two sat down across the desk from each other.

"I understand your Excellency has an assignment for me," Publius said with an obsequious tip of his head toward the duke.

"Yes, this dispatch from Dagon Fel has just arrived, something about an unidentified flying object that was spotted leaving and entering the...uh...Nchuleftingthumz ruin, or something like that, just outside the town."

Such stories were nothing new to Publius, who breathed out a sigh of ennui upon hearing this. Since Vvardenfell was already swarming with vampires, monsters, and ghosts, there was no want for unexplained phenomena, and each new case that came his way had to be regarded with a highly skeptical prejudice.

"And your Excellency requests that I go ALL the way to Dagon Fel to investigate this...thing."

The duke didn't like his tone of voice. Yes, the Imperials were masters of the known world, but this bureaucrat still had to answer to him, the Duke of Vvardenfell.

"Call it an official order, if you so wish," the duke's eyes flashed. "I for one would like to know what this...'thing' is!"

He reached the dispatch toward Publius, who snatched it from his hand, bowed curtly and exited the office.

Publius's aversion to going ALL the way to Dagon Fel was actually quite justified. Getting there is by no means easy. The roads overland--where there are roads anyway--are fraught with bandits, rogue Ashlanders, monsters and wild beasts. The best way to go is by sea from Ebonheart to Molag Mar, change boats to Sadrith Mora, and change boats again to Dagon Fel in the Sheogorath Region.

Dagon Fel is about as far away as you can get from Ebonheart and still be on dry land, which is why the only inn in the village is so aptly named "The End of the World". Altogether, it was a three-day journey (two if the wind was favorable), but the duke was kind enough to overlook the social gaffe and underwrite his expenses.

After checking into the inn, Publius returned to the main room to speak with the Nordic proprietor at the counter. Publius flashed the IBI shield and said he had something to discuss with him. The proprietor began to sweat at the thought that the IBI had finally caught up with the bootleggers who helped keep his tavern stocked with moonshine. Imperial control in this "armpit of the world", as the locals referred to it, was only cursory at best, so if the IBI came snooping around at all, it had to be for a good reason. To collect lost revenue perhaps?

"I understand there's something strange going on at the Dwemer ruin nearby."

"Oh, that!" the proprietor blurted and breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, there's a strange metal sphere that can be seen shooting upward out of the observatory dome and then slowly descend back into the same dome."

"When does this happen?"

"Mostly at night, maybe so as not to attract much attention. But a lot of folks have seen it anyway."

"Have you seen it?"

"Unfortunately not. I have my business to tend to."

"So how do you know this thing really exists?"

"Listen, the twenty souls living in this gods-forsaken outpost can't all be wrong!"

Publius sniffed and turned away.

Nelos Arano, the Mage of Dagon Fel:

He walked to the Nchuleftingthumz ruin and entered. He followed the corridors to where the clanking and grinding sounds of the lava-powered steam engines and machinery were the loudest. He came to a large room in which were scattered a number of work tables. There were diagrams, sketches, notebooks, tools, and pieces of machinery scattered everywhere. A figure wearing a long green robe stood, his back to Publius, at the far end of the room. He was busily filing on a piece of metal clamped in a vice.

"Hello!" Publius called out.

The figure stopped working as if to listen, then shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

"I said hello!" Publius called out again.

The figure stopped working again, turned around and peered at Publius from the far end of the room. He put his tools down and slowly approached Publius. However, the closer the Dark Elf came, the more fearful Publius grew because he had large green bug eyes.

"Oh, do these disturb you?" he asked and removed the large spectacles made of green glass. His eyes returned to normal size.

Publius straightened himself and whipped out his IBI shield.

"I'm Agent Publius Quintus of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation."

The Dark Elf slipped the spectacles back on and peered at the shield.

"Oh, how do you do? I'm Nelos Arano the Mage of Dagon Fel. How can I be of service to you?"

"You call yourself a mage?" Publius said strolling through the room surveying all the tools and machinery, "This is hardly how I remember the last guild of mages I entered."

"Well, to tell the truth, I have abandoned the use of pure magic and turned my efforts to scientific research, which I find much more rewarding than raising the dead as my necromancer friends do. Uh...did you have a more specific question to ask me?"

