KSK

Shhh - you'll give him ideas. The Boring Company Mk27 flamethrower. Why shoot one jet of flame when 27 would be way cooler? Many Overpriced Fire Extinguishers required. And judging by that sales pitch, Squad should commission the Boring Company to write them some rocket part flavour text for KSP.

Stuck in my head this morning is Billy Connolly's "Welly Boot Song." This has led to spontaneous bouts of early morning singing. I think the pigeons outside are watching me in silent judgement and reproach. If it wisnae fae yer wellies; where would ye be? Och ye'd be in the hospital, or infirmary Cos ye wid hae a dose o' the flu; or even pleurisy Cos ye didnae hae ye feet in yer wellies! Ohhh, wellies they are wonderful, oh wellies they are swell, Cause they keep oot the watter, and they keep in the smell, And when yer sittin' in a room, ye can always tell, When some fella takes off his wellies!

Now, now. I'm fairly sure there's barley, oatmeal and spicing involved. The spicing in particular is really important - it helps mask the taste of heart, lung, liver and intestine. Although I shouldn't mock, being rather fond of haggis myself. Ahhh - you've been to Scotland then. That's sound advice. And now - back on topic...

It's canonical enough for me. Thanks @CatastrophicFailure - and @CSE of course! Enquiring minds want to know where Chadvey stands on the question of haggis though, being as it's Burns night tonight.

I'll probably go to the Hot Place for this but...

Yeah - and then the whole episode goes full circle with this scene...

You beat me to it @Just Jim. Dalek has to be one of my favourite Who episodes ever, if not my absolut favourite. It's got everything - decent villain, humour (broken...junk...flat battery...hair dryer) which segues into a marvellous snippet of dialogue between van Statten and the Doctor which really drives home just who the Doctor really is and who van Statten is dealing with. "It's a musical instrument?" "Yes - and it's a long way from home." Then you have that scene there, with all its fine acting; the moral ambiguity and overall darkness of the whole episode and a lone Dalek as the central character in a Who episode. And man - that's one of the rare times when you feel that the Daleks really could be the the galaxy conquering uber-villains they're made out to be. I mean yeah, they're scary but in some ways they're often presented as caricatures too, the pepperpot bad guys that run around yelling 'exterminate' a lot. Not that Dalek. It was cunning, genuinely menacing - and completely unstoppable. And on top of all that it was just a grunt. A Dalek foot soldier (for want of a better expression ) Fantastic episode all round.

Heh - before I found a name generator online, I would scour the various screenshot threads on the forum to find interesting names, as well as using the in-game hiring list. My first six characters were mostly taken from my current game in progress: Jeb, Bill, Bob, Lucan, Geneney (that turned out to be a stroke of luck) and I threw Wernher in because why not? This was a long time before Val was introduced although I did work her into the story later. As for a preference - I've only written/am currently writing one story so it's hard to tell. The original four are one of the few bits of actual KSP canon that we have from Squad though, so I do think that including them somewhere helps to make a story more recognisable as a KSP story particularly if you're not using screenshots. I wouldn't say they need to be main characters though - I've seen good examples either way, especially for Jeb. Seems like everyone has 'their' Jeb, ranging from dead hero to canonical badS pilot to just another pilot on the roster to founder of the space program.

I'll always have a soft spot for Peter Davison's Doctor simply because the fifth Doctor was the one I grew up with, although admittedly I have no recollection of any particular episodes or their quality (or lack of). Of the modern Doctors, Christopher Eccleston is definitely my favourite for the reasons that @ZooNamedGames mentioned. David Tennant was a grower though and I stopped watching after Matt Smith's first season. At that point he was my least favourite of the modern Doctors but on the other hand I didn't really give him a fair run either.

Yes - the electric pumps are pretty cool too! I've seen commentary on other forums suggesting that they're not very scalable, (so a human throwing rocket is unlikely) but on the other hand there's a lot of battery R&D going on elsewhere which Rocket Lab can essentially take advantage of for free. Although they're currently using lithium polymer cells which are already pretty light and energy dense if I remember rightly.

