It's a shame so few people knew about it. Even if someone had given them access to this information, it would hardly have made a difference. Few people realize that the thermonuclear power plant we have at the station could not work forever without a new boost. At first, the generation of electricity was considered something supernatural, believing that it didn't need to be managed. But very quickly they realized that without human intervention such a system would not work all the time. And that it, like everything else, also needs to be fed with something. The material
was found quickly enough, but it was only six months ago that the department under Natalie Jackson realized how to separate one thing from another so that something else could be used as fuel.
Then Natalie was quietly rewarded by being moved to a larger room in the New York block. She had two rooms, each larger than her previous home. And the people who lived there were much more educated than those who lived with her in the Texas block.
There were four blocks in all: northern Illinois, eastern New York, western California, southern Texas. Appollo-24 was in the shape of a cross with a voluminous center with a branch off to each side with a separate block. Texas, where she'd lived before, was dominated by people from the mining and food section more laboring and less thinking. Among them were just most of her suitors, with whom she was so dissatisfied. In New York, in addition to the science section, there were also people from the energy section, who were notable for their intelligence and ability to find complex solutions. One of them, Morgan Blackwood, whom she had recently met, had even taken a liking to her.
He was very different from all the others, especially in his intelligence. He literally understood on the fly what could be the cause of some process and began to work in this direction. There was no ostentatious show-off from him he carefully and systematically considered all the pros and cons of some statement, and then said aloud how they could be perceived. And what was especially attractive was his patience he didn't seem to lose his temper at all, and the emotions coming from him, which were few, were usually positive.
But the difficulty was that for some reason he wasn't paying much attention to her. It looked like he liked her too, but he didn't really need much of anything. Morgan could keep up a conversation with her, make jokes, show her something, but nothing more than that. As soon as work time was over, he'd retreat to his room.
And the more original way to look at it was that the last project she had to conduct was with him. Morgan was the head of one of the departments in the energy section responsible for monitoring the fusion reactor. Checking, measuring, predicting and being sure of everything that happened to it that was his central task. Natalie was assigned to investigate the possibilities of expanding its power at maximum efficiency while using Helium-3, which she had just learned how to adapt to use from the surrounding ground.
Morgan showed and told her everything about the reactor's operation. In places where the data was highly classified, he'd said so. He'd even recommended that the two of them petition to release the data to her, but she'd thought that was premature. In truth, though, she just wanted to spend more time with him. He felt safe and secure, as if he was a shield from the problems around him, and when she was in the same room with him, she felt safer than ever.
On this day, she wanted to know more about him. Maybe it would encourage him to do something. After all, there weren't that many people on Apollo 24, and he'd pick someone eventually.
Do you ever get tired here? When you're working. she asked, after they'd been working on the schematics of one of the fuel rods for an hour and a half, trying to figure out how to configure it for helium-3.
I'm more tired when I'm not working," Morgan answered without looking at her. I'm here on my day off, too.
And you don't get tired of it? she moved a little closer to him. Just a little. The office they were sitting in didn't even have windows to the outside, and given that the entire area was three by four meters, but it was hard to imagine a more intimate setting.
It happens. Morgan turned to her and looked straight into her eyes, and there was something in those eyes that showed his returning interest in her. But it passes quickly when I go back to work I'm more interested in where we're going to do all this
I don't understand you. You mean "where"? What are the options? She really didn't know what he meant.
You see, what's working now is a nuclear reactor. And judging by the processes that are going on in it, it's safe to say that if it were to explode, the whole of Apollo 24 would be wiped out. Maybe it wouldn't hit something standing in the distance, but the station itself would be turned inside out in seconds What we're studying right now is a fusion reactor. Even though it's probably the size of this room, it will be three times more powerful And the question is, will we be allowed to build it on the station itself?
She really hadn't thought about that at all. To her, even the talk about the explosive danger of their already operating reactor seemed more like scare stories told to keep people awake on the job and to make them more responsible. After all, if it went out, for example, they were just as likely to die as if it exploded, just longer.
Yeah, you can blow up if you work every day" she said with a sigh, starting to think it wouldn't work at all. He's too immersed in his activities, obviously, which he enjoys day after day. They say you can fight abusers, but you can't fight workaholics. It's a perfectly legal withdrawal from your personal life, certainly in the conditions we live in.
Morgan smiled, and she thought he looked at the curve of her breasts in the jumpsuit for what seemed like an eternity, but still:
You say that like you don't even want to live.
How can you call it life when everyone around you is just thinking about how to do a better job You know, they often hide behind the desire to get some results, but that's not the point. I've seen how they work they sit idle, they spend their time for nothing, and there's no use You need a spark a desire to find something. When you have it, then you'll get results. And then you will do something with interest, and at some moments you will also delay until you finally get what you are looking for. And you will be satisfied with yourself, and you will want to spend time after that in pleasure Because you will know that only after having a good rest, you can get a new spark, which will also lead you to the next success That's what I mean. Her eyes directly glittered as she said this, with a tone that wasn't instructive or haughty. She just wanted to say that everything has its own time, and the time that you are entitled to should not be thrown away as something unnecessary.
Morgan shook his head affirmatively, looking at the blueprints again. Still, he was handsome, too. Not just smart and calm, but handsome, too. It was the kind of masculine beauty that was not immediately apparent and could not be boasted of as a picture. This beauty is more charismatic, radiant, as if there was a difference between a face made of bronze or shabby paper. This one was made of bronze.
I take it you didn't have a good time in Texas? he finally said.
Not really You can't argue Have you ever wondered why our blocks are called that? Like
states?
No Somehow I never thought about it But they are quite logically located on the sides
of the world.
