The latest inspection of the Grosvenor Workshop took place in a rather ceremonial atmosphere. Arthur Weasley escorted Richard into one of the underground hangars, which, thanks to an Undetectable Extension Charm, was positively enormous.
Wizards in blue aircraft mechanics' overalls bustled about the vast chamber.
Grosvenor Junior's gaze locked onto the futuristic-looking craft mounted on special assembly cradles. It was an enormous rocket, thirty metres long and just over three metres in diameter. Nearer the rear, support structures projected from either side, with rocket-like engines mounted at their ends, each twenty metres long and roughly a metre in diameter.
Mr Weasley proudly gestured towards the rocket and announced:
"My lord, this is the Phoenix! Our first prototype sublight spacecraft."
"Mr Weasley," Richie said, devouring the craft with his eyes, "did you actually make it out of a rocket?"
"Yes, yes," Weasley confirmed happily. "We managed to get hold of an American Titan launch vehicle that had been retired due to age. We repaired it, rebuilt it, and enchanted it."
"I can see the nozzles for chemical rocket propellant." Richard turned his attention towards the rear of the rocket.
"On the recommendation of the Muggle specialists, we decided to retain the chemical rocket engine," Arthur explained. "We've enchanted everything so that the propellant is transfigured directly inside the tank. That allowed us to dispense with the unnecessary stages and make the fuel supply practically inexhaustible."
"And won't the nozzles burn out under such intensive use?" Grosvenor asked.
"No, my lord." Weasley shook his head. "The material has been enhanced and reinforced with charms."
"Mr Weasley, what are those structures on the sides?" Richard continued with his questions.
"Oh!" Arthur Weasley's eyes burned with enthusiasm. "Those are our pride and joy—the first operational low-power prototypes of the PMS-1 sublight engines. They were built solely for testing and refining the technology."
"Low-power?" Richard raised his right eyebrow questioningly.
"Yes, yes, their power has deliberately been reduced," Arthur gushed with unprecedented enthusiasm. "These engines are capable of reaching speeds of up to one-tenth the speed of light."
"Not bad. Not bad at all," Richard remarked with genuine respect.
Mr Weasley positively beamed at the praise for his creation and continued:
"Inside each engine is an enchanted, enormous tunnel containing a magical particle accelerator. A temporary matter-duplication enchantment creates the reaction mass, which is accelerated inside the accelerator and expelled from the engine at tremendous velocity. Because of the enormous difference between the expanded space inside and the space outside, we can generate tremendous, tightly focused thrust. The angled, steerable nozzles allow us to direct that thrust wherever we need it and fly in any direction: forwards, left, right, up, or down. And reverse thrust allows us to decelerate or move backwards."
"Mr Weasley," Richard interrupted the wizard's enthusiastic explanation, "wouldn't an enormous quantity of reaction mass accelerated to tremendous velocity cause serious destruction to everything behind the spacecraft? That sounds like a weapon even worse than a railgun!"
"No, no." Arthur shook his head vigorously. "Almost immediately after the reaction mass leaves the particle accelerator, the Transfiguration enchantment expires and the matter disappears. All that remains is the impulse that propels the spacecraft. So there is no destruction behind the starship, as there would be if the engines operated using Muggle technology."
"And do the chemical engines work on the same principle?" Richard asked. "They don't harm the environment either?"
"Yes, yes." Arthur smiled broadly. "Exactly right, my lord. We haven't managed to eliminate the flame from the nozzles entirely, but overall our spacecraft can be considered environmentally friendly. The chemical engine is required for take-off from a planet's surface and for landing, though primarily as a backup and as camouflage in front of Muggles. We hope we'll hardly need it at all, since the rocket has been enchanted to fly like a broomstick. One Muggle scientist described that principle of flight as 'antigravity'."
"Mr Weasley, what about conditions for the crew?"
"My lord, please, come aboard and I'll show you everything."
Arthur and Richard entered the body of the former rocket through an airtight hatch. Richie felt as though he had stepped inside an enormous barrel roughly two and a half metres in diameter.
The ship was divided into sections five metres long. Everything inside had been arranged much like an ordinary modern space station: the living compartment had bunk-like sleeping berths with restraints, a specially designed vacuum toilet, and much more besides.
"Mr Weasley, am I right in assuming you decided not to create artificial gravity aboard the ship?"
"No." Arthur shook his head. "It would be a needless waste of resources. The Phoenix is intended primarily for developing and testing magical technologies. That's why we decided against using spatial expansion inside the spacecraft or wasting effort and resources on providing comfort for the crew."
"And where did all this equipment come from?"
Richard swept a hand towards the various devices and pieces of equipment intended to support human life in space.
"We borrowed it from the Muggles," Mr Weasley admitted honestly.
"Stole it?" Grosvenor tensed slightly.
"No, no, of course not." Arthur waved his hands hastily. "The Muggles were planning to drop the Salyut 7 space station into the ocean. So we borrowed the station and dropped a transfigured dummy into the ocean in its place. We repaired the equipment and put it to use. We've still got plenty of other useful odds and ends left over. Their spacesuits are rubbish, though. Our latest versions are much better. Even our earliest models were better!"
"Ahem... Borrowed?" Richard stared at Arthur with wide eyes. "A space station? HOW?!"
"It was Cousin Bilius's idea," Arthur admitted, lowering his eyes in embarrassment. "He has extensive experience calculating portals for extremely long-distance travel. With the help of an AI, Bilius calculated a portal to the station, and after that it was simply a matter of magic: travel to the station at the right moment, shrink it, take it away, then transfigure a dummy and leave that behind to continue falling."
(End of Chapter)
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