Farthest Reef Read Online Free PDF Page B

train went in last. A hundred tandem power plants. She has a double polycer hull.” Stubbs grinned broadly. “But best of all is the biocylinder. Artificial gravity, a floating jungle. A lake. What else, Johnny?”
    “The hanging jungle was my idea, Alex,” said Johnny proudly. ”The design, at least!”
    “Plants to make the air?” Alex guessed. “A terraformer stunt.”
    “Yes, but for the beauty too, lad,” argued Johnny.
    A crewman came over and whispered something to Johnny, and the Professor reached down and adjusted a controller on the belt. Alex noticed that it seemed to be assisting him as he walked.
    “Why the aid, Johnny?” asked Alex. “I hadn’t heard …”
    “Terraforming expeditions are fun, Alex, but only for the young,” Johnny said ruefully. “These bones are poor all-terrain vehicles.” He laughed and rubbed his left thigh. His hand slid on the slippery fabric and he might have fallen if something in his suit hadn’t prevented it. “I’m almost healed,” he said, looking happy to have his dignity spared further damage. “I healed in weightlessness. Now I need adjustment before these bones take on ol’ man gravity. Either way, I’m good to go.”
    “To go where, exactly?” asked Alex, following behind Stubbs.
    “For that talk, Alex, we go to the biocylinder. Master control.” Stubbs pointed to a green hatchway. “You came in the back door, you might say.” On the door before them modest black letters spelled the words “Master Control”.
    3 Alex gauged the gravity to be the same as Mars, presumably because most people aboard were accustomed to it. Not Alex. After the long weightless flight, and years in Lunar-level gravity, he could already feel it taking its toll on his muscles and joints. He stiffened his body against the pull and took a deep breath. The air inside the ship smelled sweet, almost floral, but it struck his senses as alien and artificial.
    “On the whole I’ll take my ship,” he mumbled as the door slid open.
    Suddenly the sky was full of trees. The sun was shining. Birds were singing.
    “I expected a helm,” said Alex.
    They walked to a stairway that spiraled up to an upper deck. There workmen were installing two doors that led to what looked like a gigantic park, yet when they stepped outside the park was not only around them but above them. High above the verdant parklands birds were flying near the weightless center of the biocylinder, where a massive glowing tube lit the place like a long tubular sun. Squinting up and examining details on the far side, he guessed the cylinder to be almost a kilometer across. “This thing is …” he said.
    “About three quarters of a kilometer across, Alex,” announced Stubbs proudly. “I can bike to work when it’s not raining.”
    “Raining?”
    “ Goddard’s built for a long haul, Alex.” Stubbs pointed to what looked like a large domed silver hut nestled on the green lawn amid growing trees, most of which seemed dotted with fruit of one kind or another. “Those rain towers are already working.”
    Following a wide path paved with a soft black material and edged by freshly blooming wildflowers, they reached the circular building. A door opened when they approached it, revealing a large room manned by a dozen or so officers.
    Projected brightly against a darkened dome in the center of the circular room was the planet Jupiter, looking almost three dimensional. “That’s a magnification of our first objective, Alex. This ship’s magnetic field is a good interferometer,” observed Stubbs. “We’re testing it now.”
    “It can see where we’re going … but not to the sides.” Johnny steadied himself against the door. “No rear view or side view, either,” he added.
    “It’s something,” said Stubbs.
    “This is the helm?”
    “One of them. There are several,” Johnny said. “All at this latitude. But this is the main one.”
    Stubbs smiled condescendingly at Johnny. “Of course, with the