Soon you float with the others in a viewing bubble at the dock command center, looking out at the rockets. All three of them are docked in a row.
Compared to the Asterion, the three supply rockets are tiny. The rockets—Laelaps, Talos, and Javelin—are all named after gifts from Zeus to the Phoenician princess Europa. Laelaps, a dog that always catches his prey. Talos, a giant automaton that protected Crete. And Javelin, named after the most prosaic gift, a javelin.
Each is packed with useful but nonessential provisions to be sent ahead of you. While humans have a maximum g-force they can stand and are averse to high-impact crash landings, with proper preparation, machine supplies needn't suffer the same drawbacks. The rockets will go ahead and lay the way for you.
Laelaps will land with a number of manned and unmanned exploration vehicles for traversing the surface. Talos is fitted with communication and surveillance satellites; the rocket will break up and seed the satellites on entry to Europa. Finally, Javelin will land with larger drilling and construction equipment.
"They're all loaded up already," says Kosmo about the rockets. "Nice to have some things going to plan."
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