IMP5

==Chapter 5 - Important People==
Tharkad Orbit
Tharkad System
Lyran Commonwealth
September 3097
[Transit transport, Triad to orbit...]
Amanda had skipped the trip to the civilian place, treating the task of reporting in as more urgent than a shopping trip.
Tharkad Anchorage was the capital system's repair and refit facility.  It wasn't as extensive as the Gibbs complex, but it was sufficient to pull repair and regular maintenance.
As she rode up, she let her mind wander...imagining a skyhook tower instead of having to wait for clearance from ground control.
An Elevator would be more expensive to build, of course, and it would be strategically difficult, the risk of a terror attack or enemy force toppling it could be very bad indeed.
but...
In her mind, she imagined the process of assembling it, the necessary use of myomer struts to keep it stable while letting orbiting debris pass by, how to sheathe it in monofilament and  semiconductors to take advantage of atmospheric friction and the planet's own magnetic field to generate supplementary power...
As she rode up into orbit, the shuttle gently accelerating, she imagined a series of them, stretching along a band of within five degrees of Tharkad's equator, linked at the counterweight with a secondary structure, half a kilometer tall and placed above geosynch, to create spin gravity while helping resist the downward pull on the spokes.
An 'open trench wheel' producing enough spin gravity to leave the top open, with docks, a super-station...
The idea was fanciful, and she derived pleasure from assembling it in her mind, to take her mind off the frustration of mentally critiquing the shuttle pilot's launch and flight protocols.
After all, nobody likes a backseat driver.
The technical achievement, she imagined, would eclipse the works of the Star League's DOME-Department Of Mega Engineering, and it would provide a nice interphase between ground-bound Tharkad, and Spacers, allowing smooth, efficient travel and a living area the size of a continent and not subject to random weather patterns.
It was a pleasing thought.
She settled into her acceleration couch and let her mind wander over the possibilities of building it, what would be needed, where the materials might be found...
It was relaxing.
Eventually, in the six hour flight, she fell asleep.
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