Inside were large vats and an assemblage of pipes leading outwards. “here we mix up base ingredients for our aerogels, and then pump them into the containers outside.” Brunji motioned along the pipes.
“What is your market like?” Pasne inquired getting more into the business of it.
“We specialize in high-temperature insulative aerogels, they are particularly popular for making furnaces and biological habitat, especially on Mars and beyond where energy is expensive, so insulation is of high value. Thanks to the shlute, we make a hundred cubic meters of it at time, for us the casing and transportation is the most expensive part.” she guided him out to look at one of the payloads. When he was arriving he thought they were buildings, but now he realized they were cylindrical aerogel containers. “4 meters across, and 8 meters high, and their solid weight is under a metric ton, the heaviest part is propulsion and re-entry cap for atmospheric destinations, so are easy to delta-v quickly through the solar-system.”
Pasne couldn’t help but notice a shlute dweller strumming a lute, seronading one of Brunji’s sisters, she seemed to be enjoying it. Brunji caught his gaze, “yes, we are fairly well off. Some of us choose to marry into the community as a way of contributing.” Pasne thought they should keep such thing to outside the work schedule. Brunji held his hand, “come on, this one is headed to Ceres, we can ride atop till the cloud bottoms.”
***
As they rose up, Pasne quized Brunji on the shipping process. “The balloons raise the payload into the upper atmosphere where the wind speeds up greatly, at that point the thrusters kick in pushing it out to escape speed, after that depends on the client’s preference of propulsion. But for example this one going to Ceres has a solar-sail attached, so it will align once orbiting Venus, and then sail to Ceres, or where it will be by the time it gets there. Others take the interplanetary transport network, or hoffman transfer orbits.” She shrugged, but it was okay, he saw now that it was a cultural norm, when communicating by chirping stillness was no politer.
As the ground receded they sat next to each other, touching shoulders, the ground was and shlute was hot in the infrared, and the sky was cooler. As their view expaned to hundreds of kilometers, hints of Thetis Regio became visible, Brunji put an arm around Pasne’s shoulders and pointed out the infrared anomalies, naming the cities and places. Yet the vast expanse of Aphrodite Terra lay over the horizon.
Pasne’s processor queue was cluttered with thoughts in need of time, but which couldn’t enter the processor for fear of overwhelming and overheating. He needed time and cold to collect himself. “I’d like to go up to the cryosphere.” he chirped.
“Smile, I thought you might, you Mercurians like your temperature contrasts.”
“So we’ll continue with the balloon?”
“No, we’d need teflon coatings to get through the sulfuric clouds, and my body can’t handle cryogenic temperatures. It might freeze or crack.”
“Oh”
“But I can take you to a midway station, they have shuttles to the cryosphere; one floats above Cleopatra. Here take my hand.” She reached out to him, he took her hand, and they jumped, with nearly 30 kilometers sheer drop below them, their wings caught the still thick air. Brunji let go, pointing ahead to the midway station, it was still a few kilometers below and ahead, she took the opportunity to show him some aerial acrobatics, he chirped with delight, and even attempted his own barrel roll, but then decided to just enjoy her dance.
Too soon perhaps, they made it to the midway station, Pasne got a ticket to the cryosphere’s Research Palace.
“Don’t worry I’ll be here when you return” Brunji hugged him tight and brushed against his ear.
The shuttle rose, and while no sulphuric acid entered, the pressure dropped, and cold seeped in.