Home > Work > Saturn Run
1 " trust no one, everything breaks, nothing works as advertised, and if anything can go wrong, it will. "
― John Sandford , Saturn Run
2 " Women are basically recreational areas, with several separate facilities available at any given time. "
3 " Space junk had made low Earth orbit space almost unusable by the mid-thirties, and it had taken a decade of concerted and costly international effort to clear out the big stuff. "
4 " The transfer from Minneapolis to Georgetown had been seamless. Her new condo was a slightly scary demonstration of the government’s ability to read a single individual’s habits and tastes, purely through available databases. Because it was perfect, right down to the smart door. The door read her implants, unlocked and opened itself, and closed itself behind her. She could mumble out a shopping list—for anything, from food to clothing—and the door would arrange for it to be delivered, and then would keep an eye on the delivery cart. "
5 " Y’know what I think? I think they’re pump-priming. I think they’re giving us technology that they expect will make us more valuable to them. I don’t think this is charity or altruism. I think this is self-interest. Remember, they already have met us, in a very real sense. They know our languages. We don’t know how they know—maybe their supercomputers just analyzed radio broadcasts. But however they got their hands on the information, they know a lot more about us than we know about them. Besides, it’s not like this costs them anything. "
6 " Crow was getting a contact high from the dope; either that, or from the jambalaya. "
7 " systems—power, propulsion, communication, life support—were "
8 " think I get it. Destroying a depot to get what you want, when it gives stuff away freely, would be killing a goose that laid the golden eggs. You could, if you’re shortsighted.” He stopped, thought for a moment. “I wonder, can a species that embarks on multi-century voyages be shortsighted? Good question "
9 " hundred and forty-three hours to departure. "
10 " long-forgotten film from a century earlier, The Andromeda Strain, resurfaced on the Internet. "
11 " A certain percentage of technological societies severely damage their own planets before they become mature enough to understand the damage they are doing. In the past, a number of species have gone extinct before they achieved interstellar flight because of that damage, usually through runaway biological warfare or atomic warfare, with its consequent radiation poisoning. "
12 " We got all the big brains working on a reaction, but I'm telling you, there's no way we can no. Not with those kids on the swing set. I suspect they're about to produce a vid of her breast-feeding the little fuckin' crotchfruit. "
13 " The purpose of depots like this one is to allow contact between alien species without direct contact. Early on, direct contacts were tried many times, by many different species, in many different ways. It almost always went badly. With few exceptions, alien species are too different from each other to allow constructive interaction. At best the efforts were extremely discomforting to one or both of the contactees. At worst, one or both found the other genuinely repugnant in some way. "
14 " Most ships that stop here are colony ships, on their way to colonize new planets. A certain percentage of technological societies severely damage their own planets before they become mature enough to understand the damage they are doing. In the past, a number of species have gone extinct before they achieved interstellar flight because of that damage, usually through runaway biological warfare or atomic warfare, with its consequent radiation poisoning. Those that do manage to survive despite badly damaged planetary ecosystems often look for a place to begin again to assure species survival. "
15 " Pregnant "
16 " There are only four ways to move heat around: convection, conduction, transport, or radiation. "
17 " learn more about "
18 " Only the criminally stupid or naïve assumed that the other side was less clever. "
19 " Fuck Morton K. Brigham and Yale University,” Clover said. “You ever been to that place? You have to have a pole stuck up your ass before you’re allowed to walk on campus. Seriously, they have a booth with poles. Before they hire you for a job, they stick a second pole up there. "
20 " ailurophile "
