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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
 Posted - 08 May 2010 : 17:14:38
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Setting
Gri'Tik. A planetoid in the K'aken-Kar. Surface gravity is about .03 gee (.3 meter per second per second), and escape velocity is about 1500 kph, and it's average diameter (being slightly lumpy) is about 900 kilometers. It's surface is a mix of bare thrusts of rock and valleys full of fine dust. Dralasites stationed at the outpost here have long since nicknamed it "Grit-ty"
Dustbowl Crater
Not so long ago (a few hundred thousand years ago) there was a flurry of asteroidal and cometary collisions in the K'aken-kar system due to a wandering protostar passing in close proximity. A large meteor hit Gri'tik dead square on it's equator. This created a perfectly formed circular crater about 1500 meters in diameter. As time went on, other impacts and the influence of other planets in the system warped the planetoid's already slow rotation, and this crater wound up directly on the northern pole (relative to the solar ecliptic) with Gritty's axis almost perpendicular. This crater, named "Dustbowl", is in perpetual darkness. Over time, a large amount of water ice and frozen volatiles have collected in this crater. The crater is filled with a lake of this layered ice and dust mixture to a depth of over 150 meters, leaving a flat-bottomed crater with surrounding cliffs another hundred meters up. The science opportunities here abound, even for the jaded planetary scientists of the Frontier. Though image mapped long ago, this crater was assumed to be filled with fine dust. A student looking for a thesis topic noticed the differences between dustbowl and more exposed craters on Gri'Tik, prompting a probe, then a full science mission.
In addition to being a time capsule of a violent period in the K'aken-Kar system, the crater is a sheltered oasis, protected from the majority of radiation by it's metal-bearing cliffs and ice, with plenty of free self-sustaining energy and heat right up on the rim. The minerals and volatiles provide almost everything a small outpost could need.
Now that the science mission here is winding down, several small interests are trying to stake a claim here. Local mining outfits would like to extract what they can from Dustbowl. Utopians looking for a colony building site, rich retiring moguls looking to build their Xanadu all express interest in aquiring the Universities stake in the spot. On the other side, there are planetary geologists that believe Dustbowl lake is too important to be capped over and melted.
Dustbowl Station
Four 30 meter hab domes, over a dozen labs constructed out of cargo modules, two thick landing pads built of rubble and sintered rock on top of the ice, a power unit and a extensive warren of bored and melted tunnels make up Dustbowl Station. There is a solar array on the highest point of the rim for a secondary power source. There is robotic earthmoving equipment for removing mineshaft tailings as well as the antenna farm and radio shack that handles the station's communications with the rest of the solar system.
There is a shaft drilled into the side of the station at the level of the ice. This was first bored for science, but has since been turned over to an independent mining contractor. The team of miners extract regolith, volatiles, metals, and minerals for use by the station, all while continuing to take samples. Refining and gas extraction is conducted just inside the airlocked shaft. Waste heat and mill tailings are easily ejected in the low gee via a vertical screw exiting at the earthmoving station just outside the crater rim. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
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Mane Man
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2010 : 15:24:50
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Ichorous rested his sonic core sampler against the curved wall of the bore tunnel. It was perhaps dangerous down here, with 150 meters of ice above him in a freshly cut tunnel. The ice here was very old and strong, the gravity light, and the planetoid was quite stable, but he had witnessed an accident in the past. That was another mass of ice, another world, another time far away. For this project, boring and structural ice mapping were performed by dear old Unit Seven, his department's tunnelbot.
This was the last bore hole, the last samples. In not long, a ship would take him away from this dirty glacier and back on to the university. He was sampling the central central "splosh" spire in the very center of the crater. Sonar retrun and radar were very undependable here, as ferrous micrometeors, dust and gas pockets abounded in the ice. These earliest depositions showed the most signs of dark particles causing melting, as well as sublimation pockets and crevices. There were amazing finds here. Already Unit Seven had found a water pocket formed by a radioactive meteorite. That had been removed for study already, and the melt column above it cored and mapped.
