Stentor Seven, Vacation Paradise

Conversation with a visitor to Stentor Seven:

The shuttle’s engine hum increased and it rose slowly from the pad to start the two-hour trip. The motion was quite noticeable, but would disappear as soon as they cleared the atmosphere and the main drive kicked in. I sat comfortably next to a stunning young woman who was obviously a visitor from Earth. After the usual exchange of identity information between seat mates where I learned her name was Phrazha and that she was a biologist on a year-long research project. I searched for the right words to initiate a more in-depth conversation.

"So you’re going to do biological research on my home planet, Stentor Seven. It’s a marvelous place to visit."

Phrazha replied, "yes, for an entire year or whatever its called there. Tell me about Stentor Seven. I’ve seen the digirecords, but those are really quite sterile. No beauty or poetry. You said It’s your home?"

"Yes, and it certainly is beautiful, spectacularly beautiful. Incidently, it's rotational speed is precisely that of Earth so days are exactly the same length. Also, a year here is precisely four orbits around Stentor. Since we equate four orbits with our year, it's almost exactly the same length as an Earth year."

"That's very convenient. How did it come to be? The records were very sketchy about the planet’s origins."

Now on familiar territory I went into a history lesson. "When our people first visited here six hundred years ago it was a small, sterile planet about the half the mass of your earth’s moon. It’s just the right distance from the red dwarf star, Stentor. Our scientists used focused gravity beams to move huge ice planetesimals in from the nearby ring. They were used to create oceans and an atmosphere which were then adjusted for human habitation. Since then, many life forms were introduced and soon flourished. The combination of optimal rotation rate and distance from the star, along with our introduced controls and lots of tweaking over the hundreds of years since the project started, resulted in a semi-tropical paradise covering the entire surface."

"It sounds wonderful."

"Because of the low gravity, plants grow to immense size and spectacular beauty. That, I trust will be the focus of your research project."

"You are correct. Please tell me more."

"In this gravity there are stable mountains rising seventy thousand feet with sheer cliffs and unbelievable waterfalls. The muted sounds of the slow waterfalls and of the unusual rivers are like a chorus of musical mumbles. Waves on the oceans can be huge, yet they seem to roll in slow motion. The surf is spectacular with thirty foot breakers tumbling slowly and gently onto the sand. In order to have adequate surface pressure, the atmosphere is kept many times deeper than on your home planet. Clouds can be hundreds of miles high and the winds are always gentle."

"I can see why it’s such a popular vacation spot." She remarked, smiling.

"Buildings are constructed in ways unimaginable on planets with normal gravity. Giant overhangs, huge spans, delightfully fragile overhead structures with plazas, walkways and open spaces."

"How about the weather?"

"The weather is marvelous. Mostly sunny and warm with huge fractal-like white clouds moving slowly across a deep blue sky. Then there’s the rain, the unbelievable warm rain. Because of the low gravity, raindrops fall slowly, congealing into large blobs which grow to near tennis ball size before they are blown apart by the air as they fall through it. It’s a most delightful feeling to be softly pelted by the big blobs of warm water."

"I heard about the rain. I can hardly wait to experience it. I want to run through it."
I would certainly like to see that, but wouldn’t mention it. Her next comment blew me away.

"If the chance comes up, could we run through the rain together? I’d really like that."

It was said so innocently, so matter-of-fact, I was momentarily speechless. "Uh - yeah - sure, " I tried to compose myself. "That sounds like a great idea."

After a silent pause to calm my imagination, I continued the description. "There is no snow on Stentor Seven. But if you like the ocean, you are in for a spectacular treat. Watercraft of all kinds ride very high in the water as they move, skimming over the surface with little effort. Man powered craft like kayaks can fly over the waves, and sailing, even with a light breeze is a totally new experience. Becoming airborne is the rule in all but the biggest craft. Many a sailor has experienced the thrill of being taken aloft for hundreds of feet by sail alone."

"I love sailing. My father taught me when I was very young. It’s one physical thing I can do very well."

I immediately made a mental note, then continued. "Scuba diving is another thrilling sport. Dives to a thousand feet or more are easily attainable. Underwater cliffs have abundant sea life with gorgeous colors. There are no man-threatening species in the ocean. There is no danger of the bends under any normal diving conditions no matter how fast one rises to the surface."

"It sounds like a real paradise. I hope I can spend my leisure time enjoying a few of the adventures you describe. Would you be able to show me some while you’re here? I don’t mean to interfere with your plans, but I know no one else there."

My good fortune was overwhelming. "Why, yes! I would be delighted. I have no specific plans at all."

"Wonderful. I won’t have much to do for the first few weeks so you can show me around. I’m certain there are many new things to experience."

That’s an understatement. I thought. "The list of marvelous opportunities is unending: flying with manual power, rock or tree climbing, biking almost vertical slopes or through dense jungle trails, diving into the ocean from unbelievable heights, deep sea fishing, rafting down softly running rivers with fantastic fall slopes."

