[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"Right, I guess, but no, there it is again." She reactivated the digger and
pressed it once more against the wall in front of her. The quivering stopped
briefly, then resumed. "It's not that."
"Local quake? Titan still has plenty of tectonics, we know." This time it was
Pete Martucci.
"Wouldn't the seismometers be telling us?"
"Not necessarily," Status's calm voice answered. "Seismic events have occurred
often since the first can line began reporting, and seem to be regular Titan
phenomena. However, the outer ice I layer does not carry waves as quickly as
silicate rock. None of the can lines is close enough to Settlement Crater for
an epicenter under that point to be recorded promptly. I advise you leave the
tunnel until that idea can be checked, Commander Collos."
"But that'll delay "
"Not as much as would the collapse of the tunnel, and it would be better for
the overall project if you observed such an event from outside."
"Yes! For General's sake get out of there!" snapped Belvew. "And if you want
to remind me that Arthur left you in charge, do it as you run!"
"Why didn't you mention the quakes before we started the tunnel, and if you
knew about them why did you plan an underground station at all?" interjected
Yakama. It was obvious to all, including the machine, whom he was addressing.
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm (90 of
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file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm
"Because no temblor has yet approached an intensity likely to damage the sort
of structure we plan, and
"
"Then why did you order me outside?" snapped Maria, without slowing her pace
back toward the open.
"Because theory must yield to observation, and this is our first chance to
observe the actual effect of such an event on anything like the proposed
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
structure." No one tried to argue this point; Maria changed the subject.
"I'm outside," she reported. "The rain seems to have stopped, if that matters
to anyone."
"It may be relevant," Status commented, recognizing no irony. "Most of the
quakes recorded in detail so far have originated at the ice I-ice II and ice
II-ice III interfaces well below the surface, and redistribution of surface
mass caused by rain, with resulting changes in deep pressure, could well be
the basic cause. The correlation is statistically "
"All right, keep track of it. When can I get back to work? I'm still using
oxygen, you know."
"I know. It will take nearly twenty minutes for a wave front starting at your
coordinates to pass enough network stations for reliable analysis. Are there
any new local data which you could report? That might speed a possible
decision."
Maria looked around thoughtfully. As she had said, the rain seemed to have
ceased; none of the marble-
to orange-sized drops could be seen drifting downward or blowing around. Not
surprisingly, so had the rill trickling along the foot of the cliff. The crew
had already dismissed this as just part of the drainage pattern which returned
most of the crater's rainfall to the central lake and made Settlement Crater a
nearly closed weather system.
Water ice is too polar to be soluble in liquid methane, and Maria had not been
surprised that the temporary brook showed no signs of having cut into the foot
of the cliff, even when she was thinking of possible ways to date the latter.
Neither had Ginger Xalco, who had been first on the scene, done the testing at
the quarry, and started the tunnel. Now something she didn't remember seeing
earlier caught
Maria's eye, and she looked at it thoughtfully for a moment.
"Ginger!"
"Yes?"
"When you started to dig, I know there was no stream along the cliff, so there
was no reason to make a sill. Did you start the hole right at the bottom of
the face, or a little bit up?"
"At the bottom, of course. That was planned, remember? We didn't want anything
to interfere with file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm
(91 of 174)23-12-2006 20:54:35
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm rolling heavy
stuff inside. It was just starting to rain when you took over, and you had
water I mean methane inside in two or three minutes. That's why you had to
make the sill."
"That's how I remember it. Now I see about three millimeters of edge outside
and below the sill I made.
Status, how fast could that stream eat its way down remembering that it
doesn't seem to undermine the cliff or cut the ground at all?"
"It couldn't." Two voices besides that of the computer answered
simultaneously.
"Then what, besides a three-millimeter lift of the cliff itself since I built
the sill, could have happened here?"
Neither Status nor anyone else answered that one. Maria thought furiously for
some seconds no more furiously than any of the others, but she spoke first. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
"Right, I guess, but no, there it is again." She reactivated the digger and
pressed it once more against the wall in front of her. The quivering stopped
briefly, then resumed. "It's not that."
