“Wow,” he said.
7 As concerned as everyone was about removing the sphere and repairing the damage, there was equal concern over its origin and purpose. Even as teams applied the coating of aerogel to the cold ebony sphere, speculation among the crew was quickly turning into paranoia and fear. And the question on everyone’s mind seemed to be – what next?
The Commander acted quickly. Three hours after Stubbs had given the order, the sphere was being coated with an aerogel spray and a transport vehicle was being modified to carry it. But even though they hurried, it would take an estimated six hours to move the sphere around the cylinder to the hole where it had entered the ship. At the same time a special frame was being constructed to lower the sphere to the bottom of hole it had made in the cylinder. Getting the sphere to the hole, however, only solved part of the problem. They also had to devise a way to get it through the hull. This meant transferring the sphere from the cylinder to the outer hull section despite the cylinder’s continuous rotation.
The last thing Commander Stubbs wanted to do was stop the cylinder, but firing the thing out through both holes when they merged was risky at best. It was decided, therefore, that the rotation of the cylinder should be slowed to one-third speed.
Stopping the rotation entirely would require draining the lake and securing everything in the cylinder for weightlessness. That unthinkable prospect motivated the engineers, who quickly built a shaft to guide the sphere through the hole in the cylinder.
At the same time, crews built a matching shaft through the entry hole in the outer hull and sealed it in place.
The idea was simple. When everything was in place and they were ready to launch the sphere into space, the shaft containing the sphere would be pressurized and the hole in the outer tube would be opened to the vacuum of space. At the moment the two holes merged the sphere would be fired into space, ejected by air pressure and centrifugal force.
Commander Stubbs liked the plan, saying the engineers had proven once again that ‘desperation is the mother of invention’. But despite his overwhelming approval he didn’t relent on his demands. He gave them 24 hours to complete it.
Professor Baltadonis visited Alex and Mary later that evening. In the quiet of their com room he reluctantly admitted that the doubted that the operation would be accomplished on Stubbs’ timetable. An armed convoy, moving slowly along a winding pathway that led around the lake to the opposite wall of the cylinder, was transporting the sphere. Mary’s keen eyes spotted them from the picture window.
Johnny and Alex walked to the glass and peered up into the glowing sky, but Johnny left the window complaining of the glare. Alex agreed. “My eyes aren’t that good, either.”
He did, however, notice a number of ultralights flying in formation above the place where Mary was looking. The central column was dimming as the artificial day drew to a close. Flocks of birds were settling in the trees and bushes, while here and there lights began to blink on.
Alex turned away from the window. Johnny was seated opposite the viewscreen staring at it blankly. The images displayed were from cameras following the transport from all angles, even from the air, presumably using cameras aboard the ultralights. But the Professor seemed disinterested and detached.
“What’s on your mind, Johnny?” asked Alex.
The Professor grinned. “Mars,” he said. “Wondering how the terraformers are doing. If they ever beat the microdust problem in the atmospheric crackers.” He looked at Alex. “Martian dust gets into everything.”
To Alex Mars was a dust bowl, hardly worth the time and trouble to terraform. It amused him to see someone waxing nostalgic over it. “You miss ol’ red, eh, Johnny?”
“I miss my orchids. My swamp lilies. I miss my daughter.” Johnny said wistfully. The Professor was
7 As concerned as everyone was about removing the sphere and repairing the damage, there was equal concern over its origin and purpose. Even as teams applied the coating of aerogel to the cold ebony sphere, speculation among the crew was quickly turning into paranoia and fear. And the question on everyone’s mind seemed to be – what next?
The Commander acted quickly. Three hours after Stubbs had given the order, the sphere was being coated with an aerogel spray and a transport vehicle was being modified to carry it. But even though they hurried, it would take an estimated six hours to move the sphere around the cylinder to the hole where it had entered the ship. At the same time a special frame was being constructed to lower the sphere to the bottom of hole it had made in the cylinder. Getting the sphere to the hole, however, only solved part of the problem. They also had to devise a way to get it through the hull. This meant transferring the sphere from the cylinder to the outer hull section despite the cylinder’s continuous rotation.
The last thing Commander Stubbs wanted to do was stop the cylinder, but firing the thing out through both holes when they merged was risky at best. It was decided, therefore, that the rotation of the cylinder should be slowed to one-third speed.
Stopping the rotation entirely would require draining the lake and securing everything in the cylinder for weightlessness. That unthinkable prospect motivated the engineers, who quickly built a shaft to guide the sphere through the hole in the cylinder.
At the same time, crews built a matching shaft through the entry hole in the outer hull and sealed it in place.
The idea was simple. When everything was in place and they were ready to launch the sphere into space, the shaft containing the sphere would be pressurized and the hole in the outer tube would be opened to the vacuum of space. At the moment the two holes merged the sphere would be fired into space, ejected by air pressure and centrifugal force.
Commander Stubbs liked the plan, saying the engineers had proven once again that ‘desperation is the mother of invention’. But despite his overwhelming approval he didn’t relent on his demands. He gave them 24 hours to complete it.
Professor Baltadonis visited Alex and Mary later that evening. In the quiet of their com room he reluctantly admitted that the doubted that the operation would be accomplished on Stubbs’ timetable. An armed convoy, moving slowly along a winding pathway that led around the lake to the opposite wall of the cylinder, was transporting the sphere. Mary’s keen eyes spotted them from the picture window.
Johnny and Alex walked to the glass and peered up into the glowing sky, but Johnny left the window complaining of the glare. Alex agreed. “My eyes aren’t that good, either.”
He did, however, notice a number of ultralights flying in formation above the place where Mary was looking. The central column was dimming as the artificial day drew to a close. Flocks of birds were settling in the trees and bushes, while here and there lights began to blink on.
Alex turned away from the window. Johnny was seated opposite the viewscreen staring at it blankly. The images displayed were from cameras following the transport from all angles, even from the air, presumably using cameras aboard the ultralights. But the Professor seemed disinterested and detached.
“What’s on your mind, Johnny?” asked Alex.
The Professor grinned. “Mars,” he said. “Wondering how the terraformers are doing. If they ever beat the microdust problem in the atmospheric crackers.” He looked at Alex. “Martian dust gets into everything.”
To Alex Mars was a dust bowl, hardly worth the time and trouble to terraform. It amused him to see someone waxing nostalgic over it. “You miss ol’ red, eh, Johnny?”
“I miss my orchids. My swamp lilies. I miss my daughter.” Johnny said wistfully. The Professor was
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