Asteroid Wars - The Precipice Part 15

Teasingly, Pancho said, "So he finds out. He'll just think you're inviting me to dinner."

Humphries grunted. Pancho knew that he had invited Amanda to dinner at his home twice since they'd first met. And he'd stopped asking Pancho to report to him down there. Now they met at prearranged times and places: strolling in the Grand Plaza, watching low-gravity ballet in the theater, doing a tourist moonwalk on the crater floor.

Pancho would have shrugged if she hadn't been encased in the suit. She said to Humphries, "Dan made his pitch to the governing council."

"I know. And they turned him down."

"Well, sort of."

"What do you mean?" he snapped.

"A couple of citizens volunteered to work on Dan's project. He's goin' down to the Venezuela s.p.a.ce station to try to get Dr. Cardenas to head up the team."

"Kristine Cardenas?"

"Yup. She's the top expert at nanotech," Pancho said.

"They gave her the n.o.bel Prize," Humphries muttered, "before nanotechnology was banned on Earth."

"That's the one he's gonna talk to."

For several long moments Humphries simply stood there unmoving, not speaking a word. Pancho thought he looked like a statue, with the s.p.a.cesuit and all.

At length he said, "He wants to use nanomachines to build the rocket. I hadn't expected that."

"It's cheaper. Prob'ly better, too."

She sensed Humphries nodding inside his helmet. "I should've seen it coming. If he can build the system with nanos, he won't need my financing. The sonofab.i.t.c.h can leave me out in the cold-after I gave him the fusion idea on a silver f.u.c.king platter!"

"I don't think he'd do that."

"Wouldn't he?" Humphries was becoming more enraged with every word. "I bring the fusion project to him, I offer to fund the work, but instead he sneaks behind my back to try to raise funding from any other source he can find. And now he's got a way to build the f.u.c.king rocket without me altogether! He's trying to cut my b.a.l.l.s off!"

"But-"

"Shut up, you stupid b.i.t.c.h! I don't care what you think! That p.r.i.c.k b.a.s.t.a.r.d Randolph thinks he can screw me out of this! Well, he's got another think coming! I'll break his back! I'll destroy destroy the sonofab.i.t.c.h!" the sonofab.i.t.c.h!"

Humphries yanked the wire out of Pancho's helmet, then pulled the other end out of his own. He turned and strode back to the bus that had carried him out to the Ranger 9 site, practically boiling up a dust storm with his angry stomping. If he hadn't been in the heavy s.p.a.cesuit, Pancho thought, he'd hop two meters off the ground with each step. Prob'ly fall flat on his face.

She watched as he gestured furiously to the bus driver, then clambered aboard the tourist bus. The driver got in after him, closed the hatch, and started off for the garage back at Selene.

Pancho wondered if Humphries would allow the driver to come back out and pick up the other tourists, or would he leave them stranded out here? Well, she thought, they can always squeeze into the other buses.

She decided there was nothing she could do about it, so she might as well enjoy what was left of her outing. As she walked off toward the wreckage of the tiny, primitive Ranger 9, though, she thought that she'd better tell Dan Randolph about this pretty d.a.m.ned quick. Humphries was sore enough to commit murder, it seemed to her.

s.p.a.cE STATION NUEVA VENEZUEU.

It was almost like coming home for Dan. Nueva Venezuela Nueva Venezuela had been one of the first big projects for the fledgling Astro Manufacturing Corp., back in the days when Dan had moved his corporate headquarters from Texas to La Guaira and married the daughter of the future president of Venezuela. had been one of the first big projects for the fledgling Astro Manufacturing Corp., back in the days when Dan had moved his corporate headquarters from Texas to La Guaira and married the daughter of the future president of Venezuela.

The s.p.a.ce station had lasted much better than the marriage. Still, the station was old and scuffed-up. As the transfer craft from Selene made its approach, Dan saw that the metal skin of her outer hulls was dulled and pitted from long years of exposure to radiation and mite-sized meteoroids. Here and there bright new sections showed where the maintenance crews were replacing the tired, eroded skin. A facelift, Dan thought, smiling. Well, she's old enough to need it. They're probably using cermet panels instead of the aluminum we started with. Lighter, tougher, maybe even cheaper if you consider the length of time they'll last before they need replacing.

