Tachyons

The term, "tachyon," was coined in 1967. See here. Gerald Feinberg who coined it was inspired by "Beep" by James Blish. Poul Anderson's "The Pirate" was published in 1968. In it, hyperdrive is described as:

"...the tachyon mode..."

-Poul Anderson, "The Pirate" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 3 (Riverdale, NY, July 2018), pp. 137-165.

In that mode, a spaceship can be tracked only by:

"...a weak emission of superlight particles..." (ibid.)

Thus, retroactively, all previously published references to the hyperdrive in Anderson's Psychotechnic History were to this "tachyon mode."

How does it work? Transforming all the particles in a spaceship into tachyons would make the whole ship move faster than light, if not also backwards in time, but would also make it undetectable.

"The Pirate" is in one way the summit of the Psychotechnic History since it was the last instalment to be published and spells out the ethos of the Coordination Service.

Now I am bound for the two-storey apartment above the Old Pier Bookshop, the view of Morecambe Bay, pizza, superhero videos and an analysis of world affairs. I will think about sf as well.