Chapter 3 The first box

The prisoner ship was called the Exile, a name that had nothing to do with its color. This is the sixth mission of the Exile. Like the previous five missions, the first mission is unloading.The remaining seven prisoners were still detained, waiting in their cells.Every time they coughed or tapped their heels on the composite metal wall, there was a clanging echo. It was hard to imagine that more than forty prisoners were crammed into this small space when they left Flora 8 .There is no room for so many people in such a small place. There was a roar in the distance, which made people shudder.

"The movement just now was that they were unloading the fusion battery," Gordieus said. "I heard that if you can short-circuit that thing, you can blow up the entire asteroid. It's just a legend. According to that, the explosion The resulting dust layer expands rapidly and then..." "Shut up." Lawn said. But Gordieus couldn't stop.He witnessed other prisoners being unceremoniously thrown off the spaceship and thrown into his own prison in batches.Now, finally, it was his turn, and his nerves were on edge, "Do you know what space is? It's a ditch, a ditch millions of miles wide, unbridgeable. We're never going home again." .Eleven years? We can't make it through. Even if we survived by some shit luck, we will all be crazy by then, and we won't want to go back."

Lawn repeated what he said just now, this time with a more vicious tone. "Look!" Gordieus said, as the prisoner ship dropped its cargo into the canyon: a cylindrical purifier that made oxygen; a lamp post, and a small packet of spores.Finally, it was the turn of the most important part - the three excavators strapped together.The momentum of the cargo, the action and reaction of Newtonian mechanics, made the composite metal structure of the Exile vibrate like a resonance chamber—boom, boom, bang—outside the cabin, the cargo packages flew towards the crack one by one , bumped into the cliff, squeezed into a small space, the whole process was without any noise.But the seven prisoners were inside the ship and could hear all activity.This is the sixth time they've heard it: they all know what's coming, and everyone can't hide their apprehension.They could hear the stevedores, whose yells were absorbed by the ship's structure, leaving only a musical, rhythmic croon.

"It's going to be hard work," said Gordieus, "and digging and digging, not just digging, but building design—to make the most of it... to make the most of it...but it should be harder to find The way to live together, without killing the others." "I want to kill you right now," David said, "if you don't shut up." Indescribable noise. The punishment for these seven people is the same: exile in the canyon on the asteroid named Lamy 306, the width of this small world is only two hundred meters.The so-called canyon is nothing more than a crescent-shaped gully in the face of the stone, the product of an ancient impact (obviously).That impact changed Lamy's appearance, twisted, shattered, and folded the outer matter together, leaving behind a long and narrow pocket-shaped cave: about fifteen meters long, and the deepest point was only ten meters deep into this small world , nowhere is more than one meter wide.The Exile threw all relevant equipment into this irregular gap, leaving only the last two processes.The ship extended a foam hose and sprayed sealant along the entire edge of the gap, first one side, then the other.The sealant sets as soon as it is exposed to the external vacuum.

All seven knew it was their turn.Lawn said, "Listen, folks. We've got to work together so we have a better chance of surviving. Don't fight each other, don't panic—we've got to get the lights right first, then the purifiers..." The ejection procedure interrupted him.The entire detention room trembled for a moment, and then shook again. The seven people inside had mixed emotions—expectation mixed with fear—and all seven hearts were beating violently.Some are ready, others are too panicked and scrambled.But what should come will come, whether they are ready or not. In the detention room, a hatch was opened, and the fence securing the seven of them was retracted into the wall.Seven people entered the hatch in sequence: Gordians was a ball-shaped man who weighed three times as much as an ordinary person; Mo closed his eyes tightly and his mouth was drawn into a line; David snarled; Lawn's face was calm, at least he looked calm; Mallet panicked; EdC waved his strong fists, as if he was about to punch the air; the weakest of them all, Jake, followed him at the end of the line. Without legs, he looks as expressionless as an idiot, as if oblivious to everything around him.

Then, they were sucked into the dark microgravity space, stumbling down like pinballs in the cold hose made of elastic material. It was pitch black and very, very cold.Jake wisely put his head in his hands as he fell, but near the mouth of the nozzle he stretched his arms out in front of him.The impact was loud and painful.He bounced off the rock wall, slowing down.The touch of bare skin on the naked asteroid was tinged with mystical religious undertones: it was the first time anyone had touched the unpolished sphere since its birth in dust and ice.Of course, there were no handles, and Jake's fingers grazed the face, but he couldn't stop himself.He has no legs, so it is naturally more difficult to do this than others.The air flow in the canyon was surging, and Jack was sprayed everywhere, and he felt that the world was spinning, and it was really spinning; the surrounding was dark, his whole body was in pain, and his ears were ringing.Jack fell backwards, hit a hard surface, and was bounced back up.

Here's what happened: Exile filled the canyon with air only slightly above sea level.Now, the spacecraft is doing the final sealing work.Jack was in the holding cell when this procedure was performed on the first six missions, so it was clear what the ship was doing - spraying sealing goo round and round through the hose into the (shrinking) air-filled cavern hole.Before, all seven of them were fixed in the same detention room.The Exile lifted off with bumps and continued to accelerate until the fuel tank was detached and the spacecraft adjusted its course.The ship was packed with prisoners, thirty-five in the holding cell on the first operation; twenty-eight, twenty-one, fourteen, and the rest of them at last.Right now, the Exile's holding cells are empty.As the turbulence gradually lessened and the sealing work was nearing completion, the spacecraft was about to turn around and return to the planet Flora 8.

For the next eleven years, no spacecraft will fly this route. When the spacecraft comes back, there will only be two situations: they are still alive and the project is over; or they are dead and the project is not finished.Maybe the seven inmates (or some of them who survived) will modify the interior of the asteroid into a series of habitable spaces-perhaps they will dig out a huge habitation chamber and put the modified fusion cells like the sun. the same in the middle of the room; maybe they'll carve out a series of honeycomb cells; maybe they'll just carve out a series of tangled tunnels.

If they—or some of them—are still alive when the time comes, the company will come and collect them.Overwhelmingly, the survivors would be overwhelmed with gratitude and scramble aboard the prison ship when the company arrived.In a few cases, the survivors have become feral, and they will scatter in all directions, avoiding the recovery staff, and even fighting.However, in this rare case, it is impossible for them to stay; for the company, these stones are a valuable resource.Send a landing party, chisel some windows in it, throw it on a more suitable track, and sell it.This is real estate.As for the prisoners?They will all be released and sent back to the free world under Ulanov's rule.

