Once Upon The Stars (old thread)

[Atrocities]

Part V ( C )

Tom Christopher, followed closely by his aid, Captain Richard Hess entered the briefing room. Agenda in hand Tom walked past the men seated on the right side of the table and took his seat at the end facing back down the length of the conference table. Rich took a seat directly behind him at a work station. The room was quiet as many of the Department Heads of the various Space Exploration Division programs studied their new boss. Tom understood the importance of taking his time, of letting the idea that he was the guy in charge sink in before beginning the meeting. After several minutes of glancing through the agenda, Tom closed it and through it into the garbage can next to him. He then stood and looked about the faces of the thirty or so people gathered around the enormous conference room desk and the thirty or so seated along the walls.

“First and foremost I would like to say that the current agenda for today is now null and void.” With that Tom sat down and Rich handed him a file. This prompted a pretty young lady to stand and begin handing out duplicate files to all of the Department Heads that were sitting at the table and those who were in seats along the walls. The conference room was a rather large area with several flat all purpose wooden tables placed together to form one large surface area for which everyone could sit around and have ample room for their documents. It was cheep looking, but given the budge, affordable. Along the walls were chairs for staff and other people to sit with work station located in key spots. All of the available seats in the room were taken, and additional chairs had been brought in for many of the Department Heads staff and aids. The room was filled beyond its maximum capacity thus cramping everyone, and that was something that Tom had intended. He wanted them off center as much as possible.

After all of the people present had been given the new agenda, Tom once again stood. At this point several SED security men entered the room, and took up what little space was available. Many of the people in the room began looking about and flashing puzzled looks to each other. They really had no idea of what was about to happen.

“Ladies and Gentlemen.” Tom said as he picked up a single white peace of paper and held it for all to see. “The names that I am about to read will be escorted out of the room. Your services will no longer be required by the SED.” Tom allowed this to sink in for a moment before he began to read the names.

One by one he slowly read the names of the people on his list, and one by one they were escorted out of the room, and off of the SED Premises. Tom had many reasons for wanting to let these people go, but the main reason was an economic one. They simply could not afford to keep people on the staff that were wasteful of what little resources the SED had. Many of the people he had chosen to terminate were in programs that had not yielded or would not yield much benefit to the overall project that the SED was charted to accomplish, that being the Exploration of Space. One name that he had really wanted on the list he could not place their. The name of Carl Wilhelm. Carl was an ex-military officer sentenced to life in the gulag for high crimes but pardoned by the previous Prime Minister, and hand picked by the Senate to lead the re-activated Space Engineering and Planetary Colonization project. A project that Tom had headed but was shut down after failing to produce any results. The truth be told, Tom would have loved nothing more than to read Carl’s name first from the top of his list, but he could not fire Carl no matter how much he wanted to because Carl’s team was producing results. And as long as that was happening, Tom could not justify removing Carl to the Senate without causing a political backlash against the Prime Minister. Once Tom had finished reading the names from the list the room was half empty. He had effectively cut thirty seven people from the staff, and terminated six projects from the overall SED program.

“Now that that unpleasant business is over, we’ll take a thirty minute break.” With that Tom and Captain Hess left the briefing room.

***

“Control this is Guardian One on approach to your position, package in tow.” Said Jellico as he made his approach toward what was not designated as Control and Command, the former Scientist discovery site.

“Guardian One, you are cleared to land.”
“Control be advised that we need a medical team upon touch down. Packages were damaged in transit.”
“That’s putting it politely.” Commented Jeffries to know one in particular.
Jellico briefly flashed him a dirty look.
“Confirmed Guardian One, medical team standing by.”
“Would you look at that!” Said Jeffries out loud as he looked forward out of the cockpit. “Where did all of those jokers come from?”
“Looks like the bulk of the recovery team has arrived.” Said Jellico as he pressed a few controls.
“More like an entire army.” Commented Jeffries.

