NationStates Jolt Archive

It had taken a while, but finally, the two nations, or rather, colonies, had agreed to it.

While located on the same moon, Ganymede, both colonies, Konania Ganymede as well as DA JG 1, had been isolated from... well, everything else.

However, finally, a decision had been made, and now, the work begun.

Giant 'Icedrillers', modified versions from what they used on earth, completely with pressurized cabins and heaters (which use up about 90% of the entire power this thingy`s have, due to the rather... 'cold' environment on Ganymede) 'drill' through the ice, their heated drills melting and drilling through the ice at the same time.

The project was rather large... the tubes would be buried in the ice of Ganymede, deep, where nothing (Well, nearly nothing) could harm them...

Although the colony domes DA used were always connected with this kind of tube, this was something new... after all, this thingy`s would be ten or even a hundred times larger than what they usually build. It was something... new, and nobody really knew what would happen. What problems would show up...

But it was a start.

The engineers around the project leader, Sarah Miyamoto, a half- asian woman, were busy discussing problems.

Ganymede`s surface wasn´t as easy to work with as, say, Europa`s. It was far more complex... And thusly, the amount of problems tripled.

However... They would find ways to eliminate them... That was their job.

Vincent Crow smiled broadly as he perused the report from KG-Gov. This was good.

Who was he kidding? This was very good. The isolated colony would have some contact with her neighbors-- as well as the closest thing Konania had to an ally at the moment.

Construction of stations on KG side posed his greatest problem at the moment. He peered at the draftwork on the desk before him-- it was all electronic, so with a few movements of his fingers he could make a room bigger, a tunnel longer, a ceiling higher. It was things like this, he thought, that made him love technology. But his structure, his masterpiece could not be created until certain other things were done...

***

A few kilometers away, the first of the Konanian crews began digging deep into the ice. The process would take a while, Head Engineer Jacob Miller thought to himself as he sipped on a warm cup of coffee, but it was nesscessary to get to the required depth within the ice. As many of the Konanians had discoverd, ice was a wonderful surface to build upon-- but only as long as it was cold enough. For this reason, the bulk of the Konanian colony was underground, founded in rock, and those structures that were above the ground were anchored with long supports that went hundreds of meters deep at times.

Miller glaned at his watch and sighed a cold sigh as the machine kept on with its work.

"This temperatures will kill me. I`m sure they will." Sarah didn´t exactly like the environment. As a matter of fact, she hated it, and she was wondering how the more than 800000 colonist could stand it.

But then, it wasn´t exactly something she had to care about. It was hers to coordinate the effords of the two colonies, to create a system that would last for 'all eternity'. And this, she was sure, could be managed.

It was still a long way until they would finally meet each other, unite the tubes, the tunnel system...

She liked the idea of it. Vacuum tunnels, MagLevs that would drive with 1000km/h... It was, in one word 'interesting'. Perhaps a bit insane, but then, insane projects were her speciality.

She stepped to the screen, checking. "Mhm... Three minutes behind schedule... not good... I wonder how the Konanians are doing..." She question needed an answer, she just hoped her liaison would be awake.

---

On the construction site, they had reached the rocky bottom of the ice, and finally begun moving straight forward, roughly aiming for the Konanian colony.

It was fairly hard work, and fairly dangerous as well. Although they didn´t have a single fatality, yet, it was still sort of... dangerous to work there, under, or inside, all the rather large, and mostly surreal looking machines.

But then, one could enjoy it as well. You didn´t work there, you didn`t like working there for the money, no, you worked, you loved to work there because your life was at the stake. That was how most of them thought, and the few that didn´t think like that quit the job within a week, anyway. It was kind of thrilling, and Max Gruber, one of the workers there, liked it. It was why he picked this job. They were an elite, and they were proud of it.

Dropping the digger, dubbed "The Worm" into the hole turned out to present a problem. The thing would have to be lowered into the man-made pit slowly if they wanted it to be done right.

As it moved inch by inch into the hole, one of the cranes slipped. As the operator struggled to regain control, the workers in the pit scrambled to find places to hide. The other cranes reacted quickly, catching the worm before it hit the bottom. The workers on the ground looked up at it nervously, as if it would fall at any moment. When decided stable, it was let down to the ground easily.

The digging began almost immediatly, and the machine progressed quickly while the engineers in the pit crawled up and out.

Miller smiled. The fall had cut hours off their work! He walked over to the nearby trailer, dumping out the rest of his coffee on the way. He opens the console, types out a message to his counterpart confirming the start of digging and sends it away.

"Well... It seems the Konanians reached the ground as well... They`re now moving towards us."
"And?"
"Nothing 'and'. I`m just wondering by how many miles we will miss each other."

The others in the room forced a smile, not exactly fond of Sarahs 'humour'. But they had to endure it, with Sarah being their superior and all... Well, life sucks, sometimes.

However, Sarahs sarcasm was fairly unnecessary. The technology they used was advanced enough. missing each other by mere millimetres... impossible.

The work continued, every day. Actually, it was rather boring... except when shit happened, and it happened daily, slowing the whole process down... alot.

However, as unfortunate as they were, they continued, and slowly, they moved on, continuing their work... Whereever they finished the tunnel, the construction begun, the tubes, hightech- instruments, created to support a vaccuum, with countless sensors and emergency measures, were build inside the ice. Following were the electromagnetic cores, and then... well, they were as good as finished.

Still, it would take a while...

The Worm, was gone.

Long gone, in fact. Away doing it's job, pressing toward the other colony. Every few kilometers, the Konanians dropped dug a Maintenance Bunker in the wall of the shaft -- apparently to be used for more than just maintenance, if the need arose.

Vents were added, mostly for the workers benefit, who currently occupied themselves with fixing the large tiles along the walls--preplaced by the Worm, to be corrected later, and setting up the tunnel's lighting. Every now and then Miller would see an engraving with a workers initials and the year on the concrete walkway that ran alongside the wide tunnel, which would allow three maglev lines to run through them at any one one time.

The days wore on as the two massive machines, one bearing the flag of Konania, one of Der Angst, drew closer.

The project continued, the lots of tunnels growing, their lenght always increasing...

It wouldn`t be long until they would finally meet each other, until they would merge into each other...

Despite being an entirely technical process, the crews working on the project had almost... yes, mystical feelings. Soon... sooin, they would unite...

They didn´t know that this was just the prelude to something bigger, something... Something that would effect the entirety of jupiter.

As always, the beginning is but a candlelight, even if it`s future is as bright as the sun...

Acoustic waves running through the rock and ice of Ganymede crossed over the south pole, triggering numerous siesmographs.
"Looks like someone is doing a bit of digging."
"True. Well, if it gets near us, we'll have to do something about it. For now, leave them be."