Critical Mass by Daniel Suarez

Author:Daniel Suarez [Suarez, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

A Slender Thread

CLARKE STATION POPULATION: 10

DAYS TO RYUGU DEPARTURE: 1,213

Over the next few days, the crew of Clarke Station dug into their work. Jin Han, Priya Chindarkar, and James Tighe closely monitored the various efforts running in parallel because the failure of any one of them could sink the entire project. Passing by Monica Balter at her VR workstation in South Hab, Jin and Chindarkar stopped to watch her remotely pilot a mule spacecraft outside the station. Balter used the robotic arms on the front of the mule to gather solar power satellite components produced by Kerner’s CVD mill and convey them to the supply yard, where they would later be used by SPS-Alpha assembly robots. That is, once they arrived.

Balter’s telepresence skills with the mule appeared modest at best.

Standing behind her, Jin cleared his throat and asked, “Monica, did we allocate you enough building materials?”

“Oh . . .” She paused, still blinded by the VR glasses, but then nodded. “There’s not much margin for error, but if I account for every kilo, we should be okay.”

“Do you think we can still make the May completion date for the satellite?”

She answered, “Yes, I think it’s realistic.”

The master plan was a series of linked projects, and its success depended on the timely completion of each step. Without the power satellite, the mass-driver and regolith harvesting couldn’t work, and without a working refinery at L2, any regolith launched by the mass-driver into orbit couldn’t be transformed into useful materials—which meant they wouldn’t be able to finish building out Clarke Station. That, in turn, would mean they couldn’t bring up the scores of experts they’d need to construct the rescue ship—a ship they would then also not have the materials to build.

So their success would be hanging from a slender thread for the foreseeable future.

Chindarkar asked, “Does your mass estimate factor in repairs and maintenance?”

“There’s a contingency factor, but these SPS-Alpha sats are rather insubstantial. Just a linked collection of hexagonal metal frames that are easy to manufacture. A few station-keeping thrusters and fuel tanks. We’ve got silica and all the equipment necessary to produce the solar panels and thin-film mirrors that concentrate sunlight. I just need the automated assembly robots and the microwave transmitter components—which should arrive soon.”

Jin said, “Good. We are relying on your satellite to power everything on the lunar surface. So if you foresee any delays, let us know immediately.”

She nodded. “Will do, Captain.”

Meanwhile, Sofia Boutros, the chemist, had set up the beginnings of a lab against the South Hab’s anti-spinward bulkhead on H2 level. There, she and several others connected an exhaust hood to a preexisting duct and constructed steel countertops and lockable cabinets. Soon she was able to produce chemical compounds critical to life aboard the station.

Boutros began by using monomer feedstock and equipment brought up from Earth to formulate synthetic fibers, which she then fed into a small textile printer that had been sent up weeks earlier to produce fabric in several shades of mauve.

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