3AM Friday morning I finished re-reading “Footfall.” Every reference relevant to working out the alien mother ship, the secondary vessels, the Michael and its secondary vessels has been located and marked. I will type them all up and post ’em shortly, preferably when it’s a less insane hour.
Pretty much as I expected and vaguely recalled from memory, things are described almost not at all. The Michael has gun turrets, plural… but it doesn’t say how many. A reference to “turret five.” It has the “big guns” from the USS New Jersey… but it *doesn’t” say that it has the *turrets* from the New Jersey.
According to the aliens, it’s twice as long as it is wide. Twice it’s referred to as being approximately “twice eight-cubed time (5.8 feet)” in size, which is an insanely and unrealistically large 5,939 feet. If we can assume that this is a mis-statement of “twice 8-squared times (5.8 feet), then that’s 742 feet… gigantic, but actually about the size implied. “Massive as any freighter.” I hate assuming that the author had a character mis-speak a fact, though, especially when they do it twice. But I really got nuthin’ else here.
The “Stovepipes” are gunships made from naval guns fitted with autoloaders, cockpits, nuclear shells and propulsion systems. I’ve long assumed they were 16-inch guns, but nothing supports that. Probably 5-inch naval guns. Reference to “Stovepipe 8,” so at least that many. Length given as five times (5.8 feet), so 29 feet. Not much room if these are 16-inchers, but they have to have a substantial propulsion system to perform as described (at least 5 km/sec delta V, plus buckets of acceleration). Other than four Shuttles, no other type of secondary manned craft was described. Missile launchers are mentioned, and described as fitted by Army, not Navy. Modified MLRS? Not sure what else the Army would have here.
