“So tell me what I need to know,” Bethony started.

The technician, in his blue helmet and white lab jumpsuit, passed her a tablet. “We think we have a way to restart Mars’ magnetosphere. Do you remember how on Old Earth that the crust was made up of tectonic plates?”

“Yes…” Bethony irritatedly replied.

The technician cleared his throat. “Well, Mars has only one crustal plate, on average fifty kilometers thick. Now, in order to jump-start the magnetosphere, we need to get deeper and get the Martian dynamo to restart. We’ve designed this machine…” He leaned over and pressed the tablet screen. “…to be deployed under the surface. The Canada Crater is probably our best bet for doing this. Now, ideally, we’ll get this well under the crust and then use some directed force to initiate currents in the core.” He stiffened up. “There is, however, a drawback.”

Bethony looked up. “And that is?”

The technician drew in a breath. “We’re going to need a few thermonuclear bombs.”