"I’ll be staying at the Markay Hotel on the ocean. I assume it’s a very nice place."

"That’s an understatement. The Markay is one of the nicest resort hotels on the planet. The view from the upper floors is positively breathtaking. Of course, rooms from the 200th to the 230th flloor are reserved for visiting dignitaries."

"And visiting research biologists." she added with a flourish and a smile.

"You have a room that high? I’m impressed."

"On the 220th floor overlooking the beach."

"How’d you manage that?" I was really interested in knowing.

"It’s quite simple. I actually have a dual role. My first priority is the biological project named, "Phoenix." My second role is as a diplomat from Earth."

"Is that a real diplomat or is it just so you can have diplomatic privileges?"

"Well, I can see you’re no diplomat." she laughed to reassure me it was being said in jest.

"Diplomacy is not one of my strong points. I can ramp it up for special occasions, but only if I must."

"My diplomatic job is to attend all meetings and functions of any interplanetary nature as a representative of the Earth council president. It certainly is not a symbolic assignment. I’m also to learn as much as I can of the culture and how it differs from our own."

"Wow! That sounds like quite a responsibility. Our culture shouldn’t be much different from Earth’s. That’s our ancestral home."

"Yes, but there are known differences; subtle but very real. Apparently, the low gravity has had long term effects on residents that is apparent to visitors. Little things that could be dangerous on planets with much stronger gravity. Things like stepping off ten story buildings or hundred foot cliffs."

"Yes, some people do things like that safely with gravity of about an eighth of that on Earth. But there are many physical things we do during both normal activities and recreation that would be impossible elsewhere. Why is that a problem?"

"Short term it doesn’t pose a problem, but you for instance, have you ever fallen or misjudged a movement in normal gravity?"

"I’ve had a few missteps, but none that cause serious problems. I accidently stepped off a five foot high platform during a visit to the Mygan system several years ago and sprained my ankle. Luckily nothing broke."

"Were you born and raised her?"

"No, I’m originally from Vyra 3 in the Mygan system. The gravity there is a tad stronger than on Earth, about 104% I believe."

"Then you grew up under Earth normal gravity?"

"What’s that have to do with culture?"

"That’s exactly what I am supposed to find out. What are the cultural differences caused by the extremely low gravity? People that were born and have grown up on Stentor 7 will be the focus of my efforts. I’m hoping to be able to combine that research with the biological efforts about plant life. There may actually be a direct relationship."

"I assume you are familiar with the EG simulators?"

"No! I’ve never heard of them."

"I can’t believe you don’t know about them. They’ve been in use for at least twenty years and should be right down your alley."

"What are they and what do they do?"

"Actually, they are giant, horizontal rotating cylinders that simulate Earth or EG1 gravity by using centrifugal force. All are built underground with access through the center of the cylinder. About thirty years ago the rules for residency changed and people were permitted to live here for more than a couple of months. Before that no one could stay longer than sixty-five days without taking a required minimum residence of sixty days on a planet with EG1 gravity. And no one was permitted to raise children here. Shortly after that change we realized that all people needed temporary periods of EG1 gravity to maintain their physical health. The EG simulators were developed and built to solve that problem. Since then, all residents and visitors for more than thirty days were required to spend a minimum of 20% of their time weekly in the EG simulators. The same was recommended for shorter term visitors, but not required."

"I can’t believe they were not even mentioned in my project orientation report. That’s a serious error."

"I’d say somebody goofed or there could be another more plausible reason."

"Oh?"

"Maybe they didn’t want you to know so you wouldn’t have any preconceived notions about the cultural effects of low gravity. They wanted you to have a completely open mind."

"That doesn’t make sense. I’ve just decided that the first thing on my schedule will be a visit to one of your EG simulators. Then I’m going to demand some explanation as to why this information was not included."

"Knowing how politicians plot these things it doesn’t surprise me. It is political isn’t it? I mean your "diplomatic mission."

"Absolutely! It’s partly because of my efforts during the last election that I got this project. At least the diplomatic part. The biological was earned the hard way in a major competition."

"Well, welcome to the real world. Now, back to what I was starting to tell you about before we were sidetracked."

"Oh yes, where were we?"

"I was about to tell you about the joys of staying at the Markay. Besides the marvelous view where you can clearly see the curvature of the planet’s surface, there is the joy of walking on the beach and watching those huge breakers fall softly onto the sand. They have a completely different sound than on Earth. It’s a soft, sort of swishing that slowly grows to a deep rumble as the water hits the sand. Watching, you’ll think those slowly crashing waves will never hit the beach. It’s like the north shore of Oahu only highly muffled and in very slow motion."

"It all sounds so exciting," she sang just as the main drive took over and the hum and vibrations ceased. We finally cleared the atmosphere and were on our way.

More to come!

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