Ichorous placed the tiny snoopbot into the mouth of his sample bore and instructed it to do multibeam imaging from the end of the 10 meter hole. Due to the thick dust bands here, they had never been able to get more than crude interperted images of the spire with ice penetrating radar. It was probably of little importance, but mapping the ice here could tell them much about the planetoids rotation after the crater had formed, as the spire would have acted as a sun-dial until being plunged into permenant darkness. He began stacking his carefully sectioned core samples into the lifter basket while he waited for the snooper to crawl back out.
Strange to think that all of this ice started out as water locked up in rocks, cooked out by the local star and chemical processes to form a tenuous atmosphere with a tiny fraction to collect here while the rest was lost to space. This ice, this place was really his discovery. His name was on many papers associated with this project, and while the discovery of this oddity was duly noted to him, he had never been allotted a position of leadership in the project, nor was he head of any of the studies here. Not an author or chief investigator, just a graduate student allowed to do grunt work for those who would receive credit for the real work. This might still be the greatest find of his career. Possibly the high point of his existence.
Ichorous signaled the lift to start off down the tunnel, and then to crawl up the tube to the surface. Where was that snoopbot. Ichy snapped on the viewlaser hand held it up near his eyespots as he peered down the narrow sample bore. Nothing. Probably too much dark material at the end of the bore to see the tiny bot against the background. He signaled the snoopbot to return, but the connection link indicator flashed on his com. "Hmm. Danged Human 'com! How am I supposed to tell if that was red or green?" Assuming it was red, Ichorous unspooled the boroscope cable from his web belt.
"Dang little thing. Stinkin' two-credit snoopbot." thought Ichy. He plugged the cable connector into his 'com and slid the cable into the hole. He watched the holo display as he fed the camera in. Intent on what he was seeing, and a bit distracted as his psuedohands worked the cable while he watched the image, he lost his balance in a moment of vertigo as the image on the display unexpectedly dipped down suddenly, disappearing off into inky blackness.
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Edited by - Mane Man on 09 May 2010 15:25:31 |
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Will
USA
546 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2010 : 18:03:05
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The UPF Spacefleet destroyer K'Liga slid into orbit round the drab, dusty little planetoid Gri'Tik, all weapons charged, her twin Class C antimatter pion(or anti-pion drives) idling down to a dull roar.
"Hardly looks worth fighting over," K'Liga's pilot and executive officer Fleet Lieutenant Spacefleet D'xxi C'hx remarked, the boredom evident in the Vrusk female's voice.
"Agreed," the Jesse Carver-class destroyer's skipper, Commander Henryetta "Hank" Williams, replied, commisserating with her old friend,"but the cows seems to think otherwise, which is why we're here."
"We'll just have to make the best of things 'til we can find some pirates to really test this new anti-pion lance the techs installed back at Fortress Redoubt," the 29-year old veteran Spacefleet officer remarked, as, reluctantly, she unbelted herself from her command chair and lifted all 183 centimeters(and way too many kilos if one believed the Doc and the ixheads on Prenglar's Next Top Model)from the chair and onto the deck.
"Bridge is yours, XO," she said to D'xxi, as she stepped off the K'Liga's command center into the lift car leading down into the ship's drop bay, Hank slumping against the cool metal at her back, taking full opportunity of the precious few moments in which she didn't have to be the commander of this ship and the best represenative of the friggin' Council of Worlds.
The K'Liga had only been in the K'aken Kar system a few days, performing full-power tests on the AP lance the Fleet were hoping to install on all their ships over the the next few years, when the call had come directly from Admiral Red Cloud herself...with the System University of K'aken Kar's College of Mines and Technology withdrawing their mission from the planetoid the Drals(predictably enough)had dubbed Gritty, everyone and his nearest relative wanted to voggin' miserable little dustball for all sorts of reasons, and were more than willing to knife each other in the back over it.