The Prowler touched down raising a slight haze of ice particles into the air. Seconds later the forward drop hatch lowered and Paul Harris and Kord Anuran exited the craft as several medics ran up the ramp past them.
“There laying over their.” Said Kord as he pointed toward the location of where the two unconscious prisoners were.
“Shut up Anuran, they have eyes.” Commented Harris angrily. Kord gave him a displeased look then walked off. A few seconds later Jellico and Jeffries came down the ramp.
“Jell you son of *****!” Said Harris not so politely. “You me need to talk.”
Jellico smiled at his co-pilot, and nodded it was ok. Jeffries just returned a concerned look and walked away after Kord Anuran. “Kord, wait up.” He yelled as he jogged off after his buddy.
“I have to file my report, walk with me Paul.” Said Jellico as he started off for a black tent that was being set up.
“No, we talk here.” Said Harris has he grabbed Jellico’s arm.
“Alright.” Said Jellico while pulling his arm away from Harris’s hand. “What’s on your mind?”
“Cut the crap. What are you going to say?”
“About what you did to those people?”
“What the hell do you think?”
“I think you need to talk to someone, and stop being such a jerk.”
“What are you going to say in your fleering report?” Demanded Harris.
Jellico sighed a bit. He allowed himself to relax a second before answering his demanding friends question.
“They resisted arrest, and you did what you had to do. But as a friend Paul, you need help.”
Harris looked down a bit then back into Jellico’s eyes. He to had relaxed a bit.
“Thanks Jell. Is the kid on board with it?”
“He is, and he more than likely telling Kord to do the same right now.”
“Good, Kord’s going to be ok, but he has to learn to keep his mouth shut.”
“And you have to learn not to threaten my crew old friend.” Said Jellico has he patted Harris on the arm.
“Come on, after I file the report, we can get something from the mess tent. It looks like its up and running.”
“No thanks, I think I will just go catch some shut eye. I’ll be on the Guardian if you need me. With that the two me parted ways. A few moments later the medics left the Prowler with their walking but dazed patients.
“You fleering bastard!” Hissed Nina Smith as she stumbled by Harris. Harris just flashed her a smile and went on board. “I hope you fleering shoot your self!” She yelled at him as she and Ramzies were escorted away.
“Nina, save your breath, people like him enjoy it.” Said Bill Ramzies as they walked away. “I’ll settle up with him later, on that you can trust me.” The tone in Ramzies voice was one that Nina had never heard before, it was an evil sounding tone, and one that clearly visualized for those within ear shot of what he was planning to do.

***

The Conference room was virtually empty now with the exception of the thirty people sitting around the conference table. Tom had a specific agenda that he wanted to accomplish within his first day at the SED, and so far so good. Those whom he had not fired were grateful to still have a job, and would work twice as hard at their jobs to keep them.

“The purpose of to days agenda is to bring me fully up to speed on all of the current projects here at S.E.D.” Tom looked about the room at each and every face before continuing. “Then I will decide which projects are of the most importance and have the most likely chance at success.” This prompted a few hushed responses, non of which Tom could officially hear, but the one that he wanted to hear was that of Carl Wilhelm.

Carl was sitting in his chair plotting his next move. His very survival depended upon how well he could play this new game of Tom Christopher’s. He knew that Tom hated him and it was apparent to Carl that Tom wanted him out. Well my young General, that just isn’t acceptable, thought Carl as he leaned over to his aid. “Load the viewer, I will be going first today.” His aid simply nodded. Carl looked away from his aid and starred directly at Tom.

“Carl did you say something?” Tom asked as politely as he could given the fact that he truly disliked the man. Carl looked somber for a second then stood.

“Yes Sir, I do having something I would like to say.” Carl was a confident man with the demeanor of a man who knew the game, and who could play it well. To bad these qualities were lacking at Pennington thought Tom to himself as he gestured Carl to continue.

“With all do respect General, I would like to go first with out project up date. That is unless you prefer someone else precede me?”

Oh he was slick, he knew his *** was on the line, and he wanted to see just how much over that line it was. Carl had just made the first move in a game that Tom had every intention of winning. “Proceed.” He said simply as he sat down in his chair.

“Thank you General.” Replied Carl as he adjusted some papers in front of him, stood and walked over to the to vid viewer and activated it. A second later several impressive looking schematics appeared.
“As you know, the Space Engineering and Planetary Colonization team has been tasked with many projects including designing and or creating a method for generating an artificial gravity field in a zero gravity environment.” The image on the view changed to display the image of a middle aged man. “To that end we have been studying the research of Dr. Brook Mentor, the foremost expert in Gravitational Technology on the planet. Dr. Mentor has many theories on artificial gravity, and it is those theories that we are most interested in. In fact, Dr. Mentor is currently testing a new device on the Victorian Glacier called the Gravimetric Core Sampler. The device uses a gravimetric field to nullify the planetary gravity matrix thus creating a stable and unmoving section of ice that can be measured accurately up to ninety nine point nine percent.” The image changed to a digital representation of how the device functioned.

