Free A Colony on Mars by Cliff Roehr Page B

degree Tim, I can say that you helped me a lot during training, explaining the technical stuff behind what the instructor had told us. I nominate Tim Erkin to be our foreman, any seconds,” everybody seconded the motion so they didn't need an election, Tim was elected. Tim went over to where Carter was standing and told him “Crew eleven selected Tim Erkin.” Carter just circled the name on the list and said
    “Thanks.”
    Some crews were working topside making cement blocks, some were picking up blocks that were already cured and started building public rooms like the dining room, kitchen and public bath rooms. Some went to work laying in a water line, to the kitchen, while another crew installed the reverse osmosis system, where the water from the river entered the cavern above the falls. Some were running temporary wiring in from the diesel generator that was situated in the Government cavern. The remaining crews had equally important tasks. As the morning progressed some of the workers traded places with workers on the other crews based on previous experience, knowledge, skil s and abilities. I have a lot of experience in installing electrical wiring and would be of more benefit to the job if one of you guys has plumbing experience and wants to change jobs. Sure enough some person would say yeah I have some plumbing experience but I don't know squat about electricity, so they would switch jobs. Some of the crews had surplus men because the job was being done by just three or four people that seemed to know what they were doing so the surplus workers would find a crew that needed more help and go to work there.
    Carter watched the progress in awe. The field kitchen was planned to be adjacent to the Government kitchen but the men themselves had elected to set it up in The Company cavern and had it all set up in a couple hours. One of the crews had located the new walk in refrigerator which was packaged on five separate pallets, got hold of a forklift and started assembling it with the door opening into the kitchen. After the lunch break they quickly had it all assembled, wired in and running. Thelma entered and watched along with Carter as the crews transformed the Company cavern before their eyes. Tim saw Carter take Thelma back and show her the hot spot. It was located at the back wal , near the right side of the Company cavern as you entered from the Government cavern. The Company cavern was 1.2 miles from front to back, it was a little over half a mile wide at its widest point but tapered to only about a quarter mile wide where the tunnel entered. It was about three eights of a mile wide at the back wall. Of course none of the walls ran in a straight line. The hot spot was just over a mile from the tunnel entrance. The floor space in The Company cavern was equal to about 930 football fields at floor level.
    Thelma and Carter examined the hot spot then left the cavern, returning a few minutes with a couple of the Government scientific types. They pounded, prodded, dril ed out a few core samples from the wall and the floor. They left the cavern, only to return a short while later with some other scientists. They talked some more, made some notes. A short time later woman with a camera came in and took several pictures of the blank wal and the floor. Then they all left. About 1130 Carter returned and told Jack that he had done every one a big favor. It is fewer than one hundred feet down at that spot on the floor to where it is over one thousand degrees Fahrenheit. It would be the ideal spot to mount the geothermal generator. That spot could even be blocked off from the rest of the cavern. There is a good water supply in the creek here so it looks like we have found the spot for our generator, one of them anyhow. The workers broke for lunch 1200 but most of them were back working even before 1300. “I have never seen people this industrious but I guess this is what you get when you only take the cream of the crop.”