The Carrier

The Carrier is the fictional base of operations of The Authority, a Wildstorm Comics superteam. It is a shiftship, a ship capable of moving through the Bleed, the red space which separates alternate universes in the Wildstorm multiverse. It is 50 miles (80 km) long, 35 miles (56 km) high and two miles (3 km) wide. It is powered by a caged baby universe. It first appeared in The Authority #1, cover dated May 1999.

It is known that the Carrier was originally a trading ship, used to travel and trade between alternate dimensions, but its black box was found all but wiped and so its true origins remain unknown. The Carrier was parked in Earth orbit some time in the past and remained dormant until it was discovered by Jenny Sparks of The Authority and used as their base of operations from 1999 onwards.

The Carrier exists in orbit around the Earth but at the same time continuously sails through the higher dimensions of the Wildstorm multiverse. It is capable of opening doors between any two points in space, allowing quick access from the Carrier to anywhere on Earth, as well as to the past, future and to alternate universes. While it is also itself capable of travelling almost literally anywhere, the Carrier stays tied to Earth orbit so that whoever left it there can come back to collect it. It is reluctant to leave although will do so if convinced that it is necessary. Its talents have been used on many missions, such as to infiltrate (physically entering) a vast biological lifeform threatening Earth and to actually evacuate Earth itself when another situation endangers it.

It once crashed to earth after being infiltrated by the government sponsored super-hillbilly, 'Three-Willied Seth'. For some time after this, the Carrier was controlled by a government-run replacement Authority team; it did not co-operate as well with these newcomers. Eventually this team was slain by the original Authority.

The Carrier has always been shown to have some degree of intelligence. In The Authority: Kev (October 2002) it was explicitly revealed that it is, in fact, sentient. It is also able to control time in a small area, for a short period.

An alternate-future version, seen when Midnighter travels to the future, is said to have closed itself to several members of the Authority, whom the Carrier has decided it does not like.

At one point, Kev Hawkins almost destroys the Carrier with an alien-controlled atomic bomb. The Carrier puts up its defenses and saves approximately seventy percent of itself, but not the living quarters, causing the members to "lose all their stuff".

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