Cyber Rogues (2 page)

The mass-driver at Maskelyne, over a thousand miles away on the western edge of Tranquillatis, had been in operation for almost a decade. It had been built as part of the EXPLORER (EXPloitation of Lunar ORE Reserves) Project to hurl lunar rock up into orbit for metal extraction and construction of the huge space colonies being assembled within several hundred thousand miles of Earth. In fact the title was something of a deliberate misnomer. There were of course, no true ores on the Moon—ores in the sense of metal-rich substances concentrated by weathering and geological processes. Deep below the surface however, were rich accumulations of titanium, aluminum, iron and suchlike that had been precipitated by thermofluidic processes operative during the Moon’s early history. The compounds bearing these elements had been dubbed “ores” by the media and the name had stuck

The mass-driver was a five-mile-long, ruler-straight track banked by two “hedges” of continuous electromagnetic windings—an immense linear accelerator stretching westward across Tranquillatis. It accelerated supercooled magnetic “buckets” riding on cushions of flux at 100g to reach escape velocity in the first two miles. Beyond that the buckets were laser-tracked and computer-adjusted to eject their loads of moonrock in a shallow climb that just cleared the mountains two hundred miles away by virtue of the Moon’s surface curvature. En route the loads were electrically charged by being sprayed with electrons and fine-trimmed by massive electrostatic deflectors located at the two-hundred-mile downrange point to leave the final phase of launch with an accuracy better than one part in a million—comparable to a football being kicked between the uprights from 3,000 miles.

From there on each load, comprising 60 pounds of “ore,” climbed steadily for two days until, 40,000 miles above the lunar surface, it fell into a “Hippo” catcher-ship stationed at the gravitationally stable L2 point. The energy needed to power the mass-driver was beamed down as microwaves from a three-mile-wide orbiting solar collector.

Day in, day out, round the clock, the mass-driver sent up a charge every two seconds, halting only for maintenance or for occasional repairs. Every year, one million tons of moonrock fell into the waiting relays of Hippos. And farther out in space, the colonies steadily took shape.

The project had been so successful that the powers-that-be had decided to go ahead with the construction of a second mass-driver. This one would also be located on the equator, but near Reinhold, aiming out across Procellarum. The track, the experts had decreed, would pass right over the point at which Fields and Paskoe were standing. Not a little to the right nor a little to the left, they had pronounced after extensive surveys, but right there.

First-phase preparation would require accurate sighting with lasers, covering a stretch of terrain that extended from a mile or more behind them to several times that distance ahead, which would require an unobstructed path. The ridge was not really large—about the size of a dozen average houses set end to end—but . . . it was in the way.

And so it came about that the form that had stood valiantly to preserve its record of events from the earliest epoch of the Solar System at last found itself opposing the restless, thrusting outward urge of Man.

The ridge would have to go.

“How goes it?” The voice of Sergeant Tim Cummings came through over the open channel from the nearest of the two surface-crawlers parked a few hundred feet back at the bottom of the shallow slope that led up to the ridge.

“I think we’re about done here,” Paskoe replied. “Get some coffee on, Tim. We’re coming back down.”

“See all you wanted from the top?” Cummings inquired.

“Yeah. It’s pretty much as we thought,” Paskoe told him. “More or less symmetric on both sides. Probably not more than fifty, maybe sixty feet thick at the base.” He glanced automatically at the twin lines of footprints that led up to the point on the ridge crest that he and Fields had climbed to, and then led back to where they were now standing.

“Let’s go,” Fields said, and with that turned and began heading back to the crawler. Paskoe gave the ridge one final glance, then turned to follow at a slow easygoing lope that brought him alongside Fields in a few seconds.

“What do you reckon?” Fields asked as they bounced side by side down the slope. “Soil blower maybe?”

“Dunno,” Paskoe replied. “There are some big boulders in there, and it’s probably pretty well compacted lower down. Might take a digger or two, probably a heavy shover too. We’ll see what the computers reckon.”

“There’s some heavy equipment the other side of Reinhold,” Fields remarked. “If they shifted some of that over here they might get started inside a day or two.”

“Nah—I’m pretty sure most of that stuff’s tied up,” Paskoe said. “They may have to fly something in from Tycho. Anyhow, that’s their problem. They know their schedules. We’ll just have to wait and see what they come up with.”

