Chapter 31 31. The Heartless Sky

At night, the conduction band is more clearly visible to the naked eye.When the sun sets and various signal lights are turned on, the conduction band becomes a thin, dazzling light band, which shoots toward the heights and disappears under the cover of the starry sky. It has become the greatest wonder of the whole world.Before Morgan banned outsiders from entering the work area, the endless stream of visitors never stopped.These people, whom someone jokingly dubbed "pilgrims," ​​flocked to pay homage to this latest miracle on the holy mountain. The behavior of these people is almost the same.First touch the five-centimeter-wide conduction band with your hand, stroking it with your fingertips in an almost reverent mood.Then, put your ear to its cool surface, as if hoping to be lucky enough to hear the music coming down from the sky.Some even asserted that it was as if they had heard some low musical note.Of course, this is their far-fetched conjecture.Even the highest overtones of the natural frequency of the conduction band are slightly below the level of human hearing.There are also individual people who shook their heads before leaving and said: "No matter when, no one wants to force me to take this kind of thing!" Has anyone ever posted exactly the same "high opinion"?

Usually, the receptionist's answer to those who are skeptical is: "Don't worry, this is just some 'scaffolding'. When the space orbital tower is completed, 'Ascension' will be no different from taking an ordinary elevator upstairs. Now, if there is a difference, it is nothing more than a longer time and a lot more comfortable." However, this is not the case for Maxine Duval's trip, which will be very short and not particularly comfortable.But now that Morgan had capitulated (he couldn't "grind" Maxina enough to finally agree to her request; of course, Morgan's coronary heart disease had something to do with it), he threw himself into making sure the trip went smoothly.

The fragile "spider" is the nickname of the space capsule test model, and its appearance is very similar to the mechanized shaker used when erecting aerial cables. The "Spider" has more than once risen to a height of more than twenty kilometers with twice the load it should carry now. As usual, everything has been carefully rehearsed.Maxine looked neither hesitant nor flustered as she strapped herself into the seat.She then took a deep breath of oxygen from the mask and checked all the television and audio equipment.Then, like a fighter pilot in an old movie, he gave the "take off" signal with his thumb and pushed the gear lever down.

The engineers gathered around applauded jokingly. In fact, most of them have "walked" more than once on the top several kilometers high.I don't know who shouted: "Start!" The "spider" began to move upward at the speed of the elevator. It's a lot like flying in a balloon.Smooth, light, and noiseless.No, the noise is accompanied by the soft humming of the electric motors that turn the many wheels that hug the plane of the conduction tape.There is neither impulse nor vibration.She was moving along an impossibly thin conduction band as inflexible as a steel rod.As for the stability of the movement, it is guaranteed by the cosmic airtight cabin.If you close your eyes, you can think that you are ascending in the space orbital tower that has been built.You can't close your eyes, though—there's so much to see and appreciate.Many voices can also be heard - the sound conduction is amazingly good, and the conversation below is still clearly audible#

Maxina waved to Vanners Morgan, then looked for Warren Kingsley, but he was nowhere to be found.He helped her board the Spider's cabin and is now gone.Then she remembered his frankly confessed weakness: one of the world's best construction engineers was afraid of heights...Everyone is overwhelmed by some secret, or not quite secret, fear.Maxina really doesn't like the nickname "spider", and she really wants to give the machine she is flying to the sky with another name; but what really scares her in the world is the timid and harmless octopus... … Now, the entire Sri Konda Mountain can already be seen.To be honest, it's difficult to determine its true height from here.The ancient stairway built on the hillside looks like a winding and flat road.The surrounding area is completely deserted.A fallen tree blocks a stairway—nature, three thousand years later, seems to have issued a warning that it will soon reclaim its own.

After pointing a television camera down, Maxina began to move the camera to the Songmao Angju forest, the white domes of Rana Pura in the distance, the dark water of the Inland Sea.Finally, followed by Mount Jacques Kajara.... Maxina carefully identified the vague outlines of ancient architectural ruins on the top of the cliff.The mirror-like murals are falling into the shadows, and so is "Wang Concubine's Profile"-of course, the murals may not be visible from such a high place.Elysium and its ponds, avenues, and deep fortifications can all be seen clearly. For a moment she was mesmerized by strings of tiny white feathers, but she soon realized that they were Karidasha's "Fountain of Heaven".really interesting!How would the king feel if he saw her flying effortlessly to his imaginary heaven...

It has been almost half a year since Maxina talked to Razasinha last time.On a whim, she connected with Raza Singh's villa through the phone line. "Greetings, John. Do you like the bird's-eye shot of Mount Jacques?" "Good morning. So you've finally convinced Morgan. How do you feel about yourself?" Razasinghe asked back. "It's so good, it's just incredible. I can't describe the feeling I've had—I've traveled in all forms of transportation in the past, but this time I feel completely different about myself." "Flying serenely in the merciless sky..." Razasimha recited a line of poetry following Maxina's words.

"Whose work is this?" "An English poet in the early twentieth century," Razasimha replied, "the last line of the poem is: Now works the same for me anyway: sailing the seas, or in the heartless sky Fly peacefully..." "I'm not the same anyway, and yet I'm completely at peace. I can see the whole island, and even the coast of the Indian peninsula. What's my altitude, Van?" Maxina's communication link with Morgan was always up. with. "About twelve kilometers. There are still three kilometers to go. Is the mask useful?" Morgan's answer came immediately.

"Totally normal. Congratulations on your design by the way - the view from here is magnificent. This is a real lookout. There will certainly be more people willing to come here in the future." "We've figured this out—partners on satellites here and there have sent in applications. We can mount their transponders and sensors at whatever height we want. It's a real relief for our tax dollars." I can help a little bit." Morgan said not without complacency. "I saw you!" Razasinha suddenly called out to Maksina. "I saw you with a telescope. Now raise your hand... how is it there, isn't it lonely?"

After a short pause, Maxina's serene answer came: "It's far worse than Yuri Gagarin. He was 200 kilometers higher than me at that time."

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