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Authors: K. Anderson Yancy
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me and the Secretary General of the UN, he, Selena, Kevin,
Gardener, Tatyana, Hemmingson and I were watching.
Kevin laughed. “That was a great bluff
about the hunter killer satellites.”
Gardner chuckled. “Yeah. HKS’s. Cute.”
George and I answered with silence.
Hemmingson was shocked. “You weren’t
bluffing?”
And he was not alone. Selena was livid.
“You two armed the moon?!”
Selena, Kevin, Gardner & Hemmingson
looked at Tatyana with accusatory gazes.
“Why do you keep looking at me? I just
work here.”
Becoming increasingly angry with each
moment, Selena continued. “I can’t believe you two. Just tell me they weren’t
nukes.”
Quick I said. “No, they’re not.“
George was significantly more candid than
I or than I would have liked for him to be. “We simultaneously deployed the
robotic mining modules with the lunar advertising module and they like the
HKS’s are powered with weapons grade plutonium.”
Selena was beyond furious and
escalating. “So you can access it later, if you need to. Plus, you’re going
to strip mine the moon. That’s where the Helium 3 is coming from.”
This was getting painful. Selena and I
had been through a lot. She was the most important thing in my life. I could
see I was losing her and tried to soften her concerns. “Yes, that’s where the additional
Helium 3 is coming from.”
She still was not pleased. “Strip
mining?! And we haven’t really been there to see what we have and you’re
ruining it.”
George stepped in. “Selena. It’s not as
bad as you’re thinking. There are untold billions of tons of Helium 3 on the
moon in its regolith — the lose, heterogeneous material covering it.”
Grateful as always for his help, I
stepped in. “It’s not as intrusive as it sounds. The Moon is rich in Helium
3. Largely created by the sun and blown by solar winds to land on the moon
unimpeded by an atmosphere.”
Soft George said. “We have no desire to
ruin anything, but everything has a use. And YSR has entered into contracts
with hundreds of nations to provide fusion reactors. And for the rest of the
world too poor to afford them, we will pay for them. There will be life giving
electricity brought to so many parts of the world that have never had it. This
is a boon for all mankind. Without the moon’s Helium 3 the cost of fuel for
those reactors will be monumental. We would essentially be bidding against
ourselves for the scarcity. And even then, there’s not enough Helium 3 here to
meet that obligation.”
I tried to touch Selena, but she moved
away. “Harvesting Helium 3 will be more like scooping up sand. It would then
be distilled from the mass and brought back to Earth as a liquefied compressed
gas.”
George poured himself a drink. “One
hundred tons of Helium 3 is enough to power all of the Earth’s electrical needs
for a year.”
I added. “Granted we will do a “nominal”
amount of damage to the moon’s environment.”
George finished the sip of his drink.
“Whatever that environment might be. And we admit that.”
I went to Selena and she took a slight
step away. “But look at the good we’ll do here. More and cheaper energy with
a nominal impact on our own life giving environment.”
George took another sip from his drink, “And
immediate economic windfalls for YSR to justify investor and public faith in
the company and its mission.”
I know she wasn’t interested in the
business aspect, but I knew if she connected the dots, she’d really see what we
were trying to do. “One ton of Helium 3 will sell for billions upon billions
upon billions, more than paying for the cost to harvest it.”
George glanced at his watch. “And will
allow us to continue what we started and expand it.”
Soft and sad, Selena said. “I can’t
believe you armed space.”
Gardner now let his anger flow. “With
conventional and nuclear
Gardener, Tatyana, Hemmingson and I were watching.
Kevin laughed. “That was a great bluff
about the hunter killer satellites.”
Gardner chuckled. “Yeah. HKS’s. Cute.”
George and I answered with silence.
Hemmingson was shocked. “You weren’t
bluffing?”
And he was not alone. Selena was livid.
“You two armed the moon?!”
Selena, Kevin, Gardner & Hemmingson
looked at Tatyana with accusatory gazes.
“Why do you keep looking at me? I just
work here.”
Becoming increasingly angry with each
moment, Selena continued. “I can’t believe you two. Just tell me they weren’t
nukes.”
Quick I said. “No, they’re not.“
George was significantly more candid than
I or than I would have liked for him to be. “We simultaneously deployed the
robotic mining modules with the lunar advertising module and they like the
HKS’s are powered with weapons grade plutonium.”
Selena was beyond furious and
escalating. “So you can access it later, if you need to. Plus, you’re going
to strip mine the moon. That’s where the Helium 3 is coming from.”
This was getting painful. Selena and I
had been through a lot. She was the most important thing in my life. I could
see I was losing her and tried to soften her concerns. “Yes, that’s where the additional
Helium 3 is coming from.”
She still was not pleased. “Strip
mining?! And we haven’t really been there to see what we have and you’re
ruining it.”
George stepped in. “Selena. It’s not as
bad as you’re thinking. There are untold billions of tons of Helium 3 on the
moon in its regolith — the lose, heterogeneous material covering it.”
Grateful as always for his help, I
stepped in. “It’s not as intrusive as it sounds. The Moon is rich in Helium
3. Largely created by the sun and blown by solar winds to land on the moon
unimpeded by an atmosphere.”
Soft George said. “We have no desire to
ruin anything, but everything has a use. And YSR has entered into contracts
with hundreds of nations to provide fusion reactors. And for the rest of the
world too poor to afford them, we will pay for them. There will be life giving
electricity brought to so many parts of the world that have never had it. This
is a boon for all mankind. Without the moon’s Helium 3 the cost of fuel for
those reactors will be monumental. We would essentially be bidding against
ourselves for the scarcity. And even then, there’s not enough Helium 3 here to
meet that obligation.”
I tried to touch Selena, but she moved
away. “Harvesting Helium 3 will be more like scooping up sand. It would then
be distilled from the mass and brought back to Earth as a liquefied compressed
gas.”
George poured himself a drink. “One
hundred tons of Helium 3 is enough to power all of the Earth’s electrical needs
for a year.”
I added. “Granted we will do a “nominal”
amount of damage to the moon’s environment.”
George finished the sip of his drink.
“Whatever that environment might be. And we admit that.”
I went to Selena and she took a slight
step away. “But look at the good we’ll do here. More and cheaper energy with
a nominal impact on our own life giving environment.”
George took another sip from his drink, “And
immediate economic windfalls for YSR to justify investor and public faith in
the company and its mission.”
I know she wasn’t interested in the
business aspect, but I knew if she connected the dots, she’d really see what we
were trying to do. “One ton of Helium 3 will sell for billions upon billions
upon billions, more than paying for the cost to harvest it.”
George glanced at his watch. “And will
allow us to continue what we started and expand it.”
Soft and sad, Selena said. “I can’t
believe you armed space.”
Gardner now let his anger flow. “With
conventional and nuclear
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