Orbits - Book 2 - Dangerous Debris
Chapter Two

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Major walked onto the bridge and found Carlos still at the controls looking hyper-vigilant out the view window. His hands gripped the controls so tightly that his knuckles were turning blue. He constantly shifted his gaze from the tracking system display panel to out the view window.

Although he was doing a fine job keeping Excelsior in a straight line, he looked like the slightest deviation from the line would cause Excelsior to fall into a catastrophic tumble. He heard a noise behind him and with a hyperventilating voice called out, “Captain is that you?”

“Yes,” Major answered.

“Thank goodness,” Carlos whispered under his breath.

“I’ll take over.”

“Great,” Carlos uttered and he jumped up out of his chair. In doing so in his haste, he jerked the piloting controls and Excelsior lurched to the left. Major quickly stepped in, assumed the chair, and got Excelsior back on its line.

Instantly forgetting his sheer terror while at the controls, Carlos exclaimed, “Wow, that was awesome! I can’t wait to do it again.” Major gave him a double-take stare. “So, Captain we have a communication transmission coming in. A mining company official is trying to reach us. I’ll ping him and get him back.” Carlos went to the communications panel and sent out a signal. “How’s Rosalind?” Carlos asked.

“She hasn’t received any communication from Survivor. She’s being tortured by not knowing. I may have been able to cheer her a little.”

“I can’t imagine what she’s going through. I like Rosalind. I like her a lot. She’s a good person and she holds this crew together. We’ve got to help her as much as we can.”

“You’re right and we will,” Major acknowledged.

“All right, the communication is coming through. I’ll patch him through.” Carlos turned on the speaker and a voice came over.

“Excelsior - Thomas Major please come in,” said the gravelly voice.

“This is Thomas Major. Whom am I speaking with?”

“Mr. Major thank you for responding. This a Walker Gao from the NEO-Mining Company. We have heard of your waste disposal business and you come highly recommended.”

While Gao was speaking Rosalind walked onto the bridge and overhead the conversation. Before Major responded, she informed Major, “NEO- Mining is one of the major moon and asteroid mining companies. They’ve just opened their third mine on the Moon and they operate on five asteroids. They’ve been making lots of money lately and have been growing really fast; too fast some say.”

Addressing Gao, Major responded, “I’m happy to know I have a good reputation. How can I help you?”

“Our debris hauler has encountered engine problems. It was taking debris from our mine on asteroid Ryugu to the debris dump on the moon. Because of her engine problems, she won’t be able to dispose of the debris. She needs to be towed either back to Earth or repair station Gemini. She is carrying our standard debris container. And it would be really helpful if she could unload the container before being towed. We’ve looked up the specs of your Excelsior, and it appears our container will nicely fit in your cargo bay.”

“Is there anything dangerous in the debris?” Major asked.

“No. No. No. It’s just standard rock waste and slurry, Some broken drill bit heads, broken pipe, that kind of stuff,” Gao responded.

“Well the crew of Excelsior is always happy to serve new customers,” Major was using his best salesman pitch voice. “Where is your hauler now?”

“She is in a high geosynchronous orbit 40,000 kilometers above the North American continent.”

“Mr. Gao we would like to accommodate you. Will you give me a minute to check with my crew to see if we can undertake this.”

“Certainly.”

“Rosalind, can we make a trip to the moon and back?” Major asked his trusty crewmate. Rosalind never used any electronic devices or programs to do any of her calculations. She preferred a standard drawing pad and pen. There was something beautifully elegant watching her feminine hands make swoops and scrawls with that pen in her hands. Every time she grabbed her pen, Major couldn’t help watching her skill and precision with that delicate instrument and the ink flowing from its tip. She quickly and clearly came to an answer. But she double-checked her figures for surety.

“Yes Major we can do it,” she answered.

Turning back to the communication panel Major spoke, “Mr. Gao my crew assures me that we can make the trip to the moon. We are finishing a debris sweep of an orbital lane. That should take us another two hours or so. Then we can proceed to your hauler. Will that work for you?”

“Yes. Yes. Our hauler won’t be towed for another day so she is just sitting there,” Gao responded.

“Her engines are down, but does your hauler have any maneuvering power?”

“Her maneuvering jets are operational.”

“Great. That will facilitate transfer of your container. For an operation like this, we would charge 500 bitcoin. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, that is an agreement.”

Carlos remembered their last mission when they undertook an unscheduled task and said to Major, “Captain maybe we should ask for payment upfront?”

“Yes, Carlos. Mr. Gao we will require payment first.”

“Transfer your account information and I’ll send payment immediately.”

Major nodded to Rosalind who typed in the requisite account info and transferred it to Mr. Gao. Rosalind doubled as the accountant for Major’s business. After a few moments, Rosalind nodded back to Major indicating that payment had been received.

“Ok Mr. Gao, thank you for payment. If you will transfer the exact position of your hauler we will get to your hauler as soon as we finish up here.”

“Great. Coordinates will be transmitted. Gao signing off.”

Major did not know much about the asteroid mining business. Everyone was aware that asteroid mining was now an important part of the space economy and Earth’s economy as well.

Asteroids supplied kay rare minerals in large quantities to all industries and world powers. There was a great deal of competition to replace and

extract minerals amongst major companies and governments. NEO-Mining was notorious for being a ruthless competitor that had mysterious allegiances and questionable principles in executing its business plan.

“Alright, crew let’s finish up our sweep and get in a little rest and nourishment before we head off.

Who’s making lunch?”

Carlos answered, “I am. We’re having my out-of- this-world burritos.”

“Rosalind and I will make room in the cargo bay for the container. Then I’m going to learn a little about the Ryugu asteroid.”