reliably,” finished Helen, who certainly understood the basics of the situation. “I guess we can’t land it, though.”
Horst snorted at the thought of landing the massive wreck. “I would think not.”
“What about our other objections to the situation with Munin and Nebula Storm ?” she asked. “Do they still hold if we add Odin into the picture?”
“I don’t think so,” Mia said. “There are cutting tools and materials aboard Odin which I think could manage to put an access conduit through even the Nebula Storm ’s hull; they would be too large and power intensive to be practical to transfer from Odin to us here on Europa, but if we assume that we will do all the design and preparation work ahead of time, we could bring Nebula Storm up when we’re ready to leave, then shut her down and work on her in orbit; the Odin would provide more than sufficient living space which is protected by Odin ’s radiation shielding so that we wouldn’t need Nebula Storm to maintain her drive at that time.”
“So we would be able to put a connection for power that would still allow us to transfer back and forth,” Joe said, “and with the tools and materials on all three ships we could probably make one that will survive the rotational demands for long enough.”
Brett nodded, already starting on his simulations via remote. “It won’t be easy at all, but I think it’s all workable. The only question is whether Nebula Storm can actually tow Odin . I mean, whether it can tow it effectively . I know it’s a matter of pretty much constant force so you could in theory tow anything , but is the Nebula Drive able to give us enough acceleration to get home in reasonable time?”
“Yes, it can,” Jackie said positively. “First, Odin as she currently sits masses something like three thousand tons, maybe less, rather than ten thousand, especially if we dump most of the drive spines, which are pretty much useless now. Together, Nebula Storm and Munin are going to be about two-thirds that much, especially once we’re topped off with reaction mass. So that’s, say, one-fifth of our acceleration previously. But since it’s constant acceleration, cutting it by five doesn’t multiply our time by five—time’s a squared term in there; so square root of five is the effect of decreasing the acceleration, it’ll take us a little more than twice as long to get somewhere.” She grinned again. “It took us about three months to get from Ceres to here. We’ve got food for more than a year, will have that much even after we finish all the work; in a year, I could get you across the whole damn solar system !
“Keep those smiles and make ’em bigger!” she said, and Madeline gave her own grin. “We’re going home—and we’ll be bringing Odin with us!”
Chapter 13.
“Alone at last,” Jackie said, deliberately using the old cliché.
“Yes,” Horst agreed, looking surprisingly nervous. “We are.”
One of the additional inflatable hab units had been transformed into Vacation Hotel Europa, as A.J. had dubbed it—a place where people could go for time separated from the group. The unit, originally meant as two separate living spaces, had been made into a single larger living space, with all the amenities that the castaways of Europa could manage crammed into it, including a shower, a large entertainment projector put together using smaller entertainment components, a larger bed than the standard near-bunk size, projective windows to allow the real view outside or replace it with other locations, a large proportion of the “Joe Dinners,” and whatever other bells and whistles could be thought of.
Any of them—as individuals or groups—could schedule a “vacation” there when not immediately needed (which of course probably meant you worked twice as hard the day before). However, last week, right after it had been completed, Madeline had informed the two that Hotel Europa already had two full days reserved
Horst snorted at the thought of landing the massive wreck. “I would think not.”
“What about our other objections to the situation with Munin and Nebula Storm ?” she asked. “Do they still hold if we add Odin into the picture?”
“I don’t think so,” Mia said. “There are cutting tools and materials aboard Odin which I think could manage to put an access conduit through even the Nebula Storm ’s hull; they would be too large and power intensive to be practical to transfer from Odin to us here on Europa, but if we assume that we will do all the design and preparation work ahead of time, we could bring Nebula Storm up when we’re ready to leave, then shut her down and work on her in orbit; the Odin would provide more than sufficient living space which is protected by Odin ’s radiation shielding so that we wouldn’t need Nebula Storm to maintain her drive at that time.”
“So we would be able to put a connection for power that would still allow us to transfer back and forth,” Joe said, “and with the tools and materials on all three ships we could probably make one that will survive the rotational demands for long enough.”
Brett nodded, already starting on his simulations via remote. “It won’t be easy at all, but I think it’s all workable. The only question is whether Nebula Storm can actually tow Odin . I mean, whether it can tow it effectively . I know it’s a matter of pretty much constant force so you could in theory tow anything , but is the Nebula Drive able to give us enough acceleration to get home in reasonable time?”
“Yes, it can,” Jackie said positively. “First, Odin as she currently sits masses something like three thousand tons, maybe less, rather than ten thousand, especially if we dump most of the drive spines, which are pretty much useless now. Together, Nebula Storm and Munin are going to be about two-thirds that much, especially once we’re topped off with reaction mass. So that’s, say, one-fifth of our acceleration previously. But since it’s constant acceleration, cutting it by five doesn’t multiply our time by five—time’s a squared term in there; so square root of five is the effect of decreasing the acceleration, it’ll take us a little more than twice as long to get somewhere.” She grinned again. “It took us about three months to get from Ceres to here. We’ve got food for more than a year, will have that much even after we finish all the work; in a year, I could get you across the whole damn solar system !
“Keep those smiles and make ’em bigger!” she said, and Madeline gave her own grin. “We’re going home—and we’ll be bringing Odin with us!”
Chapter 13.
“Alone at last,” Jackie said, deliberately using the old cliché.
“Yes,” Horst agreed, looking surprisingly nervous. “We are.”
One of the additional inflatable hab units had been transformed into Vacation Hotel Europa, as A.J. had dubbed it—a place where people could go for time separated from the group. The unit, originally meant as two separate living spaces, had been made into a single larger living space, with all the amenities that the castaways of Europa could manage crammed into it, including a shower, a large entertainment projector put together using smaller entertainment components, a larger bed than the standard near-bunk size, projective windows to allow the real view outside or replace it with other locations, a large proportion of the “Joe Dinners,” and whatever other bells and whistles could be thought of.
Any of them—as individuals or groups—could schedule a “vacation” there when not immediately needed (which of course probably meant you worked twice as hard the day before). However, last week, right after it had been completed, Madeline had informed the two that Hotel Europa already had two full days reserved
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