Hello Sci-fi fans and writers, I hope that this here is the correct spot to ask this question regarding a conundrum I have come about during my work on a sci-fi short Story.

Outline

In said Short Story, I have some people (Agents) chasing after some other people (Heroes). The heroes stumbled upon some critical information that could damage the faction (Bad Guy) that employs the chasing party. The information got intercepted in time, but to make sure that the information wouldn’t be leaked again, they would need to silence the heroes.

Technology

In space there are two modes of flight: conventional reaction based propulsion and a higher speed propulsion which uses a so-called jump drive which flings the spaceship along a predetermined trajectory at high sub-light speeds (max speeds would be 0.5c). There is near instantaneous communications, but you would need to be in coverage of the network itself, which is flaky at best.

Conundrum

So how would agents be able to intercept / interdict the heroes in a plausible fashion? Would it be reasonable to have a micro wormhole generator or some other way to deploy gravimetric wells, which would destabilize the entire star system? Would it be anticlimactic to just have the agents wait for the heroes to finish their jump, as they would know where they would drop out?

I would love to hear opinions and suggestions from you.

Edit:

I should have given a bit more context of the setting. All of this happens in one Star System and this particular scene would happen between Mars and Neptune. The Heroes are flying in a pirate ship (the captain is a pirate and the two others are from the empire that began to realise that not everything in the empire is fine and dandy) and pirates are being shot upon on sight.

Also

Thanks so much for this much engagement, ideas and recommendations. I wouldn’t have imagined this when I posted this question.

  • tanjera@kbin.social
    0·
    1 year ago

    So many good responses here. I think you could write the story both realistically and plausibly. In your description, the “jump drive” is just fast sub-light travel- no bending or bridging of space-time, no teleportation mechanics. They’re just flying fast, like, real fast. So slow them down without destroying then in the process.

    Interdiction rockets that chase down the target, attach, then counter-thrust to stop them? Deploy an advanced substance to snare them (e.g. a liquid or polymer web to brake their kinetic energy mid-flight)? Disable their thrust (e.g. with an EMP or weapon) then brake them (or match speed and mate with their craft).

    I think since it’s traditional sub-light travel, it’s more akin to “how do I stop the train” rather than the usual sci-fi “how do I drop them out of warp” or “how do I intercept this wormhole”.

    • macniel@feddit.deOP
      0·
      1 year ago

      Indeed. I called it the Jump Drive as the Ship would jump over a threshold with a huge boom similar to breaching the sound barrier. And it’s “slow” compared to FTL but that’s all right as the setting is contained to one Star System.

      I think I will settle with a torpedo send toward the heroes by the agents that will cause primarily a huge electric discharge which potentially disables the heroes’ ship. Then the agents swoop in and go for the kill.

  • skulblaka@kbin.social
    0·
    1 year ago

    Just hit 'em with an EMP. Your ship isn’t going anywhere while unpowered, even the jump drive will have a “spooling up” period that can be interrupted, and even the most basic, disposable form of thrust - being a solid fuel rocket - can’t be fired without a spark. You either have an electronic starter, disabled by the EMP, or else someone crawls up the exhaust tube with a Bic lighter and sacrifices every component atom of their existence to the gods of fiery speed.

    The game Starsector has a neat play on this, where certain ships can fire off an “interdiction pulse” which is a short range directed EMP that shuts down the engines of whoever it is pointed at. You can outrun it with a good heading and good tactics, you can juke it with careful positioning, or you can go dark and camp in an asteroid belt and hope the space cops miss you on their search. But if you get got by the interdiction pulse you’ve got a good 60 seconds or more of being a sitting duck in space. No engines, no comms, you’re lucky if the life support even keeps pumping oxygen while the corvettes close in.

    If you don’t want to deal with the plot holes that massive EMP bursts bring (how do you shield your ship against it’s own EMPs? How do you pierce a shielded ship with one?) you could make an “interdiction module” be a legally mandated piece of equipment in every ship, which when activated, cuts power to all major systems. Sort of like how ID transponders are usually handled in space operas - hell, combine the two together. Any ship running dark without a transponder active can be considered a threat to be removed on sight, not only because they aren’t broadcasting an identity but also because they may not have an interdiction module installed. Skip the pulling over part of the traffic stop and step right to torpedoes, because they are probably pirates.

    Naturally, real pirates won’t have an interdiction module and will be attacked on sight by most security forces. A hypothetical protagonist would be able to sabotage their own module to escape capture, at the cost of being assumed to be a pirate until getting it fixed or replaced at, more than likely, a less-than-reputable shipyard.

    • Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social
      2·
      1 year ago

      or else someone crawls up the exhaust tube with a Bic lighter and sacrifices every component atom of their existence to the gods of fiery speed.

      Now that sounds like an excellent passage to write

  • swope@kbin.social
    0·
    1 year ago

    This is the sort of thing I would ask @nyrath about. I don’t know if a mention like that can summon him.

    I love to think of fanciful physics for astronautics, and I think audiences like it best when the system is self-consistent. It’s very hard to design systems that don’t lead to contradictions or paradoxes. In a way I think it’s like designing a playable game.

    • Winchell Chung ⚛🚀@spacey.space
      0·
      1 year ago

      @swope

      I agree with you, that if a science fiction author cannot keep things strictly scientific, the next best thing is to make it internally self-consistent. Yes, this is a challenge. Larry Niven found that out.

    • Winchell Chung ⚛🚀@spacey.space
      0·
      1 year ago

      @swope @DmMacniel
      Alas, I am not on Lemmy, so I never saw the original post.

      In this case, I again note that the important thing is to focus on Effects, not Causes.

      http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fasterlight.php#id–Establishing_Limits

      The desired Effect is “intercept / interdict the heroes”.
      The proposed Cause of “deploy gravimetric wells” seems to have too many unintended consequences. For starters it can destroy planets.

      Perhaps some technobabble that slows down the protagonist’s ship engine?

      • Peter Kisner ≈@dice.camp
        0·
        1 year ago

        @nyrath @swope @DmMacniel
        Seems to me, rather than trying to come up with elaborate trapping mechanisms, maybe set some limits on the jump drive itself. Like:

        * It is difficult to hide vehicle’s jump trajectory.
        * Once in jump, a course is locked, can’t be changed (or not without consequence like burning out the drive).
        * Observers can easily determine the endpoint of a jump and notify local authorities to intercept.
        * Recuperation is needed before next jump.

        • macniel@feddit.deOP
          1·
          1 year ago

          My previous ideas about the jump drive is the following:

          • It needs time to spool up. And you need to be at a certain velocity, achievable via Main Engines, before the Jump Drive can engage.
          • The Jump Drive takes over Main Engines, so no steering mid-flight even to the slightest degree (Perhaps this could be overridden)
          • It is On Rail, e.g. you can’t change trajectory mid-flight and would need to shut the drive off prematurely
          • The Jump Drive needs to “cool down” before being used again.

          Additional Ideas would be:

          • As the Jump Drive allows the Ship to travel at sublight speeds, it would still be detectable and observed from the outside.
          • The Ship is still in normal space.
      • macniel@feddit.deOP
        0·
        1 year ago

        I am honored! I’ll take a look on your document.

        And yeah gravimetric wells are a bit overkill.

        Another user suggested, as the travel sequence is on rails, that sending projectiles or other kind of weaponry toward them from the other side would be a suitable idea.

      • gonesnake@kbin.social
        0·
        1 year ago

        I like the idea of the Agents knowing to some degree when and where the Heroes are going to arrive. Played right it could add a lot of tension. If jump-drive has a predetermined destination I imagine that once it kicks in your ship is locked into its path–only being able to be knocked from it or, as you suggest , something is done to slow the Heroe’s ship.

        How it could work dramatically: the Heroes slip away from the Agents using the jump-drive. The Agents quickly activate some device (a pulsing buoy, technobabble) in the last place the ship was seen. It lets off three thumps in every direction. The Agent’s ships rock back with each pulse after which they retrieve the buoy. A little dialogue about waiting for the pulses to dissipate before engaging their own jump-drive (“we don’t want to get caught in the pulse’s wake”) and they’re off.

        Cut to the Heroes ship in the jump-space: They think they’ve made a quick escape but the ship stumbles and an alarm goes off. A quick look at their instruments tells them the ship is dropping speed. This happens twice more-the three pulses catching up to them-each time slowing them not quite out of jump-space but enough to know they’re heading into the trouble they thought they’s just outrun.

        This could be used in universe as a something that is rarely deployed because it does affect every ship that engaged jump-drive in that area within a certain timeframe (pick your area of effect and time factors for best storytelling) so it’s quite a statement as to how badly the Agents want to thwart the heroes. When the ‘pulse buoy’ is used, yes, you may slow them down but you may have also affected local commerce, local military and even other Agents in the area by using it. It’s effective but costly. You’ve just broadcast your location and the desperation of your goals to everyone in that area.