by Leon Castle
‘Can you do this zip up for me Bill, please?’ asks Sheona, backing up to Bill with the back of her coveralls still open.
‘Typical female, still can’t reach her zipper!’ comments Bill cheekily as he zips her up, slapping her playfully on the rear.
‘Well, you males have to be useful for something!’ she laughs, as she heads out through the biosphere to the tail section of the prospecting vessel to put on her space suit. Bill joins her, wriggling his space suit on and snapping shut the helmet seal. He then walks over to Sheona and checks hers. She in turn checks his, locking them both.
‘Where does Madam wish to go?’ Bill asks with a very fake accent, as they pass through the airlock and down the ramp in their six-wheeled buggy.
Sheona is already engrossed with the hologram of the asteroid, spinning the three dimensional image around to have a good look at it.
‘See this ridge here and this large depression over here,’ she says, pointing to the image. ‘Head up the east side of the ridge down to the edge of the depression, and we’ll see how deep it is, it could be a good spot.’
Bill smiles at his girl, he can still see the remnants of her tight-skinned pretty face with her delicate feminine neck frill tucked up in the back of her helmet.
‘Watch where you’re going, clown!’ smirks Sheona, not even looking up from the hologram as Bill swerves to miss a rock.
‘If I were a much younger…’
‘Yeah, yeah, keep your mind on the job, you grubby old goat!’ she laughs.
They have been prospecting on their own for just over 40 years, and found some smaller size ice deposits, enough to pay their way and put a down payment on their latest new prospecting vessel. They are specialist ice prospectors, and this asteroid has all the hallmarks of having at least some ice, and perhaps enough room for a small satellite city.
‘Get that newfangled gadget out that the research dudes gave us to test.’
‘OK, pull up and I’ll get it out.’
Bill stops the buggy, and Sheona retrieves the handheld ice detector from the storage box at the rear of the buggy. Climbing back in, she straps herself in and turns on the device. Pointing it at the ground, she flicks the activate switch. Nothing, the device is just dead and silent.
‘Mmm…another dud. Oh well,’ she says, placing the still switched-on device into the side storage basket, facing the ground.
‘Just close the lid on the basket in case it falls out.’
‘I guess I’d better! The way you drive!’ Sheona teases.
After a 40-minute ride around the ridge they come to the edge of the depression, it is massive. The range-finder on the buggy shows it as 56 kilometers across. The edge gently drops down to the depression floor, which looks reasonably flat to drive on. Bill drops a locator beacon at their point of entry, and then they drive out towards the middle. After going just a few kilometers the device in the basket goes berserk! rattling and screeching.
‘What the hell!’ exclaims Bill, skidding the buggy to a sudden stop.
‘Sheona jumps out of the buggy, extracting the device from the side basket. She lifts it out of the basket and points it skywards.
‘What are you doing?’ exclaims Bill, with a large frown on his face,
The device falls silent.
‘Oh…’
Sheona now points it back at the ground and it explodes into a riot of sound and vibrations.
‘Bill, grab the locator beacons, drop one here then another one when this racket stops. I’ll keep walking and see how far across this signal goes for.’
Bill follows Sheona in the buggy for half a kilometer, finally he calls her back to the buggy.
‘Look, I reckon this could be a pretty big deposit if that thing actually does work. This depression showed up as a hollow space on the scanner as we flew over. That’s why I said not to land here until we can check it out. So jump in and put it back in the basket and we’ll drive across.’
Sheona climbs back aboard the buggy and places the device back into the basket, again pointing to the ground, and closes the lid on it.
‘Good thinking, I was starting to wonder when it was going to stop. My fingers are still numb from its vibrating.’
Bill just raises his eyebrows at her, with a silly grin on his face.
‘Get your mind on the job lad!’ she laughs, shoving at him as he drives off.
They drive the entire way across with the signal strength at its maximum, the ice detector screaming all the way until they are about one kilometer short of the far edge of the depression, then the detector falls silent.
