Chapter 18 Section 18

Just as Professor Kazan was experimenting and fantasizing.At that time, a force was gathering over the Pacific Ocean.It gathers and gathers quietly, disregarding the hopes and fears of humans or dolphins.Among the first to discover this great power were Mick and Johnny.It was a dark and stormy night, and they came to the coral reef to search and explore again. As usual, they were looking for crayfish and rare shellfish.This time, Mick had a new utensil in his hand.This is a waterproof flashlight, which is larger than ordinary flashlights.When Mick turned on the flashlight, it emitted a faint blue light.But the flashlight also emits a beam of intense ultraviolet light, which is invisible to the human eye.When electric light shines on various corals and shells, the corals and shells will emit blue, yellow, green and other colorful lights under the dark seabed as if they were burning.This invisible light is like a magic stick, which can expose everything that was originally invisible or invisible under normal light.For example, if the sand has been scraped by some kind of mollusc somewhere, the ultraviolet rays can clearly show the traces of it, and Mick can easily get something.

Under water, this waterproof flashlight can produce a strange effect.When the two children were snorkeling in the pool near the edge of the reef, the blue light was dim but far away.They can see corals in the distance sparkling like stars and constellations twinkling in space.Although the scenery of the seabed itself is too beautiful to behold, it is even more fascinating under the illumination of blue light. This wonderful new tool captivated the two children.Their dive was longer than usual.When they were about to go home, they found that the weather had changed. At this time, the sea was still as calm as usual, only the low moans of the waves hitting the coral reefs could be heard.But then, the wind picked up on the sea, and the sea began to roar.

Johnny crawled out of the puddle.For the first time in his life he saw such a scene.On the distant sea, a faint light is slowly moving forward on the water.At first he wondered if it was the light of a ship.But then it didn't feel like it, the light was dim and fuzzy, and shapeless, like a layer of mist. "Mick," he asked eagerly in a low voice, "what's that thing in the sea out there?" Mick didn't answer, just whistled in surprise and leaned closer to Johnny as if to protect his little mate. They watched as the mist coalesced and grew brighter, higher and higher, its edges becoming clearer.They could hardly believe their eyes.After a few minutes, it was no longer a dim red light in the night, but a bright beam of light walking on the water.

This scene made the two boys superstitious and filled their hearts with awe-this is the fear of the unknown world.The wonders of the universe are endless, and man will never know all of its mysteries, so the awe will never die.All kinds of explanations, all kinds of theories, came to the minds of the two children.Finally, Mick laughed, which seemed to be reassuring, but also revealed a certain uneasiness. "I know what it is," he said. "It was just a jet of water. I've seen that happen before, but only during the day." Like all mysteries, once understood, its explanation is quite simple.But the wonderful scene overseas continued, and the two children were fascinated.They saw the jet of water swirling up, picking up countless glowing creatures from the sea, and scattering them into the air.It must have been far from the reef, because Johnny and the others didn't hear the roar of the waves.After a while, everything suddenly disappeared in the direction of the mainland over there.

By the time the children woke up from the shock, the tide had begun to rise knee-deep. "If you don't go, you have to swim back." Mick said.Then he waded toward the island.He considered it carefully and said, "I don't like what I've just seen. It's a sign of bad weather—I bet nine times out of ten there's going to be a big storm!" The next morning, they saw that Mick had hit the mark.Even people who don't understand meteorology will be shocked when they see cloud images taken by satellites on TV.There is a swirling cloud, 1,000 miles long, covering the entire western Pacific Ocean.The clouds appear to be fixed in one place, as seen in images taken by weather satellite cameras from far away in space.This is simply because the cloud cover is so large that it appears motionless at first glance.But if you look closely, after a few minutes, people will find that the swirling clouds are moving rapidly across the surface of the earth.The winds driving the clouds reached 150 miles per hour.It is the biggest storm to hit the Queensland coast in a century.

On Dolphin Island, everyone pays close attention to the weather forecast on TV.The weather station forecasts the progress of the storm every hour.But the situation didn't change much throughout the day.In this day and age, meteorology has become a very precise science.Meteorologists predict future weather with great confidence.Of course, people have not been able to modify bad weather so far. Dolphin Island is often hit by storms.The people on the island were both excited and vigilant, but not panicked.Fortunately, the storm came at an ebb tide, so that there was no danger of the tide inundating the island--not surprising that many small islands are submerged in storms in the Pacific Ocean.

Throughout the day, Johnny helps with various disaster preparedness and response work.Everything that could be moved was brought inside, the windows were boarded up; the boat was hauled as far from the beach as possible. The "Flying Fish" dropped four heavy anchors in case of accidents.For the sake of safety, several strong thick ropes are used to lead it to the pandanus on the island.Most fishermen don't worry much about their boats because they are moored on the sheltered side of the island.Woods on the island will greatly reduce the force of the storm. It was very hot and stuffy during the day, and there was not even a breath of wind.Even without the weather maps on the TV or the constant weather forecast from the east, one finds that nature is brewing a masterpiece.Although the sky was clear and cloudless, the messenger sent by the storm had arrived early.All day long, the waves crashed against the coral reefs, and there was a loud bang, and the whole island seemed to tremble under the impact of the huge waves.

As night fell, the sky was still clear, and the stars were twinkling, strangely bright.Johnny takes one last look at the sky as he stands in front of Nauru's concrete and aluminum bungalow.Just as he was about to enter the house, he heard a new sound over the roaring waves.He had never heard such a sound before, like the moaning of a giant beast in pain.Johnny shuddered at the sound, even in the sweltering night. He looked to the east again, and it nearly drove him out of his wits.A wall of pitch black, stretching as far as the eye can see, rises from the sea to the sky.As he continued to watch, the black wall rose higher and higher.He had heard of it, and he had seen it with his own eyes, but he had never seen such a terrible sea storm.

