Entropy Risen (The Syker Key Book 3) by Aaron Martin Fransen Read Free Book Online Page A

in?”
    “Lets.”
    John waved at and greeted the other crew as they passed them on the way to the closest airlock. They all knew him, since John had spent nearly as much time up here as they had. They entered, one at a time. Jack always thought it odd that John would go through the airlock, but remembered him talking about trying not to overuse the teleportation trick. Something about unknown consequences, which was strange because they had done nothing but teleportation to get all this equipment onto the surface of Ceres.
    Clearing the one-man airlock only took two minutes, then the door to the interior cycled and he entered. Jack removed his helmet, then started on the suit. He had done this enough that he was getting good at it. By the time he was done John was through.
    They sat at the lone table in the room, and Jack grabbed two bottles of water, handing one to his friend.
    “So what’s next?”
    “Well, I think tomorrow I’m going to start the crew on the concrete dome.” It was something he’d been looking forward to, and in theory it was easy: Inflate a balloon, then cover it in concrete made from local regolith and water and epoxy imported from Earth. Instant dome. Well, as instant as the drying concrete would allow. It had the advantage of being a natural radiation barrier, and Jack was happy to have an extra layer of protection. He didn’t sleep well in the camp, even with it’s lead shielding. The dome would be three hundred feet across and be subdivided; everyone would get their own room.
    Enough for the crew of the local base, and enough for occasional visitors. Jack envisioned this being the new frontier, with frequent visits from miners as the new economy kicked in.
    “In a couple weeks we’ll probably get the drilling started,” another one of Jack’s pet projects. Rumor was that there was a minor ocean of water under the surface of Ceres. He intended to find out. “Save you having to transport another skid of water,” Jack said with a grin. “How’s Virgin doing with the new engine?”
    “They fired up the engine yesterday. They’re fitting it to a prototype now, probably get a test flight within another month.”
    “Hot damn,” Jack said with a smile. A true interplanetary engine. Earth to Mars in a day. “I can’t wait.”
    “What, you don’t like my rides?” John said with a grin. Jack knew he was as anxious to get them working as the rest of fifteen people now living on the base. “Yeah, I can’t wait either. I even made them promise me tug number five in return for the engine design.”
    “Your own private yacht?”
    “Something like that.”
    “You realize that’s going to make you the first person with your own personal space craft?”
    John looked stunned. He apparently hadn’t thought of that. “Wow.”
    “Yeah, wow alright. Next time I get near the Internet I think I’ll make a Wikipedia entry about it.” The Internet was something sorely missed at the base, and they had been reduced to watching broadcasts with enough strength to reach them. Television. Who watched television anymore? “Hey, it’s my turn to make dinner for the crew. Care to help?”
    “Jack, you know I’m a lousy cook, but I will anyways.”
    They made their way to the small kitchen and sealed the door. The problem with an enclosed environment, food smells stuck to everything, so you tried to minimize it. At least with the kitchen sealed off it was easier to maintain.
    Jack never ceased to amaze at the million little differences of doing things in low gravity. Chopping tomatoes was almost comical since everything bounced, and frying was dangerous...the spit tended to go much farther. It was a good thing the entire kitchen was stainless steel.
    “How’s Angie?”
    Jack smiled. Angie, one of the crew. They were sharing quarters now, but had met on Earth at an astronomy symposium in Denver. When John had asked him to head up this project, he remembered the conversations he’d had with Angie