“If Dr. Mentors test is successful, he will have been the first man to create an artificial gravity field. A field that with some minor modification could be adapted to serve as the artificial gravity generator for a star ship.” Carl looked directly at Tom to measure his response. It was clear to him that Tom was impressed, but was hiding it behind a mask of disinterest. Carl was not fooled, he had just won the first round. Now for the bonus point.

“We have also made advancements in the field of deflector technology. We have a working deflector dish that is as we speak being prepared for testing.” The image on the viewer once again changed this time to a three dimensional image of a deflector dish. A blue concaved oblong oval looking object with several peaces of hardware protruding from its back. To Tom it looked like an antique viewer monitor without its casing.

“Our preliminary testing has proven that the deflector dish is working far better than we had hopped. In fact, if this trial test is successful as I believe it will be, then we will equip a long range probe with a full scale deflector dish device and launch it from the Rocket Works at Zephyrus Space Dome into space directing its course through the Thromgorn asteroid belt.” The image on the view switched to a projected course of the probe.

“The probe would enter the Thromgorn belt and traverse the Marcus corridor on a return arc to Pandora. If the deflector dish works, then we will have achieved our second mandate, and be one step closer to long range manned flights to the twenty six known worlds of our system.”

Carl shuffled some more papers and then pushed another button on the vid viewer. A new image popped up, an image of what looked a lot like a rocket engine to Tom.

“We have also made some advancements in propulsion that I would like to mention.”

Tom was regrettably impressed, how could this man have achieved so much in such a short amount of time. A prototype deflector dish, a strong possibility for creating artificial gravity, and now he was going to brag about advancements in propulsion. Tom was beginning to feel very ill.

“In conjunction with the Advanced Propulsion Research Division, we have successfully built and tested the first small scale Ion engine.” Carl was obviously proud of his teams work, and it showed. “We project that within the year we will have the ability to produce a large scale Version of this Ion Engine, and with any luck, conduct our first unmanned space flight tests by the end next year.”

That did it, Carl was going to be around for a very long time. Tom’s hopes of a quick termination sank as did his mood. An actual successful test of an Ion Engine. My God thought Tom to himself as he pondered the idea that the people of Pandora were one step closer to exploring the stars, and they owed it to this man. God indeed has a very sick sense of humor.

“I would like to see your data as soon as you can make it available to me.” Said Tom somberly. It was hard to hide his mood. This man had achieved everything he and his team had failed to do years before. It was not only an embarrassment but a personal failure as well for Tom.

“Perhaps I could bring it by your office after the meeting?” Asked Carl politely.
Tom simply smiled. “That would be fine.”

Carl smiled inwardly as he cherished his victory. And now, he thought, time for round two.

***

[ February 24, 2003, 15:49: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[CNCRaymond]

Keep em coming. Great story thus far. Can you enlighten us as to where the story is going? I mean a breif outline if you would?

[dogscoff]

Atrocities, how much of this storyline did you have planned out in advance? Did you know what was going to happen or did you just start typing?

I'm just curious as to how you go about it.

Enjoying it thoroughly BTW. More please.

[ January 22, 2003, 14:26: Message edited by: dogscoff ]

[mlmbd]

Atrocities, Thank You! I just love this add. "Always leave them wanting a taste." That's what my creative writing Proffesor said. You do that regularly. But with Part V (C) you did just a bit more. I know I am wanting Part V (D).

mlmbd

[Atrocities]

Thanks guys. The story is basically planned out. The bulk of the story is just sit down and type.

I have an out line for the story, and am following that, but I don't want to disclose it as it would be a spoiler.

Sitting down to write for me takes a bit of a mood. That is to say I have to be in the mood to write. Once in that mood, I can write for a long long time. I often write a segment or two in advance of what is posted here. In that way I can go back and tweak them if I need too.

I haven't give each segment a title as they are all really under one chapter at the moment. I may change that later and go back and rename each segment individually. That I have still not decided.

[Atrocities]

In the mid day sun the temperature on the Northern Victorian Glacier can reach as high as minus thirty degrees below zero. However if you factor in the wind chill the temperature can plummet to minus two hundred below zero. Zero being the point at which water freezes.

Standing in the open, Captain Macmillan estimated the temperature to be, factoring in the wind chill of course, around minus fifty degrees at the moment. Without his cold weather gear, he would have frozen to death in a matter of seconds. Such vastness he thought to him self, how could anyone ever ignore its beauty. He was studying the newly established parameter for this current base of operations, a parameter that was nearly a mile in circumference around the object frozen in the glacier.

