Chapter 47

When Craig Stafford bought Desolation Ranch he'd done some things to make it more suitable for the work Night Seekers would be doing. His first requirement was a command center large enough to hold all the electronic equipment they'd need. A wall that separated the living and dining rooms was taken down creating one massive work space. Along one wall a communications center had been set up, with a base station that the team members were sure could contact Mars if necessary. It was set up, however, on a system called low earth orbit, which provided for uninterrupted global coverage. Craig had chosen this because the geostationary sat phones were bothered by a delay in signal as it went up to the satellite and back, and often ran into gaps in connection bouncing from one satellite to another.