Oakmont–Verona–Plum Development Site, Pennsylvania
May 16, 2440, 2:11 PM
“Your problem isn’t the material.”
Ashton Boone Marmaduke looked up from the construction model.
James Yokohama was examining the geological survey.
“That’s a rather strange thing to say to a materials scientist.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something to study. But Wonder Foam isn’t the part that concerns me.”
“What does?”
“Knowing what you’re attaching it to.”
S’rethi Y’ulen smiled.
“Precisely.”
The three observers had spent much of the afternoon examining the new survey data aboard the T-24.
The bombardment had stripped away centuries of forest growth and exposed enormous quantities of collapsed structures, limestone, and previously buried ground.
The result was not a clean construction surface.
It was an enormous geological investigation.
Some of the exposed rock was relatively sound.
Other sections concealed abandoned excavations, natural cavities, and fractures created or enlarged by the kinetic treatment.
James enlarged a cross section beneath one of the eastern survey sectors.
“Look at the difference between the original return and yesterday’s post-impact survey.”
Ashton leaned forward.
“That’s quite a change.”
“The bombardment removed a substantial amount of the overlying material. We’re getting better measurements, but we’re also seeing things that weren’t accessible before.”
S’rethi nodded.
“The rovers are already improving the model.”
Bertram Kahn moved beside them.
“Are the old mine records useful?”
“Some,” James answered.
S’rethi brought up two historical maps.
“They disagree with each other.”
Kahn examined them.
“By how much?”
“Enough that I won’t release construction equipment into those particular areas based on either one.”
James laughed.
“An excellent policy.”
Ashton looked toward the first sitio.
“But that one is ready?”
“Yes,” S’rethi answered. “Its underlying ground has been surveyed and the preparation is sufficient to begin the engineered layer.”
“Then I don’t understand why D’vann isn’t laying foam already.”
“Because I’m not finished striking the surrounding terrain.”
Ashton looked toward the other development areas.
“Right.”
“I can begin placing the structural foam over the first sitio today. But the initial layer will be relatively thin. If another major kinetic release shakes or damages it before we’ve built up the structure, we’ll have wasted the work.”
“And possibly have to tear it out and start again,” Ashton said.
“Exactly.”
James examined the remaining strike schedule.
“Some of those are substantial releases.”
“Very.”
“So you’re leaving the first site’s approved ground alone until the bombardment elsewhere is finished.”
“Yes. There is nothing wrong with the first sito’s ground that prevents construction.”
D’vann joined them.
“Except that my wife won’t let me begin.”
“Your wife doesn’t intend to replace several hours of work because you were impatient,” S’rethi answered.
Ashton laughed.
“She’s right.”
“Another materials scientist who sides with the geological engineer,” D’vann said. “I seem to be losing this argument.”
“You were losing it before I arrived.”
“Thank you, Ashton.”
“Happy to help.”
S’rethi indicated the preparation work already underway.
“There is plenty of work to do while we wait. Equipment positioning, survey confirmation, utility preparation, material handling, and the remaining ground work that doesn’t depend upon the structural layer.”
D’vann nodded.
“Which is why nobody is standing idle.”
Ashton examined the first site’s grid.
“Six hundred twenty-five blocks.”
“Yes.”
“Roads, sidewalks, alleys, drainage, and building pads all incorporated into one engineered ground structure.”
“Correct.”
“That’s what I want to see when you start.”
D’vann smiled.
“Then perhaps you should cancel your board meeting.”
Ashton laughed.
“Nice try.”
2:47 PM
Kahn had been quiet for several minutes.
James finally looked over.
“Anything interesting?”
“Yes.”
He enlarged the seismic comparison.
The monitoring stations east of the Appalachians continued recording the effects of the previous day’s bombardment without evidence of tectonic activation.
The New Madrid observation post remained more complicated.
Kahn had been comparing its small spikes against the impact records supplied by S’rethi.
“Several of these align reasonably well with the timing of the larger events,” he said. “But that doesn’t establish that they’re local tectonic activity.”
James examined the arrivals.
“Some may simply be seismic energy transmitted through the crust.”
“Yes.”
“And the others?”
“I’m not prepared to classify them.”
Ashton looked toward the display.
“Should I be worried about Missouri?”
“Not on the evidence we have,” James answered.
“Good.”
“That doesn’t mean we ignore it.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we should.”
Kahn adjusted the comparison.
“What I’d like is a longer series. If the New Madrid signals disappear when the kinetic bombardment stops, that’s useful information. If they continue independently, that’s useful too.”
S’rethi nodded.
“And the ground surveys here should provide additional information about the regional response.”
“Exactly.”
James looked toward the main display.
“It’s remarkable how much information this operation is producing.”
“Most of it wasn’t collected for academic purposes,” S’rethi answered.
“Doesn’t make it less valuable.”
“No.”
Ashton glanced toward James.
“You’re already thinking about what you can take back to the university.”
“Of course.”
“And Rolla?”
“Especially Rolla.”
“Good.”
Kahn looked between them.
“I get the impression there’s another enormous project in Missouri.”
Ashton smiled.
“There is.”