free. But you have to survive the sentence first.In other words, you have to turn a piece of aerobic space not much larger than a room on a frozen asteroid near the surface into an ecological environment that can allow seven people to live together for more than ten years.Can only rely on self-reliance, use as little equipment and materials as possible, without the help and guidance of outsiders.Because the company has always only cared about profits, and can save as much as possible on material supply.It's a neat business model, elegant even (the term is overused in the business world).The first company the prisoners work for is one of four companies that do the job, though the name is not the most important.This company can always win the contract to use prisoners at the lowest per capita unit price, extracting the maximum benefit from it.

That's how the world works, and it always has. Of course, this is not a concern of the seven prisoners.Their lives hang by a thread, and the overriding imperative is how to survive.There were constant noises, accompanied by the pungent smell of gunpowder, and sand splashed on Jack's face.Jack coughed, and it was pitch black.In this commotion, the only thing he could think of was: How big is this place?not big.How long can seven people breathe air?Not long. An urgent call came faintly from the dark noise, "Light, turn on the light, we are almost finished!" Jake hit the wall again, and was bounced out again, hurting his head.He stretched out his arms, supported the rock walls on both sides with all his strength, and finally made himself still.He blinked and coughed nonstop.You can't see your fingers around you, and it feels really cold to press your bare hands on the rocks. "Find the lamp!" the man shouted again, his voice sounded distorted, "Otherwise..." light is on.Accompanied by the yellowish light, the smoke and dust in the narrow space reflected beams of light.Jack felt that the light was dazzling, and it might also be caused by the smoke. Jake blinked again, he could vaguely see the silhouettes of the other prisoners, some had stopped, some were still rolling around.It was David who grabbed the lamppost and turned on the switch. Jake saw that he had skillfully embedded the lamppost into the angle between the two rock walls, and was holding on to the lamppost to maintain balance in the overturning airflow.There really isn't much space here.The upper and lower uneven gray-black rock faces meet together not far away, forming a wedge-shaped space.The place where there was an opening before has now become a ceiling made of reddish-brown glue, and the fiber bundles that make up the ceiling are still shaking slightly.Jake and everyone else had the same thing on their minds: We'd have to live here for eleven years with the gadgets you could buy at any supermarket for a few thousand credits, but rely on those cheap Stuff keeps seven people alive for at least four thousand days.It seems basically impossible.Of course, as Jake and the other inmates knew, there were plenty of inmates who did—indeed, the company's business model depended entirely on it.However, this business model also takes into account the death of a certain percentage of prisoners in advance; since in almost all cases they are able to recover the equipment they provide, and even if the prisoner dies, the Ulanov police authorities The fee paid to them per capita is also sufficient to cover transportation and other incidental expenses.Of course, if they survived and converted the asteroid into salable real estate, the company could make a fortune.However, there are no factors that can prompt them to provide additional help.For Jacques, the question was: In what state of mind would they live, if they did?But compared with the imminent death, this problem is not as urgent. This is the first time in Jack's life that he has left the biological data interface (bId). He can't remember the numbers—how many prisoners died in prison; In most cases, how many occurred in the first few hours of the sentence. Everyone is thinking about this question.Surviving for eleven years in the worst environment imaginable, all he can rely on is the little resources at hand, and there is no external support to count on at all.A stone prison cut off from human society by a vacuum of millions of miles.eleven years!Their only hope is to persevere in these eleven years, and pray in their hearts that the company will not forget them after eleven years, continue to do business, and have the motivation to recover this hollow stone ball. Jacques was more afraid of the time after the end of his eleven-year sentence