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From the SF books written by British author Alastair Reynolds: Revelation
Space, Redemption Ark, and Absolution Gap...
...With only 13 pieces (plus two for the exhaust beams) it’s exceedingly
micro, since the original is some four kilometers long; about 1:80,000 scale.
The gallery includes one in authentic-but-tough-to-see black, and another in
Irken red and purple. (The probability of these Invader ZIM aliens
successfully taking a fully armed lighthugger is remote, even if they do have
conquered Vort scientists on their side -- these are the people who
unsuccessfully exiled Zim The Easily Distracted. Twice.) The Irken model has
two shades of purple, which don’t look so good in the photo; also pulsed
exhaust.
This ship (plus a bunch of other easily-transported micro-models) will appear at
the Philcon SF convention this December in
Philadelphia. I think I’ll build a vertical docking spire from Znap, so they’re
not all crowded onto a horizontal table surface.
Background:
The majority of lighthuggers are operated by the Ultras, a faction of humanity
that eschews planetary surfaces in favor of deep space, and which provides
interstellar transport of passengers and rare artifacts. Their ships bear names
like Gnostic Ascension, Madonna of the Wasps, Nostalgia for Infinity,
Silence Under Snow, Third Gazometric, Transfigured Night, and Zodiacal
Light.
Lighthuggers earned their label from the high relativistic velocity they attain;
thanks to mysterious sealed engines manufactured by the Conjoiners (another
faction) they can maintain a one-gee acceleration indefinitely. To survive the
erosive effects of the interstellar medium at those speeds demands a streamlined
shape, and an ablative sheath of water ice reinforced with hyperdiamond. The
standard hull form is a pair of cones, base-to-base, with the twin engines on
raked-back pylons rooted near the ship’s midpoint. (The cover illo for
Revelation Space has been overcomplicated by the artist.) These ships are
massive, four kilometers long, millions of tons, equipped to carry hundreds of
thousands of passengers in cryonic reefersleep. With AI-driven internal
maintenance and redesign systems, they can operate with just a handful of human
crew. They’re heavily armed to assist in trade negotiations.
Conjoiner-built lighthuggers (and smaller classes) usually have ink-black
stealth hulls, sometimes equipped with cryoarithmetic engines that cool them to
match the cosmic microwave background.
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