Thread 2: The relation between Real Time and Jump Time

>From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin>
>Subject: cherryhlist -- How old are spacers?
>Date: Thu, 1 Oct 92 9:17:44 BST

Has anyone actually clocked up how much time passes in Chanur's Legacy? To the best of my recollection it is only about a week or two at most. Yet over a year passes in stationary space. This fits with I figure I saw in one of the books of something like 38 days of realtime spent in jump. This means spacers end up being around for a *long* time. If they spend, say, two weeks in space between jumps and then six subjective weeks in jump that a factor of 1 : 4. I.e. for each apparent year from their point of view four years pass back home. This gives lifespans in the 200s!
I think the big Union merchant ships spend longer in real-space, but even a two week stay gives them twice a normal life-span. In Hellburners Graff is asked by the investigation board how old he is "I haven't calculated it recently."
(...)

Jo

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>From: Lesley Grant <lgrant>
>Subject: cherryhlist: spacers' age and Fleet 
>Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 9:38:21 BST

 > >From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin>
 > >Subject: cherryhlist -- How old are spacers?
 > 
 > 	Has anyone actually clocked up how much time passes in Chanur's
 > Legacy? To the best of my recollection it is only about a week or two
 > at most. Yet over a year passes in stationary space. This fits with I
 > figure I saw in one of the books of something like 38 days of realtime
 > spent in jump. This means spacers end up being around for a *long* time.
 > If they spend, say, two weeks in space between jumps and then six subjective
 > weeks in jump that a factor of 1 : 4. I.e. for each apparent year from
 > their point of view four years pass back home. This gives lifespans in the
 > 200s!

Well, it gives *apparent* ages in the 200's. Spacers don't get to continually influence events in realtime for ~200 years, they get a normal amount of lifespan that is spread over a long period, but is lived (from an outside viewpoint) in snatches. It doesn't really matter if Graff is 'really' 38 in _Hellburners_ -- he has only lived to his early 20's (his amount of experience comes from having started working at he age of 10 :-) Anyhow, I do feel your ratio of 1:4 is perhaps a bit out. That would have the War going on a lot longer than it seems to, ie Bet Yeager was on _Africa_ at least 20 years, which in your scale would be 80 realtime. But in _Cyteen_, the War is described as lasting about 50 years realtime.
(...)

			Lesley