by T I WADE
The plan was ready; they just had to wait for the canisters of Nano-Silicone to be unloaded through both shuttles’ docking ports. Another two hours of work, and the team could resume the diamond collection.
It was quite a sight as Captain Pete, Allen, and Jamie watched all five craft detach one after the other from the docking bays and fly away from the ship. It was like watching an armada of ships leave port in a long line a mile apart.
Since all astronauts had accomplished the flight more than once, the formation of space craft descended through one orbit, with Jonesy and Michael leading the way in SB-III. Once again the girls remained in the mother ship.
Jonesy found a nice site for Ryan in Asterspace Three just outside of the edge of the first crater. He picked up Ryan’s pilot, Peter Smith, and followed the others, who had gone straight in.
By the time he got down, the landing zone was awash with lights and he saw several nets ready to be loaded aboard. As soon as he landed, Jonesy got help to get his helmet on. Yuri floated up in Astermine One with three men holding nets underneath. Jonesy wasn’t the only pilot who could negotiate the thin pipe down to the bottom; He had taught Yuri well before he left.
VIN and Pete exited; each slipped a foot into the cords under Yuri’s craft for the second flight into the diamond mine. Minutes later, close to the bottom, they saw that the mound had virtually disappeared. The crew was now inside the mound and black shadowed areas could be seen between the glistening stones.
VIN and two other crew members attached two more nets full of diamonds to the hook underneath Astermine One, and Yuri flew up taking most of the light with him.
“Not that much left?” asked Jonesy, happy to not fly this three-hour stint.
“About five nets to go,” VIN replied. “We’ve cleaned up all the diamonds blasted into the crater edges, and only have what’s left in the hole in the center. There is another large diamond right in the dead center; we keep hitting it with our shovels. It’s even bigger than yours, maybe the alpha diamond or something, but I think that could be the last one. Hopefully Ryan keeps this one for our retirement package when we get home.”
Jonesy helped with one of the shovels. It was hard work, and you never knew when the shovel would hit on a larger diamond. After an hour he threw it down and began rolling the larger stones out of the hole.
By the time they finished their shift, one of the five nets was full and there was a decent sized mound of big diamonds.
On the next shift twelve hours later, VIN was to come up with Jonesy to fill the craft Ryan was in while the others, including Yuri, returned to the mine to dig. At the same time Ryan was to get his first spacewalk on another planet.
Ryan was really excited when VIN entered through the docking port to help him on with his helmet. Far above the action Ryan had spent fifteen hours alone thinking and he had enjoyed every minute of it. He would help VIN and Jonesy load the full nets into Asterspace Three. The four specially sized nets of diamonds would be lifted out of Astermine Two cargo holds one at a time by the lifting arm in Asterspace Three. It would take less than 45 minutes.
VIN helped Ryan down the steps and suggested he say something on the last step like Neil Armstrong had. All the other guys had said something on their first step on the moon.
“One small step for America, one giant leap for mankind to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and beyond,” stated Ryan. It was the first thing that came into his mind. Then, he jumped the small step to land on another planet; the fulfillment of another part of his dream. Jonesy, holding a video camera, recorded the moment for history.
“Let’s walk,” VIN suggested, and while Jonesy worked the loading arm he chaperoned his boss for a 20-minute walk on the moon. Ryan looked up at the Milky Way every few minutes, and five minutes later the Earth rose over the horizon. The sun wouldn’t make it over the horizon, but the Earth was in direct sunlight and appeared as a ball of radiant color in the darkness of space.
It all ended too quickly, but he would have another chance in twenty-four hours. After helping Ryan take off his helmet, VIN bid him goodbye, exited the craft and caught a ride down to the darkness inside the third crater with Jonesy. Asterspace Three was packed and ready for her flight back to Earth.
The next day was a repeat of the previous one. The full nets were hauled up to be packed aboard Ryan’s craft where the light was better. VIN and Ryan managed a 30-minute walk around the barren and totally desolate area, and Ryan expected that Mars would look exactly the same. What would the other planets be like further along in the odyssey? He hoped that they would have more interest than this dead moon.