than the sentence itself.Of course, he didn't tell anyone about this. "Hurry up! Hurry up!" David yelled vaguely, his mouth full of sand, "find the purifier!" There were also some people who were rushing in the air because of the previous airflow, and then the light of the lamp post, they used the angle between the wall or the end of the canyon to reduce their speed.After a while, all that was still rolling in the air were the equipment that the Exile had thrown into the canyon.Although the equipment is still flying around, scraping debris from the rock wall from time to time, it is easy to distinguish which is which by the light: the largest is the fusion battery, bouncing around the rock wall; A smaller object was actually three bundled together—three excavators—and the irregular shape and bulk of the whole package made it stuck in the corner.The rest are so small that even a small child can hide them all in clothes.A tree-trunk purifier, spores, and a sealed box of (Lambas) biscuits are still bouncing back and forth in the tiny claustrophobic space. Jake wiped his face with his dirty hands, but it didn't clean his face much.On his left, Gordieus, who was huge and spherical, was stuck in the corner between the two walls, waving his hands, and the fat on the umbrella body was rippling like water waves. It's freezing in this place. Jake saw the other five were all to the right.Mallet grabs a handful of the purifier as it floats by.His fingertips brushed against the rolling purifier in mid-air, and just as he was about to reach out and grab the device tightly again, Lawn kicked his legs and flew over from a distance, grabbing the purifier into in his arms. "Hey!" Mallett yelled in a husky voice, "I'm about to catch it!" In fact, the action just now was not good for Lawn. He quickly hit the other rock wall, and at the same time he could only twist his neck to an uncomfortable angle to avoid smashing his head.He bounced off the wall, rolling back and forth with the purifier in his arms.Finally, Lawn planted his heels into a crevice and managed to bring himself to a halt.But he had achieved his goal: got the purifier. "Listen to me!" cried Lawn. "Listen to me! The next few hours are the most dangerous, and one wrong step will kill us—we must not fight among ourselves." "Turn on that shitty purifier," Mallet said savagely. "Cut the bullshit!" "That's not bullshit," EdC yelled. "He's running for office!" Someone was booing, someone was moaning, maybe coughing.Lawn's voice cut through the dusty midair, "I didn't say I was going to be boss." Although that's exactly what he meant when he said earlier, "I didn't order anyone. But if we fight each other, it might as well be Just break this purifier - it can be done in a few hours, clean and tidy, so as not to have to suffer for more than ten years." "I'm going to wring your head off," David yelled, but he didn't follow through. After all, he was still holding on to the lamppost. "Turn on the purifier!" Mo said, "Turn on the switch." "Wait a minute." Lawn raised a hand, "We don't know how to use this machine yet." "What do you need to know?" Mallet slapped his cold legs, "A purifier is a purifier..." "We can't afford to make mistakes." Lawn said, looking at the device upside down. "A small mistake can kill us all." But there is no explanation on the machine, and judging by the posture, it won't last long . So, he turned on the purifier.The purifier made no sound at all, but the dust beside one of the round holes had been slowly swirled and sucked in. "Why not have everyone be responsible for one thing?" Gordians said, "so that everyone has their own strengths, right?" Everyone turned their heads to look at the far end of the crack in unison.The light was strong, casting long, twisted black shadows on the rock face. "What did you just say, fat boy?" exclaimed Mallet. "I'm just suggesting." Gordieus's voice was trembling with wavering, "Uh—you see, there are seven of us. There's fusion batteries, purifiers, lampposts, and, uh, spores, Um, uh, biscuits—that's five. We can split..." "Oh? Do you want biscuits?" EdC yelled, coughing violently from the dust. "Those biscuits were our only ration until the spores grew. What if you ate them all?" "We can eat him." Mo grinned. "He should keep us alive for a long time. And for this guy who is only half a man here-" He pointed to Jack , "I guess you don't eat as much as normal people?" "Hey, don't get me wrong. I don't want biscuits," Gordieus cried, sweating in spite of the cold. "That's not what I meant! I meant—yes, I wanted some Biscuits, but, uh. Food should be divided equally. Of course. But