Storm Killer by Benjamin Blue Read Free Book Online Page B

cool the ammonia. This power generation plumbing system was integral to the tether and when the tether snapped, the system failed. Since there was no sun for solar support because of Edna’s deep cloud cover, 41040’s battery had to supply the entire electrical demand of the buoy’s various systems.
    NOAA was another government agency running on a less than an adequate budget. Maintenance of the buoys was months behind schedule. 41040’s battery was at the end of its useful life. It should have been able to supply power for thirty hours, but the power reserve was less than one hour.
    41040’s onboard computer detected the system failures, noted that the battery life was falling quickly and made a programmed decision to shutdown. This would leave power for the locator beacon signal that would allow NOAA to find the now helpless, drifting buoy after the storm passed.   
    During its brief exchange of weather data, 41040 had reported that, indeed, Edna was now a strong Category Three hurricane with some uniquely large waves. 41040 had accomplished its mission before it went to sleep.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    14
Deal With It
    At 0415 hours, Brad Bolino began his first senior staff meeting since assuming authority of the station. His southern drawl was in some ways a welcome change to Adam’s terse New York accent. Brad scanned the conference table and saw a senior staff whose most senior member was only forty years old. Brad himself was only forty-two, which was the upper limit by current NASA standards for long-term orbital crew.
    Brad sneezed and stopped to wipe his nose with a tissue. One of the assembled staff members volunteered, “Damn bad time to come down with a cold. You’d best ask Dr. Cruz for one of her snakebite remedies.”
    Brad nodded his head in reply and he again wiped his nose.
    The assembled senior staff averaged thirty-three years of age. None had been in orbit prior to this mission. Based on existing regulations, they would have to rotate to ground duty every twelve months to avoid long term damage caused by hard radiation received while in orbit. Brad had only arrived the previous month and still had eleven months before his forced rotation. Others of the staff would be rotating Earth-side starting in about four months time.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, y’all are now formally on notice that I’ve accepted command and administrative control of this gadget,” stated Bolino, swinging his arm around the room to emphasize the ‘gadget’ was the entire Storm Killer station. “For now, as per the documented plan, y’all now report to me through Adam. Over the next forty-five days, the full transition to my hands will occur.”
    The staff nodded their heads in agreement. The senior staff present at the table included all department heads save one, and Bolino and Sands. Greg Ballard had been at the table but had received an urgent request to come to the environmental control center about some problem they were having.
    Doctor Francine Cruz, the station’s attractive, auburn-haired physician from Mexico laughed, “Bradley, the entire medical department is at your service.” This brought laughs from the assembled staff members since Francine’s ‘department’ consisted of only herself and her RN nursing assistant.
    Brad smiled at her and asked, “What have you got in your bag of tricks for a cold?”
    Francine placed her hand on his brow and after a moment said, “I don’t think you have a fever. Stop by the infirmary and I’ll check you out and give you one of my witches brews.”
    Reginald O’Donnell, the elected head of the sixty man science team, stood up and called for attention. He raised his Styrofoam coffee cup and, in his best attempt at a Scottish brogue, requested of the assembled personnel, “Lads and Lassies, allow me to offer a proper toast to our defunct project manager, Mr. Adam Sand, for his devotion, professionalism, and personal drive that brought Storm Killer to