Adjusting the liquid controls
Of the saucer
Meant submerging beneath
The splash barrier
to flush out the hydrogen bubbles
That sometimes accumulate
Through thermodynamic action
Within the few narrow crevices,
That are unavoidable in the construction
Of a ship that requires
As little drag as is microscopically possible,
at full momentum,
Yet still carry the equipment to do so.
Every angle becomes a potential time bomb
At these high speeds
Through atmospheres greater than
Half a G
The controls floated
On the surface of a liquid
Twice the viscosity of water
Just enough to resist
An involuntary reflex,
A heavy hand…
The liquid moved within a sphere
Which established the
Gyroscopic stability of the ship
And a kind of computer assisted
Three dimensional control
Necessary in flying these craft
While twisting and turning at
Incomprehensible speeds
Along the surface of an unpredictable planet
The gravitational forces normally associated
With such air travel
Would be enough to tear apart a
A human being
But for the fact that
A crew of such a vessel
Is also under this liquid
Whose natural pressure
And fluid body
Cancel these effects completely
Leaving the "merman",
As they are called,
Always cool and serene,
Thoughtful and deliberate,
Though perhaps a bit reticent
As it was at least twice the effort
Of human speech
To communicate inside the sphere
They could be found singing, however,
While traveling the vast depths of space
Creating complex sound patterns
Inside the liquid.
Self contained waveforms that could be directed
With calculated returns and
Fine tuned modulation.
Developed through arduous hours
Of adjustment
And recording the position
Of hovering mermen
Whose orders to tread in position
For hours on end
Was both tedious and totally rewarding.
The result being transcendental symphonies
Whose creation was only possible
In both zero gravity and while
Submerged in liquid
To reach the splash barrier
One had to "swim"--
For lack of a better word--
Out one of the eight corridors
And into the main
Taurus ring
As the bubbles could not
Be dislodged only to lodge again
Within another nook in the ring,
Or down a connecting corridor
Into one of the function modules--
But would have to be vacuumed
Into a sealed container,
Then physically removed from the ship.
This was done by detaching the canister
From the backpack vacuum device
And twist locking it into the exhaust port
Of the main atmosphere scrubber
Then finally ejecting the gas into the void of space
…Back to where it originated some 13 billion years ago.
