Part 7 is here.
From lows to highs - this job can turn around on you in an instant!
After finding nothing workable for the past couple of weeks; I took a chance; followed my instincts and drifted east into the Caucasus range. I haven't been here before; to my knowledge few prospectors have. The mountains are very remote from any colony; and besides mountains are not good prospecting fodder - you want craters; not mountains.
On a hunch; I drifted along the range until I found a largish area in the 'foothills' that looked like a likely candidate. It's a highland area with a few obvious - and interesting, from a prospecting viewpoint - selenologic features. Chief among these is an enormous crack bisecting the valley. There are also a great deal of scattered boulders; small but deep craters - indicating a softer lunar soil. Before touchdown; I did a slow flyby at 100ft. AGL and 50kph; inspecting the ground.
It looked good; but nothing that really stood out. That is until I neared the western edge of the area. I hovered low over a deep, nice-looking crater; looking for signs. Suddenly; my eye was caught by something that made my heart leap - a flash of yellow. It was too small and gone too quick for me to make out; but it was enough - I whipped the Weasle around; dropped the gear and began the landing cycle. I touched down a couple of kilometers away from the spot (dust was again a problem); threw my suit on and dashed out the airlock; mineral scanner in hand.
Jogging on the moon is not recommended. Sweating and hyperventilating are never good on even the best suit; my Gibbs Explorer IV's ECU (a top-of-the-line Genesis) was redlining with the effort of scrubbing the moisture off my faceplate. Nevertheless; I got out to the site in record time; stopping only for a few minutes when I blundered into yet another sinkhole.
When I got to the area - a bare rocky patch slightly above the sea of dust - I knew even before taking readings I'd found a major strike.
How'd I know? Because there were whole bloody ROCKS of iridium lying right on the surface!!!
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