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He was half way through a forty rep of slow curls when Meredith closed the
file she was reading and turned around in her chair.
"Aren't you supposed to do a lower body workout one day and an upper body
workout the next?" she asked, scornfully.
"I did a heavy lower body today," Herzer said, slowly raising the twenty kilo
barbell. "This is a light upper body workout."
"That'slight ?" Meredith said, frowning.
"Yes," Herzer replied.
Meredith watched him for a moment and then turned back around, opening
another file.
* * *
"Thanks for coming over here, Evan," Herzer said, helping the engineer with
the easel he had brought.
Evan Mayerle was a medium height, brown-haired young man with blue eyes that
at the moment were mostly focused on Shanea's rump. She had brought in a tray
of coffee and sweet rolls and placed them on the low table by bending over
from the waist. Since she was wearing a tight skirt, her endowments in the
area were fully evident.
"Uh..." the engineer said. "Yeah. Uhm..."
"Briefing on the Excelsior," Herzer said, grinning.
"Right," Evan said, shaking his head and trying not to watch the blonde as
she sashayed out of the room. "Excelsior," he muttered, pulling a set of
charts out of a tube and pinning them to the easel. "Excelposterior..." He
paused and shook his head. "Miss Travante, have we met?"
"Briefly on the Hazhir," Megan replied.
"Nice to see you again," Evan muttered, his eyes wandering between her chest
and her eyes. He shook his head again and pulled out two thick files from his
briefcase.
"I suppose I should get started," he said, setting the files on the coffee
table. "Uhm..." He paused and took a breath again and then turned to the
easel. "You're ready?"
"Ready, Mr. Mayerle," Megan said, trying not to laugh.
"The Excelsior was built in 2935. It was originally a tanker that carried
hydrocarbons fromNeptune to Terra."
Herzer started to open his mouth and then close it. Evan, concentrating on
his notes, didn't notice.
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"It was refitted for Helium Three transport in 3212 when the market for
hydrocarbons dropped below the sustainment level for the system. As the last
of its class it was retained while the others were scrapped. It uses an ion
drive propulsion system which, of course, is very low impulse but has a high
maximum speed..."
"Excuse me," Herzer interjected. "I'm lost. What is an ion drive?"
"You know what ions are, right?" Evan said, frowning.
"Yes," Megan said.
"No," Herzer replied at the same time.
Evan sighed and thought for a moment.
"Youdo know that an atom is composed of a nucleus and an electron shell,
right?" he asked.
"That I know," Herzer admitted.
"Okay. Ions are atoms that have had the electron shell stripped away. They're
highly energetic and you can push them out the back of a space vehicle and
they give you specific impulse. That is, they push the spacecraft. More or
less."
"Okay," Herzer said. "So that means...what for us?"
"Just that that's the ships main drive system," Evan replied, frowning.
"And that matters to me...why?" Herzer asked.
Evan opened his mouth and then closed it, looking non-plussed.
"Herzer," Megan said, smiling faintly. "Let him talk."
"Okay," Herzer replied, leaning back. "Just wake me up when we get to the
part where I kill people."
"The ship is a bit over one kilometer long," Evan said, frowning slightly and
pointing to the first schematic. "The drive system is to the rear and takes up
about two hundred meters of the ship. There are six very old model HE3 fusion
reactors in that section and the ion generator cannon..."
"Cannon?" Herzer said, sitting up.
"It's a term of art, Major," Evan sighed. "It's not a weapon."
"Oh."
"There is also a small control facility which controls only the main engine
systems. The ship vector is adjusted by latitudinal thrusters located along
the midline and centerline..."
Herzer opened his mouth and then closed it, shaking his head.
"That's how it's steered," Megan whispered in his ear.
"...which are controlled from the ship's central command facility
located...here," he said, pointing near the center of the ship.
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"Why's it got those big bulges?" Herzer asked. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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