Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 732
us. We've known that, and we've been waiting on the proper
moment to act.
"That moment is here. Send the messages, then I have
one last detail for the engineers. They know what it is. For the
rest of us, all we can do is pray that whatever rules both Man
and Wind will be merciful to us, and let us live through the
next hour."
He stood with his sword out, watching the semaphore
messages go out. The engineers ran to their stations and
unreeled their fuses. At any moment the vagabond moon
might realize what had occurred, and act to save itself. He
wasn't about to give it the chance.
Lavin’s heart was lifting. It lifted as the charges went off
with sharp bangs and his men cheered. It lifted as the moon’s
internal support cables whipped up and away, and ripples
began to spread across the geodesic skin of the moon.
As the gales above the mountain took the moon and
pulled it out of shape, he fell and slid along the floor, but he
was no longer afraid. He knew he had finally done the right
thing. He was able to hang onto the broken stump of a guy
stanchion for a while and watch while the moon's skin split and
the sensation of falling--really falling--began. Then they were
turning too fast and the gusts were too strong, and he let
himself go.
For a while, he was flying.
Men had crowded the parapet below to watch the fall of
the moons. Galas stood with one of the officers who had been
in on the plan. He told her how they had observed the fragility
of the great vehicles under windy conditions--how their skins
were too thin and vast to be truly rigid, so that they needed