you see, I don't mind, and I guess Mr. Legless doesn't mind either. Why don't you five share five things equally? Then you can, you can... " Lawn interrupted him with a stern yet gentle voice, "Fat boy, you'd better keep your opinion to yourself. We have a lot of things to do to survive." He looked at the remaining The four men below—David, Moe, Mallett, and EdC, "I know you, Enomi-Doo-Concord, and you know me. I know you're strong and you've got stamina. You should Know, too, that I'm the same. I'm not going to command you—and I'm not going to command anyone." He held the purifier in his arms, and the dust wrapped around his shoulders into a dust column. "I can assure you of that," he said. "Really?" Mallet called, his voice full of sarcasm. "I mean, after we're all settled, after we've got the air, the water, the food, we should dig seven separate rooms, one for each of us. That way we don't have to dislike each other. Then anyone can use Spend time the way you like. But before that..." David obviously thought of a practical question, "After dividing the lamppost into seven parts, how could there still be enough light to cultivate spores?" "They'll grow," Mallett said, "only very slowly and very small. But you're right, you stand a little better off not splitting the lamppost. Or just in two. " "There will be time to discuss these things." Lawn said, "But not now! There are more important things to consider now!" Jake checked the space around him, and it didn't take much time at all. "We can open a window," he said. It was the first time anyone else had heard him comment, and he had been quiet since boarding the ship.Hearing his voice, everyone turned their heads to look at him, "You said... what did you just say, you have no legs?" "We should open a window," Jake repeated, "and let the sun shine in. I know it's a long way from the sun, but we'll still get a degree of..." Mo laughed, and the sharp and vicious laughter quickly turned into a cough.Lawn said lightly: "Okay, half-human. You can do it. You can make a magic window and install it on the stone wall." For some reason, Jake insisted, "These rocks must contain silicate. It shouldn't be difficult to use a fusion battery to melt it..." "Speaking of this!" EdC interjected, "I'm freezing to death." Then, he awkwardly crawled towards the corner where the fusion battery was stuck.Lawn kept staring at EdC, but didn't say anything to stop him.After all, he still has a purifier in his hand. EdC's big hands grab the fusion cell, and it's easy to pick up the big guy in microgravity.He pressed a few times on the control keyboard, and the fusion battery began to output heat.The others scrambled to rush towards him.It's too cold here; although the fusion cells emit little heat, it's better than nothing. Only Lawn did not move. "Don't make yourself too comfortable," he cried. "We've got to find water before we make ourselves lazy like a cat by the hearth. Without ice, we're all screwed in a few days." The other four strong men ignored him.Gordieus groaned slightly, trying to crawl out of the corner where he was stuck.Jake crawled to the side of the big fat man with his hands. He pushed his broken legs against the rock, stretched out an arm and pulled Gordieus, "It's still stuck tightly." "Bounced around in such a dark place," Gordieus said as he struggled. "Bang, I'm stuck here. It's like... like... ah." He finally broke free. They gathered all kinds of odds and ends in the corners so that they wouldn't float around.David got the lamppost stuck between two rock peaks near the middle of the canyon.Then, several people started dismantling the three excavators provided to them.A purifier cleans the air, but they can't live long without water.That is, they have to start digging until they reach the ice. "What if you can't find anything?" Gordians asked.The answer to that question was clear to him, and so was everyone else; but that didn't stop him from asking it aloud. "We're all going to die," Jake replied. "What if we can find some, but not enough to last us eleven years?" Gordius continued. "What if there are not enough ice to last seven people for eleven years? What then?" No one was willing to answer his question. EdC took out the first excavator and checked it out. "Are there any miners here?" he asked. The purifiers had removed some of the dust from the air; the air flow had stabilized -- along the wall to the purifiers and out the other side.He was able to clear most of the sand by coughing and moisturised his lips. "I dated a moon miner," Mo said. "She was as tough as a battle droid." "So has she ever shared her wisdom with you?" EdC