Chapter 48 48. The last few meters

It was unbelievable—the total delay was only thirty minutes: based on intuition, Morgan was willing to bet with his heart—that the space capsule stayed for at least an hour.Now, it is less than 200 kilometers away from the Space Orbital Tower, and it is probably preparing to warmly welcome him... Congratulations came from Earth as he crossed the five-hundred-kilometer mark and continued at full speed. "By the way," Kingsley said to him, "according to the caretaker of the restricted area of ​​​​the Rehan Nature Reserve, a plane of unknown origin has crashed. We have informed him not to worry. If we can find the "crater" Then we will be able to offer you a small souvenir.”

However, Morgan didn't want to see that damn battery anymore, and as for... if they could find the "tape measure", then... But, I'm afraid this is a hopeless thing... When there were still fifty-five kilometers away from the target, the first bad sign appeared.At this time, the ascent speed should have exceeded 200 kilometers per hour, but now it is only 198.Although the margin of error was small and would have no appreciable effect on the time of arrival—Morgan was beginning to feel a little nervous. Thirty kilometers away from the Space Orbital Tower, he understood that things had reached the point of powerlessness.Although the battery should have ample reserve power, the output voltage began to drop.Presumably, this is the result of severe shocks and repeated starting of the motor; possibly damage to the plates.In short, whatever the reason, the current in the motor is slowly decreasing, and the rate of rise is also decreasing.

When Morgan reported the reading on the meter, the people on the earth fell into extreme panic again. "I'm really afraid you're right," Kingsley said, almost without crying. "Slow down to a hundred, please. Let's try, even if it's a rough estimate of the battery reserves. .” There are only twenty-five kilometers left in total-even at this extremely low speed, it is only a quarter of an hour's journey!If Morgan could pray, he would have resorted to prayer. "Judging by the rate of decline of the current, the battery has enough power for ten to twenty minutes. The situation is likely to be very difficult," Kingsley reported.

"Then please turn on the lights. If I am destined not to reach the Space Orbit Tower, I have to take a good look at it." Morgan's mood is really indescribable. Whether it is "Golden Jet" or other space orbital stations, no one can illuminate the bottom of the space orbital tower.The only thing that can be used is the searchlight of Mount Sri Konda, which points straight to the zenith. A second later, blinding light from the heart of Taborobani penetrated into the cosmic capsule.The beams of light were only a few meters away from Morgan—so close that he seemed to be able to touch them without much effort.Under the illumination of the searchlight, the conduction zone itself seemed to be four beams of light, which shot upwards close together.Morgan's eyes flicked upwards along them, and finally he saw...

There are only twenty kilometers in total!He was supposed to be there ten minutes later, climbing up through the hatchway of the little square structure that was now glowing in the air, carrying presents like a prehistoric Santa Claus.Although he made up his mind to take a good rest—to carry out Cora's instructions, it was actually impossible to do so.Every muscle in his body tensed up, as if by doing so he could help Spider to cover such an insignificant distance. ten kilometers.The sound of the motor has changed.Morgan took immediate countermeasures.Before he had time to discuss with the earth, he reduced his speed to fifty kilometers per hour.This time, the rest of the journey will take another ten minutes to complete.In desperation, he thought about the danger that this method of approaching the target at different speeds might cause him.In essence, this is a duplicate of the problem with the tortoise—if he reduces his speed to half the original distance after each half-way, will he eventually reach the space orbital tower?At some point in the past, he could answer such questions without thinking, but now he is too tired...

At a distance of five kilometers, some details of the structure of the space orbital tower can already be seen clearly-the workbench and the temporary protective net installed in response to public opinion. But then it all lost its meaning.At a distance of two kilometers from the target, the electric motor stopped completely.The cosmic capsule even slid down a few meters before Morgan had time to apply the brakes. However, what surprised him was that Kingsley's voice was quite calm: "Things are not quite hopeless. You let the battery rest for ten minutes. It retains some reserve power."

It was the longest ten minutes of Morgan's life.Although he could have softened the sense of the length of time by answering Maxine Duval's desperate entreaties, he had no energy left for conversation.He felt sorry from the bottom of his heart, but hoped Maxina could understand and forgive him. However, he had a few words with the pilot Qiang Ge.Janger reported that the captives trapped in the orbital tower felt good about themselves and were eagerly awaiting his arrival.They took turns watching him through the portholes of the airlock, in disbelief that he couldn't get past the insignificant distance that now separated them.

Morgan let the batteries rest for an extra minute—a stroke of luck.What made him feel relieved was that the "spider" climbed up again after the motor started by itself, but it stopped again half a kilometer away from the space orbital tower. "Try again, and then everything will be fine." Kingsley said energetically.This time, however, Morgan felt a little reluctance in the old friend's confidence. "I beg your pardon for all these delays..." "Ten minutes more?" Morgan asked obediently. "I'm afraid so. Also, you'll have to run it for half a minute and then stop for a minute. That'll squeeze the last erg out of the battery."

"It seems that I have to squeeze out the last bit of my energy before I can give up!" Morgan thought helplessly.It's strange that Cora has been silent for so long..." With all his attention on Spider, he neglected to take care of himself so completely that he almost forgot the refreshing pills and the jug of juice.When Morgan had taken the prescribed doses of these two things, he felt better; now he had another fantasy--how to transfer his excess heat to the dying battery. The time has come for a last-ditch effort.Failure seemed inconceivable because he was so close to his goal!Fate will never play tricks on people like this—you know, there are only a hundred meters left in total...

However, how many planes have successfully flown across the ocean, but gnawed on the ground on the landing runway!How many times has the mechanism or the muscles failed when there were only the last few kilometers to go? That being the case, what right did he have to expect another fate? The cosmic airtight cabin twitched and climbed up, like a dying beast looking for the last refuge.When the battery finally ran out of power, Morgan felt as if the base of the orbital tower was blocking half the sky. However, there is still a distance of twenty meters between it and it.

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