[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
oxygen and sufficient nitrogen for beginning bonding. It's nothing now.
The air's barely breathable. But given time, patience, and hard work,
there'll be another habitable world out there ready to comfort and
succor humanity. At a price, of course. Ours is not a philanthropic
institution, though we like to think of what we do as furthering
mankind's progress.
?It's a big job. Decades worth. They've already been there more than
twenty years. Peacefully.?
?Why didn't you tell me?"
?Because it was felt that the information might have biased your
testimony. Personally I don't think it would have made a bit of
difference. You obviously believe what you believe. But some of my
colleagues were of a differing opinion. I doubt it would have changed
our decision.?
The doors tried to close, and she slammed them apart. The other
Page 19
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
passengers began to exhibit signs of annoyance.
?How many colonists?"
Van Leuwen's brow furrowed. ?At last count I'd guess sixty, maybe
seventy, families. We've found that people work better when they're not
separated from their loved ones. It's more expensive, but it pays for
itself'in the long run, and it gives the community the feeling of a real
colony instead of merely an engineering outpost. It's tough on some of
the women and the kids, but when their tour of duty ends, they can
retire comfortably. Everyone benefits from the arrangement.?
?Sweet Jesus,?Ripley whispered.
26
One of the passengers leaned forward, spoke irritably. ?Do you mind?"
Absently she dropped her arm to her side. Freed of their responsibility,
the doors closed quietly. Van Leuwen had already forgotten her, and she
him. She was looking instead! into her imagination.
Not liking what she saw there.
II
It was not the best of times, and it certainly was the worst of places.
Driven by unearthly meteorological forces, the winds of Acheron hammered
unceasingly at the planet's barren surface. They were as old as the
rocky globe itself. Without any oceans to compete with they would have
scoured the landscape flat eons ago, had not the uneasy forces deep
within the basaltic shell continually thrust up new mountains and
plateaus. The winds of Acheron were at war with the planet that gave
them life.
Heretofore there'd been nothing to interfere with their relentless flow.
Nothing to interrupt their sand-filled storms, nothing to push against
the gales instead of simply conceding mastery of the air to them-until
humans had come to Acheron and claimed it for their own. Not as it was
now, a landscape of tortured rock and dust dimly glimpsed through
yellowish air, but as it would be once the atmosphere processors had
done their work. First the atmosphere itself would be transformed,
methane relinquishing its dominance to
27
27
oxygen and nitrogen. Then the winds would be tamed, and the surface. The
final result would be a benign climate whose offspring would take the
form of snow and rain and growing things.
That would be the present's legacy to future generations. For now the
inhabitants of Acheron ran the processors and struggled to make a dream
come true, surviving on a ration of determination, humor, and oversize
paychecks. They would not live long enough to see Acheron become a land
of milk and honey. Only the Company would live long enough for that. The
Company was immortal as none of them could ever be.
The sense of humor common to all pioneers living under difficult
Page 20
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
conditions was evident throughout the colony, most notably in a steel
sign set in concrete pylons outside the last integrated structure:
HADLEY'S HOPE - Pop. 159 Wescome to Acheron
Beneath which some local wag had, without official authorization, added
in indelible spray paint, ?Have a Nice Day.? The winds ignored the
request. Airborne particles of sand and grit had corroded much of the
steel plate. A new visitor to Acheron, courtesy of the atmosphere
processors, had added its own comment with a brown flourish: the first
rains had produced the first rust.
Beyond the sign lay the colony itself, a cluster of bunker-like metal
and plasticrete structures joined together by conduits seemingly too
fragile to withstand Acheron's winds. They were not as impressive to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
oxygen and sufficient nitrogen for beginning bonding. It's nothing now.
The air's barely breathable. But given time, patience, and hard work,
there'll be another habitable world out there ready to comfort and
succor humanity. At a price, of course. Ours is not a philanthropic
institution, though we like to think of what we do as furthering
mankind's progress.
?It's a big job. Decades worth. They've already been there more than
twenty years. Peacefully.?
?Why didn't you tell me?"
?Because it was felt that the information might have biased your
testimony. Personally I don't think it would have made a bit of
difference. You obviously believe what you believe. But some of my
colleagues were of a differing opinion. I doubt it would have changed
our decision.?
The doors tried to close, and she slammed them apart. The other
Page 19
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
passengers began to exhibit signs of annoyance.
?How many colonists?"
Van Leuwen's brow furrowed. ?At last count I'd guess sixty, maybe
seventy, families. We've found that people work better when they're not
separated from their loved ones. It's more expensive, but it pays for
itself'in the long run, and it gives the community the feeling of a real
colony instead of merely an engineering outpost. It's tough on some of
the women and the kids, but when their tour of duty ends, they can
retire comfortably. Everyone benefits from the arrangement.?
?Sweet Jesus,?Ripley whispered.
26
One of the passengers leaned forward, spoke irritably. ?Do you mind?"
Absently she dropped her arm to her side. Freed of their responsibility,
the doors closed quietly. Van Leuwen had already forgotten her, and she
him. She was looking instead! into her imagination.
Not liking what she saw there.
II
It was not the best of times, and it certainly was the worst of places.
Driven by unearthly meteorological forces, the winds of Acheron hammered
unceasingly at the planet's barren surface. They were as old as the
rocky globe itself. Without any oceans to compete with they would have
scoured the landscape flat eons ago, had not the uneasy forces deep
within the basaltic shell continually thrust up new mountains and
plateaus. The winds of Acheron were at war with the planet that gave
them life.
Heretofore there'd been nothing to interfere with their relentless flow.
Nothing to interrupt their sand-filled storms, nothing to push against
the gales instead of simply conceding mastery of the air to them-until
humans had come to Acheron and claimed it for their own. Not as it was
now, a landscape of tortured rock and dust dimly glimpsed through
yellowish air, but as it would be once the atmosphere processors had
done their work. First the atmosphere itself would be transformed,
methane relinquishing its dominance to
27
27
oxygen and nitrogen. Then the winds would be tamed, and the surface. The
final result would be a benign climate whose offspring would take the
form of snow and rain and growing things.
That would be the present's legacy to future generations. For now the
inhabitants of Acheron ran the processors and struggled to make a dream
come true, surviving on a ration of determination, humor, and oversize
paychecks. They would not live long enough to see Acheron become a land
of milk and honey. Only the Company would live long enough for that. The
Company was immortal as none of them could ever be.
The sense of humor common to all pioneers living under difficult
Page 20
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
conditions was evident throughout the colony, most notably in a steel
sign set in concrete pylons outside the last integrated structure:
HADLEY'S HOPE - Pop. 159 Wescome to Acheron
Beneath which some local wag had, without official authorization, added
in indelible spray paint, ?Have a Nice Day.? The winds ignored the
request. Airborne particles of sand and grit had corroded much of the
steel plate. A new visitor to Acheron, courtesy of the atmosphere
processors, had added its own comment with a brown flourish: the first
rains had produced the first rust.
Beyond the sign lay the colony itself, a cluster of bunker-like metal
and plasticrete structures joined together by conduits seemingly too
fragile to withstand Acheron's winds. They were not as impressive to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]