This is part four of Blue Ice. Anton deGama is in the rings of Saturn, planting bio-engineered plants on a chunk of ice the size of an ocean liner, when his colleague Kellerman sees something blue moving on the ice. Anton moves towards it...
Anton
needed a successful harvest to stay in business. He had chosen
draxblooms because they were tried and tested – they would not give
a large profit, but the bio-tech was well-established in the rings
and was a safe option.
"DeGama?
What are you doing? Talk to me, groundhog!"
He
checked his footing as he replied "I'm not losing my crop if I
can help it, Kellerman. Keep your scope on me and warn me when I'm
close."
"You're
close now, dimwit! Get out of there, DeGama! Get back aboard the Rose
and survey it from space!" Anton could hear Polestar's
contralto rising in pitch as the ship responded to Kellerman's mood.
All
logic dictated that he get off the ice-cube. Anything abnormal was
dangerous. He resolutely ignored common sense, and kept moving.
Sorry - still no reveal of what Anton is facing. Maybe there will be the start of an answer next time... As always, comments appreciated!
Forgoing all logic...not a good plan in real life, but makes for entertaining reading. :-)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely - the job of a central character is to get into trouble in interesting ways. If he or she is very lucky, the writer may allow him to get out of trouble again...
Delete"Dimwit". Love it :-) Anton's starting to sound a little like Aston, has to be said. Just a tad crazy and marginally suicidal...
ReplyDeleteAston and Anton are both similar archetypes. Oh, and I created Anton over 20 years ago, before I'd ever heard of Aston, so the similarity in names is pure coincidence!
DeleteKeep up the suspense, and where would we be without the "intelligent" characters who ignore common sense!
ReplyDeletePrecisely! Anyway, Anton would tell you common sense is over-rated - if he heeded common sense, he'd never have the chance to jump into jeopardy with both feet!
DeleteAnton seems to always be dancing on the thinnest, most dangerous edge. But through skill, intelligence and sheer, dumb luck, he seems to always pull through. The crop is important. Many people throughout history have faced peril for the crops they so desperately needed.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you resisted the temptation to say he was on thin ice... And yes, protecting one's crop is important.
DeleteSo whatever the blueness is, it seems not very visible from ground level. (BTW, Jarn's Journal was in but due to a lot of conflicting factors (including that I can't sign up until sometime Wednesday by which time I was already on a plane and got my medical appointment cancelled inflight) I didn't sign up. Next week's is scheduled, but I may be unable to sign up by the time signup is available--I'm typing this from a hospital bed.)
ReplyDeleteThe smallness of the ring chunk means there is a very close horizon - whatever these things are, they were around the curve of the chunk and out of instant sight.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear you're not well - I hope it isn't anything too serious.