Hi all. Well, I’m told that talking around one’s book can interest people. So here is the first in several instalments on Cloning Freedom and its universe.

            For starters, Cloning Freedom is set in what I call the Switch Board Universe. This comes from two curiosities of science in the universe of Cloning Freedom. The first is that the only method of Faster Than Light travel in the Cloning Freedom universe is a star gate. Star gates are point to point FTL conduits, effectively worm holes, which allow instantaneous transit between the conduit’s ends. Space is effectively folded like a piece of paper. Each end of the conduit is anchored into a huge ring. An interesting aside is that, thus far, physics, as we understand it, in the ‘real’ world would allow for this. I added a convenience that each end of a gate would have to be “anchored” somewhere on the outer fringe of a star system to work because the gravity of the star would disrupt the gate’s function. This was dramatic licence to allow for enough time for much of the book’s action to take place but also is not out of the realm of reason considering the forces involved.  The real problem with star gates is that they require the energy of a super nova to create and only allow transit between the mated rings. As a result the interstellar Republic has, by in large, outlawed their creation to avoid destroying the galaxy. This is part of the Galactic Environmental Protection Act, and when a new species develops their first star gate they are given a one time pardon on the condition that they surrender one of the star gate’s ends and join the interstellar republic.

            This is where the switch board comes in because the surrendered star gate is transported to the switch board system where it joins one end of all the other republic star gates. This forms a FTL transport grid that interconnects all the capital worlds of the republic member species.

            The reason it is called the switch board system is there is a peculiarity of technological development that at sometime in their history every species ever encountered developed some variant on the old telephone switch board. As the old tech in a real way mimicked the mechanics and function of the switchboard system it made a suitable name.

            More as weeks pass as well as writing samples and other neat stuff.

            Stay tuned and please tell your friends about Cloning Freedom.