Or take even more outrageously extreme measures, least according to the Star Law intel briefing which the Spacefleet Admiral had uploaded on a sub-channel, as hard as it was for Hank to believe.
Then, again, with the recent unpleasantness on Laco, the fighting still going on between the Federation, the Rimmers, and the Soonies on her homeworld, maybe it wasn't so hard for her to believe after all. |
________________________
"It's all bullshit, and it's bad for you."
—George Carlin |
Edited by - Will on 09 May 2010 21:41:29 |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2010 : 19:50:33
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Icky's boroscope image bounced up and down.
"What the holy cheeze doodles is going on here!"
Icky switched his display over to vidcom and patched in to the tunnel warren's system of relays to talk to the lab.
"Topside, this is Ichorous Barnum, over."
"Hi Ichy, Kitty here. What's up?"
"Hey, I seem to have lost a snoopy 'bot into a crevice here. I can't see much, but the view from the end of the boroscope looks like it is a very deep, very large, very dark hole. There is something weird here, cause the sample hole should be inside the splosh spire. No way there could be a lava tube or something under it, and it should be fused material. Might be a really deep solution cavity. Let the Dean know what is going on and send down Unit Seven to meet me here. When you get hold of Dean Coolig ask him to get permission from Geo group to dig a lateral bore....errrr over."
"Rodger that Icky, Kitty out." |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
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Shadow Shack
USA
1085 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2010 : 06:10:32
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Gideon Pai-jon (mY) slouched in his command chair on the helm of the SS Seeker, a research vessel under contract with Cassidine Developement Corporation. "Gads, this is boring styfe..." he blurts out loud, despite being the sole occupant on the bridge. His vacc suit helmet floats nearby, his pale but weathered face showing fatigue as he massages his fingers into his skull, circumnavigating a lengthy top-knot's worth of aged white hair. He glances once more at the long range geoscanner readout, noting the current readings into the compu-log.
How he ended up leading this survey mission aches to his core, this once mighty craft that began life as a UPF assault scout that was demilitarized and acquired by CDC to be outfitted for deep space exploration. Her assault rocket launchers have been replaced with atmoprobe bays, and the laser battery is a mere short ranged pulse laser turret intended for prospecting use rather than defense. Even the once mighty atomic thrusters were tossed in favor of low maintenance ion drives and a pair of chemical thrusters nestled in the stern for atmospheric use. Well, at least it's a paying gig, unlike that last ruckus with A.I.P.S. where they stiffed him on a job running a load of power generators through a pirate infested zone. But at least that was exciting...ah, how he longs for the good old days when he was an up and coming exec with Streel.
"I'da loved to helmed ya back in the day," he mutters.
Currently the ex-warship is parked a few klicks away from Gri'Tik, awaiting the signal to recover the data gathering team on the surface. He notes the vital signs on each read-out for the crew down below, and finally he activates the subspace communication circuits. "Ichorous, Kit...how're things progressing down there?"
Suddenly the proximity alarm sounds off as the radar scope lights up. "Frag!!!" he exclaims, not noticing he hadn't toggled off the communicator yet...the silence and boredom have taken their toll. He bolts upright and toggles the comm once more, now realizing he never switched it back to receive. "Heads up, we got some company inbound at 300,000 kilometers, possibly heading towards Dustbowl Station. Looks like a Carver-class destroyer...UPFS K'Liga. Now what in the wide world of glide-sports are they be doing here?" |
 Riding Free in the Frontier: FTH --- Forever Three Hoverfans!
See my SF page at http://starfrontiers.20m.com |
Edited by - Shadow Shack on 10 May 2010 06:14:56 |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2010 : 11:04:34
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"Gideon, this is Kitty. Wassamatter, you soak yourself with something hot?"
"Naw, just looks like we got UPF comin' for a visit. Carver class." replied Gideon.
"I've been on coms for almost two days straight while everyone packs and gets samples ready to leave, and I havn't heard of any visitors coming."
