The Long Way

On a space-age construction yard, a director of communications and colleagues receive an alien-derived power transmission tube copied from one discovered on a Martian desert; they assemble input, relay, and load sections to experiment with long-distance, tower-spaced beaming that can penetrate obstacles and even curve, while third-party engineers assert control over formal testing. Parallel efforts focus on detecting driver radiation emitted by interplanetary craft, and a perilous incident during a small lifeship's deceleration underscores both the promise and hazards of unfamiliar propulsion and transmission technologies.