Saturn Rukh Read Free

significant quantities of helium in space?”
     
    “Saturn.”
     
    “Of course!” said Chastity, annoyed with herself for forgetting about the outer planets. “Although Jupiter’s closer ... What are you planning to use? Scoop-ships? It would be fun to fly one of those.”
     
    “Scoop-ships would scoop mostly hydrogen, with only a few percent of helium,” replied Art. “Nope, what we are planning on doing is taking a meta factory down into Saturn’s atmosphere and floating it there under a raft of balloons. The meta factory will separate out the helium and turn it into meta. Meta-fueled cargo ships will then haul the meta back to the inner solar system. This first mission will establish the feasibility of the concept by having a ship take a pilot-plant version of a meta factory down into Saturn and having the plant make enough fuel for the ship to make its way back. That’s why we’ve chosen Saturn instead of Jupiter; the gravity well of Saturn isn’t as deep, and besides, the gee level in the upper atmosphere is only one Earth gravity, while on Jupiter it’s two-and-a-half gees. You’ll find living on Saturn almost like living on Earth.”
     
    “I haven’t said I’d take the job,” warned Chastity. “Besides, I already have a job ... with TransPlanet.”
     
    “TransPlanet is a member of the consortium. The CEO of TransPlanet was the one who recommended you for the pilot slot on the mission.”
     
    “Pilot!” said Chastity, annoyed. “Who’s commander?”
     
    “Rod Morgan,” said Art. “He’s already accepted the job.”
     
    “Oh...” said Chastity, having to admit to herself that Rod was older and more experienced than she was.
     
    “Why don’t I have him come in and join us?” said Art, pushing a buzzer. “He’s been working with the ship’s engineers for the last three weeks while you’ve been on your way in. He can better answer any technical questions you might have, while I can answer the business and financial ones.”
     
    The door opened and Rod Morgan strode in, dressed in the tailored spaceman’s jumpsuit and soft boots outfit affected by those who piloted TransPlanet ships. He was handsome and blond, with the same height and almost the same muscular build as Chastity, except her chest-circumference measurement involved different lumps from his. When people saw them together at TransPlanet functions, they often remarked what a cute couple they would make ... and they had coupled occasionally.
     
    “Hi, Rod,” said Chastity, rising from her chair to give Rod’s hand a strong shake. “The fact that you’re going to be on this mission makes me more willing to consider it—besides the billion bucks, that is. What are we flying?”
     
    “It’s basically the same Boeing-Mitsubishi freighter-lander that you and I have been flying. That’s why we two were at the top of the selection list. Instead of cargo modules, we’ll be carrying more fuel modules, so we can make the interplanetary hop faster and still have enough fuel left to take us down into Saturn. Also, instead of landing struts, we’ll be carrying a balloon.”
     
    “This sounds like a planetary exploration mission,” said Chastity, turning to Art. “How come NASA isn’t doing this?... or ESA... or, if it costs too much for one government, some multigovernment collaborative effort?”
     
    “The reason a consortium has been formed to carry out the mission is to make the mission feasible,” replied Art, launching into a long explanation. “If any one of the national governments were officially in charge, then the very idea of designing a mission with any significant risk to the humans on the crew would not be acceptable. In order to make the mission safe enough, the spacecraft would have to be made so heavy that it couldn’t even lower itself into Saturn, much less carry enough fuel to take off again. By putting the burden—and any blame for failure—on a commercially led consortium, the