No-Ships: To See or Not To See


Moderators: Omphalos, Freakzilla, ᴶᵛᵀᴬ

Post Reply
A Little Galach
Posts: 172
Joined: 26 Mar 2010 16:37

No-Ships: To See or Not To See

Post by A Little Galach »

So can you see a no-ship with the naked eye or not? I get conflicting implied and explicit information from the book.

See:
Teg says he can see them (pre-"awakening") in the sky over Gammu like moving stars in the skies.
When Teg addresses his men in the bar planning their capture of a no-ship he mentions how they are unable to be seen via priesence and long-range scanners but you can with the the naked eye.
The worm-riding party at the end of Heretics doesn't marvel at a floating door in the sky of Rakis, they seem to just see the flying ship.
In Chapterhouse the No-ship Duncan is on is "powered-up" in order to shield him, Murbella and Scytale in the spaceport on Chapterhouse, however you can see the ship.

Not to see:
When Teg & Co emerge from the no-chamber (built by the rogue Richesan at the Baron's orders) Teg describes a battle in the sky where he basically just sees fire being exchanged, but no participants...as if they were invisible.
When Teg & co are on the No-ship negotiating with a force from the scattering towards the beginning of Heretics he makes mention of the fact that his forces know the coordinates of the ship they're on and will fire unless otherwise instructed. To me this implies that they otherwise wouldn't be able to see them.

What say you?
A Little Galach
Posts: 172
Joined: 26 Mar 2010 16:37

Re: No-Ships: To See or Not To See

Post by A Little Galach »

Also, the wonder of Teg being able to SEE no-ships seems to indicate that such sight is to "see the un-seeable."
User avatar
Superdog
Posts: 150
Joined: 10 Apr 2010 23:09

Re: No-Ships: To See or Not To See

Post by Superdog »

Perhaps the no-ship has multiple settings, each setting using more energy?

Like a low setting makes you invisible to prescience but not the naked eye. And a high setting does both. (or maybe the other way around?)
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Re: No-Ships: To See or Not To See

Post by Freakzilla »

:cylon101:

In standby mode no-ships are visible to the naked eye but invisible to prescience.

He could almost feel the flow of the ship's power, this giant enclosure cut out
of Time. Frictionless machinery to create a mimetic presence no instrument
could distinguish from natural background
. Except for now when it was on
standby, shielded not from eyes but from prescience
.

...

For brief moments when they disgorged troops, no-ships were visible and
vulnerable
. He held elements of the entire force responsive to his comboard and
responsibility was heavy.

...

He lifted off the Flat and repositioned in full invisibility. Now, only the
comlinks gave defenders a clue to his position and that was masked by decoy
relays.


~Chapterhouse Dune


Why say "full invisibility" if there isn't a partial invisibility?
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
A Little Galach
Posts: 172
Joined: 26 Mar 2010 16:37

Re: No-Ships: To See or Not To See

Post by A Little Galach »

Freakzilla wrote::cylon101:

In standby mode no-ships are visible to the naked eye but invisible to prescience.

He could almost feel the flow of the ship's power, this giant enclosure cut out
of Time. Frictionless machinery to create a mimetic presence no instrument
could distinguish from natural background
. Except for now when it was on
standby, shielded not from eyes but from prescience
.

...

For brief moments when they disgorged troops, no-ships were visible and
vulnerable
. He held elements of the entire force responsive to his comboard and
responsibility was heavy.

...

He lifted off the Flat and repositioned in full invisibility. Now, only the
comlinks gave defenders a clue to his position and that was masked by decoy
relays.


~Chapterhouse Dune


Why say "full invisibility" if there isn't a partial invisibility?
It seems that I need to get to a passage or two. Thanks.
Post Reply