Second Chances (46 page)

“All for a good cause,” Evan said.

“Wasn't there something about the navy turning sea water into fuel?” Jack asked. “I remember something about that.”

“They ran them through a series of catalytic converters,” Evan said. “I think. I'd have to check my notes,” he said.

Mitch frowned and pulled out his tablet. He ran a search on fuel and sea water. It took a moment before he got a hit. “Yeah, I've got the paper. The converters use platinum.”

“Which we don't have,” Evan sighed.

“True. I seem to recall something about Mars Direct,” Mitch mused. “I remember it from Zubrin's book, something about sabatier reactors and converting hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methane and later ethylene.”

“Yes!” Evan said. “That's perfect!”

Mitch typed it in. He misspelled sabatier but the computer figured out what he was looking for and came up with a match. He scanned the synopses quickly then nodded. “The basic method needs nickel, but there is another more efficient method with aluminum oxide and ruthenium.”

“And that is...” Mike asked, sounding like his patience was wearing thin.

“A rare metal in the platinum family,” Mitch said, clicking the link and scanning it. “So that's out. But we've got some nickel. I think we can use some scrap. Set something up. I'll sic my people on it,” he said.

“I'll see if we can do the same on my end,” Jack said. Evan echoed him. “But I don't know if we've got the excess power for the process,” Jack admitted.

“I'm not sure how long we'll have surplus power for manufacturing. I'll see what we can do,” Mitch said. “I'd like to get one each out to you on Jacklynn's flying circus if at all possible.”

“I'm a bit out of range but the thought counts,” Evan said.

“Sorry Professor, I forgot that,” Mitch admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“In the meantime, see what you can do with the water boiler idea too,” Evan urged. “Having some electricity is important, even in winter. I'd also like to know if anyone has any better insulation methods? What we have leaves a lot to be...um, desired,” he admitted.

“Yeah, caves suck up the heat too,” Mitch admitted. “I've got some plastics...” he frowned and clicked his industrial center. Then a familiar name popped up and he snorted. “Well,” he said.

“What?”

“I just found out I've already gotten some sabatier reactors. They are in the chemical works.” He tapped again and found the production. “That means the blueprints are on file so I can make parts. Yes, and I see we can siphon off some materials as needed or run them through a loop.”

“For...”

“To produce ethylene if I'm reading this right,” Mitch said. “I think Bob talked to me about it briefly; it's sort of hazy now. I think the team rejected it since it was an extra layer of production and was energy intensive. Though from this report I am making Ethylene.”

“Good!”

“Not a lot, professor, it's mostly used for antifreeze and industrial purposes.”

“Oh.”

“From what I'm reading here...you run the methane through the reactor again in a different way with hydrogen and it makes ethylene, which is used in plastics. Mix it with water in a hydration process and you get ethanol, which a flex fuel car can run....Damn, right under my nose the whole time!” he said, feeling disgusted at himself. Mitch looked up and closed his eyes as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was tired, and his frustration at his own ignorance was giving him a headache.

“Well, you know now,” Evan said in sympathy. “I suggest you look into it further and let us know,” he said, sounding ready to sign off.

“I will,” Mitch vowed. He could hear some talking in the background. Then someone cleared their throat.

“Anything more on the aliens and what's happening on Earth?” Jack asked.

“We're still processing what people said. Who they talked to, where they are, all of that. I hope you are doing the same. As far as the aliens...” Mitch shrugged. “No clue. They could pop in or not. I know they have a lot to think about.”

“True.”

“And Earth?”

“We can't do much...hell anything really,” Mitch said, lips puckering in a grimace. “Not a damn thing to help them that I know of. All we can do is hope and pray they get off the stick and do something before it's too late.”

“They still got what, seventeen years to get off the stick and do something?”

“Yeah well, it sounds like a lot of time, but you know people. They'll drag their feet, then NASA will spend billions designing and redesigning the most horridly complex thing imaginable.”

“If they can even get it off the ground,” Jack said.

“Survival is a powerful motivator. Let's not count our fellow man out just yet,” Evan said.

“And what will the aliens do with us if...big
if
there, if Earth stops the asteroid?” Mike asked. “I'm not thrilled about the dinosaurs and aliens, but I sort of like living here. Fresh air, new beginnings, all that,” he said.

“Cross that bridge when and
if
we come to it,” Evan replied.

“Too true.”

------*------

Mitch headed to dinner. He smiled to the others when he came in, then sat down near Cassie and Vance. “Where's your mom?”

“Infirmary,” Cassie said. “Which is where I'll need to be so she can eat. If I can get her out of there,” she said.

“I think you can. If she's hungry enough,” Mitch snorted. He nodded to Janet and the other department heads as they came over and sat.

Cassie looked up in surprise when Brian jostled her elbow. “Am I missing something?” she drawled.

“Everyone's interested in what was said,” Mitch said, putting his fork down.

“Eat,” Janet said, but her tone said she was interested. She cradled a cup of some brew.

“We didn't get into the meeting much; I suppose we've got time for that. What we did talk about was power and finding a way to generate it year-round for each community,” Mitch said.

Brian frowned thoughtfully.

“We eliminated the obvious, but then settled on two projects, which...” Mitch nodded to Vance and Brian, “I figure you two can look into—you, Lisa, and our factory people. The steam boiler idea shouldn't be too complex. The sabatier reactor though...”

“Reactor!” Janet said in alarm, making people around them stop what they were doing to turn to look at her. She leaned forward, eyes darting about for a moment. “Are you serious?? That's radiation! I don't want that here!”

“Not that kind of reactor Janet, it's a chemical reaction process. A chemical reactor,” Mitch said patiently.

“Oh.”