"Yes, I'm here to investigate a strange object that has been seen leaving and entering this place."

"Oh," Nelos chortled, "somebody must have reported my spaceship."

"Spaceship?!"

"Come, follow me. I'll show you."

Publius followed as Nelos led him down a number of corridors that ran deeper into the ruin. As they approached the observatory, a Dwemer specter appeared and began winding up to throw a fireball at Publius.

"No, Masach! Stop!" Nelos called out in the Dwemer language. "This person comes as a friend!"

Masach withheld the fireball and let them pass. They entered a dome, in the middle of which stood a large metal sphere on a tall tripod.

"Behold my spaceship!" Nelos proclaimed expansively gesturing toward the sphere.

"What does it do?"

"Well, nothing yet. So far I have only been taking it farther and farther out into space to see how well it works. It's performed splendidly, and I hope very soon to take it all the way to Masser and…"

"To Masser..." Publius cut in, "you mean the moon?!"

"Well, is there another Masser which is not the moon?"

"You must be mad!" Publius guffawed.

"No, I'm quite happy, thank you."

"I mean crazy mad!"

"Again, no! I know it will work!"

"How?!" Publius demanded skeptically.

"Let's go back to the workroom, and I'll explain."

Publius Has a Brain!

Nelos sat him down in front of a chalkboard.

"Let's have a little talk about space travel, alright?" Nelos began in his best professorial tone. "In astronomical terms, Masser really isn't that far away, at least not as far away as another planet in our solar system, right? But what has prevented people from making the attempt to go there? First, the means to do so and, second, the fear of the unknown. But think about it. Supply a sphere with enough Wild Levitation magic, and what can stop it from going all the way to Masser?"

"Nothing, I suppose," Publius responded, starting to become thoughtful.

"Yes, something," Nelos snapped back, "gravity! You see, the Wild Levitate merely counteracts gravity, but it can't propel. And this presents an enormous problem for the space traveler."

He picked up a piece of chalk and drew a diagram of Earth and Masser on the board. Then he scribbled a series of incomprehensible formulas as he explained how the gravity of both bodies had a point between them where the gravitational pull on either side is equal. There a spaceship traveling from one to the other would come to a complete standstill.

"So what does a space traveler do?" Nelos asked.

"Give his spaceship a boost to keep it going?"

"How?"

"Shoot a fireball out the back end?"

"And then the spaceship smashes into Masser killing everyone on board, right?"

"Not if they use the Slowfall spell."

"Bravo, Publius!" Nelos exulted, "You're starting to think like a gentleman and a scientist!"

Publius nodded in awe as his mind digested all the implications of what he was hearing.

"So what do you think?" Nelos continued, "Do you still think it's impossible?"

"Mind if I come along?" Publius asked sheepishly.

"What about the Imperial Bureau of Investigation?"

"Let them think I got gored to death by a rampaging nix hound. That job was going nowhere!"

"Publius," Nelos answered expansively, "my spaceship is your spaceship!"

A Change in Plans:

Publius hurried back to "The End of the World" inn to retrieve his belongings.

"Leaving already?!" the proprietor asked.

"Official business!" Publius answered, slapping a hefty tip onto the counter and rushing out.

He stopped by the local trader to pick up a bedroll, some dinner and few flasks of Cyrodiilic brandy. When he returned to the ruin, Nelos showed him the sound-proofed rooms where the machinery sounds were more subdued, and Publius found a bed frame on which to spread his bedroll. They then went to another sound-proofed room that served as Nelos's dining room. Publius spread out their dinner. Masach joined them as they ate and discussed their flight plans, though he himself had no need for food.

Nelos explained that it was Masach who had bestowed on him the lost lore of the Dwemer, which made it possible to design a working spaceship. Publius asked how he was able to win Masach's trust, and Nelos answered it was simply by coming in peace, not to disturb his haunts or plunder the horde of precious gems that could still be found stowed away in random chests and boxes. Nelos also made the effort to learn the Dwemer language and teach Masach the Dark Elf language.

Nelos pointed out to Publius that a full moon was scheduled to arrive soon, so if they were going to make the voyage, now was the time to start preparing. He advised Publius to rest well because the next day was going to be hectic.

