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Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Strange Sci-fi Tales #18 - U.P.T.C. Goliath [#94]

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            The U.P.T.C. Goliath Class starship is a marvel of engineering, and humanity's first step towards a genuine life among the stars. The brainchild of the famous starship engineer Fredrick Starfield, the ship began as nothing more than a dream. Ever since he was a boy, Starfield wanted to build spaceships, but not like the small, clunky Golem and Worg Class ships of the time. Starfield's desire from the start was to create a genuinely massive spaceship. One that could support an entire city's worth of passengers. These ships wouldn't only fly from one place to another, they'd be mobile space stations you could easily spend the majority of your life on.
            It was a long road to the Goliath. Even after Starfield graduated from the University of Jupiter's Engineering division with top marks, he struggled to have his ideas taken seriously. At the time the trend for starships moved towards smaller, slimmer designs, like the famous Thunderbird Class ships. Starfield worked around this by drawing inspiration from the now-defunct automobile industry. While the compact, fast cars of the past were always popular. The average family would appreciate a larger, economically priced vehicle. Thus, Starfield began his career with the designs for civilian grade starships, like the Bear and Bigfoot.
            The Bigfoot Class starship was significant in that it was the first of Starfield's creations to have his distinct style and touch. Despite its bulky size and shape, the Bigfoot had not a single inch of wasted space. Everything from the smallest compartment to the largest cup holder was placed with a clear reason in mind. This design sense would continue through Starfield's other early creations, like the Sasquatch and the Ogre.
           About ten years into his career, Starfield was finally able to work on the ships he always dreamed of creating. With financial support from the Solar Travel Agency, Starfield was commissioned to create the first truly massive starship, the Mammoth. While initially created as an interplanetary commercial transport, the starship's robust and reliable design quickly caught the attention of the U.P. military. With a few modifications, the Mammoth was retrofitted as a troop transport. Although this would be the only time Starfield ever worked for the military.
            Instead, the United Planets Travel Corporation (U.P.T.C.), quickly contracted Starfield to exclusively work for them. This lead to the height of Starfield's career as he was given the funds to produce larger and larger starships. Just as he had always dreamed. This leads us back to the Goliath, the seventh of his creations under U.P.T.C.
            Due to its massive size, comparable to a city, the Goliath cannot be feasibly constructed on a planet. It would be almost impossible for such a colossal ship to achieve escape velocity. Thus, the Goliath Class and most other vessels like it are constructed in space. It takes roughly five years, with a construction crew of hundreds of thousands to build a Goliath class ship. Of course, such a feat is only possible thanks to recent advances in robotics. Allowing a great deal of the work to be carried on the shoulders of our mechanical companions. Without them, it would take decades to construct such a starship, and it would require a crew in the millions.
            Come the end of this year, the fourth Goliath Class starship, the PSS King, will finish construction. Its roster of crew and passengers is expected to be filled out halfway through the next. Don't miss your opportunity to be part of history, buy your tickets today, or better yet, apply for a position on the crew. Will you be left behind or will you claim your destiny among the star?
            This information has been brought to you by the U.P.T.C., we will bring all nations across the universe. 
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A brief history lesson followed by an advertisement, seems about right. You know what they say, everyone is trying to sell you something.

Oh yeah and tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my first real short story on this blog.
So happy anniversary to me, and I look forward to another year of writing short stories. Also, my 100th short story is coming up, but that's still a few weeks away.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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