“As long as we don’t end up having to shovel it,” Fields said as they slowed down to approach the crawler. Paskoe steadied himself on the handrail and stooped slightly to clear his helmet past the entrance to the crawler’s lower cabin.

“No way,” he declared with feeling. “I’ve seen enough Massachusetts winters not to ever wanna see a shovel again. I’ll leave it to the computers. If they say the best they can manage is a week, that’s okay by me.”

“The boss’d get pretty mad about that if it happened,” Fields murmured as he ducked to follow the now invisible Paskoe.

“Then the boss could come out here and damn well shovel it himself,” Paskoe’s voice said in his helmet.

Five minutes later they had removed their helmets and were seated back at the crew stations beneath the viewdome of the crawler’s upper cabin.

While Fields and Cummings used the viscreen to discuss the next item on the day’s agenda with Michel Chauverier, who was in command of the other crawler parked next to them, Paskoe activated the main console at the far end of the cabin to close a channel via comsat to the Tycho node of the ubiquitous TITAN computer complex. After a brief dialogue via touchpad and display screen, he had communicated the nature of his request to the system’s Executive Command Interpreter. A few seconds later the screen returned the message:

ASSIGNED JOB NUMBER 2736/B. 72/Z72

SCHEDULED TO SUBSYSTEM:

SURFACE ENGINEERING P.927

REQUIRE DATA REGARDING NATURE AND

LOCATION OF OBSTRUCTION

Paskoe remote-steered one of the crawler’s external TV cameras until he had an image of the ridge outside nicely centered on one of the console’s auxiliary screens. Then he operated the touchpad again to bring up two flashing cursors superimposed on the image, and moved them across the screen until they lined up with the boulder formations he had memorized. In this position the cursors defined the portion of the ridge that mattered.

He then tapped out a brief code with his fingertips. In the fraction of a second that followed, the coordinates of the crawler’s identification beacon were read and plotted by one of the invisible satellites high above. At the same time the picture being picked up by the TV camera was analyzed by the onboard computers and the data extracted were used to align the laser mounted on the roof with the centerpoint between the cursors. The range, bearing and elevation data read from the laser were instantly flashed to the Tycho computers. From the readings obtained from the satellite, the computers knew the exact location of the crawler upon the lunar surface. The laser data enabled them to compute the position of the ridge relative to the crawler, and hence to deduce its precise coordinates as well.

A few more seconds elapsed while programs at Tycho pondered over the patterns contained in the TV picture being sent to them. Then the words on the screen vanished to be replaced by:

PROFILE?

Paskoe responded:

BASE THICKNESS 60FT MAX.

OBSTRUCTION APPROX LONGITUDINALLY SYMMETRIC

COMPACTED REGOLITH INC OBSERVED DEBRIS

TO 10FT DIA EST.

REQUIRED REMOVAL TO DEPTH EST 40FT. LEVEL.

He drummed his fingers on the console with growing impatience while the machines meditated. No doubt they were bringing in the crawler’s armory of X-ray analyzers, infrared analyzers and heavens alone knew what else to scan the ridge and estimate its mass, composition, structural features and whatever else they thought they needed to know to figure out how to go about doing a perfectly simple job.

It was quite straightforward, he told himself. All they had to do was decide which types of earth-moving machine would be best suited—surely any dirt-farmer could have told them that—check where they were located and when they would become available, and advise how long it would take to get them moved here. Then he’d be able to plan the next part of the job.

Computers! The simpler the task, the more it seemed they had to fuss around with irrelevant detail. Just like people.

PRIORITY REQUESTED?

Paskoe sighed:

ABSOLUTE BEST POSSIBLE

GRADE PB PROJECT BEING DELAYED REF. 2053/A.

THIS ITEM CRITICAL.

The computers, however, were not through yet.

ANY CONSTRAINTS?

NO. JUST GET RID OF IT.

Another wait ensued. Then the words changed again. Paskoe read them casually, blinked, sat forward and read them again.

JOB SCHEDULED PRIORITY CATEGORY

‘A.1.’ NO FURTHER QUERIES

ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME IS 21 MINUTES.

Paskoe frowned and asked for a repeat . . . and got it. Looking bemused, he turned and interrupted the conversation still going on behind him between his two companions and Chauverier.