By this time tomorrow, but not soon enough for his needs, this entire area would be monitored for movement, sound, heat and even pressure changes, nothing would be able to enter or leave this site without his knowing of it.
“I want this area secure by the end of the day.” Said Captain Macmillan as he pointed to areas around the discovery site. “I want motion sensors and heat detectors along the entire circumference of the operations area and our compound.” He pointed to key location on a digital map on his command and control pad, CCP for short. A device used to relay order to team leaders instantly without the need for verbal communications. It was an effective way to give orders and have them carried out. Quick reliable, and fool proof.

“Yes sir.” Responded a Lieutenant Michael Winston,, Captain Macmillan’s aid, as he to entered data into his command and control pad. “The Engineering Team has arrived, and the Chief Engineer would like to meet with you”
“Very good.”
“Guardian One has returned with the missing scientists and all other search teams have been ordered back.”
“Assign them to patrol duty in layers ranging from one mile as far out as five hundred.”
“Yes sir.”
“I also want the scientist at that the Glacier research base camp taken to Davenport. Tell them that they are under military quarantine.”
“What about the ones here?”
“They know to much, I want to keep them here until I receive orders to the contrary.”
“Yes sir. I’ll have then collared.”
“Do that and make sure they understand what will happen to them if they attempt to escape. In the mean time direct the Chief Engineer to Operations Tent.”
“Yes Sir.” Responded Winston as he walked away. Macmillan stood there for a moment looking about the vast openness of the northern part of the Victorian Glacier. My god what desolation. He thought to himself then walked away.

Lieutenant Winston and five armed men carrying what looked like small black belts walked into the mess tent where all of the scientist were being held. He wasted no time on pleasantries as he made his announcement.
“You are all going to be fitted with monitoring collars that will allow you to move about the camp but will prevent you from leaving it. It you attempt to leave it, the collar will paralyze you and notify Command Operations. You will then be taken into custody and placed in a five by eight holding cell on the Argo once she arrives.” He looked about the room to ensure that everyone there had heard him.
“Just for your information these devices are sound monitored, and we will be listening.” He nodded at one of the armed soldiers to begin placing the collars on people. For the most part everyone complied without resisting. Everyone that is except Dr. Mentor who demanded to speak to Captain Macmillan.

“I will not allow you to place that damned thing around my neck until I have spoken to your commanding officer!” Stated Dr. Mentor adamantly.
Winston just looked at him for a long second then nodded. “Very well Dr. Come with me.”
Dr. Mentor and Lieutenant Winston left the mess tent. Not more than a foot out of the door Winston, a tall and very strong man struck Dr. Mentor in the lower left leg just behind his knee with his left foot causing the Dr. to scream out in pain and fall to his knees. Winston then grabbed a handful of the doctors hair and pulled his head back. One of the other soldiers placed a collar around Dr. Mentors neck and stepped back. Winston knelt down beside Dr. Mentor, still holding a handful of his hair, and whispered into his ear.
“If you ever talk to me like that again in front of my men, I will break your legs in five places and leave you without regard to die in an open pit. Have I made myself clear to you doctor?” Mentor looking rather startled and in some pain simply nodded as best he could against the constant pull of his hair.
“Very good. No follow me.” With that Winston released his grip on Dr. Mentors hair and stood. He began walking toward a solid black tent that Mentor assumed was the newly established Operations Tent. It took him a few seconds to gather his composure and stand. He had underestimated their situation, if people like this Lieutenant Winston had their way, they would all be lined up and shot. He knew he had to be careful now, for one wrong move, and everyone would surely die.
“Coming doctor?” Asked Winston in a mock polite tone.
“Lead on Lieutenant.” He replied as politely as he could given the anger he felt.

“At best estimate it will take us about two weeks to dig an access shaft to that opening.” Stated Engineer Ron Lindley as he pointed to a digital reading on his data pad. Ron was a husky man with short brown hair. He had a tan complexion and seemed to always be smiling. “From what we have here, the data shows the entrance to be nearly half a mile down through solid hardened ice.”
“Two weeks is unacceptable.” Said Macmillan as he stood next to him looking at a data pad. “Is there no way that you can speed things up?”
“Well we could if we had a clear and accurate depth and density reading of the ice around and under the object. With that we could use sculpted charges and cut our bLast time in half.”
“The winter weather will begin to effect this area in about a month.” Commented Macmillan
“I understand that Captain, but this core sampling the one the scientist did.” He held it up for inspection. “Just does not have the information I need. For all we know, the ice around the object could be unstable.” Lindley looked down at the data pad on the table. “Hell we’re not even sure that this is an opening, it could be just about anything. We simply do not have enough accurate information to be certain.”

