In Demeter, our protagonist, Ryder, is a nerd, but not all his friends are so inclined. Two of his friends from Earth are brothers Randy and Joel, who love sports and have found delight in the K-units (think Starship Troopers or a less elegant Ironman. Ryder is invited to an activity on the surface of Demeter, by two Cryellians, Randy and Joel. They are jumping in K-16 units off the surface of the asteroid.
Today was neither work nor war. Jumping was a popular activity for the Cryellians. They had discovered that they could in effect launch themselves off Demeter’s low gravitational pull with just the system controls of the more advanced robotic suits.
When Ryder and Aster emerged to the surface, Randy and Joel were both descending from a jump. They appeared to Ryder as dots. He turned on the magnification in the helmet’s display so that he could make them out. Unfortunately, Ryder over-magnified and kept twisting his head to find them. He would see their helmets momentarily, then a foot. He spent several minutes trying to get the magnification back to normal. By the time he figured it out, they were on the ground.
Steerman launched shortly thereafter and quickly flew out of sight.
“How high can we go with this thing?” Ryder was feeling more and more wary, remembering the sensation he had going over the falls on the Ashiijin River.
“About two miles. The gravity will bring us back down, and the system will automatically break the fall. It’s kind of like parachuting on Earth without the plane, and in a box instead of a parachute,” Joel explained.
Ryder was not comforted. However, when his turn came, the liftoff was exhilarating, and the descent was quite pleasant. He had gone through the cycle three times before Steerman voiced another of his familiar challenges. “Want to try something exciting?”
“I don’t know. What is it?” Ryder asked suspiciously.
“Catapults,” Steerman said in a cavalier tone.
Randy and Joel immediately perked up. “You have catapults?” they asked in unison. “We’re in!”
Ryder decided to pass on the activity, as did Aster. Buried into the ground about sixty feet deep were some spring-loaded catapults. Aster explained that they were contraband, and not sanctioned by the DDF. They had been constructed by bored technicians over the past couple of decades. The idea was to brace yourself into the highly compressed catapult, fire via computer, and shoot yourself into space. It provided enough energy to launch a suit into orbit without a rocket.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Ryder commented incredulously.
Three suits launched simultaneously. They exited the pits like bullets. “Does it crush their heads with g-force?” Ryder asked Aster with morbid curiosity.
“There are some that claim it causes brain damage,” Aster replied, “but I think that the damage is pre-existing.”
Ryder and Aster both chuckled. They listened to the chatter as the three bullets continued outward.
“What’s the record?” Joel’s asked with strained voice.
“It’s 23.4 miles,” Steerman said.
“I think I can go further than that,” Joel said with a puff.
“It’s not getting that far out that’s the problem. It’s getting back,” Steerman oozed with criticism.
In the end, they topped out at twenty miles and actually listened when Steerman told them to head back.
As the K16 units descended, Aster emitted a soft, “Uh-oh.”
“What? Are they going to crash?” Ryder asked apprehensively.
“Nope, Gatekeeper just informed me that stations 58 and 60 have both spotted three unidentified objects entering the no-fly zone. Gatekeeper talked them out of firing. But there will be a report. We better get going as soon as they get down.” Shifting to a more formal tone, Aster then switched to broadcast mode, looking skyward. “Steerman, you hear that? I’m taking Ryder in now. Gather the chicks and follow as soon as you get down.”