good look at it.
âSee this ridge here and this large depression over here,â she says, pointing to the image. âHead up the east side of the ridge down to the edge of the depression, and weâll see how deep it is, it could be a good spot.â
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.
âWatch where youâre going, clown!â smirks Sheona, not even looking up from the hologram as Bill swerves to miss a rock.
âIf I were a much youngerâ¦â
âYeah, yeah, keep your mind on the job, you grubby old goat!â 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.
âGet that newfangled gadget out that the research dudes gave us to test.â
âOK, pull up and Iâll get it out.â
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.
âMmmâ¦another dud. Oh well,â she says, placing the still switched-on device into the side storage basket, facing the ground.
âJust close the lid on the basket in case it falls out.â
âI guess Iâd better! The way you drive!â 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.
âWhat the hell!â exclaims Bill, skidding the buggy to a sudden stop.
âSheona jumps out of the buggy, extracting the device from the side basket. She lifts it out of the basket and points it skywards.
âWhat are you doing?â exclaims Bill, with a large frown on his face,
The device falls silent.
âOhâ¦â
Sheona now points it back at the ground and it explodes into a riot of sound and vibrations.
âBill, grab the locator beacons, drop one here then another one when this racket stops. Iâll keep walking and see how far across this signal goes for.â
Bill follows Sheona in the buggy for half a kilometer, finally he calls her back to the buggy.
âLook, 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. Thatâs why I said not to land here until we can check it out. So jump in and put it back in the basket and weâll drive across.â
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.
âGood thinking, I was starting to wonder when it was going to stop. My fingers are still numb from its vibrating.â
Bill just raises his eyebrows at her, with a silly grin on his face.
âGet your mind on the job lad!â 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.
âIf this is ice then weâve just hit the jackpot!â Bill grins through his visor at Sheona.
âLetâs not count our chickens
âSee this ridge here and this large depression over here,â she says, pointing to the image. âHead up the east side of the ridge down to the edge of the depression, and weâll see how deep it is, it could be a good spot.â
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.
âWatch where youâre going, clown!â smirks Sheona, not even looking up from the hologram as Bill swerves to miss a rock.
âIf I were a much youngerâ¦â
âYeah, yeah, keep your mind on the job, you grubby old goat!â 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.
âGet that newfangled gadget out that the research dudes gave us to test.â
âOK, pull up and Iâll get it out.â
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.
âMmmâ¦another dud. Oh well,â she says, placing the still switched-on device into the side storage basket, facing the ground.
âJust close the lid on the basket in case it falls out.â
âI guess Iâd better! The way you drive!â 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.
âWhat the hell!â exclaims Bill, skidding the buggy to a sudden stop.
âSheona jumps out of the buggy, extracting the device from the side basket. She lifts it out of the basket and points it skywards.
âWhat are you doing?â exclaims Bill, with a large frown on his face,
The device falls silent.
âOhâ¦â
Sheona now points it back at the ground and it explodes into a riot of sound and vibrations.
âBill, grab the locator beacons, drop one here then another one when this racket stops. Iâll keep walking and see how far across this signal goes for.â
Bill follows Sheona in the buggy for half a kilometer, finally he calls her back to the buggy.
âLook, 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. Thatâs why I said not to land here until we can check it out. So jump in and put it back in the basket and weâll drive across.â
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.
âGood thinking, I was starting to wonder when it was going to stop. My fingers are still numb from its vibrating.â
Bill just raises his eyebrows at her, with a silly grin on his face.
âGet your mind on the job lad!â 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.
âIf this is ice then weâve just hit the jackpot!â Bill grins through his visor at Sheona.
âLetâs not count our chickens
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