Nicholas said. "Slingshot?" He was referring to the fact that if one placed a load farther out than geosynch, one could literally let it "fly out" like a slingshot, propelled in essence by the Earth's rotation, just like a real sling spun about someone's head.

"Possible-and, onceMeru is fully operational, I'm sure they'll be building some orbital slingshots anyway. But usingMeru itself as a slingshot is limited by a lot of factors of timing and relative position between Earth and Mars. Some packages could be shipped up with their own little electric drives-once you're in geosynch, it's a lot easier to get elsewhere-but that'd cut down on the actual cargo arriving here and make it alot more expensive. We really do need our own ship." "Well?" She grinned. "Bruce Irwin's willing to be the captain and pilot if we get one built. As you know, Jackie Secord's already offered to run the engineering side, and she's keeping the reactor-engine assembly maintained now. Pricing on the standardNike or Phobos Station habitat ring segments, though, is totally out of our league, even if we could get them to slow down their build schedule to supply us." "We really do need something like that, though, don't we?"

Maddie nodded. "Anything much less than one-third g as constant living conditions will cause a lot of health problems. In fact, I'd really feel more comfortable if we could push that up, and on some of the new ships likeOdin they might well. They'll have more time and luxury for crew selection, so they won't have to worry about spin disorientation as much." "Does Ares have a solution in mind?" This was one of the major reasons for establishing cooperation between the IRI and its closest neighbor. They were, as India had already recognized, the only talent pool of space-qualified experts who were not currently committed to a specific country's space program. "Since the full agreements haven't been signed, I can't officially say anything, but Joe told me to tell you 'Damn straight we do.' If it's what I think, it will work, too." Nicholas leaned back slowly. "Then get me those originals pronto, so I can sign them. Let's get to work!"