asked. "No." "Then keep your mouth shut, idiot," EdC said sternly. Mo glared at him.Lawn hurriedly spoke, trying to defuse the hostility, "After the sentence expires—" he announced, "we will all become professional miners." Then, he took out the second excavator and looked at it. "It's just solving a series of problems," he said. Even with the heat from the fusion cells, it's still cold in here.Every time he uttered a word, white air rose from Lawn's mouth. "That's all. If we solve these problems one by one and work together, then we can get through. It's just a series of problems - after they are all resolved, just hang around here." After it's all settled, Jake thought, it's all about perseverance. "Anyway, I'm not an expert." EdC said, "But this thing seems to be practical, it's too old, and it's second-hand, I can still see that." "You're amazing," David said, though there was nothing admiring in his tone. "Eleven years." Gordieus said suddenly, not knowing what he was answering. "There must be a hose." Mallett repeated the word in several languages, rummaging around as he spoke, "This?" He pointed to the bundle of black tubes, the diameter of a man's wrist.There are three hoses in total, all bundled together, exactly one for each excavator. They took one of them out and found the tip, which was shaped like the tip of a pen. "We're in groups of three," Lawn said. "EdC and David first shift. Everyone works in shifts until the ice is found." David was holding the third excavator, looking at the control keyboard, he raised his head and faced Lawn. "It sounds like—" he said, "you're giving me orders." This sentence and the tone contained in the words made everyone quiet.Everyone looked at Lawn. "If you don't want to, David—" Lowe whispered in a measured tone, "that's all right. But if we can't find water, we're all going to die." "I'm willing to try!" Gordieus said, holding out his hand, waiting for David to hand over the excavator. David didn't say anything, but unfolded his own waste pipe, and connected the interface to the slot on the back of the excavator. EdC had his hose hooked up, "So, what about the waste?" he asked, "Out through the rock, or out through that thing they've got to seal the cave roof?" Mallet was right near the ceiling, and he poked his fist at the artificial material before curling up on his knees.Even on the other side of the canyon, Jake could see him shaking violently.In a zero-gravity environment, the twitching of his muscles made him slightly wobble in position, like particles being bumped around and doing Brownian motion. "That sealant—" EdC said, "at least we know it's not too thick." He kicked his legs and jumped up with the excavator.As he approached the ceiling, he pointed the tip of the hose at the artificial roof and turned on the machine. Jake didn't know what he was looking forward to—a loud noise?laser?Or something else.But the tip just drilled into the material.The hose went down a meter or two and then stopped. "I'll try it on a rock." With that said, Lawn grabbed the rock wall, pushed himself to the other side of the canyon, and then pushed the tip of his waste pipe against the wall.This time it's noisier: a bit like a coffee grinder.The tip of the hose drilled into the rock much more slowly, one meter, two meters, three meters, and the three-meter length of the hose was dragged in before the machine stopped. Davide picked a spot on the rock, and his hose entered the rock less than two meters. "We can't... what's that word?" Mallett said, obviously upset that he didn't get the excavator. "Prospecting rods?" "Prospecting rod?" Lawn asked back. "Are you going to dig like this? It's just luck. What if there's no ice in the direction you choose?" "Then—" said Lawn, "we'll go the other way, and we'll keep digging until we find ice," he said, staring at his machine. The machines weren't too loud, but they weren't too much to bear, and there was nowhere for them to escape.Lawn, EdC, and David split up and dug sideways or in circles.The two men in front stood on the two rock walls to stabilize themselves, and David stepped on the edge of the ceiling.But the progress of the project was very slow, and the other four prisoners had nothing to do but watch.Fusion cells gave off a faint heat, and Mo, Mallet, and Jake gathered around, even though the surrounding air was not heated much.Gordieus was too fat to get as close as space allowed. "Why can't the fusion battery get hotter?" Mo asked. "It's powerful enough to blow up an entire asteroid, I mean, if it was released all at once. But why did they set the limit on the maximum heat output?" set