‘If this is ice then we’ve just hit the jackpot!’ Bill grins through his visor at Sheona.
‘Let’s not count our chickens just yet,’ she smiles in return.
Bill drops a locator beacon where the signal stops. Then he drives around the entire edge of the depression in a zigzag pattern, like a sailing yacht tacking into the wind. This allows him to mark the outer edge of the signal with locator beacons. After taking just over seven hours to complete the drive around the depression, Bill calls it a day.
‘I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!’ he announces
‘OK let’s head for home, we’ll have a meal and a well-earned rest.’
‘I reckon we drive a star pattern over the depression tomorrow to see if it’s a solid signal across the whole thing or just little pockets of signal.’
‘Sounds like a good idea. Then at least we’ll know what we’re dealing with.’
With a solid meal and a good night’s sleep under their belts, Bill and Sheona head out to the depression bright and early the following morning to start their surface survey with the new ice detector. The results are surprising even to Bill and Sheona. If the ice detector actually works, then this depression holds the biggest ice deposit ever found on the asteroid belt!
‘Bill…if this is what I think it could be, we’ll have to use our brains a bit here.’
‘What do you mean, love?’
‘Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, let’s do some spot drilling and find out what we’ve got here. Then we can file our report with verified data and not guess-work.’
‘Mmm…you’ve got a point. You got to admit it’s pretty damn exciting, we could be standing on the biggest ice find ever!’
‘Not a bad retirement package then, mate!’ she smiles.
Over the next six weeks they drill 300 core sample holes, finding pure ancient ice with no contaminants down to a depth of 500 meters. The rock crust on top of the ice is only 30 meters at its thickest. After only two days drilling Bill and Sheona decide that it would be safe to land the vessel directly on the depression.
‘I think we’re nearly done here, Bill, we’ve got all the data we need to send in our report direct to Sky Jewel. I’ll send Borazik a copy as well. They are going to flip out when they see how much ice is in this deposit!
‘We are going to be mega rich!’ laughs Bill ‘I’ll just finish this last hole then we can call it a day.’
Bill feeds the laser-head drill rod deep into the ground. It passes the 400 meter mark, then 500, then 600. Approaching 700 meters the drill bit detects solid rock and stops drilling, the hollow rod now starts its journey back to the surface, retracting from the tubular hole.
Solid ice core fills its inner tube. As the rod retracts towards the surface, ice squeezes out the end of the hollow rod, just like toothpaste out of a tube, breaking off in long cylinders 300 millimeters thick. These drop onto the ground in a growing pile of ice cylinders.
Bill adjusts the extraction speed on the drill and is monitoring its progress when he notices a cylinder of ice break off the end of the rising ice cylinder. To his amazement, there is a strange blue pulsating light coming from within it. As he rushes over to check it out, he calls out to Sheona.
‘Come over here and check this out!’
As Sheona arrives from stacking up the cylinders of ice from the previous hole, Bill picks up the cylinder of
ice and carefully prises it open to reveal a hotdog size, sapphire blue, pulsating crystal.
He holds it out to Sheona. ‘What the hell is this Sheona? It’s beautiful!’ handing it to her gently.
‘I’ve no idea, Bill. It’s obviously a crystal of some sort, check out the fine, smoky mist that swirls around it. Let’s take it back to the P V and see if we can get a molecular ID on it, the geo sampler should be able to ID it for us.’
‘OK let’s do it now, I want to know what the hell this is!’ exclaims an excited Bill.
Sheona gingerly carries the strange, pulsating crystal towards the vessel with Bill by her side. They walk up the access ramp and move through the air-lock. As they clear and seal the airlock door, the entire ship suddenly blacks out. This is a full systems failure!
Bill hears a sudden explosive air shot as the air cannon activated, shooting the emergency distress beacon into space 2 kilometers above the stricken vessel. The beacon now sends a distress signal out into the darkness of space.
‘What the hell just happened? Bill…’ concern in Sheona’s voice.
