Space DogS

Nimbus approached the burning inferno that brought life to Earth.

Gabbs checked the radiation readings on the monitoring station. They were fluctuating like a Christmas tree. She frowned trying to make sense of the readings, but after a while they settled to a pattern below the ship’s maximum tolerances.

“The radiation is increasing, but the ship can take it - for now.”

Secundus looked away from Gabbs to Bailout. Bailout was holding onto the Nimbus’ two joystick controls. His fingers rapped the buttons on top of one of the joysticks as he pulled the ship into a leisurely turn. He looked down to the panel in front of him showing their target.

“How far are we from Mercury?” asked Secundus

“One hundred thousand kilometres. Which end are we approaching from ?” asked Bailout looking up from navigation.

“South pole. Use the planet as cover from the Sun as best you can.” instructed Secundus. He got up from his chair and peered out the main window. The Sun’s radiation was tamed by the shielding. Mercury could be made out as a small dark circle against the inferno of the Sun. The heat shielding on the bridge windows reduced the glare to a tolerable level. The ship moved so that Mercury was between them and the Sun, but it would provide little cover until they were a few thousand kilometres away. Every bit of defence against the Sun helps thought Secundus.

Mercury was one of the most inhospitable places in the system. The atmosphere had long since been pushed away due to the solar winds. Without atmospheric protection the surface fluctuated between -170 Celsius away from the Sun and 400 Celsius towards it. Mercury had long since lost ‘night and day’ as its rotation was locked by gravity to the sun. Mercury orbited the sun every 88 days and rotated once every 176 days, so the transition from night to day took months and was more based on orbit than rotation. Humankind ingenuity came into play here. The surface was hot, but dig deep enough and the planet will shield you. Robots had been dropped on the surface to work during the mercurian ‘night’. They first dug down for a few kilometers then at an angle . Settlements at the bottom of the hole were protected from the deadly radiation and a community of miners, scientists and engineers had developed. The same technique had been applied at the other side of the planet near the poles and were called the ‘Antipodes’. The holes were several kilometers wide to allow ships to safely enter and leave. There are also a number of large blast shields to protect the spaceport aerodromes. This was the destination of the Nimbus.

The Nimbus went down into the southern antipode.

Gabbs looked up from the panel. “Radiation levels dropping. Ships outer hull is static. Radiation sinks are working converting thermal heat to light.” As she said the words, the ship started to glow trying to shed its thermal radiation. This happily illuminated the rock around them, even at two kilometres out.

“Hello Nimbus.” Chirped the comm channel. The voice was robotic and oddly cheery. Some software engineer idea of a joke. “Please hold while your hull cools. At 150 Celsius  you can proceed to the spaceport. You have been allocated berth 23. Credits have been deducted from your account. On arrival please report to immigration.”

The crew checked the ship’s systems while they waited. The sun’s erratic radiation can cause havoc with systems. This time nothing was amiss apart from some minor damage to one of the starboard windows, possibly caused by a super hot micro meteorite accelerated from a solar flare.

“You hull has reached a safe temperature.You are cleared for docking. Please make your way to berth 23.” chirped the comm.

Secundus nodded.