A working smallsat launcher with composite tanks - this is a good day for commercial spaceflight! And whilst I doubt that Rocket Lab and say, for example, SpaceX will be working together on composite rocket parts, having one company introduce an innovation can only be a good thing in terms of getting the market used to that innovation. In other words if and when BFR (or any other large rocket for that matter) flies with all-composite tanks, it'll hopefully be less of a big deal if Rocket Lab have been flying smaller versions for a couple of years beforehand. The same goes for any other launch vehicle innovation - it's only crazy until one company does it. The second company to use it is 'catching up', the third and fourth companies are 'adopting best industry practice'. Or maybe I'm just getting overexcited. Regardless - go Rocket Lab!

This is starting to sound like looking for your car keys under a lamppost. Not because the chances of finding them there are any greater but because that's the only place you can see to look. The COPVs are the only part we know has failed, so by the Lord Harry we're going to ratchet up the requirements for those bad boys until the stack of paperwork is so high that we won't need a rocket to get to orbit any more. Or there could be a sensible reason. Who can tell.

In that case, I'm wondering if shields might be your friend. Have some kind of field that causes 'Casimir drag' (don't bother explaining this in any detail) as a side effect of its defensive capability, i.e. it makes space behave like a viscous fluid. So big, shield equipped ships move slowly. Or, think outside the box a little. It's not so much that your capital ships can't move quickly it's that operational constraints limit what they can do in practice. For example, what if your 'shields' were batteries of wormhole projectors? Open a wormhole near any incoming ordnance (whether than be photons, plasma or kinetic) and it gets teleported to the other side of the ship. Operational constraints: 1. The power required to open a wormhole depends on the cube of the wormhole throat diameter. Teleporting laser beams and smaller projectiles is fine, teleporting larger munitions or enemy ships is a lot harder or outright impossible. Plus total available power is finite, so, for example, you can have one big wormhole capable of teleporting any amount of incoming fire from one direction, at the expense of leaving your flanks unshielded. 2. The projectors have a finite range. Result. Capital ships will tend to stay at fairly long range to avoid, for example, having an open wormhole appear in the middle of the CIC at short notice. The problem is, at that sort of range, it's relatively easy to fight an opposing capital ship to a stalemate, both ships being basically immune to incoming fire. You get around that by using support ships to flank the enemy capital ships and hit their unshielded sections. The problem with *that* is, that the capital ship manoeuvrability becomes extremely limited due to possible friendly fire incidents. You really don't want to have the enemy's main wormhole projectors moving around too much and accidentally teleporting quantities of munitions into your own support ships, or deliberately skewering your own ships. Hence capital ships become essentially fixed assets, tying up the enemy's main assets and relying on smaller ships to actually carry the fight to that enemy. If you want to take this a step further, you could throw in a third constraint. Have the wormhole projectors rely on a targeting field for maximum effectiveness. Now for reasons unexplained, one of the side effects of that field is to increase the quantum tunnelling range of anything passing through it. This is uncomfortable but not immediately fatal for living brains but does a number on any sort of integrated circuits. Result: This provides another incentive for capital ships to stay at range and also makes drones, advanced missiles or other autonomous weapon platforms rather impractical. So - living pilots it is, flying electronically crude ships and hoping to whatever deity they believe in that they're not going to get a faceful of friendly fire teleporting in on top of them. Hence you get a trade-off between using precise battle formations (to minimise that friendly fire risk) vs the predictability (and thus vulnerability) of those formations. Lots of interesting story telling possibilities there as well. Perhaps that targeting field *will* scramble pilots brains after too many sorties. This might kill the pilots outright, give them unpredictable quirks, or just drive them mad. Perhaps, in the never ending quest for faster and more agile support ships, pilots have been reduced to a brains-in-a-jar, that are just plugged into their fighters. What sort of soldiers would volunteer for that? Logistically, and psychologically, how does your military deal with the care and feeding of a brain-in-a-jar? TL:DR - McGuffin levels of technology are fine but give them consequences, give them weaknesses and let them shape the available military tactics in-universe.

