The Ouroboros Wave Read Free Page B

elevator, giving access to each level. Tatsuya’s office was in this glassed-in cylinder, which allowed him to oversee work with key staff throughout the module. Access from the levels to his office was via a projecting bridge. Three levels of floor-to-ceiling glass made up the central section in Station East, which meant that Tatsuya could observe operations at any point of the compass.
    Tatsuya was eating. To avoid having to glance at the device embedded in his wrist, he had routed its display to a flat screen monitor. Tatsuya was busily stirring a bowl of green tea over rice. Seeing him about to tuck in, Kurokawa suddenly looked serious. “It’s nice that we have rice to eat, but don’t eat too much. We don’t have much left.”
    Kurokawa disappeared from the monitor, his image replaced by a data plot of declining stores of rice from Amphisbaena Harvest No. 7. Superimposed on the curve was another plot, labeled T ATSUYA K AWANISHI’S R ICE C ONSUMPTION . The plot clearly showed that the supply of rice from the last harvest would be exhausted in another week or so at the current rate.
    “Why do you send me this stuff when I’m eating?” grumbled Tatsuya, as he gave his rice another stir. His voice was picked up by his wrist web; at times like this it was a very convenient device.
    “Mealtime is the only time for info like this. Should I send it during work hours?”

     
    “I see your point.”
    “This station isn’t a farm, it’s a logistics center. We have a limited amount of growing space. It puts a load on the life-support systems too.”
    “Yeah, but this is the only AADD station where we can grow rice. I seem to remember that farming was your idea.”
    “I wanted to grow vegetables, not rice. And we’re supposed to be sharing. You’re eating more than your share.”
    “Are you still holding Harvest No. 6 against me?”
    “No. The fact that you ate sixty percent of that harvest is something I got out of my system months ago. Besides, I have all the data if I ever need to refresh my memory.”
    Tatsuya’s web chimed and he saw a detailed consumption plot for Harvest No. 6. At times like this, the web was a very inconvenient unit.

     
    TATSUYA AND KUROKAWA had commandeered some unoccupied space in the habitats and started growing rice on the pretext of creating a green zone. Naturally these were not real rice paddies. The plants were grown in trays, a crude hydroponic setup with nutrient solution, high ambient oxygen levels, and macromolecular granules instead of soil.
    Their inspiration came when they noticed some of the crew cultivating ornamental plants in pots. Most vegetation required gravity to germinate—in fact, gravity was necessary for them to grow normally at all. As Tatsuya’s office moved along Central Block, he saw plants on each level forming small clusters of green, like miniature forests. Boston ivy vines spread along the inner wall, blocking part of the view through the glass. The habitat was an ideal environment for vegetation. It was probably only a matter of time before this castle of high-impact glass and hybrid materials was completely covered with a lush blanket of ivy, as Tatsuya could see from the way the vines were creeping further and further into his field of vision.
    Once Chandrasekhar Station was complete, Kali’s gravity would make it possible to farm on the shell’s outer surface. There was no gravity on Ouroboros, which was still under construction. Free-fall conditions prevailed. The only other place with “real” gravity in the vicinity was Kali—not the best location for agriculture.
    Space Station Amphisbaena was a charcoal-gray needle 1,728 kilometers long. The carbon-fiber nanotubules used in its construction were the same as those used to build the orbital elevator on Mars. Without their web’s image-enhancement circuits, it was very easy to miss the station against the blackness of space. The tips of the needle completed a revolution in just under