‘I don’t know…Sheona, check out the crystal! It’s lighting up the whole dock, I think it’s pulsing more quickly too. I’ll check out the Boddington Reactor and find out what’s going on with the power.’
Sheona stands in the dock, fully entranced by the crystal while Bill goes to check the reactor. After a short time Bill returns holding the now dead reactor in his hand.
‘The reactor is dead! This has never happened before. Let’s go through to the biosphere and wait for the search and rescue team, maybe they will have a spare reactor on board.’
‘OK I’ll bring this with us,’ replies Sheona, holding out the strange, glowing crystal.
‘Yeah alright, at least it’ll give us some light,’ smiles an unsuspecting Bill.
They make their way through the rear dock into the biosphere via the bulkhead door that separates the two. Bill closes and seals the door.
Now in the biosphere, Sheona gently places the crystal on a small table that Bill has moved to the center of the biosphere floor.
Bill moves over to Sheona.
‘Turn your back to me and I’ll unlock your helmet, then you can unlock mine.’
Sheona turns, Bill unlocks her helmet and she unlocks Bill’s helmet.
‘Let’s get this gear off and get into something more comfortable,’ comments Bill.
Bill unseals his helmet, quickly followed by Sheona. As Bill takes off his helmet he is overcome by a sudden giddy feeling, as if he is intensely drunk. His helmet drops to the floor with a thud. He looks at Sheona. Through the growing haze, she seems to look like an angel, beautiful and glowing in a strange, brilliant radiance then everything starts spinning, and suddenly everything goes black.
Removing her helmet, Sheona too, is overcome by a sudden giddy feeling. Bill looks strange as he lays on the floor unconscious, the smoky mist from the crystal envelops him, embracing him. She finds it hard to focus her vision in the overpowering brightness as she starts to spin out, then everything fades out to black:
Chapter 4
‘Croc…there is a class one emergency in progress. I have just picked up the distress signal from Prospecting Vessel 6098. Their location is asteroid SF 2986-12926-5628-00788.’
‘Thank you. Alert the rescue team and inform them I will be coming along with some luggage of my own,’ instructs The Croc to the super bio-computer called Nolack-2.
‘At last the prophecy may be fulfilled! They may have found …staronium!’ the Croc thinks excitedly.
He rushes off to prepare for this historic event. As he approaches the vault, he instructs Nolack-2 to open the door. The large thick door slides sideways into the wall, allowing the Croc to enter. He walks down the sweeping stairway to floor level and he selects a small chest approximately 1 m long by 50 cm wide and deep. Its walls and floor are 5 cm thick solid gold, as is its lid. On its lid are two golden Crocs standing up on hind legs. Facing each other, they are each 10 cm tall. A 20 cm tall golden pyramid stands between them. It is the Golden Ark of Promise.
The Croc attaches a thin anti-gravity belt around its girth. Using a small remote, the Croc activates the antigravity belt lifting the chest to a comfortable height off the floor, now the Croc can gently push it in front of him.
As the Croc approaches the ultra-high speed rescue cruiser with the Ark floating in front of him, the rescue team snaps to attention.
‘At ease squad, I will enter the stricken prospecting vessel first and alone.’
‘But sire!’ counters the squad commander.
‘No buts! You will need to attend to the two crew members as soon as I call you to come aboard.’
‘But what if they are critical?’
‘I assure you they are quite alright, although unconscious.’
‘How can you be so sure, sire?’
‘Let’s just say my source is totally reliable.’
‘As you wish, my liege,’ replies the Commander bowing respectfully to the Croc.
‘I have a spare space suit for you as requested, and a spare Boddington reactor.’
‘Thank you, Commander!’
‘Let’s mount up, people!’ the Commander signals to prepare for launch.
On the journey out to stricken PV 6098, the Croc has time to get to know the crew of the rescue shuttle. In a very short time, everyone is relaxed and the Croc is able to feel like part of the crew, sharing some humor with them to pass the time.
‘Commander, we are picking up a signal requesting direct link communications, sir.’ informs Alison the communications officer.