That's true. But then why is the station itself called Apollo and not America or the United States, for example? We are told that we live in the former USA in North America. Would that make sense? Or if it's a city, why not just call it that city?
Natalie, this kind of talk You've only known me for a couple months and already you trust me so much....
All right. If you can't be trusted, then I'll know And I'll know what a bore you are. Now
do you see why you're talking about something you can't call life? Everybody's either horny or boring. Sometimes both at the same time.
It sometimes seemed to her that it was true that all men were strictly divided into these two types. Some think with their dicks, others only with their heads. And the ones who could think with their heads and only satisfy her with their dicks had never been found. That would be ideal, and it seems she's not going to find one. They're all either all about cock or all about brains. I mean, it's like he looked at her breasts, he was attracted to something. But he didn't. That's exactly what it seemed like.
When you made the helium-3 discovery, what were you thinking? Morgan turned to her again and stared into her eyes. Her beautiful, bright green eyes. And so appealing that she immediately stopped thinking of him as a nerd.
I was just interested I studied it because I was interested. Not to do any good for anyone.
Or to get a better place to live. No But because I was interested And I can definitely say that's why I did it Interest is the spark that drives us to something more....
What about our fusion reactor project?
That's up to you. Natalie said the words slowly, first averting her gaze and then returning it to Morgan's eyes at the end of the sentence. She wanted him to be interested in something. If not her figure, her beauty, or her intelligence, then at least some mystery, even if there wasn't one.
And it seemed to work, because he smiled. He smiled just a little, and shook his head affirmatively:
Then we can definitely make it work. We could go have coffee at my place once we're
done. Is that okay with you?
A small stone flew off her shoulders, though there were literally many other stones still on her back as she did so:
Well, unless you insist.
I insist. So here's the deal We've got another half hour on these drawings today. And to
keep our conscience clear, we should finalize them properly
***
His quarters consisted of four separate rooms, not just two like hers, but four at once-not just luxurious by our standards, but unprecedented. Natalie hadn't even known it was possible to live like this, or that there were private rooms of this size on the station.
How's the coffee? Morgan asked. Before he poured her a mug, he asked about what kind she liked to drink it in, what she liked to put more of, and, most interestingly, how she understood the process in general. It was strange and surprising at the same time she had never really thought about the fact that people could do the same things while inwardly understanding completely different things. It wasn't until he asked specifically about her way of seeing that she realized that it was something that came out completely different for everyone. She was the one who drank coffee to relax, smelling the delicious aroma and nothing more. And someone else drank it to perk up, to take a break, to think about something. And probably a lot of other things she couldn't even think of. And these thoughts about coffee made her think that all things people could do in the same way, from the simplest to the most exclusive.
For example, to do something that brings you income as a useful member of society this people could consider from the position of personal satisfaction, and from the position of recognition by others, and just not to sit idle, dying of boredom, and to communicate with someone, including not on everyday issues. It turned out that not everyone and not everything people do as it seems at first glance, simply because we have long been accustomed to perceive it that way. And that opens up the next level of this cognition.
After all, since everyone perceives even basic things differently, therein lies the difference in results and approach. In this context, this conclusion becomes obvious, although initially it did not even come to mind. And all because we are used to perceiving people everywhere as we have
already decided to consider them. If we see, for example, someone diligent at work, we automatically think that he is a diligent person, forgetting that this is only the attitude that we see exclusively in relation to his work. And in this case the reason can only be that he finds comfort for himself in his work. And what is more, if he seeks this comfort from his personal life, then it is fair to assume that in this case in his personal life he will be the exact opposite of the way he behaves at work he will be lazy and apathetic.
The problem is that we don't see a person from all sides of his life at the same time. And even if we see several different sides of him, we still consider him as the main one in some of them. Whether he is primarily our friend or our colleague. He can be both at the same time, but we will always perceive him only from one side. And if he is a friend, he will be a friend at work, not a colleague.
Your coffee turns your brain on properly. Natalie replied, really already thinking that the drink was exceptional. Whether from Morgan's ability to elicit specifics or from the fact that the questions added fuel to the fire of Natalie's already regular musings.
She was now sitting on the black leather sofa, a red mug clutched neatly in both hands. For all Morgan's obvious wealth, the interior was modestly furnished, and it was obvious that most of the things he'd made himself rather than ordering them from someone else. It created not only a certain coziness, but also a sense of self that wasn't present in other places, because it was obvious that someone had done it with a heart, not just for the sake of beauty.
The room was a guest room, with four doors leading to other rooms. There was a large black leather sofa in the middle, a low glass table in front of it, and a large armchair farther away, right in front of a panoramic window that was two meters long and one meter high the most important indicator of wealth on the station. Such windows began to be put already after awakening, having developed alloys stronger than the cladding itself. And it turned out that the more vulnerable section appeared to be stronger, so it was put on the outside, which at the same time allowed to get a magnificent view of the surrounding area.
And these surroundings from his position turned out to be amazingly gorgeous, because from his side began the now dried up, and formerly existed Atlantic Ocean, going down to the bottom, allowing to observe a wider space. And although everything was covered with the same gray regolith, the sheer volume of the view was literally breathtaking.
You wanted to talk about how logical everything was. Morgan began, sitting not quite close but at arm's length from her. Now, the first thing I'm going to show you is the view from my window. You see this expanse We all know that this is the Atlantic Ocean, which dried up years ago Isn't that what they tell us?
Uh-huh. Natalie carefully took another sip of coffee, remembering again her thoughts about people's different attitudes toward the same process. Truly today's discovery.
So it's not the Atlantic Ocean You've been candid with me today, and I'm just responding in the same way This is all red-hot talk, of course, but it's not the Atlantic Ocean, and I don't just think that, I've proven it.