“We could perform another core scan of the object.” Commented Calvin Kurd, another engineer.
“No, they’re not accurate enough.” Replied Lindley as he moved to a large display of a top down satellite image of the object and the outlining area.
“We could just bLast according to our best guess, and conduct scans as we go deeper. It would speed the process up by a few days.” Commented Kurd.
“That would be far to dangerous, one wrongly placed charge and we could severely damage or even destroy the object.” Responded Lindley flatly.
“Destroy it how?” Macmillan asked.
“Its like this Captain, we have to be certain of how the ice will fracture when a charge is detonated, how thick the ice is, what its density is and how the bLast will effect the overall stability of the ice. BLasting ice is like cutting diamonds. One wrong move and you destroy the diamond. For example, the ice could fracture under the focal layer and this entire shelf could simply shift to the side with the least amount of pressure thus crushing the object.” Ron was deadly serious, and he wanted the Captain to know it.
“Simply put we do not know how deep this ice is. For all we know, that thing out there could be sitting on only an inch of ice covering a vast chamber and one wrong bLast and this entire area would collapse into the chamber and game over.“
“What is the likelihood of such an event?” Macmillan asked.
“The likelihood of such an event occurring is high given the fact that this entire region has thousands of such caverns.”
He paused for effect as he folded his arms.
“Basically put sir, If we just bLast without regard, we could cause the entire ice flow to collapse inward and that is something we do not want.”
“So bLasting is out of the question?” Commented Macmillan more to himself than to the people around him as he tossed his data pad onto the table.
“Unless you can give me a core sampling that accurately reads more than a hundred feet, there is no way.”
“Perhaps I can be of some help then.” Said Dr. Mentor politely.
Both men were so intent upon their discussion they did not notice that Dr. Mentor and Lieutenant Winston had entered the tent. Both Lindley and Macmillan looked over at the doctor in silence.

“I could not help but over hear your situation as the Lieutenant and I walked up.” Said Dr. Mentor as he removed his coat. The temperature in the Operations tent was a comfortable sixty degrees above zero. Odd thought Dr. Mentor, why they called these things tents when in fact they were prefab buildings complete with insulated walls, flooring, and ceiling. Perhaps because they assembled like tents.
“Captain Ron Lindley, meet Dr. Brook Mentor.” Introduced Macmillan as he flashed the doctor a casual smile.
“I am familiar with Dr. Mentor.” Said Lindley as he smiled from ear to ear and offered his hand to Mentor. “I attended a few of his seminars on gravitational technology. I was going to enter the field of Gravitational Theory but life took me in a different direction.”
Taking the offered hand Mentor smiled.
“Indeed, it is a shame that life would be so cruel as to place a potential gravitational scientist in with such bad company?” Mentor said in serious non-joking tone as he shook Lindley‘s hand. Winston flashed him a dirty look and was about to revive the good doctors memory of their earlier conversation when Macmillan put his hand on his arm to steady him.
“Very clever Doctor.” Replied Macmillan. Mentor just smirked at him as politely as he could.
“What do you propose?” Asked Lindley with some agitation in his voice.
“First I want this god forsaken thing off of my neck.” Mentor said angrily.
Macmillan looked at him for a second then nodded to Winston who reluctantly stepped behind the doctor and started to remove the collar. He slapped Mentor on the back of the head, accidentally of course, as he finished removing the it. He flashed the doctor a ‘oop’ look as he stepped to the side. Mentor just looked at him without an expression. ‘In time all good things come to those who wait.’ Thought Mentor to himself before directing his attention back toward Captain Macmillan.

“One other thing, we over heard your men earlier commenting that they had captured both Nina Smith and Bill Ramzies. Is this correct?”
“Yes.” Replied Winston without explanation.
“Why have they not been returned to use?”
“Because they are being treated for injuries sustained during their apprehension.”
Commented Winston again.
“I am not asking you Lieutenant, I am asking the Captain.” This time Mentor was the one to flash the dirty look. Politeness be damned, Winston’s arrogance was getting on his nerves. If he was going to die, then he would die like a man, and not like some cowardly whimpering old man.
Winston took immediate offense at Dr. Mentors tone and stepped forward. “What did you say?” He damned in a hostile tone. Mentor matched posture for posture before choosing to ignore the danger, and looked directly at Winston, and said as sarcastically has he knew how; “You heard me Lieutenant.”

