Ken Shardik hates Dyson spheres.Ken Shardik hates Dyson spheres. Actually, it's a phobia of sorts. Ringworlds are monstrously complicated devices, but they can easily be made redundant. I think the redundancy on the primary orbital maintenance is something like nine thousand percent, and the secondary is twelve thousand. The same is true of everything else. The shadowring is a solid band of alternating transparent and opaque materials, because ringworlds have no naturally occurring ozone, so the transparent stuff is actually somewhat absorbative. "Dyson spheres need technology to keep your feet on the ground. Ken doesn't trust gravitics- it's a delicate technology that has the potential to break down far too easily. One breakdown on a Dyson sphere and woosh! You're flown out into space. Spinning accomplishes the same effect without technology. So Ken uses it instead." "This is going to sound dumb," Nickolai said, "but-" "But isn't Shardik Castle held up by gravitics?" Nickolai nodded, and Aaden smiled in response. "I'll tell you another secret- everything I've told you is pretty much a prepared speech. One of the things I didn't expect when I signed on with this crew was to become a spokesmephit for Ken or Alpha, but I did. People live in Shardik Castle of their own free will. Ken included. He didn't want to bring people into a world that was as unsafe as he makes Dyson spheres sound. But he's perfectly willing to let those people choose for themselves how they want to live." Nickolai stared along the ocean again. "It still doesn't explain why. Why this? Why didn't he decide to take over Earth?" "Do you want the speech, or my personal version?" Aaden asked, pulling up a wicker chair to sit in. Nickolai took the cue and pulled up his own chair. "What's your version?" "My version is 'I don't know anymore.' Honestly. I used to think it was because he's such a sensualist, but that didn't equate with M'Ress's telling me that he never went beyond hugs with any of his kids for a whole decade after the decanting of the Centaurs. For a while, I thought it was because he had Eros, the desire to create. |