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Transmatter modulation was one of the first Builder technologies to be uncovered during the exploration of Antarean space. This happened such a long time long ago that it’s impossible to be sure exactly how this discovery occurred, or where, or how the alien technology was successfully replicated. All we know is that from the Second or Renatal Age, transmatter modulators – or transmats as they are generally known – became commonplace throughout human space.
A transmat is the usual method of transportation between an orbiting spacecraft and a planet’s surface, or from one spacecraft to another in close proximity. A transmat can transport an object or person to another transmat, allowing practically instantaneous travel between two remote locations. The distance that can be travelled between two transmits depends upon their position to some extent, but is generally sufficient to travel from a planet’s surface to an orbiting craft, although not much greater. Some worlds have transmat systems that allow overland travel; this is achieved by a series of static transmats phased precisely together and spaced about fifty miles apart. These are known as transmat loops or as trans-loops or just loops; they function like roadways, transporting materials and people between one fixed location and another.
It is also possible to use a transmat to pick up an object or person by means of an attached transmatter receptor tuned to the same phase modulation as the transmat itself. This allows a single transmat to function even without another transmat to transport to. These receptors are generally known as jump hooks. In this case the hooked object is transported to the transmat together with the receptor itself. The smallest receptors are so tiny they can be implanted beneath the skin or secreted in jewellery or clothing. Jump hooks have a very short range and this affects the size of the transmat capsule – in effect the greater the distance the smaller the volume can be transported. The very smallest brain implants may be sufficient just to hook the wearer’s head, neatly severing the skull from the body. In extreme transports of this kind a bio-stasis tank awaits! So long as the transportee’s brain remains intact it is always possible to regenerate or, failing that, affect transfer into a clone body.
Transmatter modulation technology also has a role to play upon the battlefield, in the form of homer shells that function as temporary transmats. These tiny versions of transmats don’t function for very long, and there is always the inherent risk of the modulator field collapsing mid-transport. However, they form a method of placing troops or materials into the heart of a battlefield when necessary.
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