Venus Prime 2 - Maelstrom by Arthur C. Clarke; Paul Preuss

Author:Arthur C. Clarke; Paul Preuss
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780330310857
Publisher: Pan Books
Published: 1988-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

A yellow caution light came on, warning them to seal their helmets. The capsule’s simple design wasted nothing on an airlock; when both passengers had sealed their helmets, Katrina keyed the computer and a pump pulled the cabin air into holding bottles. When the vacuum inside was as good as it could get, the little pressure hatch sprang open. Katrina squeezed through the circular hatch and Cliff slipped through after her.

The lower section of the capsule was surrounded by a doughnut-shaped strap-on fuel module; the capsule’s retrorocket poked through the doughnut hole. Cliff and Katrina slid down the narrow ladder to the ground three meters below.

The loose moondust of the landing field was plowed in crazy waves of tire-tracks, crossing and recrossing in loops and tangles. A big-tired tractor from the antenna array was bounding over them like a motorboat over ships’ wakes, leaving a wake of its own. The tractor skidded to a stop beside the shuttle in a cloud of quick-settling dust.

When the ready light came on over the tractor’s rear hatch, Katrina pulled it open and shoved Cliff in ahead of her. She climbed in and pulled the hatch shut behind them.

“Ho, Piet,” Katrina said on the suitcomm. “Did they demote you to tractor driving during my leave-taking?”

“Most amusing,” the driver grumbled.

“This is Cliff,” Katrina said. “I told him you’d drop him by Maintenance.”

“Why not? As you point out, I’m simply a chauffeur.”

“Piet is a signal analyst, actually,” she said cheerfully. “My new chum Cliff here is in Agro. Cliff Leyland, Piet Gress.”

Gress twisted in his seat to extend a gloved right hand. Cliff shook it. “Pleasure,” Cliff said.

Gress grunted agreement. He shoved the throttle forward and the tractor bounded off again, throwing Cliff and Katrina against each other in the unpadded back of the tractor.

“I notice that your famous uncle’s in the news again, Piet,” said Katrina, when she’d recovered her poise.

“Really?”

“You of course never waste time watching the viddie.” She turned to Cliff. “His uncle is Albers Merck.”

Cliff was politely interested. “The archaeologist? The one they pulled off the surface of Venus a few weeks ago?”

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