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Wind
Wind
When you have an engine with no fuel, and fuel without an engine, and a life-and-death deadline to meet, you have a problem indeed. Unless you are a stubborn Dutchman--and Jan Van Artevelde was the stubbornest Dutchman on Venus.
Book Excerpt
and our utilities. They are powered by the windmills. We do not have gasoline engines for vehicles, so our vehicles are operated by hand."
"You push them?" demanded Jan incredulously.
"No. You've seen pictures of the pump-cars that once were used on terrestrial railroads? Ours are powered like that, but we cannot operate them when the Venerian wind is blowing. By the time I diagnosed the Venus Shadow in Diego, the wind was coming up, and we had no way to get him to Oostpoort."
"Mmm," grunted Jan. He shifted uncomfortably and looked at the pair in the corner. The blonde head was bent over the boy protectingly, and over his mother's shoulder Diego's black eyes returned Jan's glance.
"If the disease has just started, the boy could wait for the next Earth ship, couldn't he?" asked Jan.
"I said I had just diagnosed it, not that it had just started, señor," corrected Sanchez. "As you know, the trip to Earth takes 145 days and it can be started only when the two pl
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A servicable pulp adventure story. A Dutchman braves high winds and Venusquakes to get to a sick kid at a remote outpost who needs transportation back to the rocket port and then to Earth. When he gets to the outpost he finds he is stranded.
The writing is good, the characters are distinct and have some depth, and the descriptions are good. The ending needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
The writing is good, the characters are distinct and have some depth, and the descriptions are good. The ending needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
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