Aphelion

Oooh, Bill, I love it when you talk radiation!

<br><br>Kate gets turned on by the strangest things:  William Gibson in his younger days, Dan without a shirt (apparently she likes 'em weedy, given Gibson and Hollifield as two points on the plane), Bill talkin' trash about yer nucular radiocination ...<br><br>Speaking of which, if the crash had occurred long enough in the past, and had been violent enough to scatter pieces of the reactor around (further diffused by erosion, wind, and for all we know, seismic activity), the profile might not be as clear as (say) a more-or-less intact poorly-shielded reactor.  Perhaps more to the point, since the mission was a commercial rather than a scientific one, they might not have cared enough to investigate or even do a detailed analysis.  (Having established that 'Red Zone BAD, shouldn't go there', and 'friendly natives stay out of Red Zone', would (say) Halliburton bother to study things further?)<br><br>As for Mahoney's symptoms, it seems reasonable to assume that he would be equipped with better protective gear than we have, and dosed with drugs that might alleviate some of the nastier symptoms.  The tingling and pain would be early indications of cellular damage in throat, stomach, and lungs, including presumably hemorrhaging that would (particularly over an extended period) make him feel dizzy and weak, but might not be as severe as Bill suggests.  (The dizziness might also be partially due to plain old fatigue, since Mahoney had been on his hunting expedition for 22-plus hours even before his capture by the Red Zone inhabitants.)<br><br>Mahoney's hair and teeth didn't start falling out, either ...<br><br>Robert "Explains It All (sort of)" M.

Uh, you're keeping track????

<br><br>Yes, and WITHOUT resorting to the Remote Stalker 3000. All I need is my notebook and pencil, and that NSA surveillance satellite and ECHELON phone analysis log -- oops, I promised Dubya I wouldn't mention those ... This is what comes of posting 'old, and expensive' photos of yourself. (Yes, I blame the victim.)<br><br>Robert "I'll be watching you" M.<br><br>PS "Every breath you take" (or whatever the actual song title is) was intended to be sorta creepy -- written from the viewpoint of an obsessive lover or maybe just a stalker. It ended up being revered as a romantic anthem, much to the surprise of The Police.