Chapter 2 second quarter

The closer Johnny got to the spaceship, the more he felt the size of the hovercraft.But compared with the giant oil transport spacecraft and grain transport spacecraft with more than 100,000 tons, it is still insignificant.That kind of giant spaceship sometimes roars over the valley, that's amazing!This spacecraft is about 20,000 tons at most.On the prow was the words "Brazil Santa, Anna," but the letters were a little faded.Even in the moonlight, Johnny felt that this was an old hovercraft that needed to be cleaned and painted.If the ship's engine was as old as this, it would be perfectly understandable to make an emergency landing here.

Johnny walked around the giant monster, but found no one.Of course, there is nothing to be surprised about, as hovercraft are generally controlled automatically.A dozen crew members are enough for a spaceship of this size.If that's the case, they must all be in the engine room fixing the engine. At this moment, the "Santa-Anna" stopped jetting, but rested peacefully on the huge flat-bottomed pontoon.The flat-bottomed pontoons were originally used when the spacecraft landed on the surface of the sea, and they are as long as the hull of the spacecraft.As Johnny walked along the pontoon, he felt as if there was a high wall in front of him. There are also ladders and handrails in several places on the "high wall".Climb up the ladder to gain access to the hull at a height of 20 feet.

Johnny looked thoughtfully at the doors along the side of the ship.Of course, those doors may all be locked.But what about climbing up to see it?If he is lucky, he can even climb into the boat for a walk!When the crew found him and drove him down, he would have already had their eyes full.This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he will regret it for the rest of his life if he loses this opportunity... He hesitated no more, and immediately climbed up the nearest ladder.At 15 feet, he had another idea and stopped. But it was too late, he didn't need to make up his mind, he was already "on the horse, had to run".The smooth high wall trembled suddenly, and he clung to the wall like a fly.A roar sounded like countless tornadoes, shaking the peaceful night sky. The "Santa-Anna" gradually rose into the sky.Johnny looked down and saw earth, rocks, and grass descending.Now, he couldn't go down.The jet of air from the spaceship could blow him away as easily as a feather.The only way out was to climb up—he had to find his way into the cabin before the ship rose to fly.But what if the door is closed?Johnny couldn't think about it anymore.

He is a very lucky star.There is a handle on the hull as high as the metal door.He pushed lightly, and the door swung open.A dimly lit corridor opened from behind the door.Johnny immediately stepped into the Santa Ana and closed the door, and he breathed a sigh of relief.The muffled sound of the jet stream outside the door is no longer so scary.The spaceship also began to move forward, and Johnny flew towards an unknown destination. At first, Johnny was a little scared, but after thinking about it, there was nothing to be afraid of.All he had to do was find his way onto the bridge, explain to them what happened, and they'd let him off at the next stop.Within hours, the police would have sent him home.

Home, he has no home, he does not belong to any home. Twelve years ago, when he was only 4 years old, both his parents died in a plane crash.Since then he has lived in his aunt's house.Aunt Martha had children of her own, and of course she wasn't happy about having another child to eat. Johnny was getting along well when Uncle James was around, but after his uncle died, Johnny felt more and more that he was just an outsider in the family. That being the case, why should he go back—at least, if no one took him back, he didn't have to go back himself.This is truly an opportunity that never comes again.The more he thought about it, the more he felt that all of this was arranged by fate.In short, good fortune is here, so let nature take its course!

First, he had to find a place to hide.In a ship of this size, of course, there would be no difficulty.But he didn't know the structure of the "Santa-Anna". If he bumped around, he might be discovered by some crew member.It seemed that it would be best to find a hold to hide in, as no one would go there while the ship was in flight. Feeling like a thief, Johnny started poking around inside the boat and was soon completely lost.He seemed to be wandering around along corridors and passages that were several miles long, climbing up the spiral staircase for a while, and walking down the vertical ladder for a while, passing by windows and doors with names that he didn't understand.Corridors and hallways are dimly lit.At one point, the door he passed had the words "main engine room" written on it.He couldn't resist the temptation, and risked opening the metal door just a little.Looking through the crack of the door, you can see turbines and compressors everywhere in the room.A man-thick air duct hangs from the ceiling and passes through the floor, and the sharp whistling sound rang in the ears.The wall at the other end of the computer room is covered with gauges and switches.Three men checked the switches and gauges so intently that they didn't notice that Johnny was peeking at them.Besides, they were about 50 feet away from him and would never have noticed that the door had been pushed open a few inches.

Those few people were obviously discussing something nervously—they communicated mainly by gestures; the sound of the machine in the room was deafening, and the conversation could not be heard clearly.It didn't take long for Johnny to see that they were arguing rather than conferring, for they were all flailing their arms, pointing at instruments, and shrugging their shoulders.Finally, a man raised his arms high, as if to say: "I quit!" and strode out of the computer room.Johnny decided that the Santa Ana was not a happy ship. Before long, he found a hiding place.It was a small storage room, about 20 square meters, filled with goods and luggage parcels.Johnny was relieved to find that the address on both the cargo and luggage tags was Australia.He will be far from home, and no one will disturb him on the way.The spacecraft will cross the Pacific Ocean and reach the other side of the ocean.