“Also using Wonder Foam?”
“That would certainly be useful.”
James examined the latest geological returns.
“Rolla’s problems won’t be identical to Pennsylvania’s. That’s what makes this work interesting. We can learn a great deal about the engineering methods here without assuming every site requires the same treatment.”
S’rethi nodded.
“That is the sensible approach.”
3:41 PM
Another series of kinetic strikes was being prepared.
Ashton watched S’rethi select eight target areas.
The three development sites had already undergone extensive bombardment. Today’s additional treatment concerned ground that had not yet reached the desired configuration.
T’ira reviewed the geological returns for the target sectors.
R’alen confirmed the exclusion boundaries.
T’vessa and M’ren checked that the drone fleets and ground machines were clear of the strike areas.
S’rethi examined the combined display.
“Very good.”
She authorized the sequence.
Eight penetrators, each delivering 5.12 petajoules of kinetic energy.
The distant landscape erupted.
Even aboard the protected T-24, the visible scale of the impacts was extraordinary.
Great columns of pulverized rock and debris rose over the former hillsides. Material displaced from the higher ground spread into the lower terrain, while the survey systems began measuring the results.
Ashton watched the initial returns arrive.
“There’s the reason you haven’t started the structural foam.”
D’vann nodded.
“One of several.”
“An entire engineered ground layer taking that kind of punishment before it’s finished would be a very expensive experiment.”
“One my wife has declined to conduct.”
“Wisely.”
Kahn was already examining the seismic monitoring.
“The eastern stations have the impacts.”
James moved beside him.
“Any tectonic response?”
“Nothing indicating fault movement.”
“And New Madrid?”
“Give the signals time to arrive.”
They continued watching.
The expected seismic energy registered on the monitoring systems.
The new terrain model began replacing the old one.
Ashton looked toward the first sitio’s approved area.
The strikes were not occurring there, but the energy released elsewhere in the development was substantial.
He understood S’rethi’s decision.
A materials scientist could appreciate the properties of a material without being foolish enough to assume an unfinished structure was immune to every force acting upon it.
D’vann was examining the updated ground profile.
“Did you get what you wanted?”
S’rethi compared the measurements.
“Most of it.”
“Most?”
“I want another survey before deciding whether the eastern face needs additional treatment.”
D’vann sighed.
“Of course you do.”
She smiled.
“Would you prefer I guess?”
“Never.”
“Then let me finish.”
Ashton laughed.
“I think I’m going to enjoy working with you two.”
4:26 PM
The latest cargo shuttle had completed unloading another group of ground-penetrating-radar rovers.
S’rethi watched them spread into their assigned survey sectors.
Some headed toward newly exposed bedrock.
Others moved into the enormous fields of shattered limestone where the old ridges had stood.
Ashton studied the scale of the operation.
“I keep thinking I’ve understood how large this project is, and then you show me another map.”
D’vann smiled.
“It is rather extensive.”
“Extensive? You’ve got three separate nine-square-kilometer settlements under development, and you’re surveying an even larger area around them.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re doing it with equipment that was designed to build colonies.”
“Among other things.”
“While my company is still accustomed to treating a thousand houses as a major construction project.”
“Your company builds a great deal more than houses,” D’vann answered.
“True. But even our largest operations don’t normally begin with the removal of several mountains.”
S’rethi looked up.
“You make it sound excessive.”
Ashton laughed.
“I’m delighted by it. That’s the problem.”
James joined them.
“The question isn’t whether they can move the mountains. We’ve established that they can.”
“It’s whether the resulting ground is suitable for what comes next,” S’rethi said.
“Exactly.”
She examined a new survey return.
An irregular void had appeared beneath one of the eastern survey sectors, outside the approved first-site construction area.
The rovers had not yet established its complete boundaries.
S’rethi marked the area for additional investigation.
D’vann saw the restriction appear on his construction model.
“Another one?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“And the first sitio?”
“Still cleared.”
“Excellent.”
Ashton watched the exchange.
“You two really do work like this all the time?”
“Usually,” D’vann answered.
James laughed.
“I’ve worked with geologists long enough to recognize the conversation.”
S’rethi examined the new data.
“Then you know why I won’t give him an answer until I have one.”
“Absolutely.”
Ashton looked toward Kahn.
“And you?”
“I’d rather have an incomplete survey than a confident but inaccurate one.”
D’vann shook his head.
“Three geological specialists in one room. I should have stayed with the construction crews.”
His wife smiled.
“You would have come back to ask whether you could build over the eastern ridge.”
“Probably.”
“And I would have said no.”
“Then it’s fortunate I’ve saved myself the trip.”
Ashton laughed.
The rovers continued moving across the broken terrain.
For the observers, the day’s work had already provided more information than they could reasonably examine before supper.
For the engineers, the continued bombardment and surveys were bringing the remaining areas toward the condition of the first sitio.
The approved ground was waiting.
Once the surrounding kinetic operations were finished, the block printers could begin without sacrificing a new structural layer to the final rounds of mountain removal.
And for Ashton, it was becoming increasingly clear that he would have to return to Pennsylvania again.
One visit was nowhere near enough.
