RESOURCE CONTROL: Moon Base Delta Book 2 by Kilby Gerald M

Author:Kilby, Gerald M.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Outer Planet Media
Published: 2023-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

THE SECCHI HEIST

Kato Tsubasa's rover was cavernous by comparison to the dainty vehicle that Renton and the crew had used to get here—it could probably fit comfortably inside this one and then some if it were not for the chaotic collection of spare parts, tools, and maintenance droids that occupied its interior.

All of them had assembled in the wide, spacious cockpit for the initial part of the journey to Secchi. This would take them directly through the primary mining area.

Across the vast flat landscape, great autonomous machines scraped up huge volumes of lunar regolith and transported it to a central processing facility, itself another giant structure—fully automated. This seemingly impossible scale was made possible by the low-gravity environment that existed on the Moon. On Earth, these machines and structures would simply collapse under their own weight. But up here, the fantastic could be made real.

Renton had never spent much time on the surface before the storm. Neither had Alice nor Yuna. Therefore, this vast scale was something new to them. Hearing about this lunar gigantism was one thing, but it could not really prepare you for seeing it up close.

“Would you look at the size of that thing?” Alice said as she stared wide-eyed at one of these leviathans as it churned up the landscape, great fountains of dust gushing from its base.

“It takes the regolith over to the electrolyzer, where the oxygen is stripped out, leaving the metallic ore,” Kato pointed at a massive squat cylindrical structure. “The oxygen is stored in tanks, but the ore is transported back to the main processing plant. We're going to join in with the trail of autonomous ore carriers. That will bring us into the main plant without being bothered, and we can make our way to the supply hangar from there.”

As Renton gazed out on this tortured landscape, he could see only a few of these great machines were in operation. Most stood still and silent like abandoned hulks from some long-forgotten war among a nation of giants.

It didn't take long for them to see the silhouette of the Secchi mining facility outlining the horizon. They were now following a clearly defined road with long rows of beacons on either side identifying its boundaries.

“Best get down below,” said Kato. “We'll soon be entering the facility. Wouldn't be good to have you all up here in plain sight.”

The rest of the trip was spent trying to discern the outside world through the sounds and movement of the maintenance rover. At one point, Kato talked on the radio, but it was too muffled and indistinct for Renton to make out what was being said. Yet the tone seemed calm. A short while later, the machine finally came to a wheezing halt and Kato shouted down to them. “We're here. You can come out now.”

They clambered back into the cockpit. Renton could see they were inside a vast maintenance hangar. Rows of machines with indeterminate functions stretched out in all directions. It was so cavernous that a thin haze hung high up along the gantries, obscuring the ceiling from view.

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