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ICELAND
With shaking fingers, terrified that he might get caught snooping, he opened the magazine and there she was, unmistakably Icebabe, as nude as she could get. Further pictures were more revealing, clearly showing that the only hair she grew was upon her head.
Instictively, he began to wonder. Had he stumbled upon this by accident? Or had she deliberately placed the magazine where any normally inquisitive person was bound to find it? Also, were to cover words a brilliant promotional trick? Or did she really want a man to do the things that men did to pretty young virgins?
Hearing a rustle outside the door, he guiltily stuffed the magazine back under the shelf just as the door re-opened. Glynn hoped that she would not notice the huge bulge in his pants after he had discovered her secret. But it was not Icebabe who entered the office.
Both men were instantly recognisable as "banker" and "beachman" from the photos he had been studying on the walls.
"Banker" looked smart and efficient, not one of his receeding hairs out of place, dressed in a pin-striped grey suit which seemed wrong, somehow, for Iceland. "Beachman", in absolute contrast, was in Bermuda shorts and a shirt which would have made him blend in perfectly in Hawaii. "Beachman" was smiling whereas "Banker" looked as if a smile would do him irreperable emotional damage.
"Beachman" shook Glynn's hand and apologised for the delay. "I hope Abbi had been looking after you," he added.
Glynn found it easy to smile with this man. "Yes, thanks. We got here swiftly and efficiently."
"Good. My name is Lee Edgar, I am Managing Director of the Europa Corporation. And this is Karl Schweitzer, my Company Secretary and legal advisor."
Hands were shaken all round and they sat down around the coffee table. Lee lay back as if he was on holiday. Karl sat on the edge as if waiting to punce on something. Glynn studied him briefly and decided that Abigail just had to have gained her beauty from her mother's side of the family. Calculating, he decided that suntanned girl must be Lee's daughter. He wondered where she fitted into this family business, if at all. Icebabe, despite her youth, was certainly an integral part of the arrangement.
"I know you must be bursting to know why you are here so I will not waste any time," said Lee, breaking into his thoughts. "Tell me, what do you know about silicon?"
"Used in computer chips," replied Glynn. "And breast implants."
Lee laughed. "I hadn't thought of the latter. But computer chips, yes. What about grades of silicon? And how it is mined?"
Glynn shrugged. "What I know could be written on the back of a postage stamp with room to spare."
"That's fairly normal. But as the need for bigger and better computers has expanded, chips now need to be far more complex than ever before, especially those used in the aerospace and military sectors of industry."
"I think I can understand that. So is that what you do here?"
Lee nodded. "We started at several sites on mainland Europe, but high grade crystalline silicon is extremely rare and difficult to extract. The mining also produces a considerable amount of waste and is a noisy process."
"Hence the move to Iceland?"
"Exactly. Here, we have the right kind of silicon, the means of containing the noise and dust, and also the ability to safely dispose of the waste products."
"What happens to the waste?"
"Some is used for manufacturing solar panels like those on the south side of the mountain." He smiled. "As you came in from the north west, you may not have seen them. They are situated where they cause the least environmental havoc."
"Protecting the environment seems high up on your agenda."
"At the top. I make sure that there is no visible waste product from our process. And even the water is well filtered."
"The water?"
"You'd be surprised at the volume of water used in the purification process."
"You use the sea water?"
Lee shook his head. "No, it would corrode the plant. We use melt from the glacier which would normally pour into the fjord."
"I see. So if you are doing so well here and I know so little about silicon mining, why am I here?"
"Because in just five years, we have extracted virtually all the available silicon in this mountain. In two years time, we will be out of business if we cannot find an alternative source. And the demand is increasing, not diminishing."
"So where do you go next?"
"Mars."
Glynn almost choked with suppressed laughter. "Mars?"
Lee did not laugh. "Recent data from probes suggests that there are extensive deposits along the Tharses Ridge and at various locations within the Marineris Valley."
"My God, you're serious." Glynn was finding it difficult to come to terms with the possibilities. "But the cost must be prohibitive. How will you raise the money?"
Lee merely turned to his partner and nodded. Karl opened his briefcase and extracted several files, passing some of the sheets to both Lee and Glynn.
It seemed like just a list of figures at first glance but the accountant continued to explain. "We do have some resources here, particularly we have the skilled staff and the expertise in mining silicon. Our partners have the means to get us there."
"Your partners?"
"Asia. Japan is providing the guidance and monitoring systems, China is funding the launch and transport to Mars."
"But this would need colossal transport. Cramming a few rocks into a lander is one thing. Brining back enough ore to extract silicon on the scale you are contemplating is a different matter altogether."
"We do realise the obstacles involved. And the potential costs. We will be setting up a plant on the surface itself so that the transport has only to return with the silicon itself."
"Hmm."
"Did you ever watch the movey Smokey and the Bandit?" asked Lee with a grin.
Glynn grinned back. "Several times. My father had it on DVD and he played it to me as a child."
"Well, think of this in similar terms. In the film, they had a fast car and a slow truck. We have the same. The fast shuttle will go ahead, locate the best landing spot and prepare the way for the transport which will take out the equipment needed to do the job and then return with the processed product."
"What about personnel?"
"That is why you are here. If you are willing to go, you will be the Bandit. Your shuttle crew will consist of yourself as pilot, plus navigator, engineer and mining consultant."
"Mining consultant?"
"Someone to decide where to dig. Abbi is a fully qualified geological surveyor."
Glynn was pleased with that. "And the other two crew members?"
"Both have been working closely with the European Space Agency for some time and are the best that money can buy. Your navigator should be known to you. He is Catalan by birth but speaks perfect English. Have you heard of Mark Feelgood?"
"Of course. His astro-navigation skills have earned him the nickname Star Studier. I can think of no-one better."
"The flight engineer is also Catalan. She had a PhD in Astrophysics and Higher Quantum Mechanics. For the last eight years, she has been training potential astronauts at le Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales in Toulouse, France."
"My God, not Simone Dubois?"
"Yes, you know her?"
"You bet I do. I worked with her briefly at EADS Astrium."
"You don't think she is qualified?"
"Qualified? She is perfectly qualified. She is also completely crazy."
"Crazy?"
"Out of her skull. A complete headcase."
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