Shakedown Cruise

I did a total count of the Protons in this structure, and came up with a total of 81. Of course, there are a number of difficult to count Neutrons, but I know they're there. Their extra bulk is evident in the fact that it takes more work to move this molecule than I can account for by just the Protons alone. If I had to guess, it would be like dragging another eight-doublings of Protons along. At least the Neutrons aren't constantly pulling on me.

The ringlet would have been tougher to move using Synchro-Drive, but the action of the Swap-Drive, swapping Ones with the One-Eight-Ones in the soup, was much more forceful. Here, the force is constant and smooth, making observation a clean and easy process. The Ringlet was a herky-jerky jigglefest, but a whole lot faster. As much as I miss the distortion of a rapid acceleration, I am beginning to appreciate the precision and grace of piloting this ungainly assemblage of 81 Protons.

The Synchro-Drive functioned well, having only twice to adjust the flow pattern in the canopy during the straightaway section of the test cruise. The free time was taken up with extra deep scans and tag tracking. The other canopied tags easily passed each other without violent repulsion. The harmonic between the canopy frequency and the counter-balanced Eights worked such that a canopy could pass closely to another molecule's tail.