"Well, even though I am sure they can hear everything we are saying and probably have the crypto key, I don't mind them knowing I'd just as soon get the hell out of here as endure their company. Seeker out."
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//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
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Mane Man
United Kingdom
36 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2010 : 11:39:31
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Dean Adbar Coolig was out of his chair and headed for the GEO side of the hab before he finished talking to Kitty. He snapped his 'com shut as he came up behide the mining structural engineer.
"Excuse me madam."
Nadine looked over her shoulder at Coolig and swivveled to face him with a smile. "Hello Adbar. What brings you to my side of the hab?"
Coolig slid into the seat beside her. Some would disapprove of the scientists fraternizing with mere engineers, but that idea could go to hell as far as he was concerned. "Something more tangible than last time I am afraid. A student has a bore request. He has Unit Seven on its way down already, so I fed the peramenters into the request log for you to look over."
Nadine winked at him and turned back to her terminal. "Wow. Solution Cavity?"
"That's what Ichorous seems to think. If it is, it really throws a lot of theories off. We have got to investigate." replied Coolig.
Nadine faced him once more. "Well, tell your student the bore is approved for 9.2 meters from survey center of the lateral bore, straight down the sample hole. Standard bore diameter. If that is a solution cavity, it will have been there for a long time indeed, but he is to stay back at Vertshaft 4 until the boring unit has done a structural stress test of the hole. At 8 meters he will hit rock, so Seven will shift from meltwater hose to lifter to extract the overburden rock. Tell him to keep the whole mess as samples as he likes, but get the rock clear of his escape path."
"I thank you Nadine." "Anything for you Adbar." Nadine flirted back.
It had been a long field trip. Time to get back before things got too weird. One semester here on the ice and almost everyone had paired off in one way or another.
Coolig contacted Kitty "Kitty, this is Dean Coolig. Give Ichy the go ahead for a 9.8 meter bore along his pilot. Tell him I know this is exciting, but follow safety proceedures- and make sure that Unit Seven treats the meltwater and the overburden rock as samples. Also let him know I'll be suited and down after I inform Dean Hist-te'kiv"
"Rodger that...and good luck with that..."
"Ichy, this is Sleepy Kitty, were you patched in for that?"
Ichy's wavery voice answered "I started as soon as I heard him come on. I could tell from his voice he was excited. Thank you Kitty." Kitty slumped down into her chair and thought fondly of sleep. She started monitoring the Destroyer emissions just to keep herself awake.
Deep below the ice, Ichourous gave Unit seven it's instructions and got his hear out of the way. Nothing to do now but wait by the lift and watch the meltwater hose throb with pulses.
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2010 : 15:30:19
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Adbar donned his pressure mesh suit, leaving the helmet and pack where it lay, and went to inform Hist-te'kiv, head of the research logistics and funding. Hist-te'kiv was a good teacher, but not Coolig's cup of tea. Hist was a fair and reasonable being, and had put in his time. In Hist's multifaceted eyes, everyone should receive their due credit. Unfortunatly, to Hist-te'kiv, credit was due with seniority, and seniority was due to putting in time, and science was nothing more than a slow plodding process almost void of inspiration. Dean Hist-te'kiv established this quite early on, seing this mission as his first rightful chance to be credited with a great discovery. Never mind that they would have never been there if it were not for Ichorous. Never mind that Hist-te'kiv did little more than protest deviating from the original investigation plan, and count the food stores. Hist-te'kiv was senior, had worked long and hard for others in the past, and that was that. Academia was hell, Coolig mused.
"Best to not mention Ichy specifically." thought Adbar.
Coolig entered the Vrusk's office, pausing in suprise. Unlike his own little compartment, currently neatly packed to board the ship tomorrow, the office was untouched. No undergrad packing instruments, no bags neatly stowed by the door, no farewell letters marked on the wall as in the graduate dorms. "I figured he would have been packed a week ago." thought Coolig.