so low?" "What do you think?" said Mallett grimly. "They're all sadists, low-level bureaucratic sadists." "I think—" Jake interjected, putting the emphasis on the "I" and maintaining a singing tone throughout the sentence, "they should have a more practical reason. It's cold now, it'll be cold for a while time. But at some point, our main problem will be finding a way to get the excess heat out." "Shut up, legless boy," said Mallett.Jack turned his face away and smiled. Beep, beep, beep, digging continues. "I'm thirsty." Gordieus finally couldn't help it anymore, "The guys in the company, adding hundreds of liters of water to the equipment will kill people? Will it? It will make more money on their expensive expense list." How many zeros?" He continued to complain. That's just the way he is, not knowing when enough is enough, Jake thought to himself. Holes appeared one after another on the taupe rock face.The air was filled with dust and fragments of rock, and the smell of smokeless gunpowder irritated Jake's nose. "That's just delaying death a bit," Jake said. "They can't provide us with supplies for eleven years. Anyway, we still have to be self-reliant, so it's better to start when we have that motivation." .” "But..." Gordieus pressed his chubby stomach with his fist, and did not continue. "Sounds like you're with them," Mo commented. "It's a provocative stance to take." "I'll say it again, Legless," said Mallett. "One last warning, plug that hole in your head." Jake looked at Mallet.Mallett said nothing more. "Eleven years," said Gordieus. "We won't last a year. We'll all be dying of thirst in a week. There's no water in this broken stone. A law should be passed. Ulan The laws of the Nove Law system should force the company to investigate the prison asteroid first..." His voice dropped. The surroundings were quiet, and several people were unhappy.Jake looked at the three diggers.David worked the hardest, his muscles bulged, and the excavator's opening was firmly pressed against the rock.Can such an effort make a difference?Jake couldn't help thinking that the processing power of the machine should only be related to its own performance, and there should be no difference between pressing hard on the stone or simply placing it on the stone.Davide, though, was an impatient fellow.His every move has clearly shown this.He should learn to develop patience, Jake thought, or he wouldn't last long here.Lawn was more particular about the method. He used the drill bit to dig in circles, and soon he dug a hole with a diameter of more than one meter. EdC is much more exaggerated, his posture is like holding a broom, left and right, scraping a groove.Although there is no weight in microgravity, considering the huge mass of the excavator, such continuous movement back and forth still requires physical strength.I don't know how long it will take for him to get tired.Jake thought. EdC and Lawn would stop after a while to check the hole they had dug, and check the machinery at the same time, but David never stopped in between. Time passed by every minute and every second, and no one knew how long it had passed.Jack bored reminiscing about his school days.How did our ancestors measure time? (He originally thought: How do cavemen measure time? But then he thought that this idea was too ironic for his current situation.) Water clocks, pendulum clocks, the two Things rely on gravity to work.In such an environment without gravity, how can we measure time?Sundial?There is no sunshine here.But it doesn't matter, and neither does the time.Only perseverance is the most important thing. David was sweating profusely, even though it was freezing as hell. Jack looked at the dust in the air. The dust fell slowly, crossed a beautiful curve, and slowly flowed towards the air inlet of the purifier.Gordieus followed his gaze. "I know what you're thinking," he said. "yes?" "You're thinking: what if the energy chip of the purifier is broken?" In fact, Jack didn't think that way, but he didn't say it. "Hmm," Gordians continued, "I'm thinking about that too. Without purifiers, we'd be suffocating before long. But, you see, if that happens, we can link the machines to to the fusion battery." When he spoke, his tone was full of pride in discovering a new world.Jack didn't speak, just continued to look at the dusty track. Time is still ticking by.Finally, David let go of the excavator, "Substitute someone." He panted, "I have to rest." "You're pushing too hard," Lawn commented, his excavator still working. "You need to relax a little bit." "Two and a half hours a day," David retorted, "at least two and a half hours—at least. Otherwise, your muscles will degenerate. Then you will be like that legless boy." He turned to Jia Ke nodded, then kicked his feet and flew towards the place where the biscuits were placed.Lawn immediately understood his purpose. "Wait!" He turned off the excavator. “要么让我吃饼干——”达维德威胁道，“要么我就把你吃了，生吃，劳恩。” “所有人一起吃，每个人都吃相同的量。”