On the third day Ryan waited for the team to rise up from the depths. Over the intercom he had faintly heard that all of the nets were full, except for the last one, which was to hold six full canisters and all the large diamonds. There were no nets left, and still there were diamonds, and several empty canisters in America One. Ryan told VIN that they had to collect every diamond; they were not coming back to the moon again.
Finally, the last net was filled and packed away in SB-II and all craft returned to the lighter area on the moon’s surface. It was time for a meeting.
“So, Mr. Noble, what is left?” Ryan asked.
“The big diamond right in the center. It’s about the same size as Jonesy’s diamond,” began VIN over the intercom. All the other craft were listening in. “There are also about two to three dozen tennis ball and soccer ball diamonds. I think that if the whole team went in together, we could pack another canister or two of small ones, plus get the six remaining canisters full of graphite in one three-hour session. There is one net left up in orbit and all of these space craft are already full to the brim. There is just no more room to fit anymore in.”
“We have a couple of those smaller Russian freight capsules still tied to the side of America One. You could fit one of the nets around it. The nets must be big enough. Could you place one of the freight capsules into the last net, take it down into the hole and fill it directly?” Ryan asked.
“Ryan, Max Burgos here. I think we could place one capsule into the last net, but the mining craft will only be able to land it into Crater Three. It is too dangerous to try and fly it into Crater Four. Then we could carry up the diamonds, fill the freight capsule up with the bigger diamonds, graphite shards, and then lift the whole lot back up to the ship. That will give you your eight tons.”
The plan was put into action and 30 hours later every single diamond and at least eight tons of graphite shards were in orbit 100 miles above the moon. The men were tired, but they could rest on the way back to Earth. And, Ryan promised unlimited beer once they got there.
VIN was sad to see the last diamond packed into the net to be taken up to Crater Three; it was the largest one of all of them—it even beat Jonesy’s—and this one would be Ryan’s. It took three men to roll it onto the net and place it on top of the pile. The net was slowly pulled up by Astermine Two, and a cord was tied around the top to close the hole. The fourth crater was now empty, and looked as dull as the rest of the planet. As far as VIN was concerned, the Chinese or the Russians could now have this barren piece of real estate.
As soon as the full freight capsule was tied back to the outer surface of the mother ship, and all five spacecraft were docked onto their bays, Captain Pete ignited the thrusters. America One’s forward speed slowly increased, and she began pulling away from the moon’s orbit.
VIN had worked as hard in the pit as he had ever in his Marine career, and it was bliss to put his feet up in the cafeteria and enjoy one of his wife’s and Mr. Rose’s ice-cold brews together with the rest of the mining team. Only Captain Pete who was the designated driver on this trip missed the impromptu party. Everyone toasted Ryan on his first walk on another planet; he couldn’t wait to return and tell the President all about it, and turn over the fortune in mined diamonds to him.
For three days the flight and mining crews rested. The astronauts prepared for the return flights to
Nevada, and the mining crew, who were also heading down to rest, including Ryan, were going to spend time in the sun and by the pool. Since over half the interior build out of America One was complete, the rest of the work could be done on the way to the next planet: Mars.
Since most of America One’s crew members wanted a last visit to Earth after the diamonds were safely transported, the small and modified 12-person crew cabin would be placed in the forward cargo hold of either the newly refitted SB-I or SB-III when they were launched up with supplies. It would take five reentries to get all the stones down and the craft could return to America One with two tons of supplies at a time. He asked the crew to anonymously submit requests of luxuries important to them to bring on the odyssey and the completed list raised Ryan’s eyebrows: pork, bacon to go with the eggs, steaks, clothing of all types, material to make clothes, sewing machines, popcorn for the movies, model aircraft kits, toys, eyeglasses and lenses, an MRI and an X-ray machine for the medical department, the new brand of Twinkies, board and electronic games, the latest educational material, a satellite television Dish network account, and numerous other ideas that often made him laugh. The best two were sex toys and a skateboard to ride the corridors! He was very curious to know who had submitted the last two, and had a few ideas who they might be!
