Chapter 37 Chapter Thirteen After the Volcano Extinct

They spent the second half of the night in panic.Due to the cessation of magma flow, the indoor temperature dropped sharply, and Palman Rosette had to run from the small cave where he lived to the big cave.Ask him now if he wants to roam the solar system on this uninhabitable comet, but he'll stick to his guns.He will also be furious, and the pain is probably indescribable in words. Selvadak and others had to go deeper into the tunnel to find shelter.After the lava stopped flowing, the cold air from outside drove straight into the hall along the hole below the "waterfall", and the water vapor on the surrounding rock walls had condensed into frost.Even if the entrance of the cave is blocked with something, people cannot stay here any longer.

In the depths of the tunnel, there is still a certain residual temperature.The temperature hasn't quite dropped yet, but it's only a matter of time.Everyone felt that the cold air outside the cave was gradually expanding into the depth of the cave.The whole cave is now like a dead man whose heart has stopped beating and whose limbs will soon become cold. "It seems that we have to go deep into the stratum to find a place to keep out the cold." Servadak said. After daylight he called the people together and said to them: "Friends, what is the danger we are facing now? Cold. But only cold. Our food reserves will be enough to feed us until we return to Earth. We have plenty of cans to cook without having to light a fire. But how can we survive the severe winter of the present months? I think there is no other way. In the depths of Gallia, in the volcanic caves, the temperature may be higher, and we should go there to find shelter. place."

Faced with this harsh reality, some people have shown a dejected look.Selvadak's confident words revived everyone's energy.Count Ironmashev, Second Officer Prokop, and Ben Yizov tightly held Selvadak's hand, but they were always in high spirits, and they didn't look depressed at all. Servadac looked at little Nina and said to her: "Nina, we are going to stay in the volcanic cave for a while, are you afraid?" "Not afraid, Captain." Little Nina replied, her tone was very firm. "Pablo will go with us. I'm not afraid of anything." "Of course Pablo will go with us. He's very brave and afraid of nothing. Isn't he, Pablo?"

"Yes, Mr. Governor, I will follow you wherever you go," said Pablo. The problem now is how to get down into the volcanic cave.Of course you can't go down from the crater.As the temperature dropped sharply and the lava had solidified, the slope inside the cave must have been too steep to stand on.Therefore, the only way to approach the volcanic cave is to find a path from the tunnels near the hall, and quickly, because even the deepest tunnels are now bone-chillingly cold. The second officer of Prokop had made a careful investigation of the directions of the tunnels around the hall in the past, and found that one of them might be close to the volcanic cave.Because when the lava erupts, the stone walls here are very hot.The volcanic cave is obviously not far from here, maybe only seven or eight meters at most.Just dig this tunnel.Maybe we can go down into the volcanic cave from here.

Everyone started working immediately.The Russian sailors under Prokop showed great ingenuity.Because the rock is as hard as iron, the pickaxe cannot dig at all.They thought of a way to drill a hole in the rock and then explode it with dynamite, which made the whole work progress very quickly, and the tunnel was basically opened within two days. For the past two days, everyone has been suffering from the cold. "If there is no way to get into the crater," Count Ironmashev once said, "we'll have nothing but to die. None of us will survive." "Count Iron Mashov, have you lost faith in the Almighty God?" Captain Servadac asked him at the time.

"No, Captain. But God may have changed his mind. What exactly does it want to do? We don't know. Its hands were originally open... but now, it seems to be closing..." "God's hand is only half closed," Servadac said, "It just wants to test us. I always feel that it is impossible for the lava to stop erupting because all the magma in Gallia has been erupted. So the lava stopped. The eruption is likely to be a temporary phenomenon." Second Officer Prokop fully agreed with Servadac's analysis, thinking that a new crater must have appeared elsewhere, from which the lava is now erupting.There may be many reasons for this change in the crater, but one thing will not change: the lava deep in the formation must continue to chemically interact with oxygen.Of course, in the case of the change of the crater, it seems impossible to find the original unique place to keep out the cold.

During these two days, Palman Rosette did not discuss with everyone how to take countermeasures, nor did he participate in the work of excavating the tunnel.He walked up and down the cave, obviously suffering.He didn't listen to people's dissuasion, and put his telescope in the hall, and stood under the telescope for a long time to observe the sky. He didn't return to the depths of the tunnel until his whole body was frozen. Facing the harsh environment, he kept cursing, There might be a way of overcoming these difficulties by claiming that he still lived on Frontera. The opening of the tunnel leading to the volcanic cave was opened on January 4th.Before the opening was opened, people could vaguely hear the sound of rubble rolling down in the volcanic cave.Second officer Prokop thought that since the gravel did not fall vertically, it indicated that the walls of the volcanic cave had a certain slope, and people might be able to walk along this slope to the depths of the volcanic cave.