Preparations:

The next few days were spent preparing for lift-off. Victuals and canisters of compressed oxygen and compressed magicka were stowed in compartments on board. Details of all supplies were entered into a Dwemer data bank. The historic day finally came. Nelos calculated that it would take a day of Wild Levitation to hit Masser on target. That's going pretty fast, so if by misfortune they were to overshoot Masser, the earth's gravitation would be too weak to pull them back. They were counting on that gravitational equilibrium to bring them to a stop before landing on Masser. That's a narrow window of opportunity that, if missed, would send them hurling into dark space forever and ever.

Nelos had Publius enter the sphere first so that Nelos could make sure the airlock was properly secured. They settled into their seats with the backs on the floor. At the top of the sphere was a green glass porthole through which they could see the ceiling of the dome.

"Masach, can you hear me?" Nelos said through the communication pipe.

"Loud and clear!" came the answer.

"We're ready for lift-off."

"Aye-aye, sir!"

Publius corked the communication pipe. There was a whirring of motors and the grinding of gears as the two halves of the dome slowly came apart revealing starry space. Publius became alarmed.

"Wait! There's no Masser!" he cried out.

"No, we can't wait!" Nelos answered impatiently, "I told you before--we're going to hit a moving target! If my calculations are correct…"

"If...?" Publius whined.

"No, no, no! I take that back! They ARE correct! Now calm down! Masser is moving into position to receive us!"

Publius nodded but didn't look entirely convinced.

"Now, this is what we're going to do. The tripod legs on this craft were taken from the large crossbows you often see outside Dwemer ruins, and they work in exactly the same way. I will flex the crossbows and lock them. When I hit the trigger, the crossbows will spring back sending us upward at a tremendous speed. What you have to do is take a deep breath and hold it or you'll get the wind knocked out of you. I will count to ten and then switch on the Wild Levitation."

Nelos pulled the flex lever, and they could feel themselves sink backwards. He then kept his eye on a special clock he'd made for the spaceship and his finger on the launch button.

It felt like an infinity to Publius as he waited for the countdown.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!"

Blast Off!

The sphere shot forward, and Publius felt as if a large stone had just crushed him.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10."

Nelos pulled the Wild Levitation and sank back in his seat in relief, but Publius was struggling for air. Nelos quickly pulled out a small oxygen canister and held it to his face.

"Let me out of here!" Publius bellowed clawing at the seat belt, "I don't want to die!"

"Publius, I can't let you out! We're already a thousand miles above ground!"

Publius continued to struggle until Nelos struck him across the face.

"Sorry I had to do that, Publius, but you're my only eyewitness to this mission. You've got to keep your head screwed on!"

"Sorry. I don't know what got into me."

Nelos settled back in his seat. There was a very long and awkward silence.

Publius tried to turn on his side with his back to Nelos, but he was too pumped full of adrenaline to sleep in spite of the heavy fatigue he felt. And if that weren't bad enough, Nelos was starting to sing to himself.

"A million bottles of beer on the wall,/ a million bottles of beer,/ Take one down and pass it around,/ 999,999 bottles of…"

Publius glared at him over his shoulder, and the song trailed off.

"I'm trying to get some sleep if you don't mind!"

"Oh, please, go ahead."

Nelos sat for a while twiddling his thumbs.

"Ah, I nearly forgot!" Nelos exclaimed slapping his forehead. He reached into a compartment under his seat and pulled out two books. "I brought these along: The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells and From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne!"

"Who are they?"

"No idea. I found these in Jobasha’s Rare Books, so they must be good. Which do you want to read?"

Publius went eenie-meenie-minie-moe and took the Jules Verne book. This proved to be the best way to kill time for both of them.

Floating Free as a Bird:

Many chapters later, Publius woke with a start when his book, which had slipped out of his hands, bumped against his nose. He stared in awe as the book floated languidly in mid-air in front of his face. Nelos was snoring beside him. Publius had to grab the book with both hands because even a slight touch would push it and send it drifting away. He looked at the port hole beyond.

"Nelos!" he yelled.

Nelos nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Nelos! Look!"

The porthole didn't offer much of a field of vision, but outside their spaceship was what looked like a convex, crater-pocked wall.