Earth grew slightly as they neared. Jonesy and Maggie were keen to go on vacation and begged Ryan to let them leave a day early.
SB-III left first, a 70,000-mile flight home carrying Jonesy, Maggie, Saturn, VIN, Mars and Suzi. By the time they landed, America One reached orbit and SB-II was about to complete her last orbit before refit. Allen Saunders was flying this one, with Michael as co-pilot. Jamie was beginning to be noticeably pregnant, and Penny was three weeks away from her due date. She decided to have the baby on Earth—the last baby to be delivered in Nevada.
Ryan, Kathy, and Lunar would be the next family to fly down when SB-III returned in a week’s time. Jonesy and Allen would pilot the next launch with VIN in the jump seat, on a three-day trip. They would unload the diamonds in Astermine One, bring up two tons of liquid hydrogen fuel, and return with another diamond haul. The day after reentry, Jonesy and Allen Saunders would take up the refitted SB-I on a test flight. This flight would only carry 1,000 pounds of orders from the list of goods purchased in Las Vegas and return with Asterspace Three’s cargo.
Jonesy wouldn’t rest yet. While SB-I was being refueled, he and Michael would return in SB–III to collect the last load of diamonds from Astermine Two. When this reentry was complete, he would rejoin his family on vacation, while the other crew got on with the business of transporting luxuries, parts, computers, popcorn, and movies to the ship and returning with the crew.
The Jones family read their mail on the first return; there were a dozen postcards from Mr. and Mrs. Jones Senior from all over the world with the most recent postcard, mailed from Cape Town, stating that they were docking in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, in about 21 days. The younger Jones family had about 36 hours to get there.
Thanks to the continuous gravity aboard America One, Jonesy and Maggie were not very weak and wheelchairs weren’t needed. They rested that night, first asking the office staff to find them a nice hotel on the main island of the Seychelles close to the harbor for a week. Jonesy checked that his Gulfstream was fuelled up and calculated his fuel needs and expenses for a flight to the Indian Ocean. Because it was a distance of over 10,000 miles, Jonesy decided to refuel in Bermuda. He had done that often flying into Amsterdam. He also made sure that he had at least two credit cards to buy fuel, Visa and American Express. It was a five- to six-hour flight into Bermuda and a ten-hour flight into Victoria from there. VIN and his family were going to accompany them on the trip. The office gave Jonesy a letter confirming that two rooms at one of the island’s Hilton Hotels were reserved, paid for by Astermine Inc., for the two families for five nights.
The Gulfstream took off nine hours later, ten hours before the next shuttle came in.
The senior and junior Jones families did meet up; they spent two days together sight-seeing and enjoying family company and met Suzi and Mars. Sunburn was kept at bay by sunscreens, and the two partners, who had just emptied the moon of over $10 trillion in diamonds, weren’t recognized by anybody. The relaxed group returned six days later.
On SB-II’s next launch with Allen and VIN, Jonesy was happy to show them where they had flown on the Gulfstream as they circled the Earth 85 miles higher. SB-III was low enough to search for the cruise vessel his parents were on, but were unable to find her through the laser’s aiming device. It was still a big planet down there.
The cargoes were exchanged over three hours, and Jonesy and Allen returned to Earth with Ryan and his family. VIN would await the next flight.
A day after Ryan’s triumphant but unnoticed return to Earth, SB-I was ready for testing. Jonesy and Allen were excited to pilot the newest version of the Astermine fleet; she sped upwards into space as slow, and then as painful, as SB-III, working perfectly. Jonesy had less and less to do on each flight, as the computers had been fed the inputs from each SB-III launch, and the systems just copied the launch angles, climb speeds and throttle power.