The wee lad has arrived safely, with all fingers and toes present and correct. Mother and baby doing well. He was asleep for pretty much the whole time when I went round to visit yesterday but given that he was only at T+60 hours or thereabouts, that's to be expected. @roboslacker and @Garibaldi2257 - cheers for the comments! Next chapter is rolling along nicely with just short of 2000 words down this weekend. More usefully, I'm starting to get a feel for how the next couple of chapters are going to go.

I think Andy already said it best. Just keep on doing what you know what to do.

Static fire in T-minus 6...6...6...6...6...6... *applies percussive maintenance to countdown clock*

Ohh - the grand old Falcon Heavy. They drained its tanks of fuel And left it on the pad to rust Cos they thought that would be kewl. And when it was up it was up And when it was down it was down And when it was only halfway up - it was neither up nor down. Yeah, having a great work day here. Can I go home yet...

*facepalms* Indeed - and I stand corrected!

Oh - and bonus points if you manage to play the 'Calvin & Hobbes' card next chapter. Because there's only one thing cooler than tyrannosaurs... Tyrannosaurs in F15s!

Welcome one and all to Kruyere - the Church of the Holy Cheese. Nice chapter!

Next chapter is up... Family Tree Enely frowned at the silverlace in confusion. Then his jaw dropped. Sweet Kerm above… Oh I’m sorry, Jonelle, not you. The sudden flare of pain in his lip and the salty taste of blood in his mouth barely registered. Butterfies, he murmured under his breath. Jonelle, does Elton - the big Kerm -ever say anything else? <no. Nothing else. Just the stupid picture, then I scare it away.> Jonelle paused <what are butterfies?> Butterflies, said Enely. They’re the little creatures on Elton’s branches there but I’m not quite sure what he’s trying to say. He’s showing you a picture of Joenie’s birthday present from Jonton, he said, half to himself, does he want to talk to Joenie? The mindscape flickered as Enely shook his head, tugging at the leaf hairs embedded in his scalp. That can’t be right - he’d just ask Patbro to send a message next time they Communed. Maybe he’s trying to send you a birthday present, Jonelle - but why choose one that only me or Joenie would recognise? <what is a birthday present?> Hmmm? Oh - kerbals like to celebrate the day their kerblets - their small kerbals - were born by making them toys or giving them other nice things. It was a few years ago now but Jonton… arranged the butterfly tree as a pretty surprise for Joenie. <Joenie is Jonton’s kerblet?> Startled, Enely turned to face Jonelle’s presence. Yes of course - did nobody tell you that Jonton’s her father? He sensed the Kerm’s confusion. Do you remember what I told you about mummys? <yes. They look after the kerblets> That’s right. Well another word for mummy is mother. And along with their mother, most kerblets have a father too. <why?> Well it takes two kerbals to… Enely coughed. Never mind - they just do. But just like mothers, fathers look after their kerblets too and give them birthday presents. A blast of cinnamon assaulted his nostrils. <if the big Kerm is trying to send me a birthday present…is it trying to be my father?> Images flickered past: Gerselle holding a mottled yellow and brown gourd; a group of kerbals wearing robes and backpacks, standing on a rocky slope; a pair of hands scooping a shallow pit in a patch of gritty soil and placing the gourd in it; Gerselle tamping soil over the gourd before sprinkling water over it. I hadn’t thought about it like that before, Enely said slowly, but you grew from his seed pod so yes…yes I suppose in a way he is your father. The mindscape heaved, blowing Enely’s image of Elton into a thousand glittering fragments. <NO> NONONO> <not right! Not my father! Big Kerm fight me - I fight back! > Jonelle! It’s alright - it’s alright! How did Elt… the big Kerm fight you? Did he hurt you? The mindscape turned pitch black, incomprehensible streaks and whorls of multicoloured light firing back at him, drowned in a torrent of fear and raw anger. Sparks ripped by him, swarming against an relentless intruder more sensed than seen. Buffeted and bruised, Enely clung on to his vantage point, Jonelle’s presence expanding all around him. Another wave of sparks rippled past fanning out into twisting streams that coiled around hundreds of invisible somethings in a cobweb of brilliant motes. And at last, he saw. Jonelle - stop! All the sparks are yours - the big Kerm isn’t fighting back! Whatever he’s showing you the picture is for, that’s all he wants to do. <big Kerm in my soil. Doesn’t need sparks to make a fight!