The Richard Jackson Saga: Book 13 : Regicide by Ed Nelson

Author:Ed Nelson [Nelson, Ed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-08-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

The next day I had a message to call General Booth in England. He wanted to give me an update on where they were at. The biggest news was that the old Soviets had a rocket ready to come off the design board. They called it the Proton.

The Russians needed the capital to finish it and were willing to give launch rights to whoever came up with the cash. If successful, the rocket would solve all the lift issues.

I told him I was interested and would come up with the cash if his people reviewed and approved the design. Imagine getting a rocket to go to outer space for a little under five million dollars! Such a deal?

There were no other near-miraculous breakthroughs on the horizon.

I wondered how the Chinese integration of Siberia was coming along. A call to Empress Ping’s Chief of Staff brought me up to date.

They were proceeding with their plans to complete the trans-Siberian railway with a single gage, double track its entire length. There would also be a roadway following the right-of-way. The emphasis would be on the railway. There would be spurs built for every modest-sized village.

I couldn’t believe the schedule they were predicting. When you have an on-site labor force of over a million men and more on the way, you can get a lot done.

The only hold-up was the steel rail. Plants in China were running full out and not able to keep up with the demand. They were importing it from South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

There was no shortage of sleepers as the gulags were still chopping down trees. I would have to look into that, I wasn’t in favor of slave labor.

There was gravel galore in Siberia from all the glaciers grinding the place down. The right of way was being cleared at a rapid pace. The four thousand miles that they controlled were being cleared at a rate of ten miles a day. This meant in a little over a year they should have the right-of-way clear.

Before they cleared the right-of-way it had to be surveyed for the proper grade. Too steep and the locomotive couldn’t move the cars. Since there were already tracks in place most of the way that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

The same with drainage, though more would have to be added for the second track. The same held for the bottom ballast of medium-sized sand. The sleepers and rails would go down fast at that point.

The top ballast of medium size stone is dumped from special gondola cars and would be as quick. Eighteen months was the timeline for double track of the same gauge the entire length.

Once that project was done the Chinese would hold all of Siberia. Russia would never be able to take it back.

The Chief of Staff also told me they were using old records for guidance but had exploratory teams out hunting for minerals and the various commercial ores.

Coal and iron were high on their list.

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