This was one of my favorite scenes to write from A Time to Build. It’s really not like dusting crops…
For anyone who has never experienced a hyperspace jump, it ranks a little bit higher than emergency launches on my list of favorite things to do in a spaceship. It’s not nearly as violent, in that there is no perceived change in momentum. Most people don’t even notice any effects, as long as they are not looking out at the stars when it happens. Commercial passenger ships will opaque all windows in preparation for a hyperspace jump.
A Time to Build: The Umea Bakearen, Book One, 2013
If you are in the cockpit, however, you see everything. It might be more precise to say you see everything, then you see nothing, then you see everything again, but it’s all moved around. Your eyes tell your brain that you are moving, but your body doesn’t feel any motion, so it tells your brain that your eyes are dirty rotten liars. Your eyes take offense at that comment, and challenge your stomach to a wrestling match. Your stomach is usually no match for your eyes, because your eyes cheat. They stomp all over your stomach, and if your stomach had any brains at all, it would yield and concede defeat to your eyes. Your stomach has no brains, being a stomach, and it just keeps going back at it.
Most veteran pilots close their eyes or put their helmet visors down so that they can’t see the jump. Most veteran pilots neglect to share this information with rookie pilots. Most veteran pilots are bastards.
