“Albatross
station, mining team 4.” The mining crew captain called on the radio.
“Go ahead
team 4” Lt Xi responded.
“We’ve
cleared out the last of the ice we have mined and we can see the markings
clearly.” He paused a moment “And there is something else weird about that
zone.”
“What is
it?”
“It feels
like the gravity is stronger in that zone.” He tried to sound calm.
“The
gravity?” Lt Xi wanted clarification “Not magnetic?”
“Confirmed.”
The mining crew captain called in “It is not magnetic, it is gravity.”
“Somebody is
going to find that very interesting.” Lt Xi was not expecting that. “Hell, I
find it interesting!”
“So did
we. That’s why we tested it and checked
it several ways.” He punched some keys on the console. “We’re sending a report
on what we found now.”
“Got it.”
There was a pause “Ok, we are going to maneuver the probe overhead to get a
good look at those markings and see what kind of measurements we get.”
“Roger
that.”
“Have a
couple of crew members out there for reference.”
“Will do.”
“Team 4,
this is Lab 4.” Commander Dickerson’s voice boomed out of the radio.
“Go ahead
Lab 4.” The team captain was surprised to hear directly from the lab.
“How exactly
did you determine it was higher gravity in that zone?” The commander was
skeptical.
“It is all
in the report.” He was only slightly annoyed “But it is very clear there is no
attraction outside the zone and there is definitely enough to allow standing
inside it.”
“Did you
check how powerful it is?” The commander was prying.
“I may be
Italian but I am not Galileo.” The crew captain was trying to be of good humor
“So lacking a ball and a feather my best guess is between 1/10th and
1/20th of Earth standard.”
“That is
quite a lot in the middle of space!” the commander exclaimed.
“How do you
think we noticed it?” He was containing his annoyance “Like I said, it is all
in the report.”
“Ok, we’ll
take a look at it.” She calmed down “Thank you for the clarification.”
“Any time.”
He flicked off the radio and relaxed a bit.
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