“We’re hurtling toward a planet in a giant metal doughnut, on a wire as thick as a pencil. ‘Amazing’ is one word for it.”
The space lift looked large enough to easily carry 50 or more people in Lamont’s estimation. Despite that fact, the expedition party huddled together in a single group, lined up near the gangplank where two windows on the side of the lift offered a more complete exterior view. Seven hands gripped the stabilization bars on the inside wall, and a sense of anticipation hovered in the air. On the other side of that wall, five technicians were making final preparations for descent.
Clifford Ashton and Theresa Overland were relative strangers to Lamont; as much as anyone can be in a close-packed crew of fellow travelers. He knew that Ashton was an engineer with archeological training, known among the crew as something of a bookworm. Overland was from the chemistry department, and was one of a handful of crewmembers who could be found religiously jogging circuits around the ship before first shift.
Ed’s voice piped over the loudspeaker. “Here we go. Disengaging in five, four, three, two…”
There was a slight lurch, like a train beginning to move, except that it felt like it was lifting Lamont upward momentarily while his stomach stayed fixed in place. The faint creak of metal on metal could be heard above them. Outside, the view of the planet’s horizon looked exactly as it had moments ago.
“Are we moving?” Clifford asked.
Rex let go of his stabilization bar and tested his feet before striding to the outside of the outside edge of the lift and peering up through the portholes on the ceiling. “Take a look—quick!” He exclaimed.
The six others followed his lead, looking up through the small, thick windows. Above them, the underside of Westward could be seen, bathed in purplish light from the surface of the planet and receding so rapidly that in mere moments it was hidden from view.
“Jeepers!” Theresa whispered. “How fast are we dropping?”
“At least a hundred miles an hour,” Captain Carter answered. He returned to the inside wall and pushed the intercom button. “What’s our status, control?”
Ed’s voice replied promptly. “Everything as expected so far. ETA is an hour and seventeen minutes. Hope you brought a book.”
“I did,” Offered Clifford, tapping his bag.
Theresa put her hands on her hips and grinned. “Really?”
Rex had dropped to his knees and was gazing with wide-eyed wonder down through the lower portholes. “I think the time is going to pass before we know it. Isn’t this amazing?”
Lamont reflexively reached for his cigarette case before remembering that it was nowhere to be found in the pockets of his expedition suit. Instead, he lifted his recorder and began tapping on the shorthand keys. “Yeah, mate,” he muttered. “We’re hurtling toward a planet in a giant metal doughnut, on a wire as thick as a pencil. ‘Amazing’ is one word for it.”
“That’s not exactly right,” Carter corrected him, perching his lanky frame next to Rex on the railing that ran along the outside edge of the lift. “It’s really a superconductive hollow tube, not a wire. The car is anchored to it with electromagnets—if you were to look down through the center of the elevator, you’d see that no part of it actually touches the anchor line.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Lamont asked.
The captain frowned thoughtfully, as if the notion had not occurred to him. “No,” he answered.
I appreciate this Carter much more than V1.0 Carter. You show us a lot more going on in him this time. I felt the old Carter was largely going through the motions of being in charge and accepting his role as a figure more than a leader.