From Another Universe

"Starfog."

Daven Laure and Jaccavrie discuss the Kirkasanters' claim that they have come from another universe:

"'If a ship could somehow flip from one entire cosmos to another...why, in five thousand years of interstellar travel, haven't we gotten some record of it happening?'

"'Perhaps the ships to which it occurs never come back.'

"'Perhaps. Or perhaps the whole argument is due to a misunderstanding.'" (p. 717)

 

It is a misunderstanding but let's stay with the inter-cosmic travel idea for a while. If such travel does happen, then perhaps the ships that go elsewhere never return? But others should come here? As the Kirkasanters claim to have done?

As a matter of fact, we know that the Technic History universe is part of a multiverse because, in a story that is not part of this series, Nicholas van Rijn from earlier in the Technic History shows up in the Old Phoenix, the inn between the universes. That means that the Technic History timeline coexists with many others, including one where magic works. However, the integrity of a hard sf story like "Starfog" would be compromised if, during the course of this same story, Daven Laure were to interact with characters practicing the kind of magic that is on display in Operation Chaos. The genres can interact but discretely.