"Hist-te'kiv, I thought you would be packed by now." he stated.
"Greetings yourself, Dean Coolig. I have much to do with final preparations to leave, and wish to not lack anything as I do. I shall have that Grad Barnum pack my things when it is time. What brings you here?"
Coolig congratualted himself on his earlier decision. Those two did not have the best working relationship. "We seem to have found a very interesting phenomenon in the bowl, perhaps a solution cavity."
"Ah, perhaps another meteoric fragment?" stated Hist.
"Not likely. Something else." replied Coolig.
"Where? In the center?" blurted the Vrusk.
Coolig paused, his eyes narrowing. Unusually perceptive today. he thought. "Yes, near the splosh spire, in it actually."
Hist-te'kiv's antenna stiffened. He paused for a moment and carefully stated "Well, the timetable is too tight. I want that borebot to be in layup within the hour. We will be leaving quite soon. No-one should even be down below at this stage."
"Actually, this is the last stage. We were slated to bore a sample into the spire. We found a cavity, and this is the natural progression. It will hardly delay our timetable. We have science slated to happen right up to the last two hours before departing."
"Yes, but that is too dangerous of an operation at this point. I forbid it." snapped the Vrusk.
"A little late I am afraid. The boring has already started."
Hist-te'kiv looked up and down at the human's pressure mesh. "I thought you were doing it."
"No." replied Coolig "Your whipping boy Ichourous Barnum is down there, and I am merely headed down to join him." Coolig pause. "Why don't you suit up and come down with us?"
"I insist that you stop him right now!" clicked the Vrusk.
"What has gotten into you?" barked Coolig.
Hist-te'kiv relaxed his stance, and stepped slightly away from Coolig. "I am just anxious about preserving our safety and puctuality record, that is all. Please, if you must conduct this one deviation before we go, I would appreciate it if you would go down and supervise that ill-mannered and self interested Dralasite student."
Coolig cocked his head at the Vrusk, half turned towards the door, and peered at Hist-te'kiv. "That 'student' is single handedly responsible for us having this opportunity, and is responsible for the University now possessing valuable research and mine stake claims, not to mention the fruits of this research." He stalked out the door.
Adbar scooped up his enviropack and helmet, slipping them on and engaging the pressure mesh suit to constrict around his body to keep pressure on his skin constant as he headed to the lift tunnel airlock. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
//end Geek Code |
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simple
USA
323 Posts |
Posted - 10 May 2010 : 16:47:06
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OOC: Why does everything have to be military? I want to know what happens in the hole, not in space. :-P
IN: Keep it rolling, really enjoying the story. |
Robo-w00t giving you a WhatFor!
http://starfrontiers.us/user/22 |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2010 : 13:04:14
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"My epidermis will crack." thought Ichourous as he rose from his seated position on the icy tunnel floor.
He took hold of the fast-freezing hose as Unit Seven released it, and began to heave around on it to assist the hose reel far above in retrieving the meltwater line. Suddenly, the load lessened a bit, and Ichy peered up the tunnel.
"Dean Coolig! Nice of you to drop in!"
"My pleasure Grad Barnum! Watch it, the end of the hose is coming up and it's still spewing meltwater!"
Ichourous stepped aside as the hose coupler passed by and the headed up the vertical tunnel. As soon as the end passed the Dean, he stepped off the landing and onto the ladder anchored into the ice. AS he stepped off next to Ichy, they could hear the rumble of Unit Seven' bore begin to grind into solid basalt.
"That's gonna make a mess of the tunnel. Unit Seven isn't set up to recover lube water. We're going to get a bit muddy I am afraid." mentioned Ichy.
"Not the only mess." remarked Coolig. "Hist got into an atypical tizzy over this drill. Best to see what we've got and get back to the surface. We can then get a consensus from the rest of the team on how to proceed, assuming we find anything interesting at all."
