Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Goals Can Change

"Hijack the starship!" -- Jefferson Starship ("Blows Against the Empire")
ER — (archived)

Although in the Starship's fantasy ,the mutiny occurs before the ship gets underway.

A great SF plot, and not an unrealistic scenario at all.

Another variant is that Harry does not use violence, but uses politics, either legally working himself up the ship's command chain or using every means at his disposal to conduct a propaganda campaign to sway his fellow young crewman to adopt his views.

The only drawback I see is that he will have trouble getting a cadre together if there is not enough time to carry out his plan to completion while he and his followers are still alive. Depending on the ship's means of propulsion and fuel budget, it may take a lot longer for his plot to work out completely than it took for the ship to get to the point where it can return within their lifetime.

Dramatically, it will have to be explained how someone who has never seen earth, and who is culturally acclimated to shipboard life because it is all he's ever known, would suddenly develop a nostalgia for the Old Sod. Immigrant children usually are very well-adjusted to the new land, and often resent their parent's constant reminiscing about the old one's virtues. I know I did when I was very young, although I am happy to report that cultural self-hatred disappeared as I matured.

I do like the idea of the idealized view he gets of the home planet from the memories of the old-timers and the historical documents aboard. This is a well-known characteristic of immigrant communities who have a romanticized view of the Old Country that glosses over the reasons their ancestors were so eager to leave it in the first place. Refer to the Irish in our own country.

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