Writers of the Future - Vol. 31

Unrefined by Martin L Shoemaker

If this had been a vid, there would've been a computer voice over the comms: "Thirty minutes to containment collapse." At least I hoped like hell that I had thirty minutes left. I might need every one of them.

But when you're facing a cascade failure across your computer network, there are no automated warnings, no countdown. I just had to move as fast as I damn well could, and hope I could get to Wilson and get us out before the fusion reactor blew out the end of Refinery Station.

As Leeanne brought the flitter in toward The Tube-the half-klick tunnel of girders that connected Habitat Module to the Reactor and Refinery Module-I hung from its frame and peered ahead, looking for the airlocks into Habitat's Control Deck. If Wilson wasn't there, I wouldn't know where to look for him. There were nearly three million cubic meters in Habitat. And in R&R . . . but I stopped that thought. I'd rather not get that close to a failing fusion reactor.

Refinery Station was the first of Wilson Gray's megastructures, massive artifacts in space that were half constructed, half grown by Von Neumann constructor bots. At one end hung the Habitat Module, still mostly unfinished. At the other end of The Tube was the giant fusion ring.

The reactor provided power for Habitat, but the real reasons Wilson had built the station were the two structures on the far side of the reactor: a giant refinery utilizing the reactor's raw heat for metallurgy, and the two-and-a-half kilometer mass driver that would launch refined metals from the Jovian system back toward Earth. Wilson had invested his entire fortune into the station, and he had convinced a number of other entrepreneurs to sign up as well. Now all those investments were poised to fail, all due to an unexplained computer crash.

Finally we got close enough that I could make out the airlock hatches between the girders. I was glad one of the best pilots in the Pournelle Settlements was flying. As Leeanne neared the closest approach point, the retros fired, bringing us almost motionless relative to Habitat. She had timed it perfectly-less than five meters, Leanne was good-so I leaped.

For a moment I floated in empty space. Jupiter hung off to my right, half in shadow. The sunward side showed the giant cream-and-brown stripes, as well as an excellent view of the famous Red Spot. Closer to me but still dwarfed by its primary was Ganymede, our closest orbital neighbor. Its dark, reddish-gray surface was dotted with ancient impact craters, evidence that the Jovian system was a treasure trove of valuable rocks. Under other circumstances I would've enjoyed the sight, but I couldn't waste time sightseeing. I paid close attention to the task at hand, and I grabbed for a girder.

Contact! My gloved fingers wrapped easily around the girder, a synthetic carbon crystal rod five centimeters across. I grabbed another and arrested my flight. The girders sparkled in my suit light. Their lattice tied the two modules together even in the face of the minimal tidal force we experienced at this distance from Ganymede. The VN bots had spent over a month assembling this giant structure out of carbon that had cost Willy a small fortune to collect; and now at any moment it could all be shattered by the explosion.

"I'm on, Leanne."

"Don't waste words, Sam! Go get Willy. Please!"

Wilson was Leeanne's husband. Nerves of steel were another trait that made Leeanne a top pilot, but hers were strained near their limit. "I'll get him. You just be ready to pick us up."