_________________________________________________________________
Kitty gratefully exited the communications center. "Good thing the big guy wants the glory of leading us out of here. Guess he wants the glory of telling the ship to pick us up himself. Who cares? I need the sleep, and I ain't even packed."
She stepped from the thin-walled passage tube into the heavily shielded lift that would take her out of the radiant glow of K'acken-Kar and into the dark icebox of the crater. The simple monomer cable winch at the top of the lift activated as the accomodation tube airlock cycled and released the hatch, and Kitty slumped against the chilly side of the lift pod.
"I won't miss the temperature gradients here. Thank goodness the Drals kept it toasty and humid though." she sleepily mused.
She loved her job. Normally shy, she felt more conversantionally alive on the comm equipment. It was an odd situation that even required a dedicated communications speciallist, but this field expedition had been good for her resume` as well as her self image.
Kitty's sleepy eyes widened, and her heart rate quickened. The lift capsule had come to a rapid stop, the vibration from the winch ground to a halt, and the control panel lights went out. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
//end Geek Code |
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Shadow Shack
USA
1085 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2010 : 18:05:17
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Gideon begins pre-flight checks, having seen the UPF destroyer pop in. No telling what it's doing out here, hunting pirates or worms...either case presents the Seeker as an undefended target, no point in taking any chances. Best to get on the surface rather than remain out in the open.
Ten minutes later all systems are online, Gideon nudges the chemical rockets' throttle up to 0.1G and the boosters pulse briefly, Gideon backs off the throttle as the nose comes around and Gri'Tik fills the viewport above. The distance closes quickly, and Gideon pitches the nose up as he fires the RCS thrusters. Low to no grav landings are a simple affair, a fact readily apparent by Gideon's neglect at harnessing himself into the command chair. He toggles the subspace radio "Seeker to ground teams, I can't handle the excitement any longer. Touching down on Platform Two."
Gideon thinks back to Kitty's mocking remarks about dousing himself with something hot. Yeah, something hot sounds good right about now...first thing he's going to do once landed is hit the galley to see what the auto cooker has to offer.
The Seeker's landing skids contact the platform's surface , and the craft nestles down comfortably into Dustbowl Station. Gideon begins to shut down primary functions, leaving the interior power on. He travels down the secondary lift one level to the crew deck and hits the galley, selecting a medium well roller burger and a chilled bottle of Anker Ale.
Food and drink in hand, he hits the primary lift and takes it all the way down to the aft-most deck, a converted storage bay that now serves as a multi-purpose laboratory. He takes the final bite of the burger and polishes off the ale, and dons his vacc helmet as he enters the airlock. Once outside, he makes his way to Hab Dome IV and enters the airlock. After the 'lock cycles, he removes the helmet and enters the dome's sterile but vacant innards, carrying his portable computer/briefcase.
"Ahhh...the usual welcome wagon," Gideon mutters out loud. He heads towards the command center, hoping to find an engineer or scientist. |
Riding Free in the Frontier: FTH --- Forever Three Hoverfans!
See my SF page at http://starfrontiers.20m.com |
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Aethelwulffe
USA
1782 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2010 : 19:02:19
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Hist's shadow in the doorway made Nadine aware of his approach in the reduced light of her office. She was powering down the seismic data station, preparing to pack it in it's small case. She finished before she turned.
"Hist-te'kiv, may I help you, or have you taken to studying Humans instead of policies?"
The Vrusk stiffened a bit, deciding to ignore the barb. He shifted the walker helmet under his arm replied "Actually, I was hoping to get our senior engineer's opinion on something, but did not wish to disturb her work."
"My opinion?" replied Nadine. "How quaint. What subject would you care to discuss?"
Hist-te'kiv made a slightly exhasperated motion with his antennae and hands. "I am we are finding rather more interesting things just before our leave-taking. In the mines a most unusual appearing composition of sorted sediments has been discovered. Perhaps you could examine it and discuss the feasability of extracting a very large sample whole."