> Enely’s mind raced. Let me help you! I’ll talk to Elton and tell him you’ve seen the picture, that he can stop invading your soil. He cast about for anything to calm the enraged Kerm. I’ll talk to Jonton too and ask him if Joenie can talk to you! The mindscape froze. <I can talk to Joenie?> I don’t know. I need to talk to Jonton first but I promise I’ll ask him. If you let me go, I’ll go right now. The leaf hairs whipped free of his scalp. Enely collapsed against his pillows, a thin trickle of blood leaking from one corner of his mouth. —————— Jonton sat up in bed and eyed the large paper bag in Enely’s hand with keen anticipation His friend drew out a large bunch of sunfruit with a flourish and laid them on the bedside table. Jonton tore off a handful of berries and stuffed them into his mouth, a blissful smile lighting up his face. Grabbing a tissue he dabbed the juice from his chin and swallowed, before helping himself to another berry. “Ahhh. You would not believe how much I’ve been looking forward to some fruit - thanks, Enely. Hospital food isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be but it’s definitely been light on fresh produce lately.” Enely decided not to trouble him with details of Jonelle’s threatened blighting of the Grove crops. “Last of the season,” he said. “You were lucky I managed to save some.” He studied Jonton’s face, noting the puffy, still-darkened flesh around his eye and the line of scabbed-over puncture marks running from temple to nose. “You’re looking better than when I last saw you.” Jonton yawned. “Sorry. Yes - the punctures have been properly closed for a couple of days now but this finishing course of anti-venoms makes me awfully sleepy. I expect Dr. Altop will be here soon to chivvy me out of bed for an hour.” He popped another berry into his mouth and gestured at the window. “You couldn’t put these over there could you? Otherwise I’ll just lie here and munch the lot.” Enely arranged the remaining sunfruit in the fruit bowl on the windowsill before pulling up a chair beside Jonton’s bed and perching on the edge of it, hands knotted together in his lap. Jonton looked at him soberly “No news I take it? How’s Joenie doing?” Enely forced a smile onto his face. “Adbas is looking after her.” He saw Jonton’s raised eyebrows. “I caught the two of them in Gerselle’s room - the young lad assured me that he wouldn’t let Joenie talk to Jonelle. Not in so many words of course.” He raised a finger at Jonton’s rapidly darkening expression. “Meleny was keeping an eye on them too.” “Well that’s something.” Jonton muttered. “How about Jonelle. How’s she doing?” Enely stared at his hands. “Badly,” he said. “She’s missing Gerselle and still keeps wanting to Commune with Joenie instead. Patbro was a good distraction for a while but then he mentioned Elton and that was the end of that.” He looked up. “The garden’s in a sorry state and the village green is going the same way. Which isn’t encouraging the neighbours to visit.” Jonton saw the shadows behind his friend’s eyes. “Has anything happened?” he asked. “Joenie’s getting the worst of it,” said Enely. “None of them let their kerblets get anywhere near her. Pillars preserve Meleny - without her and Adbas around, I don’t know what we would have done.” He sighed. “The neighbours have made it quite clear that I’m about as welcome as speargrass in the malkaball field too but I’m old enough and ugly enough to handle it.” “That doesn’t make it any easier though,” said Jonton. “Pillars preserve you too for shouldering it all.” He rubbed his eyes. “For what it’s worth, they’re good people but they’ve been through a lot. Starting with a wrecked prickleberry harvest and…” The