Johnny scavenged a small space in the cargo pile and sat down with confidence, leaning against a large package.He was nervous and excited just now; now that he is relaxed, he feels tired and weary.Before long, he was lying on the hard metal floor and fell asleep. When he awoke, the boat had stopped.Because the surroundings were silent, there was no vibration in the hull.Johnny looked at his watch and found that it had been five hours since he boarded the ship. During this time, the "Santa Ana" had flown at least 1,000 miles--of course, if there was no stopover on the way.Perhaps, the spacecraft is now parked in a port on the Pacific coast.Soon, after loading the cargo, it will fly out to sea.

If he is discovered now, his adventures will be over immediately.Best to stay put and wait for the ship to head out to sea.At that point, even if he was found, they would never have returned just to put down a 16-year-old kid enjoying the spaceship. Now, he's hungry and thirsty.He has to find food and water. The Santa Ana might be here for a few days, so wouldn't he starve to death in this storeroom? He tried his best not to eat, but he couldn't do it.It was time for him to eat breakfast.Johnny encouraged himself that great explorers had to endure much harsher conditions than this.

Fortunately, the "Santa-Anna" only stayed in this unknown port for an hour.Soon, Johnny felt the floor shake again, and the screeching of jets seemed to be coming from afar again.A stone in his heart was finally released.He clearly felt that the spaceship lifted off the ground and flew forward at high speed.Johnny thought that in two hours, he would be flying over the ocean—of course, there were two prerequisites: one was that his calculation was correct; the other was that this was the last port the spaceship would call on the mainland. After waiting patiently for two hours, he was ready to go out and "surrender himself".He went out of the storage room to find the crew, feeling uneasy.He also hoped to find something to eat.

However, even if he took the initiative to "surrender", it seemed that it was not as easy as he thought.From the outside, the "Santa-Anna" is just a large cargo ship; but once inside, it feels very big.He felt more and more hungry, but still could not meet a person. However, he found a small window opening, which made him very happy.For the first time, he saw the scenery outside the spaceship.Although the window hole is small and the view is not wide, it is enough to see the outside world.Looking far and wide, I saw a gray sea with rolling waves and boundless boundless waves.At a glance, there was no land to be seen—only empty water. Johnny saw the ocean for the first time.He grows inland—on hydroponic farms in the Arizona desert and in the newly planted forests of Oklahoma.Seeing the boundless sea was both pleasing to the eye and a little frightening to him.He stood at the window opening, staring out the window for a long time, convinced that he was flying away from the hometown where he was born, and was flying to a strange country that he knew nothing about.It's too late to change your mind now! He stumbled upon a lifeboat, which resolved unexpectedly.His tummy problem.It was a totally enclosed airboat, twenty-five feet in length; where it lay, the hull of the ship had an opening which opened like a window.The airboat is hung between two small cranes, ready to be hoisted out of the big ship and landed on the sea. Johnny climbed into the boat at once—the first thing he found was a box marked "Spare Rations," and without hesitation he opened it and gorged on biscuits and compressed meat.A box of dirty water was enough to quench his thirst.After eating and drinking, he immediately felt full of energy.Although the food during the journey is not rich, it is enough to fill the stomach. This discovery also immediately changed Johnny's original plan.Now, there is no need for him to "surrender himself".He could stay hidden throughout the flight—and if he was lucky, he might be able to sneak off the ship once it reached the terminal without being spotted!Of course he doesn't know what to do in the future, but Australia is a big place, and there will always be a solution when the time comes. He brought enough food to last 20 hours and returned to the small storage room where he had been hiding.This flight lasts a maximum of 20 hours.Now, Johnny wants to take a good rest.He dozed for a while, and looked at his watch for a while, trying to estimate where the "Santa Ana" flew.He wondered if he would stop at Hawaii or some island in the Pacific, but he hoped not.He was eager to start a new life, as soon as possible. Once or twice he thought of Aunt Martha too.If he ran away, would she be sad?He didn't believe she would be sad.He knew, too, that his cousins ​​would cheer with joy when they learned that he had escaped.When he has money, he will go to see them. At that time, seeing what kind of face they will have will be enough to satisfy him.He also had to visit his old schoolmates, especially the ones who made a fool of him, calling him "little guy" because of his short stature.He was going to show them that brains and determination were far more important than size... Johnny was so ecstatic at the thought that he soon fell asleep. At the end of the voyage, he was still sleeping.A loud explosion woke him up.Seconds later, he felt the Santa Ana plummeting into the sea.Then the lights went out and it was pitch black.