Chapter 42 42. Above the Aurora

The gorgeous scenery in front of me seems to be that there is an invisible hand dancing many light green fireworks strips with red borders in the sky.It is blowing from the sun to the earth and into the vast universe at a speed of nearly one million kilometers per hour, and these fireworks belts are constantly fluttering in the gusts of solar wind.Even over Mars, there was a faint halo of light; as for Venus, the hot sky was probably full of blazing fire.Above the flashes of light, the entire sky near the skyline is filled with long strips of light, which are shaped like the bones of a half-opened fan.At times they shone directly into Morgan's eyes like giant searchlight beams, blinding him for minutes.There is no need to turn on the lighting in the cosmic capsule—the fireworks in the kingdom of heaven are bright enough to read books and newspapers comfortably in its light.

Two hundred kilometers. The "spider" has been crawling upward silently and briskly.It's hard to believe it left Earth only an hour ago.It was even hard to believe that the earth still existed, for Morgan was now soaring up between the cliffs of the deep valleys of the Flaming Mountains. The hallucination lasted only a few seconds in all, before the momentary balance between the magnetic field and the charged clouds rapidly approaching Earth was disrupted.But at this moment, Morgan's intuition convinced him that he was rising from the bottom of some unfathomable canyon; compared with this canyon, the Grand Canyon on Mars seemed to be an insignificant gap.Soon, the luminous cliff, which reached a height of one hundred kilometers, became a crystal, through which the brilliance of the stars appeared again.And so Morgan saw the stars for what they really were—that they were nothing more than luminescent illusions.

Now, like an airplane flying through low-altitude clouds, the Spider climbed upwards, leaving the breathtaking scenery below.In other words, Morgan was rushing out of the fog of fire that billowed and rolled under his feet.Many years ago, when he took a night cruise on the tropical ocean on a regular long-distance ship, he once gathered with other passengers at the stern of the ship and admired the incomparable bioluminescent miracle of the ship's wake and water.Now, the green and blue flames that were shining under the "spider" reminded him of the brilliant colors of the plankton he saw that night, and he seemed to see the by-products of life again-living high in the atmosphere The game of various invisible huge creatures...

At this moment, when someone suddenly mentioned the mission of this trip to him, he even felt surprised. "How much power is left?" Kingsley asked. "According to estimates, this set of batteries is still enough for a total of twenty minutes." Morgan looked at the dashboard. Ninety-five percent has been used, but the lifting speed has increased by five percent, almost reaching one hundred and ninety kilometers per hour. This situation is completely normal.Apparently, the "spider" felt that the force of gravity was decreasing as the altitude increased.It has been reduced by ten percent.

For Morgan, who was strapped into the driver's seat and wearing a space-sealed suit weighing several kilograms, he might not be able to feel such a slight change.However, a feeling of overexcitement permeated his whole body, making him wonder if he was taking too much oxygen. No, the amount of air used is normal.Presumably, he was simply too excited by the exciting spectacle.However, the wonderful scenery has begun to dim, because the aurora is moving away in both directions, north and south, as if retreating towards its own polar fortress.Maybe he was excited because the whole operation started so well, using a technique that had never been tried under these conditions?

But all these explanations, which seemed perfectly reasonable, did not satisfy Morgan in any way.The blissful, even joyous feeling that dominated him always seemed illogical.Warren Kingsley, a diving enthusiast, often told Morgan about the indescribable feeling he experienced in the deep sea Reese.Morgan had never experienced the feeling caused by weightlessness, and it was only at this moment that he realized what it was like.All his preoccupations seemed to have been forgotten below--on the planet now covered by strings of fading halos and wondrous patterns of aurora. The stars, no longer having to contend with thrilling visions from the poles, are re-emerging in their rightful place.

Morgan looked intently towards the zenith, hoping to see the Space Orbit Tower, but all he could make out was the nearest few meters of conduction tape, and the "spider" was climbing up it quickly and steadily.Now, with the lives of Morgan himself and seven others hanging on this thin ribbon, it seems to be stationary, so it is hard to believe that the "spider" is moving at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. gallop up along it... "The altitude is close to 380," came Kingsley's voice: "If the battery can last for 20 kilometers, then everything is normal. How do you feel about yourself?"

Morgan really wanted to impromptu impassioned speech, however, his natural reserve finally restrained the impulse. "It feels good," he replied. "If we could guarantee that all the passengers saw today's scene, then we would have more customers than we can handle." "You can try it." Kingsley said with a smile: "We might as well ask the Monsoon Forecasting Station to drop a few barrels of electrons on the required parts. Not entirely rely on these electrons, but they will have excellent impromptu performances, is it reliable?" Morgan smiled smugly, but said nothing.His eyes were fixed on the various instruments, and the readings showed that the power and ascent speed had dropped significantly.However, there is no reason to worry. The "Spider" has passed 285 kilometers out of 400 kilometers, but the external battery is still "living"!

At an altitude of 390 kilometers, Morgan began to slow down, so the "spider" crawled even slower.Before long it hardly moved, and finally came to a standstill, covering a distance of just shy of four hundred and five kilometers. "I'm going to drop the batteries," Morgan reported. "Please watch out!" Many people had struggled with trying to salvage this heavy and expensive piece of equipment, but there was not enough time to create the braking system that would have allowed it to land safely.Fortunately, the area where it landed was ten kilometers east of the "Earth" station - an impassable tropical jungle.Taborobani's animal world will have to endure a "resignation" encounter; as for the environmental protection authorities, it's best to wait until the end to say hello to them.

Morgan turned the key to the safe, then pressed the red button that delivered power to the fuse bolt.Due to the effect of the deflagration, the cosmic airtight cabin trembled violently.Morgan then tapped the internal battery, slowly released the friction brakes, and cranked the motor back up. The machine sprinted toward the finish line.But one glance at the appearance, and it was immediately clear that something was wrong. "Spider" should have been traveling upwards at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, but now it barely reached 100 kilometers.There was no need to make any checks—Morgan made a judgment call immediately, because numbers were the best tell.

"Something bad happened. The gunpowder exploded, but the external battery was not thrown away. Something is blocking it. In despair, Morgan notified the earth of the unexpected bad news. Needless to say, the expedition has clearly suffered setbacks.Everyone knows very well that the "spider" has no ability to climb to the bottom of the space orbital tower with an extra load of several hundred kilograms.

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