Riding the Manaan vacuum-tube train

[JFrombaugh]

I got the idea for this short story from the Shanghai Maglev Train (the world's fastest commercial train) and a dream I once had about an ETT (Evacuated Tube Transport) system on Manaan.

 

You can read more about vacuum-tube trains and the roadblocks they face to getting built on Earth here: http://www.gizmag.com/terraspan-vacuum-tube-train-supersonic-ultra-fast/23267/

 

I decided that such a train would be very fitting for the Star Wars expanded universe (and possibly even canonically exists in some form). The Barsen'thor and his Padawan Nadia Grell have been summoned to Manaan by representative Shuuru. To get from the spaceport to his office in Ahto City, they must ride the galaxy's fastest commercial form of land-based transportation.

 

********

 

It was a bright and clear morning on Manaan outside of the spaceport. Moments ago, the Barsen’thor’s Corvette airship, which the Jedi Council had given him back when he was tasked with finding and healing the Jedi Master’s that had been infected with a plague created by Terrak Morrhage, had just landed in the private terminal of the spaceport, and he was now walking into the main terminal building, with his Padawan Nadia Grell eagerly following at his side.

 

“This way, Nadia,” called the Barsen’thor, directing her towards a sign that read Ahto City Transrapid Shuttle. “We will have to take an evacuated tube shuttle system to Ahto City, where Shuuru’s office is located.”

 

“’Evacuated tube shuttle’? Sorry Master, but I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Nadia said.

 

“Many planets have varying forms of magnetically-powered transportation systems; for example Coronet City’s system of elevated trains which we rode on Corellia,” explained the Barsen’thor. “Inside a vacuum tunnel, those same vehicles are capable of reaching very high speeds - many thousands of kilometers per hour - due to the lack of any air resistance. However, the infrastructure itself is surprisingly expensive to build and maintain, so only a small number of planets have actually built it. Manaan’s Transrapid System is probably one of the most well known in the galaxy, because the main Intergalactic Spaceport had to be built relatively far away from Ahto City due to the oceanography of the planet and the resulting space limitations. The journey takes only seven and a half minutes.”

 

“Wow! I can’t wait to see what it will be like. We’re really lucky you were able to convince Manaan to side with the Republic along with the rest of the Rift Alliance, aren’t we?” Nadia grinned.

 

They reached the walkway leading to the boarding platform for the evacuated tube shuttle. “Passengers need to head through the screening gate ahead for the automatic ticket check,” a droid was announcing.

 

“I am here on official business,” the Bar’senthor told the droid, showing his Jedi Master ID card. “Thank you, Master, have a safe journey. And may the Force be with you,” the droid answered as it scanned the QR code. A beep indicated that they were cleared to walk through the turnstile.

 

They stepped into the station and waited in their designated boarding area along with about ten other aliens and humans. The track itself was entirely enclosed inside a tube that led out of the station to their right and off into a dark tunnel. A door was embedded at the edge of the platform to allow passengers access. Then all of a sudden, a fairly short, white, slender capsule pulled up to the door, and stopped in front of it. The two doors opened, the passengers inside unbuckled their seatbelts, and exited through the door. The Barsen’thor and Nadia followed the boarding passengers into the vehicle, sat down in a row next to each other, and fastened their seatbelts.

 

When everyone had taken their seat and fastened their seatbelts, a series of warning beeps sounded. “Warning: Doors closing,” a voiceover announced. The doors slid closed, followed by the click of an airtight double-lock. “Here we go!” said Nadia.

 

Then, the magnetic motors sparked into life, and the vehicle sped out of the station with surprising speed, before the view through the windows became dark. The robotic voice of a droid filled the train, speaking in the native Selkath tongue. But the Barsen’thor did not need to translate, as the same announcement was repeated shortly afterward in English.

 

“Welcome to the Manaan Transrapid Shuttle. The destination is Ahto City station. The Manaan Transrapid Shuttle begins at Ahto City station in the west and ends at Manaan Intergalactic Spaceport in the east. The total length is 305 kilometers. Please remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened during the vehicle operation. Thank you for your cooperation.”

 

“We’ve already gone supersonic by now,” the Barsen’thor remarked a short while later.

 

“It doesn’t even seem like it,” Nadia replied.

 

“No, in part because the acceleration is just so seamlessly smooth, and on top of that, there’s no air for the vehicle to make sonic vibrations in. But you can see, look up at that board up front.”

 

Sure enough, even though the view through the windows was black, a display board at the front of the cabin displayed the local time along with the current velocity of the vehicle:

 

08:46:32

1,689 km/h

 

Even as they watched, pressed back in their seats by 0.8 Gs of force, the number rose at an astonishing rate. “Do you think the droid controlling this thing is online now?” Nadia asked, half-worriedly, half-jokingly.

 

“One would hope so, considering it’s about to take us up to about Mach 3.5, I’d appreciate it if it were online,” answered the Bar’senthor.

 

Nadia continued to watch as the number went from 2,400 to 2,800 in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, in an instant, a blue light filled the inside of the vehicle. The tube track they were riding through had just exited the underground tunnel leading to Manaan Spaceport, and they were now travelling a short distance beneath the oceans of Manaan. “Wow, look at how beautiful the ocean is,” Nadia remarked. “I wish we had something like this on Sarkhai.”

 

“Well, you are the new governor. Perhaps one day you can propose to build such a system yourself,” the Barsen’thor said in his calm, yet encouraging voice.

 

Nadia returned her gaze to the speed indicator up at the front of the capsule. 3,800 kilometers an hour…3,900…

 

“Four thousand kilometers an hour! Wow!” she exclaimed breathlessly. As she said this, the sense of accelaration began to die down, and the number slowed its climbing accordingly, until…

 

“Holding at forty-three hundred,” the Barsen’thor said. “About Mach 3.5, thereabouts,” he added.

 

“That is pretty fast!” Nadia replied. They were silent for a little while, enjoying the journey.

 

Then slowly, but increasingly firmly, the two of them were pressed forward against their seat belts as the vehicle began its long deceleration. Now they understood why the vehicle had seatbelts, and why they had been warned to keep them fastened. A couple minutes later, the view of the ocean through the windows disappeared, and the vehicle was once again speeding through a dark tunnel beneath the bedrock of Manaan.

 

Just as the speedometer dipped below 2,200 kilometers per hour, the PA system crackled into life again with another announcement in Selkath dialect, followed shortly by its English translation.

 

“Attention passengers: the vehicle will be arriving at Ahto City station shortly. For your safety, please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened until the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Please remember to collect your belongings before leaving. Thank you.”

 

A short while later, the capsule had entered the boarding station of Ahto City, still moving at a good 100 kilometers an hour as per the speed monitor. But the vehicle quickly and gently slowed right down and finally came to a stop at the end of the long vacuum tube connecting the station to the spaceport more than 300 kilometers away. With a click and hiss, the doors opened, and passengers began unbuckling their seatbelts, grabbing their suitcases, and one by one began to exit the cabin.

 

“So how’d you like it, Nadia?” the Barsen’thor asked as they stepped out of the vehicle onto the boarding platform. Nadia didn’t answer. She was quite pale, even for her. “Are you alright?” asked the Barsen’thor.

 

“Yes, I’m fine. I just feel a little faint after that, growing up on a relatively primitive planet and all,” Nadia said. “Come on, let’s go find Shuuru!” And the two of them set off towards whatever diplomatic mission awaited them…

Edited September 14, 2015 by JFrombaugh