"Local quake? Titan still has plenty of tectonics, we know." This time it was
Pete Martucci.
"Wouldn't the seismometers be telling us?"
"Not necessarily," Status's calm voice answered. "Seismic events have occurred
often since the first can line began reporting, and seem to be regular Titan
phenomena. However, the outer ice I layer does not carry waves as quickly as
silicate rock. None of the can lines is close enough to Settlement Crater for
an epicenter under that point to be recorded promptly. I advise you leave the
tunnel until that idea can be checked, Commander Collos."
"But that'll delay "
"Not as much as would the collapse of the tunnel, and it would be better for
the overall project if you observed such an event from outside."
"Yes! For General's sake get out of there!" snapped Belvew. "And if you want
to remind me that Arthur left you in charge, do it as you run!"
"Why didn't you mention the quakes before we started the tunnel, and if you
knew about them why did you plan an underground station at all?" interjected
Yakama. It was obvious to all, including the machine, whom he was addressing.
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm (90 of
174)23-12-2006 20:54:35
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm
"Because no temblor has yet approached an intensity likely to damage the sort
of structure we plan, and
"
"Then why did you order me outside?" snapped Maria, without slowing her pace
back toward the open.
"Because theory must yield to observation, and this is our first chance to
observe the actual effect of such an event on anything like the proposed
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
structure." No one tried to argue this point; Maria changed the subject.
"I'm outside," she reported. "The rain seems to have stopped, if that matters
to anyone."
"It may be relevant," Status commented, recognizing no irony. "Most of the
quakes recorded in detail so far have originated at the ice I-ice II and ice
II-ice III interfaces well below the surface, and redistribution of surface
mass caused by rain, with resulting changes in deep pressure, could well be
the basic cause. The correlation is statistically "
"All right, keep track of it. When can I get back to work? I'm still using
oxygen, you know."
"I know. It will take nearly twenty minutes for a wave front starting at your
coordinates to pass enough network stations for reliable analysis. Are there
any new local data which you could report? That might speed a possible
decision."
Maria looked around thoughtfully. As she had said, the rain seemed to have
ceased; none of the marble-
to orange-sized drops could be seen drifting downward or blowing around. Not
surprisingly, so had the rill trickling along the foot of the cliff. The crew
had already dismissed this as just part of the drainage pattern which returned
most of the crater's rainfall to the central lake and made Settlement Crater a
nearly closed weather system.
Water ice is too polar to be soluble in liquid methane, and Maria had not been
surprised that the temporary brook showed no signs of having cut into the foot
of the cliff, even when she was thinking of possible ways to date the latter.
Neither had Ginger Xalco, who had been first on the scene, done the testing at
the quarry, and started the tunnel. Now something she didn't remember seeing
earlier caught
Maria's eye, and she looked at it thoughtfully for a moment.
"Ginger!"
"Yes?"
"When you started to dig, I know there was no stream along the cliff, so there
was no reason to make a sill. Did you start the hole right at the bottom of
the face, or a little bit up?"
"At the bottom, of course. That was planned, remember? We didn't want anything
to interfere with file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm
(91 of 174)23-12-2006 20:54:35
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Hal%20Clement%20-%20Half-Life.htm rolling heavy
stuff inside. It was just starting to rain when you took over, and you had
water I mean methane inside in two or three minutes. That's why you had to
make the sill."
"That's how I remember it. Now I see about three millimeters of edge outside
and below the sill I made.
Status, how fast could that stream eat its way down remembering that it
doesn't seem to undermine the cliff or cut the ground at all?"
"It couldn't." Two voices besides that of the computer answered
simultaneously.
"Then what, besides a three-millimeter lift of the cliff itself since I built
the sill, could have happened here?"
Neither Status nor anyone else answered that one. Maria thought furiously for
some seconds no more furiously than any of the others, but she spoke first. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]