Altered Destiny by Trevor Gregg

Author:Trevor Gregg [Gregg, Trevor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

37

Space Elevator

Alis watched the viewscreens intently as they approached the planet Vargos, a large crescent of green forests, blue water, and white swirling clouds. When a teenager in school, she had been intrigued by the engineering necessary to craft and maintain a space elevator, so she was eagerly anticipating her first view.

She thought she could just barely make it out. There! That was it, a thin line reaching up from the clouds, ending in a large station just barely in orbit. She could see what amounted to a huge parking lot, ships docked along the many spires extending from the station. The central core of the station was capped by a clear plexi-steel dome.

The closer they came, the more detail she could see. She zoomed the viewscreen. There were buildings under the dome, probably several city blocks worth. Below the station, the tether ran down to the surface of the planet, the destination unseen below the cloud cover.

“We will be docking in a few minutes,” Isa informed them.

“What’s the plan, Tharox,” Kyren asked.

“We’ll find the marketplace, find a relic dealer, and inquire about these katerwans.”

“Benjam, how much longer on your data analysis before you can tell us something concrete?” Kyren inquired.

“Well, that is hard to tell. It could be soon or we may hit uncertainty and have to re-run models. I really can’t say,” he squeaked his reply.

“In that case, you stay here and keep working, okay?”

Isa docked the ship and Alis darted for the airlock.

“Eager to get off the ship?” Kyren asked her, giving a sidelong glance as he followed.

“Yeah. I mean, no, I just want to see the space elevator,” she replied.

“What’s a space elevator?” he asked, looking puzzled.

“Oh it’s a magnificent feat of engineering, it is,” Alis began excitedly. “A tether, at a minimum of twenty-two thousand miles long, extends from the surface to a facility in geostationary orbit.”

“Twenty-two thousand miles?!” Kyren questioned incredulously.

“Yeah, it is kept aloft by the balance of gravitational forces from the surface up to the orbital end. There will be vehicles that climb and descend, shuttling people and goods to and from the ground. It’s more efficient than expending valuable fuel to escape the planet’s gravity well,” Alis continued.

“Oh, that’s cool, I guess,” Kyren replied, earning a derisive snort from Alis.

Alis exited the ship and looked around for the nearest directory. The station’s walls were tarnished and corroded, a layer of paint long peeled away, leaving only specks. The floor plates were rough metal, echoing hollowly as they stepped. She spotted a holopanel on the wall a little way down the corridor that contained what she was looking for.

“Kyren, get a look at this map. Get us to the core, that’s where the transport will be.”

She watched Kyren examine the map for a moment, then started off down the hall. Alis followed, the others, Tharox and Elarra, in tow. Tharox had left his massive rifle on the ship, but she had seen Kyren tucking the small pistol into his waistband. She had no idea what to expect, but was glad to see he wasn’t taking chances.

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