“The problem is, it needs electrical power to work. So it's a loss; you're never going to get what you put into it out. Not totally,” Mitch said. “But the idea is to use surplus power to generate chemicals to use for fuel for the vehicles and for generators in winter.”

“I was going to say the conservation of energy law. Or the other one, about how nothing is ever 100 percent,” Vance said nodding.

“Right. Both systems are inefficient, but they are what we've got right now. Well that and a third, generators for wind and water,” Mitch said.

“Those we can figure out,” Brian said. “But the engineering involved...” he frowned thoughtfully. “Sam,” he said looking about.

“He can keep for now,” Mitch said, putting a hand on Brian to keep him focused. “What I'd like you to do is look into an alternator generator; most likely there is a blueprint in the database. Find one that we can use across the board for water, wind and the steam,” he said.

“Scalable?” Brian asked. Mitch nodded. “Can do. I think.”

“Start small. We'll expand if it works,” Mitch said. Brian nodded again. “Remember, KISS.”

Brian made a face. “Keep it simple. Gotcha,” he said with a nod. “Wind or water is better than steam. Less parts to worry about, you don't need a fuel source...”

“But if the wind stops or the water freezes...” Mitch said. Brian frowned as Vance grunted in agreement.

“He's right,” Vance said. “I saw the downstream when I went out this morning to plow the paths. It's freezing up despite the waterfalls. You can't have chunks of ice in your system nor it freezing up.”

“Gotcha,” Brian said again, nodding.

“I'm going to check the chemical works. Get a feel for it,” Mitch said.

“In the morning,” Janet said. He blinked at her. She snorted. “You do realize it's dark out right?”

He sighed in exasperation, but then nodded.

------*------

The next morning they checked it out, walked around the massive chemical works area. It was a cold, breezy day, but so far the storm had held off or passed them by. There were some scattered clouds; most of them were high up in the stratosphere though. The group wore a mix of sweaters and jackets; if things got physical, they didn't want to be all sweaty.

It was a bit of a walk to the complex of machinery but worth it. The chemical works were a series of pods with truss frames around them to support the equipment. Some had boxes of electrical equipment, but all had hoses, cables and tanks of various sizes.

When he had put the things together, Mitch had just followed the basic instructions. He had set them up on a foundation, Stuck them together, plugged in the connections, then moved on to the next project. He'd set up a shed over the works later to protect some of the more sensitive equipment from the heat of the sun and weather.

Lisa and Brian had been running maintenance on the chemical plants whenever the computer reported a problem. Mitch had pitched in from time to time, but he quickly forgot a lot of stuff, mainly because he was thinking about the next project, or the one after that. He'd looked at the blueprint on the computer last night. It had been laid out in simple blocks and pipes, but up close it was a mess of piping. Mitch sighed and pulled out his tablet to trace the lines. “All else fails, read the instructions, huh?” Brian teased.

“Hey, I was busy overseeing everything. Vehicles, robots, equipment, money, permits, weapons, the buildings...give me a break!” Mitch growled, getting annoyed. “I can't remember everything about everything you know.”

“Sorry, just kidding,” Brian said.

“I get it,” Mitch said, waving a dismissive hand to indicate no hard feelings. “Didn't mean to bite your head off. Find it?” he asked, turning to Lisa who was intently studying the block.

Lisa waved her hand to attract their attention, and then pointed to a spaghetti nest of pipes. They went over to her. She traced her fingers along one line, then pointed to a hose and a relief valve. The markings on it were faded and barely legible. “If we hook up to the valve, we can siphon it off directly,” she said. “Or...” she traced her fingers over the lines, being careful not to touch. They were insulated, but she didn't want to take chances.

“Okay, if I'm right, if we follow these lines they go to storage tanks,” she said. “I think, yeah, these two go to the small tanks in the garage,” she said, pointing to another set of smaller lines. “This valve assembly goes to...the factories...” She pointed out a couple of leaks to fix. Fortunately, they were minor ones, but Mitch didn't like any loss in efficiency.

“How...”

“The metal gets thin; it wears down over time,” she explained. Mitch frowned. “My dad told me about it when we got into a discussion about oil refineries,” she said. “The constant hot and cold and chemicals can wear the metal thin over time.”

“Okay...”

“I'm guessing you don't have parts? Or didn't know?” She asked. “I haven't had to fix this part yet. It's pretty solid.”

“I've got some spares somewhere,” Mitch admitted. “I did know about maintenance but...” he shrugged.

“You've been busy. We need someone on this, doing checks and routine maintenance to stay ahead of any potential problems. Someone with chemistry or refinery training. The last thing we need is a major hydrogen leak. Or methane. Or ethylene. You do realize a lot of this stuff is highly flammable, right?”

“Which is why I had it set up away from the base,” Mitch said, nodding. “That part I did know about,” he admitted. He made a note to have Anne or Janet go through their personnel list and find someone who knew something about chemistry or working in industrial plants. Perhaps one of the people working in the factory? He frowned and jotted the note down on his tablet for later.

“Not far enough in my opinion,” the girl said, eying the works with scant favor. “I've seen some chemical fires and stuff on TV and on YouTube. Ever see a fertilizer plant go up? Can you say Earth shattering kaboom?”

Brian nodded. “She's right. I remember seeing that one too. It even caused an earthquake.”

“Well, fortunately we're not making fertilizer, though yes, we are making other dangerous things,” Mitch said. “But in small quantities. We'd need to store a lot of this...somewhere else obviously,” he admitted. “There is a fuel farm. We haven't had any problems with it, and Paul and Sam have been using it all the time. I'm now wondering if we should expand it. Or if this project is even worth the risks.”

“Isn't it a little silly to be building another tank or tanks plural when we haven't even filled the ones we've got?” Lisa demanded. He looked at her. She shrugged. “Just saying,” she said.