America One: War of the Worlds Read Online Free PDF Page B

an elbow in the ribs from Maggie as he winked at Ruler Roo.
    “My friend General Jones and I are rather partial to rocket fuel,” stated Roo getting much laughter from everyone in the meeting other than Dr. Smidt. He wasn’t yet a member of the society, still didn’t get the inside joke, even though he had been on Mars and had watched the pair consume the same fuel used in the Matt craft. Some people just didn’t have a sense of humor.
    “What is the current diamond price Joanne? Surely it has risen in financial trading value?” Ryan asked.
    “Gold is still the currency of favor worldwide at $29,400 Canadian per ounce,” Joanne Dithers Roo replied. “Silver, oddly enough is second, currently selling at $3,190 per ounce, and all paper currency is making a comeback. The Canadian and Australian dollars are still worth triple to the U.S. dollar, but we are gaining ground. Diamonds are bought and sold for a lot of money, but only in the technology fields where they are most wanted. I haven’t seen the diamonds you speak of, but I’m sure Martin Brusk, or Mary Collins can help you with loans against them. Remember the cargo you are bringing back, six tons, or twelve tons with two shuttles will make you more fluid, and set you up for a much larger future cargo haul in America Two and America Three in a decade or so.”
    “This whole country will still be short of any fossil fuels for farming and industry for at least another decade,” added Dr. Smidt. We still need another five years for fusion plants to be commonplace
    “Five billion a shuttle cargo load. Funny that was what is cost me to start this base all those years ago,” reminisced Ryan.
    “I cannot fathom how much 7,000 tons is worth?” added Mars Noble. “That is the weight Captain Pete and I reckoned there is to collect.”
    “A lot of money,” suggested Jonesy.
    “It will take more than our lifetimes to return with that amount,” laughed Ryan. “Dr. Smidt, what can America Two carry in space cargo?”
    “Weight is not important in space, as you well know Herr Richmond. But getting the cargo into orbit from the red planet, and then down here onto the surface of earth would take much fuel. Commander Noble and Captain Pete hauled six tons into Martian orbit. It took us a week to load that amount into the shuttle’s cargo bays. With the two larger shuttles working, two loads a month could be transferred and offloaded into the mother ship’s cargo holds, maximum. The math is rather simple—192 tons per Opposition, or trading mission. That is if we have enough fuel to launch 32 shuttles in the 16 months we are there, and we have no attacks by either the Martian storms, or those Matts .”
    “Martin Brusk reckons that he needs at least 5 tons a year of the rare earth metals,” added Joanne.
    “The planet needs the gold just as much,” suggested Mars Noble, and the others nodded.
    “Let us say we bring back 200 tons every two years,” added Lunar. “If there is 7,000 tons up there, and Mars reckoned that we only saw one half of the tunnel system, we will need our entire lifetimes to bring back what we have already found by flying a mother ship heading in opposite directions each Opposition.”
    “Better than any asteroid I’ve ever found,” stated Jack Dempsey.
    “I’m glad you kept up with our flight training program with our grandchildren, Lunar, Saturn, Mars,” stated Jonesy. “We are going to need as many astronauts as we can train.”
    “Well, with two ships and unlimited fuel, we could double the return if Dr. Smidt’s numbers are correct,” stated Pluto Katherine. “We just need to take all five of the shuttles with us.”
    There was a few seconds of silence as what Mars Noble had found on the red planet hit home. To return with this bounty would take the rest of their lives, and cost more than any project Astermine had done before.
    “My only dream in life was to go to space,” stated Ryan Richmond slowly. “My dream changed