Star One: Tycho City Survival Read Online Free Page A

upset the
commander.
    “What’s the
problem, Jackson? Linda said you wanted to shut down the mass driver to conduct
repairs. Is it really that bad?”
    “It’s worse,” confessed
Jackson, shaking his head with worry in his eyes. “We are experiencing trouble
with some of the magnetic coils that are not firing at full capacity. We have
had to increase the load on the other coils to make up the difference. It’s
putting a lot of stress on the system.”
    Jackson slid over several computer graphs, which showed the capacity of each magnetic coil
on the mass driver. Four of the coils were showing in the red because they were
operating at only 60 percent capacity. This had caused it to be necessary to
overload a number of the other coils to 120 percent capacity in order to
continue the firings of the mass driver.
    Mase studied
the graphs and weighed the information carefully. If one of the magnetic coils
failed, the mass driver could still boost a cargo pod on its course to Star One
or Earth. However, if two coils failed, the cargo pods would fail to reach
escape velocity and would fall back to the lunar surface. Mase didn’t like the
looks of the graphs at all. They were clearly developing a potentially serious
problem with the mass driver.
    “Linda said
you need 48 hours to conduct repairs.”
    “At a
minimum,” responded Jackson, running his right hand through his thick black
hair. “I would really like 72 hours so we can do a thorough preventative
maintenance check on the entire mass driver system. Some of the coils need to
be recalibrated, and we have the new inductors that need to be installed.”
    Mase thought
about this. He had been under a lot of pressure from Earth to keep the mass
driver online to cover the lucrative contracts for heavy metals from several
large Earth companies. He had spoken about the excessive workload being put on
the mass driver to Jane Kinsey, and she had passed on his concerns to her
superiors but nothing had happened. Instead, NASA had asked Mase if there was
any way possible to increase the number of mass driver firings made each day.
Jane had objected stringently but had been overruled by higher ups in the
administration.
    Due to the
money being spent at Farside, she had recommended that they keep the mass
driver online at least until the facility was completed and left it up to Mase
as to whether he would increase the number of mass driver firings. Once the work
at Farside was done, then the mass driver could be taken offline for a full
system overhaul. Jane had said she would go to the president if necessary to
get the necessary approval to shut it down. Mase had reluctantly agreed to this
even though he didn’t feel comfortable with the decision.
    Jackson was just about to say something else when the room shook violently and alarms
began sounding. The lights dimmed briefly and then brightened back up. Several
additional rumblings shook the room and then everything became still. Jackson’s eyes widened in sudden concern as his hand reached for the phone on his desk. It
had a direct line to the mass driver building.
    “Jase, what
the hell just happened?” he demanded, his face ashen. “Was anyone hurt?”
    Mase could
tell by the look on Jackson’s face that he wasn’t hearing good news. The alarms
had been silenced, but Mase could hear excited shouts and running feet outside
the office in the corridor.
    Jackson stood up with a worried look on his face. “Three coils failed just a moment ago.
One of the cargo pods was ejected from the rail, struck another coil, and then
crashed into the side of the crater wall. Jase is reporting heavy damage to the
electromagnetic control system as well as the rail itself. This was just what I
was afraid was going to happen.”
    “Damn!” Mase
uttered with a troubled look on his face. He should have shut the mass driver
down when Jackson first recommended it. He wondered just how bad the damage was.
“Was anyone hurt?”
    “Not that