course not. I stayed out here longer than I’d planned to because I love you, it was my decision and I don’t regret it. If I had it to do over again, I would. But now it’s time for me to go home. I’d really like for you to come with me.”
“Sam, I never fit in on Earth. All that corporate shit is just too much for me. I wouldn’t be happy.”
“I am going.”
“Don’t, please.”
“Tim, I need to go home. I need to feel real sunshine on my skin again.”
“You said you liked it out here.”
“And I do. But I want to be with my family. Do you realize we’ve never met each other’s families. Never.”
“What can I say. I don’t want to lose you, but I hate it down there. Pollution, crowds, bad weather, who needs it?”
“I do.”
“Sam—”
“No, Tim, I’m not staying. I’ve booked passage for next month.”
“You did what?”
“I booked passage home. The agency is holding a second ticket for me in case you change your mind, but I’m leaving.”
“How could you do this to me?”
“I’ve given you ample warning, you just haven’t been listening.”
From there things had gotten ugly and Tim regretted it now. Sam was everything he’d ever hoped for, thoughtful, charming, loving, passionate, the list could go on and on. Tim thought back wistfully to their first year together. “So many people out here are motivated by the money,” Sam had said. “I love it that you’re here to climb. Money doesn’t make your world go round, do you know how rare that is and how much I admire you for it?”
Then why the hell do you want to leave me? Why can’t we have it like it used to be, like before you thought about going back home to earth? On their first anniversary Sam had given Tim a single red rose imported from earth. It was in full bloom, Tim knew the cost had to have been extraordinary. Even now the thought of those early days could bring a smile to his face. Why did they have to end? Why can’t she be happy staying out here with me?
Tim finished his breakfast and pushed thoughts of Sam from his mind. It was time to go and meet his climbers. He got to the reception area just after the climbers. They already had their climbing gear on over their space suits. Tim approached them.
“Hi, and welcome to Toshiba Recreational Facility. I’m Tim Ross, I’ll be taking you out on your climb.” Tim handed them each a list of climb rules. “These are the climb rules. The two most important rules are follow my instructions, and, don’t, under any circumstances, jump. You can familiarize yourself with the rest of the rules on the ride out.”
The climbers each introduced themselves to Tim. With the skill of a longtime tour guide, he memorized their names. They were Jeff, Hank, Erica, and Luke. After shaking their hands, Tim directed them to the tram and they started the trip to the crater.
He pointed out land marks as they passed them. “One thing you’ll want to keep in mind, this asteroid is only ten kilometers in diameter. That means it has a very low escape velocity; it doesn’t take much to get off this rock.”
As the tram moved along its track, Tim listened to his climbers conversing among themselves. They were from the Lunar colony and were on their way to climb the mountains of Titan. Their leader Jeff had done some rescue climbing on Earth and came across as very cocky. The other three all seemed content to let Jeff handle the bulk of the conversation.
Finally, they reached their destination and everyone got out of the tram.
Since the entire group consisted of experienced climbers, Tim decided to forgo his usual safety speech. He did remind them that this wasn’t the moon and that they’d have to deal with less gravity than they were used to. Then he put the group through some practice drills on a small incline. After twenty minutes, Jeff was satisfied with their ability and started the actual climb.
“Okay, everyone, we’re ready to climb.” Tim anchored a section of rope and snapped it into the clasp of his harness. Everyone else followed suit. “We’ll need to keep twenty meters distance between each other. About half way down there’s a series of ledges. You’ll be able to tether there and take a break. Now follow my lead, and be careful.”
Magic Time.
Tim started down into the crater. Even though he’d made this descent more than a hundred times his heart was racing. Nothing compared with climbing, nothing. On this part of the crater holds were easy to come by and the descent proceeded quickly. About two hundred meters into the descent Tim didn’t like the feel of one of the course’s pitons and decided to replace it. He checked the piton gun to make sure that the barrel’s sleeve was locked open. It was, and he fired a piton into the rock wall. Tim felt the impact of the piton, and watched the propellent gas pour out of the holes in the gun barrel. If not for the escape holes in the barrel of the gun, the recoil would have pushed Tim off the crater’s wall. In a higher gravity the holes would have been unnecessary. On the way back up, Tim would have to move the sleeve down to cover the holes when he fired the grappling hook extension. Without the sleeve, he simply didn’t have enough range to get past any of the tricky parts of the course.
It took the group about an hour to reach the ledges. Tim was impressed: it took most groups two hours to get this far. He considered pushing on, but decided against it. “Time for a break, folks. Jeff and Hank, you’re on the lower ledge with me. Erica and Luke, you’ve got the upper ledge.”
Tim disconnected himself from the rope, set his jet pack aside, clipped onto a tether set into the crater’s wall, and sat down. Inside of his suit he could feel sweat trickling down his body.
Hank sat down beside him. “What a great place to climb,” Hank said.
Tim smiled. “I’ve been everywhere, and I've never seen anything to compare with this crater. There’s something about being able to see a million stars and the sun at the same time that does it for me.”
“This is incredible. I feel like I could climb here for years and not get enough.”
“You could never get enough of this place.”
“I can’t believe you get paid for this. What a great job.”
Erica’s frantic voice broke in on their conversation.
“Tim, Luke slipped before he could fasten onto the tether. He’s coming your way. What should I do?”
“You don’t have to do anything, Erica. I can handle it on this end. Luke’s not in any real danger.”
“Are you sure I’m going to be okay?” came Luke’s terse voice.
“You're fine.” Tim told him. “This ledge is wider than the one you’re on. We’ll be able to pull you in.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw Jeff scoop up the jet pack. “I’ll help him,” Jeff said as he squatted down.
“No.
