He
explained how a wedge worked as the force emitters spun up.
“Now,
shape a course twenty degrees to port by ten degrees and we'll spiral the
station. If the station's shields were up we could whip around her at five
hundred gees... Someone put it like a drunk swinging off a light pole.” Irons
smiled tightly as Sergio entered the course. He touched the throttle and they
both felt the gee force as she accelerated. “Nice. Good, she's got a good
handle. Tight. You don't want it too loose in space. Loose means you miss the
mark and end up dead.” He paused as an object drifted by.
“Is
that what I think it is?” Iron's asked softly as a body drifted by.
“Yeah.
You get used to it,” Sergio replied not looking.
“That's
a child!” the Admiral snarled in shock.
“Was,
definitely was,” Sergio said softly.
“Right.
Are there a lot?” the Admiral asked.
“One
isn't enough?” Sergio asked. He pointed to a line. The Admiral stepped up his
implants and could make out a trail of bodies frozen in various poses. They
formed a particularly gruesome halo ring around the station, orbiting it since
it was the body with the strongest gravitational force in the area... He felt a
deep upwelling of fury and anger then suppressed it.
“Right.
I guess we better avoid them,” he said softly.
Sergio
grunted then tapped the controls. The Admiral fought down his anger and began
to focus on the job. “Okay, I'm bringing up the sensors. Running a scan on the
station to make sure they are aligned... good. Okay now let’s see here.” He
pulled up his partial map of the area. “I wonder if there is a carbonaceous
chondrite rock around.” He looked around. Sprite blinked his HUD, and then
placed a caret on the map. “Right, new course two twenty degrees starboard
pitch down eleven.”
Sergio
tapped it in. “What are we doing?” he asked when he was done.
“Going
hunting,” Irons answered.
“For
a rock? We need water,” Sergio reminded him.
“All
rock is not relative. Carbonaceous chondrite are rocks with a high
concentration of water locked in their chemical matrix. Up to twenty two
percent or more. If we can get them back to the station, then they can extract
water from it.” He watched as the tug shaped a course and then accelerated on
the new vector.
“Now,
the wedge will cut out in a few minutes. You could point it at a nearby planet
but that won’t get you much acceleration unless you are close. The gas giant is
the closest planet now.” Irons tapped the map and looked it over. “We can
either coast to the rock, which will take about twelve hours, or you can use
the plasma rocket to...” He felt a jerk as Sergio tapped the plasma rocket and
accelerated them. “Right.” Irons grunted.
“Home
by dinner,” Sergio answered. Irons chuckled.
“Okay,
scanning the rock... we're going to need to calculate her mass and volume, then
her approximate center of gravity to find the proper place to dock so we can
apply thrust.” He watched as the lidar scan scrolled then built a three
dimensional map of the rock. “Okay, she's a beauty, about two hundred and forty
three metric tons. Oval shape, looks like she's got a few dimples. I can't tell
from this distance how solid she is though.” He watched as the gravity scan
came in.
“Wedge
is off, nodes on standby. Wait, they are coming back up?” Sergio asked. The
Admiral grunted. “You’re in range of the asteroid to grab it with the wedge.
Just remember, every action...”
“Has
an equal and opposite reaction. I got it.” Sergio punched a course change then
tapped the joystick. Then he cut the plasma drive and pitched over. The nodes
cut in and they spun around the rock.
“Do
you have a spot picked out?” Sergio asked.
The
Admiral nodded. “Feeding course correction now. See that pair of bumps there?
There is a flat spot in between; we can't see it because of the shadow.” Sergio
craned his neck in the suit then stared for a
explained how a wedge worked as the force emitters spun up.
“Now,
shape a course twenty degrees to port by ten degrees and we'll spiral the
station. If the station's shields were up we could whip around her at five
hundred gees... Someone put it like a drunk swinging off a light pole.” Irons
smiled tightly as Sergio entered the course. He touched the throttle and they
both felt the gee force as she accelerated. “Nice. Good, she's got a good
handle. Tight. You don't want it too loose in space. Loose means you miss the
mark and end up dead.” He paused as an object drifted by.
“Is
that what I think it is?” Iron's asked softly as a body drifted by.
“Yeah.
You get used to it,” Sergio replied not looking.
“That's
a child!” the Admiral snarled in shock.
“Was,
definitely was,” Sergio said softly.
“Right.
Are there a lot?” the Admiral asked.
“One
isn't enough?” Sergio asked. He pointed to a line. The Admiral stepped up his
implants and could make out a trail of bodies frozen in various poses. They
formed a particularly gruesome halo ring around the station, orbiting it since
it was the body with the strongest gravitational force in the area... He felt a
deep upwelling of fury and anger then suppressed it.
“Right.
I guess we better avoid them,” he said softly.
Sergio
grunted then tapped the controls. The Admiral fought down his anger and began
to focus on the job. “Okay, I'm bringing up the sensors. Running a scan on the
station to make sure they are aligned... good. Okay now let’s see here.” He
pulled up his partial map of the area. “I wonder if there is a carbonaceous
chondrite rock around.” He looked around. Sprite blinked his HUD, and then
placed a caret on the map. “Right, new course two twenty degrees starboard
pitch down eleven.”
Sergio
tapped it in. “What are we doing?” he asked when he was done.
“Going
hunting,” Irons answered.
“For
a rock? We need water,” Sergio reminded him.
“All
rock is not relative. Carbonaceous chondrite are rocks with a high
concentration of water locked in their chemical matrix. Up to twenty two
percent or more. If we can get them back to the station, then they can extract
water from it.” He watched as the tug shaped a course and then accelerated on
the new vector.
“Now,
the wedge will cut out in a few minutes. You could point it at a nearby planet
but that won’t get you much acceleration unless you are close. The gas giant is
the closest planet now.” Irons tapped the map and looked it over. “We can
either coast to the rock, which will take about twelve hours, or you can use
the plasma rocket to...” He felt a jerk as Sergio tapped the plasma rocket and
accelerated them. “Right.” Irons grunted.
“Home
by dinner,” Sergio answered. Irons chuckled.
“Okay,
scanning the rock... we're going to need to calculate her mass and volume, then
her approximate center of gravity to find the proper place to dock so we can
apply thrust.” He watched as the lidar scan scrolled then built a three
dimensional map of the rock. “Okay, she's a beauty, about two hundred and forty
three metric tons. Oval shape, looks like she's got a few dimples. I can't tell
from this distance how solid she is though.” He watched as the gravity scan
came in.
“Wedge
is off, nodes on standby. Wait, they are coming back up?” Sergio asked. The
Admiral grunted. “You’re in range of the asteroid to grab it with the wedge.
Just remember, every action...”
“Has
an equal and opposite reaction. I got it.” Sergio punched a course change then
tapped the joystick. Then he cut the plasma drive and pitched over. The nodes
cut in and they spun around the rock.
“Do
you have a spot picked out?” Sergio asked.
The
Admiral nodded. “Feeding course correction now. See that pair of bumps there?
There is a flat spot in between; we can't see it because of the shadow.” Sergio
craned his neck in the suit then stared for a
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