spread to the stars at first through a near light speed drive system, then developed a faster than light drive. I wanted a somewhat nautical
feel to the ships, so this particular type of drive employs large "sails".
The Coventry was a pretty standard interstellar vessel of its era; no artificial gravity at this time so the ship employed two
contra-rotating pressure hulls to carry the crew quarters and living spaces. Aft of this are a set of attitude thrusters, then a
set of 24 fuel tanks. Then come the FTL drive sails, and a singularity reactor which had a conversion efficiency of about 10%.
Another set of attitude thrusters aft of that, then the sublight engine bell.
Conventry spent her first few years flying passengers and cargo from system to system. Her maximum FTL speed is 30-35 xc,
so a ten light year trip would take her a good four months.
Alas, Humans encountered their first alien species - which turned out to be both hostile and somewhat more advanced than
we were. Coventry was at a colony world when word reached her. She was quickly refitted with whatever weapons the colonists
could whip up; heavyweight missiles based on an old Earth ICBM design, modified for space use, and a rail gun. The weapons fit
wasn't up to much; the ninety 5 Megaton warheads per missile were impressive in theory, but lacked any ability for independent
targeting or maneuvering; they simply scattered just before the missile reached its target, giving a "shotgun" effect. Unfortunately,
the missiles lacked the acceleration and delta-vee to be more than token "give the ship something to shoot" weapons. The rail gun
was reasonably effective at close range work, but again lacked the range to be an effective weapon.
Coventry gave good service during the war, despite being heavily outclassed by the enemy. She fought a series of holding
actions, retreating from system to system whilst slowing the enemy advance as much as possible.