“Hey. Look at this. Either I’m crazy or the system’s screwed up. Tell me I’m not crazy.” Fields and Cummings turned in their seats.

“What’s up?” Fields inquired. Paskoe gestured toward his console.

“Tycho’s sized up the job and it’s giving an ECT of twenty-one minutes.”

“You’re crazy,” Fields declared without hesitation.

“Look at the screen.”

“It’s crazy,” Fields decided.

Cummings rose from his seat and clambered across the cabin to peer more closely at the display.

“What’s going on?” Chauverier demanded from the viscreen.

“Kal’s got some screwy numbers back from Tycho,” Fields told him. “Tim’s gone to have a look.”

“Could be a fluke,” Cummings was saying, rubbing his chin dubiously. “Maybe it’s our lucky day. There’s probably a transporter due over this way that’s carrying just the stuff we need on a low-priority job someplace. Maybe Tycho’s rescheduled it to land here.” Paskoe pursed his lips and nodded slowly.

“Could be . . .” he agreed, then went on suddenly more decisively. “Yep. You could be right, Tim. I never thought of that. What do you think, Jerry?”

“Makes sense,” Fields agreed. “We’d better stay put to see what shows up.” He turned back toward Chauverier, who was still peering out of the viscreen. “We think there’ll be a ship coming down here pretty soon, Michel. There’ll probably only be robodiggers or something on it, but maybe we ought to hang around to check it out. It should only be for half-hour or so.”

“Suits us,” Chauverier answered readily. “In fact me and Joe were just starting to get hungry. If we’re going to stick around here for a while I guess we’ll eat. Do you guys want to come on over for a bite?” Fields turned back to the others.

“Michel’s inviting us over for lunch in his truck. Okay by you two?”

“Great idea.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, Michel,” Fields advised. “We’re on our way. Set it up for three more.” With that he cut off the screen. At the same time Paskoe killed the channel to Tycho.

For the next few minutes they donned helmets and took turns going through the routine drill of plugging the test leads from their suits into the socket provided in the panel by the floor hatch. Fields drew a “no go” in the test. The codes being displayed on the panel’s miniature screen revealed an intermittent sticking valve in his life-support. Muttering beneath his breath, Paskoe began replacing the faulty valve in Fields’s backpack while Cummings called Chauverier again to advise of the delay. Fifteen minutes later they were ready to go.

“It won’t last,” Fields said over the radio as he turned to begin following Cummings down the short ladder below the floor hatch. “I’ll bet fifty bucks on it. Paggett is only there until he retires Earthside and until then he’ll just go on rubber-stamping. When he goes, Cawther’s bound to take over. Then it’ll all be different. I give it twelve months at the most.” Cummings had passed through the exit to the surface.

As Fields turned to follow, Paskoe began the descent from the upper cabin, pausing halfway to secure and check the hatch above his head. “Anyhow, I’m not interested,” he declared, nodding to himself and stepping down. “I’m only here for another four. Then it’s back home for me. A year’s banked back pay and a few months around Europe with Cher. Wowie! You can take care of Cawther. Have fun. I sure will.”

“Europe?” Cummings, who was waiting for them outside, came in on the circuit. “That’s where you’re going?”

“All over,” Paskoe said. “We never did get to see more than a few of the tourist traps. This time we’ll do it right. Three months at least. Cher’s especially keen on Germany.” They were crossing the gap of about thirty feet that separated the crawler from Chauverier’s. Paskoe and Cummings were side by side, with Fields following a short distance behind.

“I was in Germany a couple years back,” Fields’s voice came through. “Saw some of Poland too. There’s a place there you ought to see if you get the chance . . . down south. Krakow I think it was called.”

“What’s there?” Paskoe asked.

“Salt mines. They go right back to the Middle Ages. Man, are they big.”

“Salt mines?” Cummings sounded mystified as he and Paskoe came abreast of the other crawler and moved around it toward where the entrance was located. “What’s so special about salt mines? I thought they were places the Russians used to send people they didn’t like.”

“Those are different,” Fields replied. “There’s a whole cathedral down there way underground. All carved out of solid salt crystal. Everything’s salt—the altar, the chapels, the statues, even the lights. It’s fantastic. And they’ve got—”