by OMAR FINK
Peter twisted his mouth into his trademark lopsided grin, “Ack. My reputation is made up by media pundits who need something to talk about to make their living. Half of it is based on some truth, half is mostly fabricated, and the other half nobody knows about.” He grinned again.
Geri grinned back, “I find you interesting Peter, no matter which of your three halves I’m talking to.”
Peter chuckled.
Geri asked, “Did that young man help you create the intelligent computer agent?”
Peter raised an eyebrow, “Nabith? No, but he might have been able to. He’s amazingly brilliant himself. He’s only twenty-four or so now and four years ago, he was using TYCHE to compute the orbital dynamics that produced the billiard shot solution that saved all of humanity.”
Peter drank some more coffee, “You’ve probably heard of Professor Morgan. He helped to develop the DMJ and then used it to create the diamond nanothreads that greatly advanced our space elevator technology. TYCHE helped do the heavy lifting with numbers.”
Geri said, “I’ve met Professor Morgan. We used to eat at the same little restaurant in Liberty Hill, Texas when he was working nearby. They have the best jalapeno gravy there.”
Peter looked at her and asked, “If you know Professor Morgan, do you also know his assistant, Genaro?”
Geri replied, “Oh yes, we go way back. It’s almost like he’s my brother. We’re as old as the hills. In fact, it was through him that I met the Professor.”
There was a pause in the conversation and nobody spoke for several minutes. Finally, Geri said, “There’s nothing wrong with gaps in conversation. Sometimes silence can convey more meaning than words. How about some music?”
Without waiting for a response, she spoke to the table, “Play music, ‘Dust in the Wind’ by Kansas.”
The table began playing a guitar melody and then some vocals of dust blowing in wind.
REFERENCE
Inner Solar System, Asteroid Belt, and Kirkwood Gaps
Asteroid belt distribution across Kirkwood Gaps
Asteroid Belt and Cities
City Class List:
Books:
“The High Frontier” by Gerard O’Neill
“Mining the Sky” by John Lewis
“Asteroid Mining 101” by John Lewis
“The Space Elevator” by Bradley Edwards, Eric Westling
“Liftport – The Space Elevator” edited by Bill Fawcett, Michael Laine, Tom Nugent Jr
“Space Elevators: edited by Peter Swann, David Raitt, Cathy Swann, Robert Penny, John Knapman
“A Pioneers’s Guide to Living on the Moon” by Peter Kokh
“Space Enterprise” by Phillip Harris
“Space: The Free Market Frontier” by Edward Hudgins
“Living Off the Land in Space” by Gregory Matloff, Les Johnson, C Bangs
“Entering Space” by Robert Zubrin
“Impact Jupiter” by David Levy
“Comets!” by David Eicher
“Guide to Observing and Discovering Comets” by David Levy
“At the Edge of the Solar System” by Alain Doressoundiram, Emmanuel Lellouch
Music:
“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
“I’d Love to Change the World” by Ten Years After
“Money” by Pink Floyd
“Dante’s Prayer” by Loreena McKennitt
“Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Feelin’ Love” by Paula Cole
“Higher and Higher” by The Moody Blues
“Diamonds are Forever” by Shirley Bassey
“Pinball Wizard” by the Who
“Dust in the Wind” by Kansas
