A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 37: Star PART V: THROUGH THE ASTEROIDS

A Space Oddessey 2061 Book 3 Chapter 37: Star PART V: THROUGH THE ASTEROIDS

And now Universe was moving so swiftly that its orbit no longer even remotely resembled that of any natural object in the Solar System. Mercury, closest to the Sun, barely exceeds fifty kilometres a second at perihelion; Universe had reached twice that speed in the first day - and at only half the acceleration it would achieve when it was lighter by several thousand tons of water. For a few hours, as they passed inside its orbit, Venus was the brightest of all heavenly bodies, next to the Sun and Lucifer. Its tiny disc was just visible to the naked eye, but even the ship's most powerful telescopes showed no markings whatever. Venus guarded her secrets as jealously as Europa. By going still closer to the Sun - well inside the orbit of Mercury - Universe was not merely taking a short cut, but was also getting a free boost from the Sun's gravitational field. Because nature always balances her books, the Sun lost some velocity in the transaction; but the effect would not be measurable for …