Icicle by Robert G. Williscroft

Author:Robert G. Williscroft
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fresh Ink Group
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

The process of creating a new thinsat swarm no longer was the exciting event it was at first. As before, Sally and Brad handled the thinsat production while Dale kept the flow of material coming. Two months and a bit later, the 200-kilometer swarm was in place at Mars-Sun L1, and the terminator had been installed. Dale and Brad carried the Locus portal to Mars Station and hooked up temporary power from Earth-Moon L2. Fredricks tasked Kimberly with connecting the dots.

Kimberly stepped through the Mars Station portal into Norman Bork’s office, tossing her golden hair. “Hey, Norman! I come bringing gifts.” She handed him a hyper-disk. “This will take you to the L1 swarm. Take one of your portals with you to free up our portal. L1’s ready for you to draw power as soon as you make the connection.” She found herself somewhat distracted by this craggy adventurer who had wintered over twice at the Earth’s South Pole, and now was running Mars Station. She wanted to give her message before she stumbled all over herself.

Bork flashed her a wide grin. “The universe is being particularly good to me today,” he said. “Welcome!” He accepted the hyper-disk, placing it on his desk, and waved to a chair. “So, how does a girl like you…and all that stuff?”

“Daphne, uh, Dr. O’Brian, and I are close friends. She brought me in as communications. Someone had to bring you the hyper-disk. I wanted to see you again, so they tasked me.”

“That works for me, Kid. Do you have to get right back, or do you have some time?”

If she stayed, Kimberly knew, she would be committing herself to…she wasn’t entirely sure what, but she definitely wanted to see where it led. “I’m my own boss,” she told him with a slight smile.

“Great,” he said. “Let me give you the grand tour, and then we can take in a genuine Martian sunset—done right, out on the surface.”

Mars Station was interesting, but other than gravity, it was much like other scientific stations Kimberly had seen during the past two years. The meal that she and Bork took with the crew was nothing short of fabulous.

“I can’t get over how delicious the food is,” she told Bork.

“At isolated stations, we try to do this,” he told her. “On submarines, long space voyages, research stations like the South Pole, and here, of course. It keeps the morale up.” He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s play tourist.”

They suited up near the inner lock. Unlike older vacuum suits, these suits were lightweight and flexible, even in hard vacuum. They worked on a technologically advanced application of earlier high-altitude suits. An inner garment formed a flexible, skintight membrane that substituted for atmospheric pressure. A slightly less tightly-fitting outer garment retained a minimal atmospheric environment inside the suit, also providing temperature control and wear resistance. The suit was entered feet first through an airtight zipper-like opening in the back. The sealed gloves were comfortably flexible. They wore close-fitting

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