Iceworld

By R. Blair Sands

in a world covered with ice and snow, people live underground in a meager existence. ice sleds operate overland to other hubs and moves supplies. but trouble abounds when a vortex begins bothering the sleds. but the real trouble is when the system designed several thousands of years ago, began to malfunction, destroying one of the population hubs far to the north. it seems it may not end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R. Blair Sands
• Release date: Nov 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301223657

R. Blair Sands

I began my writing career in 1972, while in Thule, Greenland on assignment with Ford Aerospace. My first novel never made it into print because I considered it too bad to print. Hopefully, I improved along the way. Now I have more books that I did publish, and hope everyone likes. You can read 10 percent of any of my books on Smashwords.com and I invite you to peruse them. Thankfully, people who read the previews, usually buy the book. Hope that keeps up...Thanks everyone...

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Cover Design by William Edmund Protzek 2012

Iceworld

By R. Blair Sands

a.k.a.

Robert Santee

Copyright Robert Santee 2012

Published at Smashwords

All rights reserved

Preface

Their ancient records of Iceworld did not date back far enough for them to know where and how they originated, but there were stories from the pre-computerized days, and there were some very old writings that made some references to an older culture that came from the stars and left again because it was too cold of a planet for them to remain.

Then too, the stories, which had been passed down from generation to generation, the details becoming less clear with each succeeding generation, now became stories that were mostly spoken of as ancient myths.

Were the current Iceworld inhabitants the descendants of the star people, or were there other stories which also gave other accounts? In any case, the Iceworld people had existed for hundreds, they weren’t sure, maybe thousands of years in the frigid world of ice and snow, with only their own collected knowledge.

They now had become an advanced people who mined, processed the ore into useable materials, grew their own food underground and maintained a viable, if not mundane lifestyle. It wasn’t spectacular, or even particularly fun, but it was the only lifestyle they knew.

They continued a slow expansion of their culture and facilities, and surroundings as their means allowed and it now boasted of fourteen huge population hubs, each with a portal rising up out of the ice allowing access to the surface of the planet, and also, at probably what could be considered a snail’s pace, conquering the world on top of the Ice.

The light of two suns, being as distant from the planet as they were, did not provide sufficient heat to melt the snow and ice, except on a few rare occasions during certain portions of the planet’s orbit. Then it would be back to surface temperatures of zero and far below.

The original planet residents had managed to gain access to the planet’s core, and after careful and scientific means, provide sufficient heat for the needs of the planets population, but it had to be carefully regulated. Exterior solar panels added to the electrical needs of the people of Iceworld, and made sufficient energy to provide additional and useable energy.

Huge motorized sleds, powered by magnetically controlled solar tap device engines, capable of tremendous power, traveled on the surface. They had been engineered to be very effective in moving tons of supplies and passengers to those Portals in outlying areas because not all portals had been connected via the tunnel system that was still in work.

Their power came from the sunlight of either of the two suns. When darkness would come, the sleds needed to be in a portal, or else they would have to stop and use battery power for heat and or light. As a result, all trips were planned to depart and arrive at their destinations during the sunlight periods, which meant around six hundred miles as a maximum, which was the distance of two portals.

Huge tunneling machines continually worked deep underground, drilling tunnels to new portals, and using the materials collected from this process to refine the ores into usable materials for the general population’s use. Drilling was slow, but over time, they were conquering the planet. They worked in shifts around the clock of both suns.

They used plant residue from the gardens to manufacture materials useable by the people of Iceworld. The culture did not use any type of money, but they did often barter things between themselves. People worked at their jobs and made requests for the manufactured products that were available. Those products would be supplied as soon as they became available, and new products were always being designed and manufactured.

Iceworld did not waste anything, not even in death. The bodies of those who died would be processed and the body parts that were useable in the medical industry would be kept, and the other parts would become ground up and used as added fertilizer for the gardens.

The existence on Iceworld spoke of hardship, but it slowly became better and better as life continued on Iceworld.

Then, something changed.

Iceworld

Chapter One - South Run

The inscription on the name plate read Bordaun Gareth Stewart. The text was in a fancy script and almost glowed with its brilliant contrast to its background It was positioned, carefully centered, on the elderly man’s dark mahogany colored office desk, it manifested a certain status. Its gold frame contrasted nicely with the white ebony letters against the black obsidian background.

The grey, almost white haired man sat perched on his motorized chair. He had been sitting on that chair for over forty years now, and hardly knew it was not a part of him. Actually, he really liked the chair. It had a four-way lever that moved him in any direction he wished, and it would move considerably faster than most people could walk. The cart could turn three hundred and sixty degrees in its own footprint. It had been made for him after his accident under a tube train, which had cost him both legs.

He had accidently been pushed directly into the path of an arriving train, falling across the tracks. It was a miracle that he was still alive at all having lost so much blood, but it was his good fortune to continue life.

He had originally been a common laborer in the food processing plants, but after the accident, he was trained to be an office worker, a craft which he immediately took to with ease. Through the years, he had advanced to where he was now, the director of all the portal operations on the planet. His knowledge was vast, current, and constantly growing.

He sat behind his desk writing on a piece of paper he written for one of the portals, containing instructions and methods for building a new food processing plant. He thought that the head of agriculture should probably have been the one to write it, but it needed to get moving quickly. As the afternoon of sun-1 wore on, he paused a moment, having thought of some odd things he had been hearing about and wanted to know about.

Reaching over to his intercom, he buzzed his secretary, and lifetime mate Elis. They had joined at the early age of twenty three, and both had always been satisfied with their choice of mates. There had been no special or official sanctions, for that wasn’t necessary. They had just moved in together and decided to keep it that way. That’s the way it was done on Iceworld.

She came into his office to see what he needed. Her presence in his office immediately filled the air with a perfumed bouquet that was always welcomed by Bordaun. She always dressed very nice for work, even though they lived together in non-office hours. He loved the way her blonde hair was pulled up into a tightly bound pony tail. That had been one of the first reasons he had become interested in her, many years ago.

What’cha need Bo? she asked, her bright smile infectious as usual.

Hi. I think we need to do some research on some mysterious events I have been hearing about, up on the surface. I don’t know much about them yet, but they have been reported as occurring more often; something about an air funnel or something like that, and we need to start getting a handle on it. We probably need to get Donagal involved on it. Can we do that?

Sure. I’ll set up a meeting with him right away. Any preferred time for you?

Oh no, any time he can come in should be fine.

Okay then, I’ll get right on it. Oh, by the way. How about we go to dinner tonight at Antonio’s? She asked and smiled as she turned to go. He watched her go, his eyes admiring