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Planting the Bombs（第1页）

PlantingtheBombs

OnthegleamingwhiteplainsoftheMoo-tioodalldrilliheemissaryoftheDevourerEmpirestoodsomeart，hisgiahertsilhouetteagainstthehorizon。Alleyeswerefirmlyfoetalderbeingslowlyloweredfromthetoptowerdownintothedrillwellbelow。Soonthecableeedingintothewell。Owohundredandfortythousandmilesaway，airewluedtotheuhehesignal;thepayloadhadreachedthebottomofthewell。Allobservers，ingFaoapplauseastheycelebratedthearrivalofthishistorient。

&hatwouldpropeltheMoonoutoforbithadbeenputiuryhadpassedsiheEridanusdtheemissaryoftheDevourerEmpirehadarrivedoh。Forhumanity，ithadbeeuryofdespair，ahundredyearsle。

Ihalfofthetury，theehhadzealouslythrowhetaskaooeeededtobuildsugierlyfailedtomaterialize。AllthatlishedwasthattheMoon’ssurfacehadgainedafemetalmountains，theremainsoffailedprototypes。Thehelakesofmetal，formedwhereexperimentalengieduofnuclearfusion。

HumanityhadaskedtheemissaryoftheDevourerEmpireforteologicalassistahelunarengineswouldobeatenthofthescaleofthetlesssuper-eheDevourerpossessed。

Fangs，however，refusedandinsteadquipped，‘Doyoubuildaplaaryebecauseyouuandnuclearfusion。It’salongwayfromafirecrackertoarocket。Truthbetold，thereisallforyoutoworksohardatit。IntheMilkyWay，itisperfeonplaceforaweakercivilizatiohelivestockercivilization。Youwilldiscoverthatbeingraisedforfoodisasplendidlifeindeed。Youwillhavenowantsandwilllivehappilytotheend。Somecivilizatioobeelivestolytobeturhatyoushouldfeelunfortablewiththeideaisehefaultofamostbanalarism。’

SohumaheirhopesintheEridanusCrystal，butagaintheyoieologyoftheEridaniancivilizationhaddevelopedaloelydifferentlih’sorthatoftheDevourer。Theirteologywaswhollybasedo’saal，forexample，wasasymbionttoakindofplanktonthatfloatedintheirworld’sos。TheEridahesizedaheunusualabilitiesoftheirpla’slifeformswithoutevertrulyuas。Andso，withoutEridaheirteaielyun

Afteroverfiftyvaluableyearswerewasted，despairinghumanitysuddenlyproduexglyetricschemetopropeltheMoon。Ittainwhofirstcameupwiththisplaime，hehadaleadiheMoonpropulsirammeandhadadvaherankofmarshal。Eventhoughhisplanologeticallycrazy，itstea，andhumanity’savailableteologywasfullyakingitwork;somufact，thatmanyweresurprisedwhynoonehadeup>

TheopropeltheMoonwasverysimple。AlargearrayofnubswouldbeinstalledoheMoon。Thesebombswould，forthemostpart，beburiedabouttwomilesuhelunarsurface。Theirspagwouldenobombwasdestroyedbytheblastofanother。Agtothisplan，fivemillionnubsweretobeiheMoon’s‘propulsionside’。paredtothesebombs，humanity’smostpowerfulColdWar-eranubsweremereal>

&imecametodetohesesuperpowerfulnubsuhelunarsurface，theforceoftheirexplosionswouldbewhollyinparabletotheses，suffocateddeepundergrouionswouldbloletestratumofluheMoon’slowgravity，theexplodedstrata’sroddustevelocity。Astheywerelauraightiheywouldexertanenormouspropulsiveforoonitself。

IfaumberofbombsweredetonatedinrapidsuomentumeaualpropelliasiftheMooediingnubsiplacesitwouldbepossibletooon’sflightpath。

Theplanwouldeveepfurther，gforwolayersofnubswithinthelunarsurface。Thesedlayerwouldbeiadepthofaboutfourmiles。Afterthetoplayerhadbeeelyusedup，twomilesoflunarmatterwouldbestrippedfromthepropulsioheMoon。Theungdenotationswouldthensmoothlytransitiontothesedlayer。Thiswoulddoublethedurationthatthe‘engine’oon。

&hegirlfromEridahisplaothethathumanitywastrulyinsane。‘and。IfyouhadteatchtheDevourers，youmightbeevehantheyare!’sheexclaimed。

Fangs，oherhand，wasfullofpraise。‘Ha，ha!Whatawonderfulideayedtodreamup。Iloveit。Ilarity。Vulgarityisthehighestformofbeauty!’heey。

‘Absurd!Howvulgaritybebeautiful?’thegirlfromEridaed。

‘Thevulgarisnaturallybeautiful，andnothihantheuarsburnmanithepitch-blackcoldabyssofspa’tthatvulgar?Doyouuhattheuniverseismase?Femininecivilizations，likeyile，fie，asialityinatiheuhatisthat!’Fangsreplied。

Ahundredyearshadpassed，andFaillbrimmedwithvitality。ThegirlfromEridanuswasstillvividandbright，buttheMarshalfelttheweightofyears。Hewasahuhirtyyearsold，anoldman。

Atthetime，theDevourerhadjustpassedtheorbitofPluto。Itwasawakeslong，sixty-thousand-milejourneyfromEpsilonEridani。Inthedarkofspace，itshugeringbrilliantly，anditsimmetopluhesolarsystem。

&heDevourerhadpluheperipheralplafluoaprecipitoustrajectoryto