They
can lift up thousands of times their own weight. Sonrisa could tell you. Our
labs are still perfecting them because they require extreme cold and purity of
materials.”
They skirted the saucer. At the
widest, it was about twenty-five meters.
“How many hectares of surface area
does this bubble have?” Yuki asked.
“About 1,256—six times the land
area of Monaco, but about a fifth the size of Manhattan. I’m not sure if the
surface directly lensward from here is usable. When I was recovering from my
fall, all I could see was fog.”
“Back up. Why would you know the
land area of those cities?”
“A theoretical project I consulted
on, to see if we could boost whole existing cities into orbit with Icarus
technology.”
“Did Red come up with that one,
too?”
“No, James Blish did. He’s a
science-fiction author—you’d know him as one of the writers for the original Star
Trek .”
“Never watched it. How did the
experiment work?”
“Not structurally feasible,
especially the plastic pipes—too brittle and temperature sensitive. Plus, the
sustainability equations break down when we have over a few thousand people per
bubble.”
“Did you grow up in a lab or
something?”
“Whenever I could. Not only did Dad
have the best toys, but it was the only way I could spend time with either one
of my parents during the summer. Did you grow up in a circus?”
“They took me as an apprentice. I worked
very long hours.”
“Sounds difficult.”
“When you’re really poor, you need
to be the best at something to survive. My father became a barker; he would
gather the crowds and collect their money. I eventually achieved my dream of
having my name on the marquee.”
“Why did you quit?”
“I’m small because I didn’t get
enough to eat growing up. Mori-san gave me a scholarship to the best schools. Today,
my hazard pay is enough to support my entire family.”
When they reached the far side of
the ship, the windows to the forbidden room were opaque, and the window setting
couldn’t be changed from the outside. Mercy noted, “There are no other
entrances to the room we want, but I can tell that the saucer is attached near
the neck of the balloon.”
“How did you know where to press on
that device?” Yuki asked. “The planks are all the same shade of pale gray to
me.”
“I can distinguish a wider range of
blues than other people, nothing major.”
Yuki didn’t believe her either.
“Give me a boost. I’ll climb onto the pergola roof and see if there are any
doors or other clues up above.”
“That’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not afraid of a fall.”
“If there’s no gravity in the
middle of the sphere, you could get stuck there. We don’t have a kilometer-long
rope or a way to catch you. You’d starve to death. Worse, there might not be
air beyond the grav zones.”
“There has to be a way we can make
exploration safer. Come on.”
Mercy considered the challenge. “If
I were designing these panels, there’d be a remote control. I could turn the pergola
planks sideways and you could walk on them like this deck. You could climb up
there if I make some planks into steps. We can string extra straps to make the
ascent easier.”
They continued around the ship as
Mercy mused about other shapes she’d make with the dominoes. “The possibilities
are limitless as long as we stay within a certain distance of the saucer. The
five-meter-thick umbilical that links us to the ground looks like the same
material as the saucer. Maybe the dominoes will hover around that, too. There
are about two thousand panels from what I can see. If I were a betting woman, I’d
say 2,187 because it’s the nearest power of three.”
“A control panel like you’re
describing might also appear in colors that only you can see.”
“Stands to reason.”
“Let’s poke around and see if we
can locate something like that.”
There were no invisible blue
markings, and nothing turned on when they
can lift up thousands of times their own weight. Sonrisa could tell you. Our
labs are still perfecting them because they require extreme cold and purity of
materials.”
They skirted the saucer. At the
widest, it was about twenty-five meters.
“How many hectares of surface area
does this bubble have?” Yuki asked.
“About 1,256—six times the land
area of Monaco, but about a fifth the size of Manhattan. I’m not sure if the
surface directly lensward from here is usable. When I was recovering from my
fall, all I could see was fog.”
“Back up. Why would you know the
land area of those cities?”
“A theoretical project I consulted
on, to see if we could boost whole existing cities into orbit with Icarus
technology.”
“Did Red come up with that one,
too?”
“No, James Blish did. He’s a
science-fiction author—you’d know him as one of the writers for the original Star
Trek .”
“Never watched it. How did the
experiment work?”
“Not structurally feasible,
especially the plastic pipes—too brittle and temperature sensitive. Plus, the
sustainability equations break down when we have over a few thousand people per
bubble.”
“Did you grow up in a lab or
something?”
“Whenever I could. Not only did Dad
have the best toys, but it was the only way I could spend time with either one
of my parents during the summer. Did you grow up in a circus?”
“They took me as an apprentice. I worked
very long hours.”
“Sounds difficult.”
“When you’re really poor, you need
to be the best at something to survive. My father became a barker; he would
gather the crowds and collect their money. I eventually achieved my dream of
having my name on the marquee.”
“Why did you quit?”
“I’m small because I didn’t get
enough to eat growing up. Mori-san gave me a scholarship to the best schools. Today,
my hazard pay is enough to support my entire family.”
When they reached the far side of
the ship, the windows to the forbidden room were opaque, and the window setting
couldn’t be changed from the outside. Mercy noted, “There are no other
entrances to the room we want, but I can tell that the saucer is attached near
the neck of the balloon.”
“How did you know where to press on
that device?” Yuki asked. “The planks are all the same shade of pale gray to
me.”
“I can distinguish a wider range of
blues than other people, nothing major.”
Yuki didn’t believe her either.
“Give me a boost. I’ll climb onto the pergola roof and see if there are any
doors or other clues up above.”
“That’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not afraid of a fall.”
“If there’s no gravity in the
middle of the sphere, you could get stuck there. We don’t have a kilometer-long
rope or a way to catch you. You’d starve to death. Worse, there might not be
air beyond the grav zones.”
“There has to be a way we can make
exploration safer. Come on.”
Mercy considered the challenge. “If
I were designing these panels, there’d be a remote control. I could turn the pergola
planks sideways and you could walk on them like this deck. You could climb up
there if I make some planks into steps. We can string extra straps to make the
ascent easier.”
They continued around the ship as
Mercy mused about other shapes she’d make with the dominoes. “The possibilities
are limitless as long as we stay within a certain distance of the saucer. The
five-meter-thick umbilical that links us to the ground looks like the same
material as the saucer. Maybe the dominoes will hover around that, too. There
are about two thousand panels from what I can see. If I were a betting woman, I’d
say 2,187 because it’s the nearest power of three.”
“A control panel like you’re
describing might also appear in colors that only you can see.”
“Stands to reason.”
“Let’s poke around and see if we
can locate something like that.”
There were no invisible blue
markings, and nothing turned on when they
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