The Verdajuvel Galaxsia Plan Poster showing the external configuration of the ship.
The Verdajuvel Galaxsia Layout Poster showing the internal configuration of the ship.
Inspiration
Seriously, if you enjoy science fiction, you're bound to love a decent flying saucer. I have no idea where the first flying saucer idea came from. I do know that Verdajuvel looks for all the world like a flying saucer. There is a good reason for that.
Below is a bit of fan art I created. It is of course based on the poster in Spooky Fox Mulder's X-Files FBI basement office.
When it comes to designing space ships for fiction there are no rules. You can do whatever you want. I like to design things in the context of some constructs though - I think it makes for a more coherent and interesting design.
The single most important thing about the Verdajuvel Galaxsia is its propulsion system. That drives the form of the space ship.
I believe that the rockets - mass ejection-reaction - we have today just will not get us beyond the Solar System. Einstein's theory of relativity tells us we can't go faster than light speed. But we also know that is not an acceptable constraint. We have to go faster and further if we are to explore and experience the galaxy in terms meaningful to a human lifespan. There was a time when people thought it was impossible to fly faster than the speed of sound - that it was a "farm you can buy in the sky". Then the Bell X-1 went and flew through the sound barrier. So will it be with the speed of light.
Thanks to Einstein we do understand something of space-time, but I think there is so much more to know. Some theoretical physicists are developing theories that propose space-time is more than the four dimensions that we are familiar with. There could be six, or even twenty six dimensions. The trouble is, at the moment, we have no way of "seeing" those extra dimensions, let alone being able to use them. I am proposing that the Cerulean Ingenieurs who built Verdajuvel know exactly how to use those extra dimensions to move the ship instantaneously through the four dimensions we are familiar with.
Verdajuvel Galaxsia is able to grab and manipulate space-time through the fields its fractal antenna generates, regulated by its energy combs, controlled by the will of the ship's totem, Orlando Javac Jax
I love Star Wars but there is no way intergalactic spaceships will look like wingless planes with big rocket engines sticking out the back.
Verdajuvel looks like a flying saucer because its fractal antenna wraps around the ship in a big cylinder.
Verdajuvel also carries fusion toroids to generate power and gravity plates to keep everybody grounded. It is built round a central forest and farm to provide food but also to condition the ship's air and water. It has everything a mini city would have so that it can undertake multi-year voyages into uncharted space.
Verdajuvel Galaxsia's backstory
The press release below gives something of the Verdajuvel's backstory:
Verdajuvel Galaxsia short story "Destiny One"
Read the Verdajuvel short story Destiny One. Exploring the Galaxy with Verdajuvel.
Verdajuvel Galaxsia plan
Verdajuvel - a green jewel that has at its heart a garden and carries with it some of the beauty of Earth. Verdajuvel - a ship that binds to the very fabric of spacetime, that can slip through dimensions unseen by humans but can carry us to places on our terms and within our understanding of time.
Verdajuvel Galaxsia layout
At the heart of Verdajuvel is its park and gardens. There are three gardens on the ship, each one time phased four Earth months apart. In this way the crew of the ship get the best of Earth's seasonal produce. There are mushroom tunnels, aquaculture ponds for prawns, mussels and fish but perhaps the favourite are the chicken sheds, especially when the birds are allowed out to roam in the wildflower meadow. Wilbour, King Rooster, has no idea he is in deep space, but he knows when you are too close to his hens and are in big trouble. The most fun you can have with Wilbour is to turn off the gravity plate and watch him fly.
To wonder at the technical complexity of the Verdajuvel Galaxsia is to miss its reliance on the natural world, its Gaia Spirit. To truly be a ship of the Earth, the Sercanto required the ship be a living thing, to carry Gaia with it into the dark spaces of the Galaxy. The ship, as the cat totem Orlando Javac Jax, will wander where it likes taking stock of the wellbeing of all, even Wilbour.
The Verdajuvel will explore, study and research but also take resources. The galaxy we know is littered with star matter, some of which has incredible value. The whole bottom half of the ship is dedicated to research into the resources found out there amongst the stars.