Chapter 46 46. ​​On small platforms

Although it was very cold on the top of the mountain, the crowd continued to grow.There is a dazzling star on the zenith. Right now, the thoughts of all human beings and the laser light emitted by the "Golden Jet" space station are concentrated on it; and from it, some kind of hypnotic power seems to be emanating.The visitors behaved in exactly the same way - timidly and cowering, but at the same time defiantly stroking the north lead, as if to say: "Of course, this kind of behavior is pointless, but in this way, I got in touch with Morgan." Then they gathered around the automatic coffee machine, listening intently to the radio.There was no word from the captives in the orbital tower; they were sleeping or trying to sleep to conserve oxygen.They had not yet been informed of what had happened, since Morgan's rescue had not yet passed the planned time limit, but in an hour's time they would presumably ask Central Station for the reason for the delay.

When Morgan set off from the ground, only ten minutes later, Maxina Duval appeared on Sri Konda Hill.In her earlier temper, such misfortune would have made her furious, but now she just shrugged her shoulders and comforted herself with the thought that when the engineer came back, she would be the first to catch him. Hold on.Kingsley did not allow her to talk to Morgan, and even this prohibition, she accepted it politely and calmly.Yes, she is old... In the last five minutes, only two words have been transmitted to the earth: "It's connected. I'm checking." These words were spoken by Morgan.He is working with the technicians of the "Central" station to check the function of various systems in the space suit.Now that the inspection was over, everyone held their breath, waiting for Morgan's next move.

"Air valve checked," Morgan said.He lowered the visor glass on his helmet, so that his voice echoed slightly: "The pressure in the cockpit is equal to zero. Breathing is normal." After a pause of half a minute, his voice came again: "I'm opening the outer hatch . . . and unfastening my seat belt." Everyone present couldn't help but get excited.Everyone feels as if he himself is stepping out of the cosmic capsule, that is to say, the abyss is unfolding before him. "I tried on the spacesuit, and it fit perfectly; I'm now on the little platform—please don't get excited! The left hand is already strapped on. Well, I see the nut just under the little platform grill. I'm thinking about how to touch it...I'm kneeling and squatting now...it's not convenient...it's enough! Now let's see if it is obedient..."

The audience was in a daze with nervousness, and then they all breathed a sigh of relief. "Excellent! The nut turns, quite easily! Two turns loose...and now—a little more...unscrewed—be careful!" There were bursts of congratulatory cheers and applause from below; some people pretended to be scared and huddled together, even covering their heads with their hands.Those who don't understand that the falling nuts won't be there for at least five minutes and will land ten kilometers east of the summit, think those who are feigning fear are not joking! Only Warren Kingsley did not share in the shared joy.

"Let's be happy later," he said to Maxine Duvall, "it's not all over yet!" Time is passing by second by second...one minute...two minutes "No!" Morgan finally said in a voice full of despair: "I can't remove the safety clip. It seems that a few impacts have welded it to the thread." "Then you come back," said Kingsley, "as soon as possible! A new accumulator has been sent to us: in an hour we can install it and start the machine again. That way, we The time to reach Sai Suyi and the others... will be about six hours later. Of course, if there are no more accidents."

"Exactly," thought Morgan.However, he had no intention of riding on the Spider again without a careful inspection of the brakes, which had been subjected to such rough use.In fact, he probably won't sail again at all.The strain of the last few hours had begun to have its consequences; the mobility of mind and body had declined rapidly due to fatigue--but this was the time when they were called for maximum efficiency with intense concentration! Now, he sat in the driver's seat again, but the cockpit was still not sealed, and the seat belt was not removed.If these things are done, it means that Morgan admits that he has failed.For Morgan, this was by no means an easy task.

The harmonious halo of lasers from the "Golden Jet" space station pierced everything with its relentless rays.Concentration when studying a problem should also be like this kind of ray focusing on the "spider"! All that is required is some kind of cutting tool, a hand saw or pliers, with either of which the clip can be severed.But there is nothing of the kind here.On the other hand, the internal battery of the "spider" has a lot of energy stored, a total of several million watt-hours. Can this energy be used? In an instant, Morgan's mind flashed to use Fantastic for arc cutting clips. BUT. Totally impossible to climb from the cockpit to the battery...

When Morgan was about to close the small door of the cockpit, he suddenly remembered something.It turned out that the key to unlocking the difficulty was always in his pocket!