‘Thanks, Alison, patch them through to the conference room I’ll take it there.’
‘I’ll join you.’ nods the Croc.
‘Commander…’ A petite young female’s face with her neck frill raised and pink with annoyance appears on screen, talking even as her image forms.
‘I hereby action our right to salvage the remains of PV 6098.under section six two five of the salvage act.’ her face now hard and determined, her neck frill red and rigid.
‘We are nearing PV 6098 as we speak. We are on a rescue mission sanctioned by the Croc himself.’
‘I am commanding you! Do not approach PV 6098 and interfere with our salvage team, they will arrive in seven days.’
‘And just who do you think you are, young lady, to command me to do anything?’ the rescue Commander, now seeing red, his neck frill fully erect and pulsating.
‘I am Matriarch Nerola of Borazik, outpost city number six. I am commander of this region of the outer rim.’ her chin rises in defiance.
‘May I?’
‘Of course, my liege,’ bows the commander, backing away to allow the Croc to move into view of the camera.
‘It has been a long time little one,’ a gentle smile breaking on the Croc’s face.
Now with only the top of her head visible on the screen she responds: ‘my liege, I had no idea!’
‘Nerola, how many years is it now?’
‘Too many, sire,’ her arrogance suddenly replaced by humility.
‘I honor your rights of salvage. I will credit your account with the value of the salvage plus a little something extra. We, however, will salvage the vessel to determine if a design fault caused the demise of the vessel, and we will take care of the crew.’
The Commander starts to move forward to speak. The Croc’s hand signal stops him.
‘But…?’
‘Commander…a moment please,’ nodding to the screen.
‘Of course… sire,’ giving the Croc a short bow he takes his leave.
‘Bill and Sheona Wallace are the registered owners of PV 6098 are they not?’
‘Yes, of course, my liege.’
‘They have found a sizable ice deposit and I’d like you to organize the harvest and extraction for me, Nerola. Can you handle a contract of this size?’
‘My team is amongst the best, sire! I would be honored to.’
<
br /> ‘I will organize payment from this end. You should make the trip to Sky Jewel… soon. Things have changed since you were last there.’
‘Much has changed, I’d like to catch up with you a….’
‘Sorry sire, we lost the signal on our approach,’ Alison’s voice comes through the comm’s unit.
‘Dead ahead. Commander, only 26 clicks out now and closing fast, shutting down primary drive and switching to secondary thrusters, full reverse… now!’
The rescue shuttle rapidly slows down to a stop right over the top of PV 6098.
‘Initiating descent, I’ll maneuver her as close as I can, Commander.’
‘As long as we are close enough to safely extract them I’ll be happy with that Jez.’
‘OK extraction squad, suit up it’s game on!’
Landing the rescue cruiser tail-to-tail with PV 6098, Jez manages to close the gap between them to a short 20 meter walk.
The first person down the ramp is the Croc, with the Ark of Promise floating in front of him. He disappears into the bowels of the stricken prospecting vessel with the Ark. He stops near the bulk head door, lowering the Ark to the floor, where he removes the antigravity belt and places it into a lead-lined pocket.
He then opens the bulkhead door to the biosphere and there, lying on the floor, are the two crew members. He checks their vital signs, all good, they are just in a deep sleep. He carefully fits their helmets back on, locking them in place. He drops their internal sun visor, locking it in position completely covering their faces, they are now ready to be transported.
Now his attention turns to the most beautiful sight he has ever seen. The foretold staronium isotope in its crystal form, its incredible nuclear power evident as it drained all of the prospecting vessel’s nonorganic energy, and then used it to reconstruct Bill and Sheona’s organic matter back to its prime. He gently picks up the staronium isotope. It feels about …5 kg in weight, and he carries it through to the ark on the other side of the bulkhead door. Carefully, he places it into the golden ark, and closes the heavy solid gold lid, sealing it off. The Croc then calls the rescue squad in as he reattaches the antigravity belt to the Ark.