The Planet-class cruiser Ansa temporarily deactivates an area of her negagrav screen to launch the Meteor boat Hooting Star whose radar instantly detects an approaching torpedo. Although the mother vessel is armored, compartmented and shielded, a torpedo striking the temporarily unprotected hull would inflict possibly crippling damage. However, Hooting Star fire control officer, CPO Wa Chaou of Cynthia, fires an energy beam that destroys the torpedo. Lieutenant Rochefort, commanding, detects and locks on to the boat that had launched the torpedo. Engineer-computerman CPO Abdullah Helu estimates that interception of the receding boat is possible and Ansa squadron control okays it, adding that Hooting Star should afterward join Ansa and Ganymede who will be trying to saturate the defenses of a light battleship.
Hooting Star, touched by an energy beam, automatically veers before her thin plating can be penetrated. The hole, if any, is small enough to self-seal. Accelerating toward the now visible shark-shaped enemy boat decorated with a floral wheel, Hooting Star is struck by two more energy beams but Wa Chaou destroys their sources and also an on-coming torpedo and Hooting Star's torpedo then destroys the enemy. A fragment from the explosion strikes Hooting Star. Meanwhile, a swarm of Terran boats and missiles has destroyed that Avalonian battleship.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I've seen mention of that notion of small holes being "self sealing" in military and non military situations. I thought just now that I would like to know more about how, exactly, that works. How and what makes small holes in the hulls of space ships self sealing? What kind of material is used?
Ad astra! Sean
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