劳恩针锋相对，“这样才能避免分裂。内讧就等于自掘坟墓。再说饼干本来就吃不了多久，得留到真正饿的时候。” “我真的很饿。”达维德叫道，“没看到我干了多少活儿吗？” 贾克观察着劳恩的脸，劳恩正在思量着下一步的策略——退让还是坚持。显然，劳恩觉得退让解决不了问题，“那样的话，每人发一块兰姆巴斯。所有人——每人一块。” 达维德吼了一声，但没有再提出抗议。EdC也关掉了挖掘机，七个人聚集在食物旁，达维德亲自分发补给——每人一块饼干。 “没腿仔吃不了一整块。”他说。马利特笑了起来。 “我愿意只吃半块。”贾克温顺地说。 但劳恩打断了他，“给他和其他人一样的分量，达维德。” 每个人的饼干都没吃多少。没有水，这顿饭实在是难咽，更别提他们的嘴里还全都是沙子。贾克吃了几口，把剩下的先收了起来。达维德走到洞穴的另一头，面朝岩石蜷缩在缝隙中睡觉去了。他应该是没有睡着——他抖得很厉害，很难想象在那种状态下能休息好。不过达维德还是摆出了一副睡觉的样子，也可以说是“闲人勿扰”的样子。所有人对此也心领神会。 “继续吧。”劳恩说，“我们需要水。”戈迪厄斯再次提议自己接手，不过马利特抢先夺过了空闲的挖掘机。嗞嗞，嗞嗞，嗞嗞…… 他们又干了很长时间。洞穴内相对较高的气压让空气感觉很干，再加上飞扬的尘土，所有人都觉得非常非常的渴。 “他们就不能事先留一桶水吗？”达维德低吼道。 “净化器好像能产生一点水。”贾克说，“通过化学反应从CO2中去除碳……” “等我把你的舌头拔掉你就会安静了。”马利特咆哮道。 贾克笑了笑，什么也没说。 洞穴里很冷，冷得让人无法描述，他们所有人都没有体验过这种冷。达维德一直在用粗哑的嗓音反复咕哝——人类居然能在这么冷的地方活着不死真是奇怪。他们身上穿的都还是被捕时的衣服——单衣、单裤、便鞋。没有一个人穿着适合寒冷天气的服装。他们呼出的气都结成了白雾；雾一结冰，眼睫毛就冻到了一起。干活的人稍好一点；有些人则模仿达维德进行运动，使劲跑上一堵墙，再从另一头跑下来。其余时间，他们都挤在一起，愁容满面，相互取暖。 洞穴里简直冷得让人无法忍受，但干渴更让人难以抵挡。干燥的空气和钻探工作让他们的嘴唇都干裂了。他们舌头干硬、嘴唇肿胀，嘴唇上还沾满了尘土。他们的肌肉疼痛，不是因为操作机器，而是因为一直在发抖。七个人总是在斗嘴，有时候还会爆发一下，但每个人都没有精力深究。岩石在钻机掘进口的作用下艰难地碎成了一个个碎块。他们时不时地停下活计，检查碎块，看看里面有没有冰，但目光所及之处，看得到的只有石块。 “只有几天。”劳恩说，“没有水，我们只能坚持几天。考虑到这里的低温，我们可能连几天都坚持不了。” 不过贾克之前说得对——净化器会去除空气中的二氧化碳，副产品之一就是从圆柱体一侧的一个小孔中流出的一道细细的水流。那点水，连润润舌头都不够，更别说供七个劳累的人饮用了。正因如此，七人之问的潜在张力升高到了一个非常危险的水平。 劳恩宣布，七个人必须轮流使用这点流水；尽管马利特大声质疑他宣布这项决定的权利，但所有人对这项安排都没有提出异议。 没有其他的法子可想。达维德第一个，接着是劳恩，但过了好几个小时，小孔里的水才又溢出来一小股。每轮一个人，整个团体的敌对气氛就又提高了一分。 情况恶化得比贾克预料的还要快，EdC扔下挖掘机飞向净化器。看到他越飞越近，马利特说：“下一个是我，你得轮在我后面。” EdC看都没看他一眼就叫道，“有种你来呀，我撕掉你的下巴。” 说着，他用双手抱起失重的净化器，将那个大家伙上的小孔对准自己的嘴。马利特立刻冲了过来，他双腿在墙上一蹬，狠狠地撞在了EdC的身上。两个人在空中打着转，净化器也脱手飞了出去。周围的空间实在是太小了，根本不够他们开打。EdC的脊椎骨咣当一声撞在了岩壁上。马利特迅速出拳，像个把对手逼到墙角的拳击手一样一拳又一拳地打在EdC的肋骨和肚子上。贾克看到他的右手中握着一块石头。 不过劳恩的反应更快。他迅速从后方架住马利特，并大声叫达维德帮忙。不一会儿，两个人就把挣扎不已的马利特架到了一边。作为回敬，马利特握着石头的拳头一拳打在了达维德的脑侧，而这一点儿也没能让他的心情变得好一些。不过EdC迅速冲了过来，三个人开始一起对付马利特。 惩罚行动没有持续多久。不一会儿，马利特就被揍得蜷缩成了一团，在半空中一边打转一边咳嗽发抖。他就像是一个人肉纺锤，从嘴里流出的红色细珠组成条条细线围绕在他的身边。 EdC把净化器排水口处积攒的那一点水全都灌进了自己嘴里。 贾克看着他，感觉自己的嘴更干了。 他们继续挖掘。马利特闷闷不乐地蹲在墙角，不过等到劳恩轻轻踢了他一下，告诉他又轮到他开工的时候，他还是照做了。 他们顶着干渴和寒冷又干了几个小时。 “我从没感觉这么绝望过。”莫对所有人说。刚刚结束这一轮挖掘的莫紧挨着聚变电池缩成了一团。 “在这里真是没办法睡觉啊。根本不可能。”正说着，他就昏睡了过去，劳恩起身把他拽到了远离风口的地方。 戈迪厄斯说：“我们都会死的。” “头疼死了，我都想用挖掘机把自己的脑袋钻开。”EdC低吼道。 除了继续奋战外，他们没有其他任何事情可做。整个洞穴都带上了一丝迷幻的色彩。深褐色的岩壁，灯柱发出的光芒在飞扬的尘土中投下一道道宽窄不一的光带。忽然间，贾克觉得岩壁上似乎沁出了水。他把脸贴在岩壁上，却发现上面只有一层干燥而冰冷的尘土。他的嗓子眼里都是灰尘。整个时空结构似乎都在颤动。匣子关得不够紧，还有声音泄漏出来。贾克听着那声音，又想要忽略，没有什么区别。都无所谓了，自己就快要死了，他们都是。 挖掘工作还在继续，贾克用牙齿都能感觉到，似乎有些小人正被困在他的牙缝间，用微型挖掘机清理着那微小的空间。他的神经都跟着哼唱了起来。轮到他操作机器时，他将挖掘机顶在石头上，缓慢而痛苦地进行着挖掘。 每个人的嘴唇都和岩壁是一个颜色。 “等一下。”劳恩叫道，“等一下。”他的手正指在自己挖掘机的前方，脖子上的皮肤都微微颤动了起来。贾克不由得想道，要是我现在过去打开他那台机器的开关，挖掘机会把他的手和整条胳膊都吃掉，这样他就死了。当然，他并没有实际行动。他感觉头晕、恶心、难受，昏昏欲睡、浮想联翩，想吐，口干，干，干…… 劳恩拿起一个什么东西放在胸前。那东西看起来就像是块煤。 “冰。”他惊喜地说道。 劳恩挖到了一条冰缝——几十亿年前，在这块石头形成的时候，不知是被引力牵引，还是因为随机的碰撞，有颗彗星的彗核被埋到了里面——远古之水，比地球上的海洋还要古老，比《创世纪》中的上帝还要久远——冰冻的万物之源。 他们从岩壁中挖出了足够每个人食用的冰。吮吸这些冰块的过程一点也不愉快，冰块中的杂质充满了火药的味道，不过——忽略掉冰冷和由此而引发的战栗，那就是水，流进肚子里的水。冰水唤起了他们那被遗忘在内心深处的饥饿，七个人都忽然想起了之前的饼干。贾克决定，最好还是把饼干渣和地上的碎冰混合到一起，一同嚼碎吞下去。 他们吃了又喝，所有人都被冻得战栗不止。几个小时的时间里，没有一个人继续挖掘。所有人都挤在一起围坐在聚变电池旁，打着盹儿，或只是静静地坐着。他们实在是太累了，连庆祝的力气都没有。 没过多久，劳恩就给其他人鼓起了劲儿。 “饼干很快就会吃光的。”他强迫自己用不住颤抖的嘴唇发出清晰的声音，“我们已经有冰了，应该开始种孢子，那东西是不会一夜之间长出来的。”所有人都慢腾腾地行动了起来，他们把冰块聚集到一起，安放在灯柱附近。微重力条件增加了这项工作的难度，直到最后达维德提出建议，在灯柱周围挖条沟，把冰块填进去。 这又花去了他们几个小时的时间，等到壕沟完工后，却没有足够的冰填。于是劳恩又回到之前挖掘的地方，把那条缝隙挖得更大些，好让他们把大块的冰刨进沟槽。每个人的手指都冻得发紫。EdC拆开了一个装孢子的封套——他们的装备里只有三个——然后把里面的东西倒在冰上。 “现在就等着吧。”他边说边把双手夹在腋下，想要暖和暖和。 “不对。”劳恩说，“现在，我们要继续挖。” 这里没有日夜的区别。灯柱一直都亮着。EdC在天花板上刮了些记号——后来他发现在岩面上做这种记号完全没有意义——因为在未来的几年内周围的岩石都会被他们给挖掉。他用自己的睡眠作为计数的标准，从睡醒到下一次睡醒基本上就算做是一天。贾克觉得，EdC似乎是个很爱打盹的人；就是那种两天能睡十次，每次时间都很短，而且还很容易被一点点惊扰给弄醒的人。不过他什么也没说。这也不算什么事儿，对他们所有人来说，长时间的睡眠几乎都是不可能的，因为这里实在是太冷了。尽管他们会累得昏睡过去，但过不了多久就会被一阵战栗给惊醒。 没过多久，EdC就放弃记录时间的念头了。 饼干都吃完了，但菌块还没有由黑变绿。达维德吃了一口黑浆，结果又全吐了出来。 “是不是一股鱼子酱味儿啊？”劳恩嘲笑道，“耐心点儿，小伙子们！我们需要的是绿色的部分，只有绿色的菌块才有我们所需的营养。要不了多久了！” 所有人都饿着。不过至少现在有水了，净化器小孔中流出的水，再加上他们从裂隙里发现的那些。 达维德放弃了他的健身计划，只是因为没那个劲儿做这些事。 洞穴里还是冷得要死。他们一直开着聚变电池，将发热功率调到最大；但公司已经事先对最大输出作了限制，尽管有那有限的一点热量，但周围冰冷的岩石还是迅速冷却了空气。 “除非把这整块石头加热，否则洞里空气的温度根本升不上去。”莫大声叫道。戈迪厄斯又唠叨了起来，说什么岩石导热性不好，他们不需要加热整块石头；只要把周围的岩石加热，就能让他们不再那么冷。其他人立刻对他叫了起来，马利特干脆抓起一块石头狠狠地砸在了他的头上。石头在戈迪厄斯的头上砸出了一个菱形的口子，鲜血喷涌而出。贾克被惹火了。 “你干什么！”他叫道。 “嘿！”其他人觉得眼前的这一切很有趣，冈为他们都没见过没腿仔发飙。戈迪厄斯脸色苍白，一言不发。贾克转向大个子，用衣服的一角按住他的伤口，直到止住血为止。 “我觉得比起肥仔来，你的反应好像更大啊，没腿仔。”马利特嘲笑道，“你是不是爱上这小胖子了？” “他只不过是在解释给这里加热的问题。”贾克回答，“打伤他根本没道理。” 其他人又取笑了几句，然后就都觉得没意思了。 他们都不明白情况，贾克想。聚变电池确实在慢慢加热四周暴露在空气中的岩石。但每一天，他们都将被加热了的岩石挖掘掉，喷出到外层空间。换句话说，是他们自己在不经意间造成了周围环境的寒冷。不过，除了忍受之外，他们对此没有任何办法。 他们又挨了好几天的饿，而且没有采取任何措施控制自己的脾气。不过最终，这一天，有一批菌块变绿了。 第一餐总是意义非凡。吃的时候，所有人都产生了一种惺惺相惜的感觉。