Nueva Venezuela was built of a series of concentric rings. The outermost ring spun at a rate that gave the occupants inside it a feeling of normal Earthly gravity. The two other rings were placed where they would simulate Mars's one-third g and the Moon's one-sixth. The docking port at the station's center was effectively at zero gravity. The tech guys called it microgravity, but Dan always thought of it as zero g. was built of a series of concentric rings. The outermost ring spun at a rate that gave the occupants inside it a feeling of normal Earthly gravity. The two other rings were placed where they would simulate Mars's one-third g and the Moon's one-sixth. The docking port at the station's center was effectively at zero gravity. The tech guys called it microgravity, but Dan always thought of it as zero g.

A great place to make love, Dan remembered. Then he chuckled to himself. Once you get over the heaves. Nearly everybody got nauseous their first few hours in weightlessness.

Dan went through customs swiftly, allowing the inspector to rummage through his one travelbag while he tried to keep himself from making any sudden movements. He could feel his sinuses starting to puff up as the liquids in his body shifted in response to weightlessness. No postnasal drips in zero g, Dan told himself. But you sure can get a beaut of a headache while the fluids build up in your sinuses before you adapt.

The main thing was to make as few head motions as possible. Dan had seen people suddenly erupt with projectile vomiting from merely turning their heads or nodding.

The inspector pa.s.sed him easily enough and Dan gratefully made his way along the tube corridor that led "down" to the lunar-level wheel.

He dumped his bag in the cubbyhole compartment he'd rented for this visit, then prowled along the sloping corridor that ran through the center of the wheel, checking the numbers on each door.

Dr. Kristine Cardenas's name was neatly printed on a piece of tape stuck above her door number. Dan rapped once, and opened the door.

It was a small office, hardly enough room for the desk and the two plain plastic chairs in front of it. A good-looking young woman sat at the desk: shoulder-length sandy hair, cornflower blue eyes, broad swimmer's shoulders. She wore an unadorned jumpsuit of pastel yellow; or maybe it had once been brighter, but had faded after many washings.

"I'm looking for Dr. Cardenas," said Dan. "She's expecting me. I'm Dan Randolph."

The young woman smiled up at him and extended her hand. "I'm Kris Cardenas."

Dan blinked. "You... you're much too young to be the the Dr. Cardenas." Dr. Cardenas."

She laughed. Motioning Dan to one of the chairs in front of the desk, she said, "I a.s.sure you, Mr. Randolph, that I am indeed the the Dr. Cardenas." Dr. Cardenas."

Dan looked into those bright blue eyes. "You too, huh? Nanomachines."

She pursed her lips, then admitted, "It was a temptation I couldn't resist. Besides, what better way to test what nanotechnology can do than to try it on yourself?"

"Like Pasteur injecting himself with the polio vaccine," Dan said.

She gave him a sidelong look. "Your grasp of the history of science is a bit off, but you've got the basic idea."

Dan leaned back in the plastic chair. It creaked a little but accommodated itself to his weight. "Maybe I ought to try them, too," he said.

"If you don't have any plans to return to Earth," Cardenas replied, with a sudden sharpness in her voice.

Dan changed the subject. "I understand you're working with the Mars exploration program."

She nodded. "Their budget's being slashed to the bone. Beyond the bone, actually. If we can't develop nanos to take over the life-support functions at their bases, they'll have to close up shop and return to Earth."

"But if they use nanomachines they won't be allowed to come back home."

"Only if they use nanomachines in their own bodies," Cardenas said, raising a finger to emphasize her point. "The IAA has graciously decided they can be allowed to use nanotechnology to maintain and repair their equipment."

Dan caught the sarcasm in her tone. "I'll bet the New Morality was thrilled with that decision."

"They don't run the entire show. At least, not yet."

Dan huffed. "Good reason to live off Earth. I've always said, When the going gets tough, the tough get going-"

"-to where the going's easier," Cardenas finished for him. "Yes, I've heard that."

"I don't think I'd be able to live off-Earth forever," Dan said. "I mean... well, that's home."

"Not for me," Cardenas snapped. "Not for a half a dozen of the Martian explorers, either. They've accepted nanomachines. They have no intention of returning to Earth."

Surprised, Dan said, "I didn't know that."