"Well, I'll be...!" Nelos mumbled as they peered out the porthole. "We're not moving. It looks as if we've reached the point of equilibrium. Well, let's get this ball moving again!"

He pressed another button on the control panel, and the sphere lurched forward as the fireball shot out the back. He then shifted the lever from Wild Levitate to Slowfall. The wall of craters began to slide by, and then there was starry space outside. The sphere was rotating because the tripod in the back was being pulled toward Masser.

"WAAAHHH!" they both shouted as the crescent earth swung into view.

"We're falling backward now, but don't worry!" Nelos informed Publius.

"What happens now?" Publius asked.

"Back to our books, of course! We still have quite a wait."

Publius picked up where he'd left off in the story. He was way too excited to drop off to sleep now.

Some hours later there was a bone-jarring impact.

"What was that?!" Publius cried out.

"Publius," Nelos responded calmly, "welcome to Masser!"

They unbuckled their seat belts and fit what looked like diving helmets over their heads and attached them firmly to their space suits. Then they pulled on their oxygen tanks and fit the air hoses to their helmets.

Nelos opened the airlock and they climbed into it. It was a tight squeeze as Nelos shut the inner door to keep all their oxygen from escaping. He turned the crank to the outer door, and the force of escaping air nearly threw him out of the sphere door. He tossed the rope ladder out and let it dangle to the surface of Masser. He climbed down and planted his foot on the surface. It felt good be on firm ground again. Publius climbed down after him. There was a strange spring in their step as they walked over the surface.

Publius jumped.

"WHOA!" he yelled as he found himself soaring some twelve feet above the ground. He jumped again and tried a somersault in mid-air. "Look at me!" he shouted again, but of course Nelos couldn't hear him.

A Momentous Discovery:

Nelos was examining rocks and putting them into a bucket he'd brought with him. Publius continued to romp around by himself until he noticed Nelos waving to get his attention. He bounded to where Nelos was down on his knees examining a small boulder. When he was close enough, Nelos pointed excitedly at the boulder. Publius looked. There were petrified clam shells embedded in the boulder. His jaw dropped.

Nelos dumped the stones from his bucket, and they were both down on their knees looking to see if there were any smaller specimens on the ground. Before long, the bucket was again filled to the brim with fossilized scallops, clams, and mussels.

Nelos finally pointed at his oxygen tank and made a sign it was running low. After writing "Nelos was here" and "Publius was here" on the ground, they hurried back to the spaceship and climbed in.

Returning to earth presented a whole new challenge. Instead of a moving target, they now had a rotating one to contend with. Nelos had already calculated to the minute when to launch so that they would be dumped into the sea off Solstheim. Landing on the ground was impossible because earth's gravity was so much stronger than Masser's that the Slowfall spell would have little effect in slowing them down.

As they levitated away from Masser, Nelos pulled out the bucket of fossils and began examining them more closely.

"You'd think oysters had wings!" Publius remarked.

"On the contrary," Nelos responded, "I think Earth stole Masser's ocean."

"How so?"

"I'd venture to guess that Masser used to be a minor planet in its own right but that it wandered too close to Earth and got lassoed into Earth's orbit. Then what happened was the Earth's gravitation took Massers entire ocean, scooping up "cockles and mussels, alive, alive-o" and depositing them into our own oceans. Imagine what a cataclysmic event that must have been as Masser's seas and atmosphere swirled tornado-like into space and splashed onto Earth! Good thing we weren't there to experience it--but, of course, we're talking billions of years ago."

After they splashed into the sea of Solstheim and made their way back to Dagon Fel, the two set to work on writing a report about their discovery to present at the Imperial Academy of Science in the capitol. However, Publius's testimony notwithstanding, and the fact that the spaceship now lay at the bottom of the sea somewhere off Solstheim, Nelos was met with catcalls and jeers as he presented his findings. In the end, the Academy voted to withhold approval of his report pending further investigation by an independent body--which meant never.

However, Nelos and Publius received some consolation when the geologists on the committee swore that the mineral content of the fossils did not match anything ever found in the known world. For this, the geologists voted to name the new mineral "Masserite". Big discoveries may be ignored by the status quo, but they open small doors to even bigger discoveries, and that's how science progresses.