第一批菌块的数量很多，足够每个人都吃个够。那东西的味道尝起来就像——呃，只是让他们能够离饥饿远一些而已。因为饿了几天而萎缩的胃迅速被填满；吃饱后，每个人都在想方设法采取措施保暖，时不时地会有人去净化器那里接一捧水珠。 “我们能修改孢子吗？”达维德问，过了一会儿，他又补充道，“把它们调整一下，让它们生产酒精？” 没有人回答，只有戈迪厄斯怯生生地看看这个，又看看那个，好像随时准备被人训斥，“理论上是可行的。不过我敢打赌，他们给我们的孢子肯定都做了基因标记，那方面的修正肯定已经都被限制了。” “听起来像是他们的作风。”EdC心平气和地附和道，“倒不是因为会给他们造成什么麻烦。他们才不在乎我们在这里怎么消磨时光呢。醉生梦死十一年——还是强制保持清醒——对他们来说没啥分别。他们这么做只是因为这样更残忍，仅此而已。” “不是因为残忍，我是这么觉得。”贾克说，“他们是要做生意的，又不是要当虐待狂。” 马利特冷笑了两声，好像是在说——有区别吗？ EdC吼了一声，“你又替他们说话。” 不过贾克还是继续说了下去：“这一切都不是偶然的，没有一样是无心之举。他们这么对待成千上万的囚犯。也许有几十万。他们已经这么干了几十年，完全形成了一种范式。他们这么做是为了榨取最大的生产率——从我们身上榨取血汗。这样才能确保小行星在预定的时间内被彻底挖掘。” “我们费尽力气，到头来却让他们拿去，卖个大价钱，听着真让人想把这破石头搞烂。”莫说，“哪怕是给他们下个绊子也好。” “贾克说得对。”之前说的话没被否定（当然，主要是因为没有再被揍）让戈迪厄斯鼓起了勇气，“给他们的石头捣乱只会破坏我们的生存环境，受害的还是我们自己，我们绝不能那么做。他们已经把我们给钉死了。” “不过——”莫绷紧了身子，声音也压了下来，“还是有法子可以……比方说，等到刑期快结束的时候，挖些会危及石头完整性的隧道什么的。当然要不会立刻威胁到我们自身的那种，只要能让公司卖不出好价钱就行。”看到没人说话，莫又补充道，“比如，在接近表面的地方挖好些竖井，或者——”不过他立刻又笑了起来：“不行的！确实什么都做不了。废料管只有那么长，挖到哪儿都得带着！尽管他们是混蛋，但不得不说，他们都是些聪明的混蛋！” “什么都做不了吗？我不喜欢这个想法。”达维德恶狠狠地说。 “得了吧。”莫边叫边推了达维德一把，他离达维德很近，“别做无谓的反抗了。到头来只会让自己死无全尸而已。十一年也没多长。我们现在有食物了，只要忙活起来，挖掘啊什么的，还没回过味儿来呢你就又自由了。” 达维德摇了摇头，“你想认输的话随便。我可不想承认他们把我给打败了。肯定有逃离这个监狱的法子。” “比如？”劳恩问。 所有人都看着达维德，他的脸红了起来，深色的皮肤变成了花岗岩似的红褐色。 “一群蠢货。”他扭头看着岩壁说，“你们都是。” “挖到外面去。”EdC笑道，“深吸一口气，然后跳出去？这样如何？”这话并不是很好笑，但马利特和莫还是笑了起来。两秒钟后，戈迪厄斯也笑了起来。 “狠狠地深吸一口气？”EdC继续道，“一下子跳回地球？” “享受一下重新进入大气层的摩擦热。”马利特接着说，“好好暖和一下。”所有人都打了个寒颤。 达维德终于受不了刺激说了起来，“对，没有飞船是出不去。”他说，“可谁说来这里的第一艘飞船就一定是公司的？” “这么说你要招艘飞船过来？”劳恩问，他的声音低沉，很是严肃，“你在什么地方藏了个发报机吗？” 达维德恶狠狠地瞪了他一眼，“就算来的第一艘飞船就是公司的回收船——”他顿了顿，“就算我们必须要等十一年——为什么我们就一定得乖乖上船回弗洛拉8号？啊？为什么不能把船抢过来？” “抢过来……怎么抢？”劳恩一副真心想要一探究竟的表情。 “石头里有金属。”达维德说，他又把头扭到了一边，“肯定有。干吗不把金属提取出来，做成武器？等到公司的人来接我们的时候——轰隆！一举拿下他们和他们的飞船。” 没有人接他的话，过了一会儿，劳恩才说，“确实算是个计划。”他承认道，“不过至少有三个问题。我们要怎么把矿石变成金属？冶炼吗？” “冶炼。”达维德重复道，也许是在附和劳恩，也许只是下意识地在重复劳恩的问题。 “我们不是一直在奇怪为什么聚变电池的发热极限设得这么低吗？比起现在这样，要是能更好地加热这地方，我们不是会舒服得多吗？嗯，也许这才是公司把极限值设得这么低的原因。如果给我们不受限制的热能，我们肯定就会去做这些：冶炼、铸剑，给回收队的船员造成大麻烦。”他摇了摇头，胡须上的灰尘缓缓从脸颊上飞落，“在这一点上他们又比我们先了一步。” “肯定能想出法子。”达维德坚持道。 贾克插了进来，“金属也许超出了我们的能力范围，玻璃怎么样？” “哈！”EdC叫道，“又来？还对你的窗户念念不忘吗，没腿仔？” “只不过是我在挖掘的时候注意到的。”贾克说，“我在硅酸盐里挖掘的时候，发现有些小玻璃珠，也许是因为摩擦力而产生的，我猜。也许，我们能想个办法……” “知道天才和聪明人的区别吗，没腿仔？”达维德插话道，“也许你是头一种，但很显然不是第二种。好好想想。碎玻璃珠能有什么用？没有加热金属所需的热量，又哪来的热量来熔化玻璃？而且就算我们造个窗户——又怎么样才能安装到小行星上？你说说，到底要怎样才能在不损失空气的情况下凿出窗框来？就算可以，假如我们用沙子造了一块一米宽的玻璃，那玩意儿里面的杂质肯定多得不得了，稍稍遇到碰撞就会变形开裂。简直就是自杀窗。” 贾克什么也没说。其他人也一言不发。 “你们瞧——”莫忽然开口说。他用脏兮兮的手指捋了捋胡须，他的络腮胡弯弯曲曲的，看起来就好像根本没有长在脸上一样，“我们还没聊过大家是怎么进来的呢。” “你是说整个过程吗？”EdC问。 “不是。”莫说，“我的意思是——各位到底是因为什么原因，才被判十一年的。我的想法是：应该都不是谋杀，不然不会判得这么……”他看了看周围那冰冷的封闭空间，“……轻。那么，到底是什么呢？” “我敢说我能猜到。”达维德说。 所有人的视线都集中在了他的身上，“那你猜猜看。”劳恩说，“猜吧。” “嗯，哦。”达维德思忖道，“是这样，你和EdC互相认识。我们到这里的第一天你就说了，。所以我猜，你俩应该是属于同一犯罪团体，也就是说，团伙犯罪，这就让人想到了乌兰诺夫政权所谓的非法运输罪，当然也有可能是非法入侵、贩卖违禁品、走私、偷渡、抢夺。到底是哪种呢？” EdC点了点头，“差不多就是这类吧。”他的语调让人有些捉摸不透，“确实，我认识劳恩，但不太熟。”他补充道，“只不过是有过一次业务联系而已。” “再说说没腿仔。”达维德看了看贾克，“通过观察一个人对什么感兴趣，确实能了解到很多情况。对于你来说，就是给这个地方安窗户。是不是？你想看到外面的情况，近乎痴迷。这能告诉我们什么？嗯，结合你不适合暴力犯罪的事实——”达维德指了指贾克盆骨下方本该是腿的地方，“这让我相信，你应该是个政治犯。梦想家，理想主义者，一个不满乌兰诺夫统治的家伙。我说得对不对？” “不适合暴力犯罪。”贾克若有所思地重复道，“这取决于你怎样定义暴力吧？” “当然，当然。”达维德不屑地敷衍道，“所有的压迫本质上都是暴力的，这我们都同意。不动产是暴力的，贸易也是暴力的。我敢肯定你有能力从事各种革命活动——比方说植入危险软件，扰乱会计和投标程序，引发大规模暴力事件之类的。当然可以。不过，一看到马利特，我就知道他有能力用刀撕烂一个人的喉咙；再看看你，我觉得你没有这个能力。”为了表明他比贾克更具身体侵略性，达维德摆出一副如同豺狼般的狞笑，俯视着贾克，“别不好意思，政治犯没什么不好，只要别忘了自己在食物链中的地位就成。”他又转向马利特和莫，“至于你们俩——”他说，“抱歉，我觉得你们俩还没到犯罪首脑的水平。最多也就是雇来的打手、马仔、跑腿的喽啰一类。” “滚一边儿去！”莫叫道。 “这样就只剩下我们的胖子了。你是个例外，对不对，戈迪厄斯？例外中的例外。你到底做了什么才落得个和这帮乌合之众一样的下场，我的伙计？” 戈迪厄斯的脸一下子变得和番茄一样红，一直红到了胖嘟嘟的下巴和脖子上。他额头上那个钻石型的伤口已经愈合，只不过颜色还是比周围的肤色深，随着脸色变红，疤痕也变得更显眼了，“你不会想知道的。”他咕哝道。 “我们当然想知道了。”达维德笑道，“不是吗？” “我是蒙冤入狱的。”他说，“我只是按照宗教信仰的要求做了而已。” “啊哈！”莫叫了起来，“你是个宗教狂？你干什么了，小胖子？” 不过戈迪厄斯已经将自己的内心封闭了起来。尽管那四个壮汉（只有劳恩除外）费了好大的功夫戏弄刺激他，但他就是无动于衷，任何言辞都不能引起他的反应。他抱着胳膊，转过肥胖的身躯面朝着墙。贾克看着他，知道这是什么意思——陷入深暗的冥想，躲进门上写满记忆的暗室。不一会儿，那几个人就厌倦了。吃饱喝足后，他们都摆出了自己最舒服的姿势，尽可能靠近地飘浮在空中相互取暖。不一会儿，所有人就都睡着了。 只有贾克又醒了好长时间，脑子里一直在想玻璃的事。 他们又花了好几天时间——或者说类似于好几天的时间，毕竟这里没有昼夜交替——才让菌块按照合适的速度生长了起来。一开始，作物的生长并不同步。有些天能吃的东西太多，有些天又一点绿色的东西都没有，所有人只能挨饿。经过一次又一次的尝试，他们终于能够每天都吃上东西了，尽管还不能让每个人都不饿肚子。习惯之后他们也没有喜欢上这东西。无论是口感还是味道，都像糨糊一样。 他们决定扩大种植区。贾克和戈迪厄斯花了几个小时挖出一条沟，并微调灯柱好让光线能够照射到。沟底铺上浸过水的抹布，放上石屑，抹上一层用指甲从变绿的菌块底下刮出来的孢子。所有人都觉得，随着生长环境的改善，菌块不但长得更快，味道似乎也没以前那么恶心了。但这东西很难称得上是食物，似乎永远也无法彻底缓解饥饿感。那东西只是黏在胃里；然后不那么令人满意地从消化道的另一头排出去。当然，在这种封闭空间里，那也是个问题。他们讨论过如何处理排泄物。把破布浸在尿里，可以让菌块长得更好；不过他们想了半天也没想出来粪便能有什么用处。尽管人人都认为粪便对菌块的生长会有作用，但菌块本身似乎并不这么想——不管是在裸露的岩石上，还是在冻成冰坨的粪块上，长势都没有什么区别。所以两天后，EdC就和贾克一起挖了个深洞，专门用来处理这类废物。 除此之外，他们的主要工作就是挖掘。随着居住空间的扩大，他们开始使用聚变电池破坏冰块中的水来释放氧气——事实上，公司愿意花大价钱提供聚变电池的主要目的就在于此，加热倒是其次。净化器可以清洁空气，但新的空间需要额外的空气来填充。电池的效率很高，裂隙中的冰块似乎也很充足，足够同时提供饮用水和新的空气。半个音阶、一个音阶，他们的声调听起来越来越高。有些人的声音听起来比另一些人更搞笑，当然，都是因为氢气的缘故。劳恩对火越来越担心：万一挖掘机在铁矿石上撞击出火花之类的东西怎么办？他的担忧迅速传染了其他人。不过随着时间一天天过去，空气中的氢气含量逐渐稳定了下来。看起来他们的净化器也是经过定制的，除了一般的空气净化功能外也能去除空气中的氢气，让氢与碳结合。没事儿的时候，他们经常讨论这项功能的原理。一种可能是合成甲烷——当然甲烷同样也是易燃气体。没人能说得清空气闻起来是不是比以前更糟了。 “显然现在已经很难闻了。”这是达维德的看法，“还能再糟到哪儿去。”也许氢离子被合成到了更复杂的烃链上。