Earth Unaware (The First Formic War 1)

It was then that the instruction began. Victor passed the tools and pieces to Mono and asked him questions that didn't explicitly tell Mono how to finish the installation but that pointed him in the right direction. That way, Mono was discovering the steps himself and seeing the logic behind everything. It was how Father had trained Victor, not only letting him get his hands on the repair, but getting his mind in it as well, teaching Victor how to think his way through a fix.

As Mono worked, Victor allowed himself another look out to space. There wasn't a trace of thrusters now. Just blackness and stars and silence. Victor wasn't a navigator, but he knew the big asteroids that were currently in this general vicinity, and he wondered where the Italians might be going. It wouldn't be anywhere close, of course. In the Kuiper Belt it took several months to travel between asteroids. But even so, maybe Victor could guess.

He closed his eyes. It was pointless. There were thousands of objects in the Kuiper Belt. They could be heading anywhere. And what good did it do to know their destination anyway? That wouldn't change anything. That wouldn't bring Janda back. And yes, he wanted her back. He realized that now. He had never been physically affectionate with her in any way that wasn't innocent. And yet now, when he couldn't have her, he suddenly longed for her to be close to him.

He loved his cousin. Why hadn't he seen that before? I'm exactly what the Council feared. Whatever they think of me now, I deserve it.

Mono was asking him a question. Victor returned to the task at hand. They finished the installation and then made their way down to the blast site on the asteroid.

In mining terms, the asteroid was a "lumpy," or a rock rich in iron, cobalt, nickel, and other ferromagnetic minerals. Miners used scanners to look for concentrations of metal in the stone, which they called "lumps." The more lumps or seams of metal they found, the higher the metal-to-stone ratio. No lumps meant the rock was a "slagger" or a "dumpy," a worthless chunk of nothing.

Victor and Mono touched down on the asteroid. Their boot magnets were set to the highest setting, and the minerals in the rock were just enough to hold their feet to the surface. They walked to the lip of the mineshaft and looked down. The laser drill had burned a nice circle into the asteroid, though not with a continuous cutting motion. It actually fired a series of close, single bursts that perforated the rock to a predetermined depth, creating a tight ring of holes. Miners then broke the narrow walls between the holes with the shake-hammers, then pulled out the rock in chunks, building the shaft.

But this shaft wasn't deep enough. The miners hadn't yet reached the lump. When they did, they'd bring in the cooker tubes and refine and smelt the metal

on-site, shaping it into cylinders that could be floated back up to the ship. It was tedious, hard labor, but if the lump was big enough, it was well worth the effort.

Victor found a spot on the inner wall of the shaft where the steam sensor could be installed, and then called up Marco. "We're nearly ready to test this thing. Do you have a moment to come help us out?"

"On my way," said Marco.

Victor thought it best if Marco was the one who installed the steam sensor. It was a simple procedure, and it would allow Marco to feel some ownership for the device. Besides, the miners would be the ones moving the steam sensor every time they moved the drill, so they needed to know how to install it at the blast site. It made sense for Marco, as team leader, to have the first go.

Marco didn't come alone. Word had spread, and every miner in the family now gathered around the mineshaft, ready to watch.

"When ice melts it produces steam," said Victor. "This sensor goes down in the shaft and detects steam. The moment the level of steam in the detritus goes up a certain amount, it tells the retros to ease off. Then, when the rock particulate goes up again and steam diminishes, the retros accelerate. Meanwhile, it's sending adjustments to the drill, to keep it from waffling as the ship moves. So the beam always stays dead center on the blast site."

"Won't the heat from the laser burn the steam sensor?" asked Marco.

"That's what the casing is for," said Victor. "It's pretty tough stuff. I'm thinking it will hold."

"So no more ice dips?" asked one of the miners.

"It won't rid the ship of all movement entirely," said Victor. "There would still be some slight shifting since it will take a moment for the sensor to detect the steam, but the movement will be far more gentle, like slight waves instead of sudden, jarring jolts."

Marco flew down into the hole and drilled the steam sensor into the inner rock wall as Victor suggested. When he returned, he ushered everyone back to a safe distance and had them lower their blast shields over their visors.

"It's still a prototype," Victor reminded them. "I can't guarantee the beam won't go off center. It's bound to need some serious adjustments."

"Shut up and drill," said Marco.

Victor blinked the commands into his heads-up display, and the laser blasted down into the rock. Within seconds the laser hit ice, and the ship began to dip. The retros adjusted and the drill countered. It wasn't perfect; the beam still wavered a bit.

"Needs tweaking," said Victor. He called up the commands on his display. His eyes moved quickly, and he gave the appropriate blink commands, making the needed adjustments. Twenty seconds later the laser hit another pocket of ice. Steam issued from the hole, but the retros responded quickly and smoothly this time. The drill responded perfectly as well, without the slightest waver from side to side.

Everyone cheered. Mono was punching the sky, whistling.

Marco was smiling. "She handles light. Sweet."

"So I'm on the right track," said Victor. "Now I can get to work on the real version."

"Does Concepcion know about this?" asked Marco

"We didn't want to tell anyone until we knew it worked. Now that it shows some promise, I'll get my dad involved. He may have some improvements in mind."

"I'll take two," said Marco, smiling. "One for the new drill as well." He gave Victor an affectionate knuckle tap on the helmet.

When Victor and Mono finally returned to the ship, Mono was on an emotional high. "You'd be rich on Earth, Vico. Stinking rich. All these ideas of yours. They'd pay you millions of credits."