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    Oort: Visitation on Ice
    Oort: Visitation on Ice
    Oort: Visitation on Ice
    Ebook34 pages24 minutes

    Oort: Visitation on Ice

    By Nicholas Sheffield

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    About this ebook

    The Jacobite comet is coming back after a two hundred year absence.

    Riding on it should be an antiquated probe. The device was deployed on the comet's last pass, so just like the comet it hasn't been seen for two hundred years.

    The probe was meant to begin transmitting when it entered the solar system. But no signal came.

    The lack of a radio signal is enough to put off the scientific community, who believe that the probe must have been destroyed. But the private sector isn't so sure. Several businesses join forces to organize a salvage mission.

    Now two astronauts are on their way to intercept the comet and see with their own eyes exactly what befell the rusty old relic.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNicholas Sheffield
    Release dateJul 24, 2011
    ISBN9781465710093
    Oort: Visitation on Ice
    Author

    Nicholas Sheffield

    Nicholas Sheffield grew up in Hamilton, New Zealand. He obtained a Bachelor of Management Studies from the University of Waikato, and has a long history of work in the Information Systems sector. He and his wife Simone have six children. Double Dragon published his first work, Overlanders, in 2004. The novel revolves around a group of friends whose utopian existence is put at risk when they’re thrust into the archaic and dangerous cities of the overlands. Sheffield’s writings are generally set in, or around, the Earth, and employ a plausible use of technology. Therefore many of the popular science fiction themes, such as time travel and alternative dimensions, never appear in his works. The concepts that form the spine of each story are often as important as the main narrative. They’re not always held up to the spotlight, but tend to be woven quietly into the background.

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      Book preview

      Oort - Nicholas Sheffield

      OORT

      Visitation on Ice

      Published by Nicholas Sheffield at Smashwords

      Copyright 2011 Nicholas Sheffield

      Gian and Mitchel stared through the spacecraft’s forward windows. After months of flying through the blindness of deep space their mission had finally reached its climactic moment. A wall of sparkling light was filling their view.

      Gian turned to his partner. ‘You ready?’

      Mitchel rubbed his bristly scalp and nodded. ‘This is what it’s all about, isn’t it?’ He leant forward with a squint. ‘The comet head looks pretty hazy from here.’

      ‘Yeah, that’s a pretty dense coma,’ replied Gian. ‘I got the feeling we’re going to hit some pretty sizeable chunks as we go in.’

      ‘Oh?’ said Mitchel. ‘What gives you that idea?’ A look of misgiving spread across his face. ‘There’s no indication of that on the scanners.’

      Gian smiled and leant forward to activate one of the controls. ‘Scanners can’t always read through the haze, my good man. Trust me. This isn’t the first snowball I’ve landed on. You get a feel for these things’

      Mitchel detected some smugness in his crewmate’s voice. ‘Don’t put on that veteran tone,’ he said curtly.

      Gian turned to face him. ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘You know what I mean. Don’t give me that seasoned veteran talking down to the rookie routine. Makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.’

      Gian reacted as if he were affronted. ‘I’m not talking you down. You’re just projecting your own self doubts again.’

      ‘Honestly,’ said Mitchel. He reached up and tapped an overhead screen. ‘‘You get worse as we go along.’

      Gian responded in good humour by waving his hand like a mystic sage. ‘It’s all in your mind, my young apprentice.’

      Mitchel rolled his eyes and grumbled. ‘Yeah, well, don’t look too far down your nose, Captain Dashing. Two landings doesn’t make you a flying ace.’

      ‘Two landings?’ returned Gian. His

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