Sunday, March 23, 2014

What happened to my Asteroid? Section 51:


“YEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAWWWWW!!!” rang through the bridge as it emitted from the radio.

“AHH, our tow shuttle has their first cable attached.” Captain Calhoun couldn’t help but laugh.

The entire bridge crew laughed as well.  They all knew who broadcast that yell and why.  All of them couldn’t help but feel a tad bit of jealousy.  The riggers always got a great ride with a great view during the process of setting up asteroids for towing.

The captain punched up the intercom “Lab 4, Bridge.”

“Go ahead bridge.” The commander sounded relaxed.

“Did you get out of your suit yet, Kim?” The captain lightly inquired.

“Sure did, and I just got back from the head.” She was keeping it fun with the captain.

“Glad you are comfortable now.” He let out a little guffaw “So what is our schedule with the tow shuttle?”

“According to their report just as they were starting to rig it up they should start towing in 30 minutes or so.” She paused a moment. “I have a plot for them to bring it along side the other one.”

“How long do you expect that to take?” He was checking shift schedules.

“Twelve to twenty four hours.” She hesitated “depending.”

“Depending on what?”

“Mass.”  She shifted her tone to uncertainty. “We have no idea how much mass those things have.  And we don’t know how much force we can really place on those anchors.”

“Understood.”  The captain switched to the transport schedules. “What do we know about that transport explosion?”

“The preliminary report says it was an oxidizer tank rupture that caused a leak in a fuel line.” The commander tried to sound confident. “I have ordered class 1 inspections of all transport craft before they can launch again.”

“Class 1?  Is that really necessary?” He was skeptical.

“I believe it is sir.” Kim was nervous now.

The captain thought it over a minute.  The extra time meant more information, and information is what he needed before dealing with the mining consortium. “You have my full support for that order, commander.  I will enter that into the log and inform the consortium that there is a delay until the conclusion of your investigation.”

“Thank you, sir.” Kim was relieved now. “We’ll get the investigation concluded as quickly as possible.”

“Take your time and get the job done right, commander.” He said with an air of full confidence.

Kim knew the captain was ‘pumping up the troops’ but she appreciated the support. “Yes Sir. We will have the full reports as soon as possible.”

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