"There hasn't been much publicity about it. The New Morality and their ilk have a pretty tight grip on the news media."

Dan studied her face for a long, silent moment. Dr. Cardenas was physically youthful, quite attractive, a n.o.bel laureate, the leader in her chosen field of study. Yet she seemed so indignant.

"Well, anyway," he said, "I'm grateful that you've taken the time to see me. I know you're busy."

She broke into a pleased smile. "Your message seemed kind of..." she fished for a word,"... mysterious. It made me wonder why you wanted to see me in person, rather than by phone."

Dan grinned back at her. "I've found that it's always easier to discuss matters face-to-face. Phones, mail, even VR meetings, they can't replace person-to-person contact."

Cardenas's smile turned knowing. "It's more difficult for someone to say 'no' to your face."

"You got me," Dan replied, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I need your help and I didn't want to tell you about it long-distance."

She seemed to relax somewhat. Easing back in her chair, she asked, "So what's so important that you came up here to see me?"

"Down here. I came in from Selene."

"What's your problem? I've been so wrapped up with this Mars work that I haven't been keeping up with current events."

Dan took in a breath, then started, "You know I'm the head of Astro Manufacturing."

Cardenas nodded.

"I've got a small team ready to build a prototype fusion rocket, using nanomachines."

"A fusion rocket?"

"We've tested small models. The system works. Now we need to build a full-scale prototype and test it. We're planning a mission to the Asteroid Belt, and-"

"s.p.a.cecraft have gone to the Belt on ordinary rockets. Why do you need a fusion system?"

"Those were unmanned vehicles. This mission will carry a crew of four, maybe six."

"To the Asteroid Belt? Why?"

"To start prospecting for the metals and minerals that the people of Earth need," Dan said.

Cardenas's face turned stony. Coldly, she asked, "What are you trying to accomplish, Mr. Randolph?"

"I'm trying to save the Earth. I know that sounds pompous, but if we don't-"

"I see no reason to save the Earth," Cardenas said flatly.

Dan gaped at her.

"They got themselves into this greenhouse mess. They were warned, but they paid no attention. The politicians, the business leaders, the news media... none of them lifted a finger until it was too late."

"That's not entirely true," Dan said softly, remembering his own struggles to get the world's leaders to recognize the looming greenhouse cliff before it struck.

"True enough," Cardenas replied. "And then there's the New Morality and all those other ultraconservative cults. Why do you want to save them?"

"They're people," Dan blurted. "Human beings."

"Let them sink in their own filth," Cardenas said, her words dripping acid. "They've earned whatever they get."

"But..." Dan felt completely at sea. "I don't understand..."

"They exiled me." She almost snarled the words. "Because I injected nanomachines into my body, they prevented me from returning to Earth. Their fanatics a.s.sa.s.sinated anyone who spoke in favor of nanotechnology, did you know that?"

Dan shook his head mutely.

"They attacked Moonbase, back before it became Selene. One of their suicide killers blew up Professor Zimmerman in his own lab. And you want me to help them?"

Shocked by her vehemence, Dan mumbled, "But that was years ago..."

"I was there, Mr. Randolph. I saw the mangled bodies. And then, when we won and even the old United Nations had to recognize our independence, those hypocritical ignoramuses pa.s.sed laws exiling anyone who had accepted nanomachines into her body."

"I understand that, but-"

"I had a husband," she went on, blue eyes snapping. "I had two daughters. I have four grandchildren in college that I've never touched! Never held them as babies. Never sat down at the same table with them."

Another woman might have burst into tears, Dan thought. But Cardenas was too furious for that. How the h.e.l.l can I reach her? he wondered.

She seemed to recover herself. Placing both hands on her desktop, she said more mildly, "I'm sorry for the tirade. But I want you to understand why I'm not particularly interested in helping the people of Earth."

Dan replied, "Then how about helping the people of Selene?"

Her chin went up a notch. "What do you mean?"

"A working fusion drive can make it economical to mine hydrates from the carbonaceous asteroids. Even scoop water vapor from comets."

She thought about that for a moment. Then, "Or even scoop fusion fuels from Jupiter, I imagine."

Dan stared at her. Twelve lords a-leaping, I hadn't even thought of that. Jupiter's atmosphere must be loaded with hydrogen and helium isotopes.