"Well certainly. We have a team performing a dig right now, so I really should stay on station." replied Nadine.
"Ah, actually Dean Coolig has joined that excellent grad student Barnum on the dig. According to the com shack, they have completed their bore already and are preparing to remove their equipment. We havn't much time. Perhaps just this once as a bit of a favor?"
Nadine stood from her chair. She glanced back and forth from her console to the pile of items still to be packed. Giving out a sigh of someone that does not expect anything good to come of her efforts, she collects her walker mesh and enviropack from the wall.
"I suppose it will be ok. How far down the mine is the formation?"
"Quite a way down I am afraid. It is off of a new shaft on level 3. It won't be but a 5 minute walk though, I am certain. I instructed the miners to hold the lifts for us."
The two exited the rim-side airlock of the now empty Hab IV. They crossed the short span of rock dimly illuminated by a crater rim fresnel mirror and entered the low tube that marked the entrance to the mines. Passing by the gas-off deflector in front of the shaft, the two did not bear witness to the bright flare of exhaust approaching from polar orbit above, though one of the pair would not have been suprised to see it. |
//begin Geek Code
GAT d? s+:- a+ C+++ U--- P+ L+ W+++
w+++ PS++ PE- PGP++ t--- R+++ !tv b++
e* h--- r+++ y++
//end Geek Code |
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Will
USA
546 Posts |
Posted - 11 May 2010 : 20:15:18
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What a terrible thing to do to an assault scout, was Hank's first observation upon sealing up and stepping out onto the landing field, as she regarded the scratched-up, vogged-up ex-assault scout on the tarmac across from the destroyer's pinnace, the K'Liga's eight-being Landfleet reaction rifle section stepping off the boat just behind her, Gunnery Sergeant Yossev Kral visibly irriated with his commander setting foot on alien soil without the Hargutian clan Yaz checking to see if was safe.
"Not much of a wecloming committee," he growled over helmet comms, Yoz holding his Rafflur M4 at the ready.
"There wouldn't be any," Hank commed back. "The University mission's all but packed up and gone from here, just a token staff, from what the briefing data said."
"And, how many times has intel been right, Commander?" Yozz said, half-serious.
"Enough," Hank replied, leading the way towards the airlock of the nearest hab dome, enjoying her gunny's low growl of frustration.
"Lingyen, V'lk, Mordoch, and Keller, send out the com bots and form a perimeter around the bird," he then said. "I'll relieve you in four."
"Soft touch, for now, Gunny," Hank said. "The natives are probably spooked enough already by us being here, no need to increase their unease."
"Skipper, I read the same briefing as you," the stubborn Yaz replied. "Everybody and their clan brother wants a piece of this...fine ocean-front property on Volturnus—"
One of the other Landfleeters sang,"'From my front porch, you can see the sea.'"
"—and," Yozz concluded,"some of those folk aren't particularly concerned how they get it, especially the Soonies, if that particular bit of speculation turns out to be true."
"Point taken, Gunny," Hank replied, as two spacesuited figures approached them. |
________________________
"It's all bullshit, and it's bad for you."
—George Carlin |
Edited by - Will on 21 May 2010 21:37:35 |
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Gurgalen
USA
78 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2010 : 15:38:41
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"Almost there", Ichy thought out loud. The ice is beginning to thin between he and the cavity. Racing thoughts about what may reveal, excites the Dralasite. Ichy yearns to learn something new, and fulfill his hopes to discover a new substance to take back to the university. He can finally finish his job here and begin a return trip back home.
"Home", sighs the Dral.
"HREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ichourous jumps and falls on his ass. A strange, black, jelly-like substance flies out of the revealed cavity and bounces off the icy walls at a dangerous speed.
"Sleepy Kitty! This is Ichy! We have a problem here!"
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Dang.. I can't think of anything intelligent to type. |
Edited by - Gurgalen on 25 May 2010 16:33:26 |
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May 2010: Community Storyline
