Book 15 ebook The Lunar Kingdom by Earl Nelson

Author:Earl Nelson [Nelson, Earl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

I had to find something else to do on these trips from the earth to the moon and back. It took ten days each way, not counting launch time and downtime in orbit waiting for the launch window.

At least I didn’t have to spend time on my business so much anymore. However, the trip would have been perfect to sign greeting cards and other correspondence.

The best thing was to cut down on the number of trips. Since I wasn’t going to be doing any of the labor in building the colony, there weren’t many good reasons for me to go up until it was ready for occupation.

My main concern at this time was why Empress Ping had told me to drop rocks on the Russians when she knew we had Rods from God in orbit. I loved that phrase. I hoped we never had to use them.

Upon landing, I spent a day recuperating and taking a well overdue shower; in fact, I took two of them.

I had made an appointment with the Empress for the next day, so I was flown in my 707 to Beijing for our meeting.

On the way there, I quizzed the Chief Pilot about using a fusion engine so that the 707 could go supersonic. To my dismay, I was told that the airframe wasn’t made to handle the stress.

I tried a different series of questions. It started with could we take the 707 into orbit. Again it was a negative answer. The airframe wasn’t built to hold the pressure of a true vacuum. The internal air pressure would blow the aircraft apart.

I told him he was a spoilsport and went back to my office. I drafted a memo asking the design team to combine a fusion power plant with an EmDrive on a craft capable of taking off from the ground, flying to the moon, and returning.

This combination of power and drive would make it a true spacecraft. Our first test results of the EmDrive indicated it could make the trip to the Moon in two days.

It would only take ten weeks to go to Mars.

I was given time to change to a suit before meeting the Empress. She welcomed me warmly with a smile.

“Rick, it is so good to see you again. How is your golf game?”

“Pretty good on earth, terrible on the moon.”

“I never tried the game, so I wouldn’t know how big the differences are.”

“Trust me; they are like night and day. I don’t think it is fair to call what we do on the moon golf. The reality of physics makes it a different game.”

“I’m sure things will work out. It is giving your project a lot of favorable publicity and even some income.”

“I think the ROI would be about a million years if we only depended on golf income.”

“What do you depend on to turn a profit? You have already spent a large fortune.”

“I’m not worried about turning a profit in the short term. The money I have is found money, and if not spent on major projects as a money sink, it could upset the world economy.

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