Rocheworld by Robert L. Forward

Author:Robert L. Forward
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 0671698699
Publisher: Baen Publishing Enterprises
Published: 1990-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Rising slowly on its fans, the Magic Dragonfly first gained altitude, then speed as the nuclear jet cut in.

"Where to now?" said Arielle.

"Head for the inner pole," said Richard, but take us over the big lava volcano, I want to get some infrared pictures."

Arielle headed the Magic Dragonfly toward the inner pole in the deep Roche darkness. They hadn't far to go and the gravity dropped even more. They finally reached the inner pole. Using Jill's radar, they found a flat place and landed to wait for daylight.

Shirley came up from the back, bouncing as she came.

"This is ridiculous," she said. "All that dirt out there and it isn't keeping me on the floor."

"You keep forgetting that equally large ball of dirt overhead," said David. "Why don't you put on free-fall boots? The floor has loop carpeting."

"They're back at Rocheworld Base," said Shirley embarrassedly. "I was so busy checking everyone else's kits that I didn't check mine. Besides, you don't expect to run into free-fall in an airplane!"

"This is magic airplane!" said Arielle. "It can even abolish gravity. It almost sunrise, we shall go?"

"Yes," said George. "Up please—and don't stop until up is down."

Arielle started the lift fans at low speed and the Magic Dragonfly rocked and lifted rapidly in the half-percent gravity at the inner pole. She switched to the nuclear jet and started a tight spiral climb.

"Ten kilometers and climbing," she announced as the ball of Barnard rose behind Roche. A few minutes later Gargantua peeked from behind Eau and the sunlight from Barnard illuminated the water mountain above them while the ground below was still in darkness.

"Twenty kilometers and climbing," said Arielle. "Gravity now less than one-three hundredths gee." Forgotten items started to float around in the cabin in the currents of the air conditioning system. The room was soon full of busy mosquito-imps cleaning up the air.

"No ring waves," said George, looking up. Barnard now illuminated one-half of the conical ocean with its red glare, while the other half was more softly illuminated with the reflected light from Gargantua.

"Since it's been daytime on Roche, the air flow is from Roche to Eau, or down the water mountain," said David.

"So no big waves," said George. "And any that get formed spread out as they go down mountain."

The drone of the lift fan engines slowed.

"Forty kilometers altitude and stopped," said Arielle. "We at midpoint."

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