The expression on Keene’s face told her there was no need to say any more. A charged body moving through an electrically active medium would be subject to forces that in those conditions could conceivably rival or even exceed gravity. Forces that conventional astronomic theory, based on the assumption of a pre-Athena, electrically quiescent Solar System, had never taken into account.
Sariena nodded, seeing that Keene had made the connection. “Our scientists in Kronia have been running some calculations. The preliminary results came in to the Osiris just before we came down to the surface. They’re being rechecked before we present anything here officially. But perhaps you could arrange for them to be duplicated independently here on Earth as well—the more confirmation we get, the better. We’ll give you the codes to access the files of original data from our probes. I think you’ll find the results interesting.”
11
Next morning, the over-breakfast continuation of the interview with the science journalist went well, and Keene was happy that the treatment would be accurate. Afterward, he went back up to his room and called Marvin Curtiss as promised. Although Texas was an hour behind Eastern Time, he found Curtiss already in his office. Apparently, Halloran, Lomack, and most of the other engineering and project managers were at work already over in the Kingsville plant too, working out figures for a proposal that Harry Halloran had come up with for getting the Montemorelos site operational sooner, as Curtiss had wanted.
Instead of the conventional above-ground pads as used at San Saucillo, where final testing and any last-minute servicing had to be conducted out in the elements, the Montemorelos facility used an experimental design of silo in which all preparations and launch would be effected in one blastproofed location. Equipment installation was virtually complete, and the next phase called for a live test of the launch systems. A live test meant actually launching something. For something to be launched, it would first have to be there. The existing plan called for a regular (chemical powered) vehicle to be moved in sections by road from Kingsville and assembled in one of the silos. However, a separate surface-to-orbit trial was also due to be conducted in the near future from Saucillo, involving a minishuttle fitted with a modified hybrid engine using solid propellant and a liquid oxidizer. Halloran had proposed combining the two programs by landing the minishuttle at Montemorelos after its orbital trials, where it would then be available for the launch test without anything needing to be shipped by road. The planning committee would be meeting that morning to consider it.
Keene agreed the suggestion made sense, but it was an internal Amspace affair and not something that concerned him directly. He went on to summarize his impressions after meeting the Kronians. The most important thing to come out of it was Sariena’s disclosure of the changes the Kronian scientists had detected in the solar environment and the need to verify their calculations of what it implied. “I was hoping Jerry could set it up somewhere on one of the big computers you’ve got access to,” Keene concluded. Jerry Allender was the head of research at Amspace. “If he needs some help from a specialist in celestial mechanics, I could probably put him in touch with a couple of people I know.”
“How soon do we need this?” Curtiss asked, not looking enthralled. “We’re going to be swamped here with this Montemorelos business as things are.”
“I think it’s absolutely crucial to have the results confirmed or otherwise by the time the Kronians get back from their tour,” Keene pressed. “That means we ought to get moving now. I could get Vicki to take care of liaising with the Kronians and getting the files and material together. Judith could even help with running it and tackling a specialist—she’s pretty hot. All Jerry would need to do would be to set things up.”
“What results did the Kronians get?” Curtiss asked. “Do we know?”
“No, they’ve just offered to let us have their raw data. That’s the way it should be done. Sariena just said she thought we’d find them interesting.”
Curtiss drew a long breath, then nodded. “Okay, we’ll see what we can do,” he promised. “Talk to Harry. I’ll tell him to expect to hear from you. Now I have to rush. We’ve obviously got one of those days ahead of us, and I’ve a commitment in the city tonight.”