Star One: Tycho City Survival by Raymond L. Weil

of dirt and rock between the surface and us.
That would give us a lot of added protection.”
    Mase studied
Steffan, seeing the serious look on the man’s face. “Is that even possible?
Could we build a new city beneath the crater wall in the time we would have?”
    “From this
report from Farside, we would have over a year,” commented Steffan, looking
down and finding the information on a sheet of paper in front of him. “If we
start immediately, I think we could do it. We have the mining equipment, and
our people are well trained in drilling.”
    “I agree,”
Isaac spoke up, thinking about what Steffan had suggested. “We learned a lot
when we built Tycho City. By excavating beneath the crater wall, it would give
our people a better chance at surviving.”
    Mase was quiet
for a moment as he weighed their suggestions. It was a course of action that
would be extremely expensive. They would need a lot of help from both Star One
and Earth to get it done in the time they had. This was something he would have
to talk over with Jane Kinsey, as well as Tim McPhryson. He would need their
support to get the president to approve the funds and supplies for such a
project. He knew that in order to keep all of their current projects running
and build a new city, it might be necessary to bring more qualified people up
from Earth.
    “I will be
speaking with Commander Larson later today about the situation,” Mase informed
them. “We will be sending a message to Tim McPhryson about the Farside
discovery. Tim will then have to notify President Kateland and explain to her
its significance. It might take a while to get things sorted out on Earth, but
I suspect supplies and assistance won’t be a problem.”
    “I will start
working up specifications for a new city beneath the outer rim wall,” Steffan
stated as he thought about everything that would be needed. “I will need to
bring in a few construction and mining engineers to get their input.”
    “That’s fine,”
replied Mase, wanting to get it started quickly. “Tell them what’s going on,
but make sure they understand it has to remain a secret for now.”
    “I can do
that. I will be certain to pick men and women that I know I can trust.”
    “I will start
looking at the types of supplies we will need to become totally self-sufficient,”
added Isaac, knowing it would be an exceedingly long list. “I may need a few
people also to help with that.” He wondered how his wife would take this. Her
parents were still on Earth as well as her younger brother.
    “I would also
suggest that you look at expanding at our current location,” Mase suggested
after thinking things over. “We have already started excavating a second cavern
that is two hundred feet deeper than our current one. Would we be smarter
expanding that cavern and strengthening it instead of tunneling under the rim
wall? What would be the benefits of both?”
    “That’s
something to consider,” Steffan admitted, his eyes narrowing in thought. “We
have all of our supplies and materials already here as well as some
manufacturing capability in the machine shops. I will have my people look at
both options.”
    The three men
talked for another hour as they made plans and discarded ideas. In the end,
they came up with a plan that the three of them were satisfied with. If
everything worked out, Tycho City might just survive.
    -
    Later that
evening, Mase and Anthony Kleese were eating in one of the small restaurants in
downtown Tycho City. It was one of the smaller restaurants that specialized in
serving fast food. Mase had ordered a double cheeseburger with an extra order
of fries on the side, and Anthony had settled on a chicken fried steak. Mase
wanted to talk to Anthony about what he had discussed with the engineers
earlier and get his input.
    “They want to
build a new city in the outer rim wall?” Anthony commented in a low voice. The
restaurant wasn’t very crowded, but he still didn’t want to risk