Space Fever: McCoy Chronicles Book 1 by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952260445
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2022-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

Easy found everything they needed in the market at the center of the station. It was a big, open plaza with a transparent roof. Above them Timgad, a red giant star, glowed ominously. Easy had some paper credits, and some gold and silver coins that he had picked up over the years, but not enough to get the mining equipment. He would have to get those funds from Big Candy, but he was able to order what they needed. It was all secondhand, but seemed in good shape. Easy had used all sorts of power tools in the Navy. RAKE Operators were given assignments on worlds that were barren rock where the only way to survive was to burrow into the ground. He got two jackhammers, rock cleats, picks, lifting straps, and one rock crusher that would sift minerals into separate bins. Quartzite came in various forms. The most common ore was found in veins that ran through stone. It had to be ground down and collected as dust that was then reprocessed. It would no longer be in crystal form nor have the same traits as the larger crystals, but it would still be valuable.

There were other minerals of value too. Cobalt, lithium, and vanadium were used in battery production. Everything from the iLink in his pocket to the back-up batteries on the Fever used a variety of minerals that could be mined and sold. There was also gold, silver, and platinum, which were worth decent money. But the real prize was a large developed quartzite crystal. It could be cut and used to create harmonic generators that produced energy by harnessing the free electrons that were present everywhere. It was especially useful in space. A ship with a quartzite power generator never needed fuel, and didn’t have to endure regular maintenance to ensure that the fusion reactor didn’t burn up or crack apart. The big crystals were rare, usually forming on planetoids where the matter being compressed together by a star’s gravity went through a series of changes depending on the heat and pressure. What made the planetoid in the center of the Fanning Belt so unique was the fact that the star in the Harpazo system wasn’t strong enough to finish what it started. The planetoid existed in a permanent state, constantly shifting, with sections cracking apart then being pulled back together. The quartzite crystals would be created and destroyed, over and over. Which meant that if a team of miners could find a way through the Belt, they would have access to a never-ending supply of the most valuable mineral in the galaxy.

And a few intrepid miners had worked their way through the Fanning Belt over the centuries. It wasn’t an impossible task, just one that took years to complete and cost a small fortune. Larger mining operations didn’t invest the time and effort because they couldn’t secure their big equipment on a planetoid that was unstable. And the fact that the Harpazo system was right on the line of contested space was also a factor.

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