sudden tightening around the other’s jaw stopped him dead. “She hasn’t…” “No,” said Enely, “but she’s threatened to unless she gets to Commune with Joenie.” He forced himself to look Jonton in the eye. “They’d kill her wouldn’t they?” “And Gerselle with her.” Jonton held his head in his hands. “| don’t know - I just don’t know. Right now I think they’re still too frightened of the vines to do anything but if the crops start failing on top of everything else… What’s your expression about mallek backsides and cactus spines?” Enely didn’t reply. “There’s one more thing,” he said eventually. “Elton’s been trying to - talk to her I guess, or whatever the Kerm do instead. And I think he’s trying to send you a message too.” He told Jonton about the silverlace tree and his conversation with Jonelle. “Which didn’t go well. In fact its why I came to visit again so soon - I promised I’d ask you…” “To let Joenie Commune with her?” “Yes.” Enely hesitated. “I don’t think she’d hurt her, Jonton. Not deliberately. She wasn’t at all concerned about frightening everyone else but she was protective of Joenie.” He swallowed. “If she can’t be with Gerselle then I think she wants to be with Gerselle’s daughter instead.” Jonton’s expression turned stony then sagged in bitter resignation. “No choice,” he muttered to himself. “And the Pillars preserve me for it.” He looked at Enely. “Do it. But I want you there too to protect them both - and to persuade them to Commune with Elton.” He saw the skepticism in Enely’s eyes. “He wants to Commune with them - that much is clear, although I don’t know exactly why.” He gestured at the room around him in frustration. “I need to get out of here and talk to him.” The door opened and Dr Altop bustled in. He glanced at Enely. “Good - you can keep him company. Make sure he gets a proper hour of exercise.” Jonton noted the doctor’s rumpled white coat and lined face. “Actually,” he said. “I’m feeling well enough to go home, I think. I’m sure Enely would make sure I got there in one piece.” “Don’t be absurd.” Altop inspected Jonton’s scabs. “This is the first time all week that I haven’t needed to wake you up for your afternoon walk. He frowned. “And if you think I’m letting my test subject out of my sight when…” He sighed. “Never mind.” A chill ran down Jonton’s spine. “You’re treating more of them aren’t you? More Kerm-stung I mean.” “I am,” said Altop tersely. “And I need to get back to my other ward, so I think we’d better stick with our normal routine today if you don’t mind.” He saw the silent desperation in Jonton’s eyes and his expression softened. “Maybe for the weekend, if you’re still improving by the end of the week.” “But I need to Commune with…” Jonton’s voice tailed away. “Maybe he could help. If there’s any venom left in me, maybe he could treat it…” “Are you completely out of your mind?” snapped Altop. “Or have you just forgotten about your first examination?” “Elton would be different.” Jonton sat up, bedcovers falling away from him. “I could talk to him first, let him know what to expect - he wouldn’t panic like your Kerm! Please, doctor - I can explain everything.” Jonton launched into a hurried summary of his conversation with Enely. “So you see,” he concluded, “it’s for all their sakes, but especially…” His voice tailed away and he gave Altop a pleading look. The medic dropped onto the spare chair and fixed Jonton with a brittle stare. “You know,” he said conversationally. “If I was new to all this, I’d be taking you - very gently - along to the Blight trauma ward about now. I understand that our standard sedative causes very pleasant dreams. Fortunately - or unfortunately for me - I’m not new to it.” He rubbed his eyes. “And you do appear to be healing at last.” Jonton crossed his fingers under his bedcovers as Altop ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh Kerm take it all. Very well - I’ll arrange to have you discharged for care at home. On two conditions.” Altop held up a finger. “One - that you book yourself in for a weekly check-up until I’m convinced that you’re fully recovered.” A second finger joined the first. “And two - if Elton is able to treat you, that you promise to ask