After what felt like hours, but was in fact only seconds, Dr. Mentor looked away from the menacing Lieutenant to make eye contact with Captain Macmillan.
“Captain Macmillan, what happened to them?”
“Your people are well doctor, and Lieutenant Winston will see to it that they are escorted to the mess tent immediately.” Winston cringed ever so slightly, but never the less he stepped back away from Mentor.
“Yes sir.” He said with professionalism and then left the tent.

“Thank you Captain.”
“Why are you here doctor?” Asked Macmillan without pretence and it took Mentor a second to collect his thoughts before he could answer.
“I wanted to know why my people and I are under arrest.” Stated Mentor flatly. “And why my people have been collard like animals?”
“Doctor Mentor.” Said Macmillan as he causally stepped to within inches of Mentor. He was in charge, and he wanted Mentor to understand that. “You and your people are free to move about the compound, provided that they do not attempt to leave it.” Macmillan was studying him for a reaction. “The collars are a necessity doctor.” He smiled. “A matter of global security.” He then stepped back a bit and gestured at the satellite image. “Now would you be so kind as to explain just how you can help us.”

Mentor looked for a long second at Macmillan. He was indeed an intelligent and perceptive man. Mentor knew that if he thought he was lying about being able to help them, he would have allowed that sadistic fleer Winston to beat the crap out of him.
“You need to know the depth and density of the ice around and under the object correct?”
“Yes.” Replied Lindley.
“I can use the Gravimetric Core Sampler to accomplish that.”
“I thought you had already done that?” Asked Lindley. “I am reviewing the data your team gathered, and it is noted that that is how you obtain the earlier readings.”
“We only used the Core Sampler part of the device, a core sampler that is specially designed to work in extreme cold weather. We did not use the GCS equipment when we took those readings.”
“What is a GCS?” Asked Kurd innocently.
Mentor looked at him and smiled. “GCS stands for Gravimetric Core Sampler. It is the device that we came up here to test.” Mentor pointed to the satellite image as he continued to speak. “As you all know this area has never before had an accurate core sampling. It is theorized that there may well be vast untapped resources under the Glacier, and with an accurate core sampling, we can begin the process of bLasting access tunnel through the ice to the ground beneath it. Given the fact that the Northern Glacier is riddled with thousands of caverns that can cause collapses without warning, having an accurate core reading is a must.”
“Dr. Mentors device, if I understand it correctly, uses a reverse gravimetric field to nullify the planets gravity to any depth thus allowing a core sampler to take an accurate reading of the ice.” Commented Lindley.
“Correct, as you know, fractures in the ice are so small that they can not be seen without the help of specialized equipment. And given that the ice flow of the Glacier is constantly in motion, it is next to impossible to obtain an accurate reading beyond a few feet. The GCS suspends an area in zero gravity thus stopping the motion of the ice and allowing the core sampler to obtain an accurate reading of the ice.”
“And without an accurate reading of the ice below you, you could easily tunnel right into an open cavern, and collapse the ice for which you are standing.” Commented Kurd as he began to understand the significance of the Dr. Mentors GCS device. “I guess the next question would be when can we get started?”
“With my teams help, we can perform a complete scan of the object and the area around it within three days.” Said Dr. Mentor.
“We can begin bLasting an entrance shaft once the reading is completed and we have a day or so to survey the best route.” Said Lindley excitedly as he punched figures into his pad.

“I am impressed Dr. Mentor.” Commented Macmillan as he put on his coat and stepped toward the entrance. “Have your team ready for work within the hour.” He said then exited the tent.

[CNCRaymond]

Bump

FYI just in case you did not know, Will is back in the hospital again.

Also, and this one hurts, his new pc died, and with it, the 3d images for the New Dominion,Ferengi, and Cardassian ship sets.

And this Story was lost as well. I don't know how much he had written past this point, but I suspect he had a chapter or two done. Sorry.

I have not told him yet, I do not want to added to his worries. Rest assured, there was no back up.

[Suicide Junkie]

Aw, cripes.

Don't let them take the hard drive; you can probably recover the data.
Just add the old drive as a slave to whatever replacement/repaired PC you end up with, and you'll have a good chance of saving the work.

[ January 27, 2003, 22:50: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[sachmo]

Atrocities is in the hospital? Please wish him well for me if he is.

[Fyron]

CNCRaymond, please check your private Messages.