Role in Starclimber
At the start of the book, Matt survives an attack from Babelites while working on a summer job to help build the Celestial Tower, a French attempt at reaching outer space. Babelites are those who are against the tower being constructed, insisting that the Heavens are not meant for men.
Later, Matt is given the opportunity to try out for a Canadian space venture aboard the Starclimber. He enters training in Lionsgate city, his hometown, and befriends fellow trainee Tobias Blanchard. Matt's love interest, Kate de Vries, has also been offered a spot because of her accomplishments in zoology. In the end, Tobias was chosen as one of the Starclimber's three crew (called "astralnauts"), while Matt was not. The same night, Matt also discovers Kate's engagement to a young heir named James Sanderson. Furious and hurt, he goes drinking with other unselected trainees, then goes home.
The next day, the Starclimber's captain, Samuel Walken, comes by to inform Matt that he's been chosen to replace one of the astralnauts, who had an accident and couldn't come on the voyage. The Starclimber is revealed to be a space elevator, built by the Lunardi Line with support from the Canadian government. The elevator cable is made from a fictional metal that supposedly comes from meteorites found in the Badland Craters, lighter and stronger than all known material on Earth. Matt ends up going on the venture, though his feelings and misgivings towards Kate and her actions create many interesting moments during the voyage. During the voyage, monumental discoveries were also made in terms of life in outer space. The team observes a gigantic whale-like organism, which Kate names "Etherian".
One of the two main crises in the book happens when the Starclimber team discovers that the counterweight rocket (used to hold up the elevator cable) never got to its intended height, and was slowly falling. The team race to the counterweight, and relaunch it just in time, solving the crisis. Matt saves captain Walken's life during this crisis, although his relationship with Kate seem to take a downhill turn.
The second crisis in the book happens when, on the return journey, the Starclimber crew discover that a kind of space coral has been growing on the cable. While trying to dislodge a kind of space barnacle, Shepperd, an astralnaut, unintentionally severs the cable while getting killed in the process. Unattached to the cable, Starclimber has no way to contact the ground, and is slowly losing power. Through ingenious calculations made by Dr. Turgunev, the team's chief scientist, and the help of special toilets, Starclimber eventually returns safely back to Earth. The book ends with Matt's proposal to Kate, and her agreement.
Read more about this topic: Matt Cruse
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