He is correct in this view. After the opening of the cave was widened and people could pass through, Captain Servadak and Second Officer Prokop followed Ben-Zov, who was holding a torch, into the volcanic cave.The inner wall of the cave is sloped at forty-five degrees, so it is not too steep. They began to walk down cautiously, walking 200 meters to the south in half an hour.There are also some large holes in the walls of the cave, but they don't have the cobweb-like tunnels they used to live in. Living here is not as comfortable as the burrow above, but these Galians have no other choice but to make do with it.The fact is as the captain said, the further they go in, the faster the temperature rises.But this increase in temperature is not the same as people often see in coal wells on Earth: the volcano has not completely extinguished as people feared, and lava is still tumbling deeper underground.Somehow, the magma is no longer erupting outwards now, but its heat is constantly radiating in all directions.The temperature gauge that Prokop brought with him showed that the temperature was six degrees above zero at a depth of 200 meters above the ground.

"It's only six degrees!" Captain Servadac said. "How can this withstand the severe cold of space? The ventilation conditions here are very good, and we can continue to go down." Indeed, a great deal of air was blowing in from the crater overhead and from the holes in the mountainside.People do not feel any difficulty in breathing here.Therefore, you can continue to go down until the temperature is more suitable. In this way, they walked down more than a hundred meters.It is now three hundred meters above sea level in Gallia.The temperature here is twelve degrees above zero.As long as nothing happens, such a temperature is perfectly fine.

Of course, they can go on and on.But why bother?As they listened carefully, they could hear occasional low rumbles, which indicated that lava was churning not far from them. "Let's stay here!" said Ben-Zov. "Anyone who is still afraid of the cold can go down as far as he can. I think it's warm enough here." The question now is whether to stay here so-so. The three of them sat down on a pointed rock and looked around by the torch. The truth is, everything here is fine.The lava squeezed out and only formed a cave-like cave here.But the cave was large enough to hold their whole party.But it is also quite difficult to fix it well.Above and below the cave, although there are also some small holes.But the area is very small and can only store things. It is absolutely impossible to use it as the bedroom of Selvadak and Iron Mashv.As for little Nina's embroidery studio, she could easily find one.It seems that everyone can only eat and sleep in this cave.

As for the lighting, that's not a problem.There are several barrels of oil in the storage room in the cave above, enough for lighting the lamps.In addition, there is a lot of alcohol, which can be used to make a la carte when appropriate. The last question: Will the long-term cave life make everyone feel very bored?Won't.They can put on thick winter clothes and go for a walk by the sea.Moreover, someone has to go to the seaside every day to carry ice cubes to meet the needs of fresh water.This work is very arduous, and it is necessary to climb back and forth on a 300-meter-high slope with heavy ice on its back.But everyone can take turns to go, and at the same time, they can exercise their muscles and bones. After some careful consideration, they finally decided to place their residence in this cave.Generally speaking, the conditions here are indeed not very good, but compared with those who spend the winter in the Arctic Ocean, they are considered unique.Because the environment there is so harsh, it is impossible to have many rooms for people to use.In order to resist the cold, everyone can only sleep together by squeezing each other. The three of them went back to the cave above and told everyone what they thought, which got everyone's unanimous approval.Then, people took action.First of all, the volcanic ash that was still warm in the cave was dug and cleaned, and then the daily necessities were quickly moved. Everyone was very energetic, and they moved very quickly when carrying various objects and Isaac's goods.Besides, it's just moving down, so it's not too strenuous. Although Palman Rosette was not very happy in his heart, he had no choice but to move to the volcanic cave below with everyone.But he wouldn't let people take his binoculars down there anyway. How Isaac will react to this relocation, the reader can imagine, and there is no need to repeat it.By order of Captain Servadac, his goods were piled up in a small cave, where he himself lived to keep them.And keep doing his business. After several days of hard work, everyone finally moved all the things that should be moved.They installed a few street lights along the way, and the scene is so charming that it makes people feel like entering the world they describe.As for the cave where everyone lived, some chandeliers that had been hung on the Dobrina were lit. On January 10, everyone settled down here.At this time, the temperature outside had dropped to -60°C. The problem of keeping out the cold has been solved for the time being, but Captain Selvadak, Earl Ironmashev and Second Officer Prokop are still worried all day long.What they are worried about is whether the current heat source will be cut off suddenly one day, and whether Galia’s revolution period will be extended for some reason, thus missing the rendezvous period with the earth, so that they have to stay at least once more The comet had a long winter.If this were to happen, where would they seek shelter from the cold? "My friends, let's all think of a way!" said Servadac. "We still have a lot of time, and we can always come up with a better way." "Yes. As the saying goes, 'wisdom grows in haste'. We are facing such a big difficulty now, as long as we use our brains, we can always come up with good ideas. But I don't think the heat here will suddenly stop any day." Iron Mashoff said the Count. "I don't think so either." Second Officer Prokop said, "We can always hear the sound of magma tumbling deep in the formation." "I agree with you," said Count Ironmashev. "I don't think the magma activity in the depths will stop anytime soon. What I'm worried about is that another, more dire situation may arise." "What's going on?" Selvadak asked. "The lava erupted suddenly. By then, you couldn't even run." "Exactly, it's quite possible," said Servadak. "We should be on the alert at all times and leave as soon as there is a sign." Five days later, on January 15, Gallia reached its aphelion.It is now 880 million kilometers away from the sun.