"Born and raised [on Avalon], [Jack Birnam] was used to sudden tempests. The rapidly spinning globe was always breeding them. Yet the violence of this one astonished him."
-"Rescue on Avalon," p. 310.
Yet technology is almost a match for extreme weather:
"In case of serious difficulty, he need merely send a distress signal by his pocket transceiver. Homing on it, an aircar from the nearest rescue station in the foothills should reach him in minutes.
"If the sky was fit to fly in!" (p. 311)
So there are some limits to what technology can do. However, Jack is safe during the tempest:
his heated sleeping bag has a hood and breathing mask;
a duraplast sheet wards off hailstones and debris;
explosive heads drive the sheet's pegs securely into bedrock;
he just has to lie there for several hours.
Some people enjoy the experience of all that power out of human control.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Meaning whoever wrote that article for what looks like a very lurid tabloid speculated that some disaster on Mars might cause humans to each other? Unfortunately, as real world historical examples like the Donner party shows, that is not an impossible idea. But I hope the certainty of dangers and setbacks won't stop people from going to Mars!
And we do see Poul Anderson writing a few stories that uses cannibalism: "Welcome," and "The Sharing of Flesh."
Ad astra! Sean
Oddly, I read this in an interval while writing about people erecting yurts in a Gobi sandstorm, driving stakes for anchor lines with sledgehammers, covering the air intakes of trucks with bags, etc.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And I expect very similar methods will be needed for coping with sandstorms on Mars.
Ad astra! Sean
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