The Ruins of Mars (The Ruins of Mars Trilogy Book 1) by Dylan James Quarles

enough to be seen from Earth. Easily. You see, we’ll basically detonate a bomb here in the fusion chamber—” James pointed to a spherical space in the center of the engine enclosed with thick walls. “—Then that explosion will be instantly forced out into the vacuum of space via this exhaust line here.”
          He traced the length of the wide exhaust pipe that extended from the rear of the ship.
          “The lack of oxygen in space will cut down on the heat released by the explosion, but the resulting shockwave will jettison the ship at extremely high speeds towards Mars.”
          Letting that sink in, James slid a finger across his Tablet and outlined a honeycomb of layered walls between the engine and the crew decks.
          “Between the crew and the engine, we have multiple layers of protective lead-lined walls filled with specialized chemical coolants and radiation-absorbing algae. They will act as a buffer between our human crew and the massive output of nuclear energy created by the torch burst. They will also protect Braun’s brain from the resulting EMP. Now, we plan to only fire the torch twice: once on departure and once on return. The rest of the way will be coasting with some bursts of auxiliary fuel for minor course corrections and evasive maneuvers.”
          Again, Eve Bear interrupted, squinting incredulously at the model.
          “There’s not much crew space, is there? From what I’m seeing here, most of this ship seems to be dedicated to mechanical operations.”
          Smiling, James recalled that most people outside of specialized fields garnished the majority of their ideas about space travel from science fiction stories, which were never to be taken seriously.
          “It’s true, Mrs. Bear. Most of the ship’s interior is taken up by mechanics, but it’s those mechanics that will keep the crew alive and get them to Mars. Unfortunately we don’t have warp drives or wormhole technology, so we still have to do things the old fashioned way: with rockets. We are, however, cutting down on our costs by launching from Earth’s orbit rather than from the surface itself. That’s why we’re building her up in the HEO, or High Earth Orbit, Shipyard.”
          Fixing James with a look that barely passed for friendly, Eve said, “Thank you for that lesson, Dr. Floyd. I know this isn’t Star Wars , but I was simply asking the question about room on board because, as you’ve stated yourself, none of the existing crew knows anything about archaeology. If we are to assign another member, he or she will need a place to sleep, food to eat and air to breathe. Can the ship handle another person?”
          Blushing, James nodded.
          “Julian did design some extra storage in the crew deck for just this sort of thing. When he brought the design to us, he had envisioned a crew of fourteen, not eleven. Funds quickly put an end to that dream, but it appears that keeping the extra space was a good idea after all.”
          Sensing the tension, the President cheerfully joked, “Alright Eve, this isn’t high school. Quit busting the nerdy kid’s balls.” Then turning to James he said, “What about asteroids and other space junk? I know that became a problem for the Bessel project. Didn’t they end up using lasers? Is that what you have in mind?”
          Entering a few commands into his Tablet, James caused the model of the ship to turn transparent green, save for twenty-four, small red dots connected by a web of red lines, which snaked throughout the entire ship and ended at the bridge deck. The dots were aligned in rows of six: one on each side of the ship and down the centers of the top and underside.
          “These dots,” pointed James. “Represent a very advanced and very effective laser defense system. They are actually small lenses about the size of a hubcap, covered by protective domes. The lenses focus a