Analog SFF, October 2007 by Dell Magazine Authors

Author:Dell Magazine Authors
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Dell Magazines
Published: 2010-12-15T07:07:48.524000+00:00

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EL DORADO

by TOM LIGON

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Illustration by Vincent Di Fate

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Heroes don't always fit the expected image....

Victor Gendeg let his eyes adjust as he studied the jumbled ball of dirty ice before him. It was illuminated only by starlight, especially by one bright star about 3.3 light-days away, and his eyes strained to make out any detail. He leaned so close to the window that his breath frosted it. He wiped the white deposit away and held his breath to gaze at it again.

“Computer, voice log on."

“That must be it. Classic exit jumble. Definitely had a collision with a smaller, denser object."

He checked the magnetometer. Was it just beginning to show a trace of a magnetic field as he approached it?

“Yes! Magnetic. This has to be it!” He glanced at the monitors, which showed the object so much clearer than naked human eyes could, then turned back to the window to gain a more personal connection with the planetesimal. “Eureka! Right freakin’ where you're supposed to be! Sumbitch thought you were pretty sneaky, hiding out in the Oort Cloud, didn't ya? Well, Victor Gendeg tracked your banged-up ass down! Four billion years of ducking and hiding, but your ass is mine now, baby. I am so freakin’ rich the damn Astrofellers are gonna envy me. I have found El Dorado!"

* * * *

The solar system was young when Jupiter and Saturn migrated into a 2:1 orbital resonance. It was an interesting time for all of the other bodies there. Chaos reigned until the two giants moved beyond that dance. The two largest bodies in the system other than the Sun played tug of war in a game Jupiter won and all of the small bystanders lost.

Two of the worst losers were minor rocky planets, each with a small core of iron and other metals, and mantles that had already turned to solid stone. They were set on a collision course. It would not happen for hundreds of millions of years, but it was inevitable.

When it happened, both bodies shattered their rocky outer layers, exposing their metal cores. Pieces showered away from the impact in many directions, some into the depths of space, some into the inner system, where they would eventually meet a dramatic end. Some pelted the third planet and its moon, part of what its later inhabitants would call the “late heavy bombardment.” Many simply formed a belt, shepherded into shape by resonance with Jupiter and a few other significant orbs. One of the cores stayed safely in the belt, covered in a thick layer of rubble from the collision, some its own, and some from the other unfortunate body. The other was in an elliptical orbit that flirted dangerously with the dominant gas giant. It was similarly covered with debris, and had an entourage of orbiting fragments of the same sort.

* * * *

Victor waited impatiently for his small ship to maneuver to a gentle landing on the icy body. The magnetometer was unambiguous now.

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