Over the next week, all the diamonds were transported to Earth, and on the last reentry, Air Force One made its elegant appearance over Nevada’s eastern horizon three hours before Allen was due to land SB-I again. The Joneses and Nobles were already back in the Seychelles, deep sea fishing from a remote resort off one of the Seychelles’ most remote islands, Denis Island.
In Nevada, the president viewed the last four loads, with the fifth cargo from SB-I about to be unloaded.
“That sure is a lot of stones!” exclaimed the president as he gazed at over six tons of diamonds. Each stone had been weighed, recorded, and marked, and there were thousands of bags in 100 two-foot cubed wooden cases ready for shipment to the secret cutting and polishing location. The location didn’t interest Ryan.
“It looks like we could have twelve tons or more in total, and that doesn’t count the first load I gave you, plus the diamonds I want to keep,” Ryan replied.
“I heard your young men found an even bigger diamond, one of the last ones?” the president commented, smiling at Ryan. “I also see that space travel is agreeable to the human race, babies everywhere; even you, Ryan, that young Force Recon guy, and even ‘young’ General Jones,” the president joked. “Where is my old hero anyway?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Ryan smiled back. “The last diamond Lieutenant Noble found was the centerpiece of the vein. It is still dangerously radioactive and about ten to fifteen percent bigger than the one General Jones gave you. I’m going to keep it for the crew’s retirement packages when we return. And yes, babies are in abundance at Astermine Inc.; I think it’s because of all the sexy Air Force pilots stationed at this base. Mr. President, General Jones is making good use of the jet you so kindly gave him. He is in the Indian Ocean somewhere, in the Seychelles I believe, with his family, and I’m taking the jet you loaned me to visit there in a few days. Do you have any estimates of value on the first cargoes we handed to you? Are all these diamonds going to pay off the country’s debts?”
“No, not all of them,” replied the President accepting a cup of coffee.
“Space coffee, Mr. President,” Ryan informed him. “We recently shipped a tree up there, and the beans were picked, roasted, and then brought down for you. I have a gift basket with a few space-produced items for you and the First Family, including a rich chocolate cake, a dozen eggs, a frozen rabbit, a frozen space chicken, and several other items.”
“Thank you, Ryan. I will be sure to tell the girls to enjoy them. They will be very excited. To get back to your question: the initial cargo of bigger diamonds was close to a trillion dollars. Eighty percent of the second load we picked up from here last month has been valued and adds another 4.9 trillion to the estimate, say five trillion in total. With this load I would say we will have a total of 12
to 13 trillion, Ryan. That will completely clear our country’s debts to China and Japan at current market values. We will hand over the payments at one time, which will leave us with about one trillion to repay Germany and the UK. Our current debt is 16.7 trillion dollars. Your donation to the country could pay off 85% of the country’s total debt, minus the amount for General Jones’ aircraft and the 50 million dollars to reconstruct your airbase here, say 100 million, which we will write off as expenses.”
“What about the guaranteed diamond devaluation once you hand over these tons of stones?” Ryan asked.
“Good point. We learned a lot from your deliveries of diamonds to Europe last year. Those diamonds devalued the world’s diamond prices by 12%, but due to your planned slow release of those stones, the 12% has remained steady. We will tell the Chinese and Japanese governments the same thing. If they are judicious about releasing them over time, the market shouldn’t go down by more than another 5 to 20%, depending how quickly the world markets learn about these stones. As far as our government is concerned, we are not publicizing the type of currency with which we are paying off our debts. If the countries accepting payment want to tell the world, and have their repayments devalued, that is not our problem; these stones will have repaid our debts long before that happens.”
“So, we haven’t paid off the country’s debts?” asked Ryan.
“No, you would have if you hadn’t given the first loads to Europe. Without the first devaluation it would have covered 100% of the country’s debt, but that was reduced to about 85%; however, we will have the Asians off our backs, and the balance is owed to friendly nations. Ryan, while I’m in power I want to enact new legislation to ensure our country doesn’t go back into debt ever again. It will be tough, but so was forming the Constitution 250 years ago.”