"You wanta know about hyperdrive?" growled Astro.
"To be sure, if you'd be so kind," said Alfie.
"Well, if you'll close your trap long enough, I'll tell you about it!"
Alfie sat back and waited, hands clasped around one knee.
"In the first place," began Astro, "hyperdrive was developed by Joan Dale back at the Academy. And it's so blasted simple, I get mad at myself for not thinking of it first!"
"Uhhh," snorted Alfie. "I respect your great talent on the power deck, Astro, but I would hardly compare myself with Dale!"
"Shut up!" barked Astro. "You'll see how simple it is! Hyperdrive is based on the idea that the thrust of the rockets acts in the exact same way on all the atoms inside the spaceship. So you can have as much thrust as you want and no one will feel a thing. Even if the ship were to accelerate a million times faster than the gravity of the Earth you wouldn't feel a thing, because all the atoms inside would be pushed along at the same time!" Astro sat back triumphantly.
"Ummmmh," commented Alfie. "That sounds all right as a principle, but will it work out in space?"
"Listen, you—you—" snorted Astro.
"Sure it will, Alfie," said Tom. "It's been tested before."