Read Online The Dying of the Light: Interval by Jason Kristopher - Free Book Online Page B

reached for a bright red tomato growing suspended in air, then pulled back, as if reluctant to disturb anything.
    “Go ahead,” said Hacker. “Those are almost ready, anyway. And there’s no finer advocate than someone who’s tasted the product.”
    Shaw glanced at him, but he took the tomato out of the rack and held it close under a light for inspection. “This looks… well, perfect!”
    Hacker beamed. “It is! Well, as perfect as we’re likely to get down here anyway, with the equipment I have.” Leaning closer, he nudged Shaw’s arm. “Go ahead, Major. Take a bite.”
    Needing no further urging, the pilot took a large bite of the ripe tomato, juice dribbling down his chin. “Oh, my God. That is…” Shaw chewed and swallowed, then continued, “That’s delicious.”
    “And it’s cheaper, resource-wise, than hydroponics. No big trays, no huge runs of nutrient solution that has to be recycled and maintained, etc. etc. ad nauseum.”
    Shaw looked around, noticing the ‘cobbled together’ feel of the equipment. “Where did you get all this stuff?”
    “Oh, you know, a hose here, a valve there, a little time in the machine shop with an air compressor.”
    “Reuben, we’ve got to tell Jen about this.”
    Hacker blanched. “I don’t know…”
    “What do you mean you don’t know? Reuben, this could be huge !”
    “It’s just that… some of this… well…”
    “Oh, I get it. Are we talking ‘midnight requisitions’ for most of this stuff?”
    Hacker looked down and shuffled his feet, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I… I didn’t wanna say, but…”
    “Shit, Reuben, you can stop worrying about that right now.” Shaw looked around at the trays and racks upon racks of vegetables and fruit. “Wait, how much can you grow with this stuff?”
    Hacker looked up, pride suffusing his features. “A lot. It works better than hydroponics and takes up half the space.”
    “OK, now the big question: what can you grow?”
    “Just about any vegetable. All kinds of fruits, oranges, bananas, strawberries, watermelons…”
    Shaw’s jaw dropped. “ Watermelons ?”
    Hacker nodded. “Yep! Just need more support for those, but with the right stuff I could probably do those quite well.”
    “I came here to talk about expanding the hydroponics bay, and you give me this . Holy shit, Reuben!”
    “Well, we’ll need a lot of water to make either the expansion or the aeroponics work. Not sure if we have enough left for that.”
    “How pure does it need to be? Are we talking distilled water here?”
    “No, nothing like that. But we wouldn’t be able to use just tap water, either. It’ll need to be clean, potable water, and we’re running somewhat low on that, which I was going to come talk to your wife about… Why are you laughing?”
    Shaw took a breath and stood straight, tears running down his face from his laughter, and chuckled some more. Crooking a finger, he walked back out into the main lab and pointed out the only window.
    “I think we’ve got it covered, Reuben.”
    “What? There’s no… Oh, dear lord,” he said, finally figuring it out, and began laughing along with Shaw.
    Marcie walked over, curious. “All right, then, what’s with all the hush-hush? And what’s so funny outside?”
    Shaw looked over at her, then glanced back at Hacker. “It’s ice, Marcie. Some of the cleanest, purest ice in the world.”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “So,” he said, wiping a tear from his cheek. “Ice melts .”
    A couple minutes later, they’d gotten their breath back, and were leaning against one of the tables. Shaw sobered first and turned to Hacker. “You know this doesn’t solve everything , right?”
    Hacker nodded. “I know. It’s not a magic pill, by any means. We’ve still got the whole protein issue to work out, even with our increased production. But this is a little victory, Major, and that’s all we have down here anymore. Little victories.”
    “Agreed, Dr.