Portal by Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor

Author:Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781451638967
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2013-05-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Hohenheim shook his head in pleased amazement, looking at the fantastic images transmitted only seconds before from Europa. “I believe I speak for us all on Odin, Ms. Fathom, Dr. Sutter, Mr. Buckley, and Mr. Conley, that we truly do wish we were there.” There was a murmur of assent from the others, and an added “Us up here on the surface, too!” from A.J.

“Larry,” Anthony LaPointe said, with an unmistakable note of envy in his voice, “I am doing calculations with Brett now, modeling that interior with the help of A.J., who has produced a general model from the stereo images you have sent. With your permission, General, I will increase priority to get the results as quickly as possible, so that we can advise as to how long you can spend in that region.”

“I’d sure appreciate it,” Joe put in. “None of us want to leave before we have to, but none of us want to do significant damage. Well, aside from blowing up the odd wall or two.”

Hohenheim considered briefly. The main number-crunching for other tasks aside from those related to the nozzle and the eventual unification of the three vessels was over, and none of the remaining tasks were time-critical. “As you wish, Dr. LaPointe. I agree with all here; we want as much initial data as possible, with as little damage as possible.”

Other than some continued exclamations of “Wow!”, “My God . . .” and “How gorgeous . . .”, there was silence for a time. Finally Brett spoke up. “Okay, mates, here you go. The size of that room gives you a reasonable cushion, and the fact that the average temperature there seems to be something like a mere minus ninety, warmer down at the bottom, means the temperature differential isn’t quite as bad. So you can spend about twelve hours there before you really should be getting out.”

“Make it eight,” Hohenheim said, adding, “If you concur, Ms. Fathom?”

Madeline’s answer came after the current second and a half pause. “I do, General. I trust Brett, Anthony, and A.J., but there’s no point in taking chances we don’t have to. A full workday, and then we start back. Joe, it’ll be hard on you, though. As we’ve already done some damage, I’d prefer we return to the last cavern we stopped in before resting for the night, which means you’ll be up a lot longer—”

“No, I won’t,” Joe said. General Hohenheim could hear both fondness and reluctant decision in those words. “I’m going to take a nap for about four to six hours right now, so I’m fresh for the drive back. I’ll still be able to help out for a couple hours at the end and I won’t be driving tired.”

The small image of Madeline wore a relieved smile; Hohenheim shared the emotion. Telling any of that small group that they’d have to give up any of the few hours they had to view and explore the alien wonders would be hard; by choosing to volunteer, Joe had made things easier.

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