if he would be willing to help with our most desperate cases.” Jonton swallowed hard. “I will and I do,” he said. “I can’t promise that he’ll agree to help but I can promise to ask him.” —————— Head down, Enely walked across the much-recovered village green, oblivious to the scattering of kerbals watching him go. A splash of colour caught his eye as he approached the hut and he stopped to squat down by a lopsided square of newly planted star poppies, smiling at the sight of Joenie’s little wheelbarrow and her trowel stuck in the soil beside the flowers. He leaned over and tugged at a straggle of browning knotweed, nodding in satisfaction as it pulled free of the ground, a long, rank root emerging behind it. He tossed the dead weed into the wheelbarrow and continued on his way. Inside, he found Meleny watching over Joenie, Adbas on the floor by her feet working on a jigsaw puzzle. He jumped to his feet at the sound of the sleep room door opening. “Hi, Mr Enely!” “Hello, Adbas,” Enely looked at Meleny. “Any problems?” “None,” said Meleny. “No cinnamon, no drooping branches, thrashing branches, or anything. And Joenie seems quite happy too.” She sighed. “I think it’s doing them both good to have somebody to play with.” Enely thought back to the gardening tools by the star poppies. “Yes.” he said. “I know Joenie used to enjoy Communing with Jonton when he was an-Kerm, so I suppose Communing with Jonelle is even better - like talking to a friend rather than talking to her father.” A pensive expression crossed his face. “In some ways, Jonelle is very much like a kerblet.” “Complete with temper tantrums,” said Meleny with a shiver. Adbas looked up from his jigsaw. “I want to play with Jonelle too, Mummy.” “I know you do, sweetheart but we don’t want to scare her by letting too many people talk to her at once. Maybe when she gets a bit older.” Enely saw Adbas’s face turn sulky. “Your mum’s right, Adbas. I tell you what though - it’s almost time for lunch and after that I think it’s time for Joenie to play with her other friends instead.” He patted the kerblet on the shoulder before walking over to the spare bed and settling himself under the waiting leaf cluster. White light engulfed him and the sounds of giggling drifted past his ears. <hello, Enely> Enely! Do you want to play the creepy bug game too? Enely blinked. What game is that, Joenie? As if in response, the light swirled away and he found himself plummeting towards a lopsided square of rippling colours amidst a washed out pastel blur. There’s another one there! It was all Enely could do to fight off his sudden bout of motion sickness. The mindscape wobbled disconcertingly before swimming into focus, the washed out pastels flashing into a migrainous spike of colour before subsiding again. For a second he sensed Jonelle’s increased concentration. And another one! Get it, Jonelle! <I do not need to. These plants fight back> Enely watched rings of silvery speckles fanning out from a myriad of unseen points, criss-crossed by darker flecks. A diffuse swarm of blue sparks began to coalesce around the speckles, slowly but surely homing in on the flecks. He stared through them, deliberately letting his mind drift then, as before, he saw. Roots under attack by…something and exuding…something else to lure protectors to them. <you must find this fighting plant. More of it will help clean the soil near my roots> Clean up the mess that you made said a tiny voice in the back of Enely’s mind. He felt Joenie’s frown as she studied the projected image of her poppy patch. ‘kay. I’ll find it. Enely will help me, won’t you, Enely? Joenie’s mental voice brightened. I’ve been helping Jonelle find the bad bugs in my garden, so she can kill them with the good bugs! She sensed Enely’s bemusement. It’s fun - you’ll see! I’m sure it is, Joenie but it’s lunch time now - Adbas and Meleny are waiting for us. Enely paused. Has Elton tried to talk to you? The mindscape snapped back to a uniform white light. <no. Big Kerm hasn’t come back> I know, said Enely gently. Jonton asked him to stay away from your soil. The weight of Jonelle’s sudden puzzlement pressed against his mind. <Jonton tell big Kerm what to do?