Radiation-generator overalls

Radiation-generator overalls make flight an ordinary means of getting around in a world where Neptune’s powerful gravity might otherwise seem to rule it out. Fitted with radiation-generators, the overalls turn human flight into a familiar, almost aquatic mode of movement rather than an exceptional feat.

Design and Operation

The overalls have radiation-generators fitted at various points. The account gives no further technical description of their construction or operation; its emphasis is on what they allow people to do. Human fliers have no wings: they travel with their arms outspread, rising from the ground despite the planet’s strong gravitational field.

Flight as Everyday Movement

The narrator compares ordinary flight in the overalls to aerial swimming. This is the community’s usual way of moving, not a specialized activity reserved for unusual journeys. Seen from a distance near one of the great buildings, the wingless fliers might first be mistaken for a swarm of midges—a perspective that makes familiar human locomotion look strange to an outside observer.

Domestic Use and Other Aircraft

Flying-suits hang near the outer door of a house, ready for everyday use. They are distinct from the private air-boats kept in attached garages: those brightly colored, torpedo-shaped craft, along with liners, are used when high speed is wanted. The contrast places the overalls at the ordinary end of the society’s flight technology: wearable equipment for routine movement, alongside enclosed vehicles for faster travel.