Chapter 4

“I still don’t understand sir,” said Colonel Vermillion. “I could clean up the mess on Mars with two B-171 bombers and a couple of neutrino bombs. Problem solved.”

The admiral looked at Scarlett and said, “Alan? Your thoughts?”

“Yes we could drop neutrino bombs. That would stop a buildup of Eastern Bloc forces for sure, but politically we just bombed Mars and that could turn it into a battlefield. Mars would cut off our supply of thulium, osmium, and Rhodium.” Those rare earth metals are abundant on Mars and the Western Alliance needs them for hundreds of critical devices based on those rare elements. “On the other hand, I have been promising water to Mars for years. Our plan will be supplying Mars with something it desperately needs, and something I promised the colonies. It would be a shame if the Eastern Alliance got in the way and suffered an industrial accident, but shit happens.”

“Exactly. Final mission brief will be at eleven hundred tomorrow. Make sure you’re rested up. You’ll be leaving tomorrow at twenty two hundred hours. Questions?”

“I want Lieutenant Anders and Chief White from Greyhound Zero One on my team,” said Alan.

“You got them. Go get some rest.”

“Aye aye sir,” and Captain Scarlett did an about face and left, quickly followed by Pandora Vermillion.

“Alan! Alan!” called Pandora. “You couldn’t be bothered to say hello?”

Scarlett stopped and turned and glared at her with his remaining eye. For the first time, she noticed a scar that ran from his forehead under his eyepatch and resumed down his right cheek. “And you couldn’t be bothered to say goodbye,” he said, then he turned and left.

“Crap,” groaned Pandora. “This is going to be a fun mission,” she said sarcastically.

SS Peake, December 3, 2156 Outbound to Saturn

The trip out to the Saturn system was under five G’s of acceleration for most of the trip. They were in a Livyatan class freighter, the SS Peake, loaded down with everything they’d need for the mission, the cargo bays were stacked full of reaction engines from United Reaction, along with miles of cable and everything they would need to control their creation and for defense they carried four F-733 GunSlinger interstellar fighters. Along with the rest of the crew, Captain Scarlett was under sedation most of the time, so they didn’t have to suffer the heavy load of five gravities. The ship’s functions were handled by a small team of robots, but when they were awake, Scarlett held briefings and laid out the mission. “Our destination is Saturn.”

Several members of the crew had been out as far as Saturn in the past, but most of the crew stayed well within the Venus/Earth/Mars orbits. “We are going to raid Saturn for one of the most precious chemical substances in the solar system. Water. We’re going to grab the biggest chunk of ice that we can on the back side of its orbit and as it comes around we’re going to accelerate it out of orbit.”

“We’re going to steal a piece of Saturn’s rings?” asked a bomber crewman.

“No, actually one of Saturn’s moonlets. It’s called Saturn CLXXII, it’s three kilometers in diameter and is solid ice. Colonel Vermillion will brief you on this mission.”

“Why are we doing this?” asked one crew man.

“That’s classified,” Pandora said.

“What are we going to do with it?”

“That’s classified too.”

“Why not Jupiter?” asked Lieutenant Anders, who still couldn’t believe he was shanghaied into this mission. “Jupiter has rings and moonlets too, and it’s a lot closer to home.”

“Unlike Saturn, Jupiter’s rings and moonlets are mostly rock,” explained Pandora. “The radiation from Jupiter has burned off all the usable H2O ice. Any ice remaining would be so highly contaminated with radiation that we couldn’t use it.”

“Ok, so we’re going to steal a giant ice cube. How are we going to do it?” asked a member of the bomber crew.

“That we can talk about,” said Colonel Vermillion. “We’re going to turn it into a spaceship.”

“What?” The briefing room was full of a combination of disbelief and mirth. When Captain Scarlett could regain order, Pandora continued.

“If any of you had reviewed our cargo, like a good spacefarer would, you would have noticed that we have thirty United Reaction motors on board, along with enough cabling to wire them all up.

“What series are they?” asked crewman Lemke, a young ensign.

“Series N-52,” said Colonel Vermillion.

“Sweet! Uh Sorry ma’am,” said Chief White. Darrel White was the oldest member of the crew and currently he’s serving as “Chief of the Boat.”

“That’s quite alright chief,” said Pandora. “Your records showed that you were part of the team that certified the N-52 when United Reaction first developed them.”

“Yes ma’am. They have a bad reputation, and I’ve never understood why. They’re really a sweet running engine if you tune them to specs.”

“That’s why you’re here, Chief. You’re going to make them hum. You and Lieutenant Anders will work with the bomber team to design our ice ship.”

“Why me? I’m just a shuttle driver,” said Lieutenant Anders.

Scarlett stepped back in. “Because you’re sharp, talented, and you listen to others and take their input and add it to your talents. That’s something these old hacks around you forgot how to do.” When the laughter died down, he said, “And you’re in training to be a fighter pilot. You’re my co-pilot until you get the hang of it.”