> Yes. He promised me that if you let Elton talk to you that he would be there to make him go away again if you started to get scared. <this is very strange. Big Kerm doing what kerbal says> There was a long silence. Enely felt Jonelle’s presence withdrawing before sidling back again. A sly thread of thought brushed against his mind. <I talk to big Kerm but only if Jonton and Enely and Joenie are there too> Of course. Enely kept his mental tone deliberately casual. Jonton will want to catch up with everyone anyway. But now - it really is time for us to eat. Could you let us both go please, Jonelle? ——————— <he comes> Jonelle’s mental voice was tense. Enely sensed the flicker of shared nervousness between the young Kerm and Joenie and imagined himself putting his arms around them both. The image of a kerbal with its arms wrapped around a Kerm trunk made Joenie giggle, and the tension eased slightly. <he comes> Enely steeled himself before projecting reassurance with all the conviction he could muster. It’s alright, Jonelle - he’s not here to fight. He just wants to talk. He felt the first faint flickers of another awareness at the fringes of Jonelle’s mindscape. The awareness expanded, acquiring definition and familiarity and then stopped. A second awareness came forward, as if out of a wall of mist. Joenie’s presence darted past him with a cry. Daddy! A flurry of images and emotions lit around them, quicksilver bright, whirling past too quickly to follow, before settling on an image of Jonton hugging his daughter. Enely caught snatches of laughter amidst the salty tang of tears. The misty wall at the edge of his vision seemed to absorb the outburst, its steadying presence maintaining a discreet distance. With a final squeeze, Jonton released Joenie and turned to face Jonelle with a respectful bow. Jonelle. Thank you for looking after Joenie for me. Jonelle was silent. Enely sensed her confusion and sudden shyness, followed by a sudden flicker of alarm as the wall of mist began to fade. All three kerbals instinctively reached out to her in reassurance. The last tatters of mist swirled away, revealing a vast, tranquil mindscape bordering Jonelle’s yet still separated by a thin black line. <I also thank you for looking after the daughter of my first of Keepers> A sapling sprouted from the black line, growing at an impossible rate. A gale of wholly alien emotions buffeted the emerging Kerm tree, its branches creaking and swaying under the onslaught and in the process, damping it. Then the branches shimmered under a sudden cloak of silver-winged butterflies and the gale abruptly blew itself out. <daddy?> Lightning flickered around the edges of the second mindscape accompanied by a fleeting wave of surprise. <I had not thought so in kerbal words but you speak truth…my daughter?> Elton seemed to gather himself <Yes, Jonelle, I am…daddy> Elton turned to the dumbfounded kerbals. One of the butterflies flew over and perched quivering on Joenie’s hand. <I would be happy to talk more, Joenie> The Kerm smiled. <but for now, I would ask you to leave us, my friends. My daughter and I - we have much to discuss> << Chapter 85 Chapter 87>>

As always - you're very welcome. Very much enjoyed the chapter, particularly the 'unexplained' earthquake link back to the previous chapter. And in an inconstant (and growing ever more so) world, it's good to see that some 'kerbs never change. Good to have you back Burdous - may your spoon never get blunter!

"Our lives are but sand in the wind, dude." "Sand..." "Wind..." "Dude!"

Thanks everyone! It sounds like the ASAP report has effectively already been actioned then, at least with regard to the COPVs. That's good. Have to admit that I'm curious as to the technicalities of storing LOX or even GOX in a carbon tank but I think it's safe to assume that the SpaceX engineers have spotted the 'elephant in the room' problem there.

Serious question - does anyone know how COPV helium bottles compare structurally to the composite propellant tanks planned for BFR? I'm wondering if that might be something of a silver lining on the ASAP cloud? As well to get these concerns out of the way now before bringing BFR into production.