"I was going to find you." Johnny had just entered and closed the door when Mick greeted him.These were the last words he heard.For hours after the disaster, they were unable to speak at all. After only a few seconds, the whole house trembled.Then there was a loud bang, and although it sounded terrible, it seemed very familiar to Johnny.The loud bang reminded Johnny of the beginning of his adventure.At that time, on the "Santa Ana", there was such a loud noise under his feet.Ever since he sneaked onto the hovercraft and came to the other side of the world, everything seemed to have changed.

The roar of the storm drowned out all speech; and, incredible, the voices grew louder.Then came the downpour.In fact, the word "rain" cannot describe the flood of water pouring down from the sky at this very moment.Judging from the sound of the water pouring on the roof and walls, if anyone had stood outside the house, he would have drowned in one blow, if he had not first been crushed to death by the pouring water. But Mick's family was calm about it.Several children were still watching TV around.Of course, the sound is inaudible, but the image can still be seen.Mrs. Nauru was quietly knitting—a trade she had learned in her youth that had amazed Johnny, for he had never seen anyone knitting before.Now, terrified, he doesn't care to watch the needle and thread go back and forth until it turns into a sock or a sweater as if by magic.

Johnny tried to guess what was going on outside by the sound of the wind blowing around the house.No doubt trees were uprooted, boats were blown away, houses were blown down.But the roar of the wind and the roar of the waves overwhelmed all other sounds.There may have been shots fired outside the door, but no one could hear the shots. Johnny looked at Mick, hoping to see some expression on his face that everything was going well, that the storm would pass soon, and that it would be calm again soon.But Mick just shrugged, put on his diving mask, and began to breathe through his scuba.But in this critical moment, Johnny couldn't smile at all. Johnny didn't know how the rest of the island was doing.But apart from the reality of the hut and the people in it, everything else seemed like a dream, as if there were only Mick, his family and himself in the world, and the storm seemed to be blowing towards them.Noah and his family must have felt the same way on the ark; they were the only survivors in the world, watching helplessly as the floodwaters rose higher and higher. Johnny was on land and it never occurred to him that a storm would frighten him, it was nothing more than wind and rain.As it was now, the wind raged like a demon around the crumbling fortress where he hid, in a way he had not only never experienced before, but had never even imagined.If someone told him that the whole Dolphin Island would be blown out to sea by the strong wind, he would not believe it. Suddenly, amidst the roar of the storm, there was a clattering, crackling sound—but it was impossible to tell whether the sound came from a distance or nearby.At the same time, the lights went out. The storm intensified, and the house was completely dark. This was the most terrible moment that Johnny had ever experienced in his life.As long as he could still see his friends before him, even if he couldn't talk to them, that was enough comfort.Now he was alone in the dark, stormy night, helpless.Never had he seen nature so savage. Fortunately, the darkness lasted only a few seconds.Mr. Nauru had already prepared for it. He expected that there might be a power outage, so he prepared a dry battery lamp.When the lights came back on, Johnny found that everything in the house was as usual.He was deeply ashamed of his cowardice. Even in the midst of the storm, life goes on.Children can't watch TV anymore, so they start playing with toys or reading picture books.Mrs Nooru is still knitting, while her husband is working on a thick World Food Organization report on Australian fisheries, full of charts, tables and maps.Mick pushed the checkers away.Although Johnny had no intention of playing chess, he knew that chess was the only way to dissipate his worries and fears in this situation. The night passed slowly in such torment.Sometimes the storm is a little quieter, and the howl of the wind is quieter, so that if you shout, others can hear you.But no one is willing to speak up at such times, because there is practically nothing to say.And soon, the storm came again. In the middle of the night, Mrs. Noru got up and went into the kitchen.Presently she brought a pot of hot coffee, half a dozen cans of beer, and some pastries assorted.Could this be his last snack, Johnny wondered?He ate with gusto anyway, but at the chessboard, he was starting to lose to Mick. Around 4:00 am, about 2 hours before dawn, the storm started to die down.The strong wind gradually weakened, and finally only the whistling of the strong wind was heard.At the same time, the rain has subsided, and they no longer seem to be living under the impact of a waterfall. Around 5 o'clock, there were intermittent gusts of wind, but this was just the last struggle before the storm died down.When the sun comes up, it's time to go outside. This must be a disaster, Johnny thought.that's the truth.He and Mick walked out of the house, and the once familiar path was blocked by trees lying all over the place; Johnny and Mick could only climb over the fallen tree trunks.They also encountered other people on the island wandering outside.What they saw was like a city that had just been bombed, making everyone boo.Many were wounded, with bandages on their heads and arms hanging in gauze.However, due to long-term preparations and luck, no major casualties were caused. Property damage is severe.The wires were all blown out, but these can be put back up soon.What's more serious is that the power plant has been severely damaged.It was caused by a fallen tree.The big tree was blown up by the strong wind, blown a distance of 100 meters, and then fell on the factory building. The power plant seemed to have been hit by a giant club.The nearby internal combustion engine plant was not spared either. To make matters worse, at some point during the night, the wind turned to the west and struck the formerly sheltered side of the island.Half of the fishing boats moored in the harbor sank, and the other half was blown to the beach by the wind and smashed to pieces. The "Flying Fish" was tilted and half submerged in the water.Of course, it could be salvaged, but it would take weeks of repairs before it could sail again. Yet despite the devastation, people don't seem too upset.At first, Johnny was confused and shocked by people's indifferent attitude.Later, he slowly learned that storms are commonplace on the Great Barrier Reef-this is a basic and inevitable reality of life!If you want to settle down here, you have to make sacrifices; if you don't want to pay the price, the solution is very simple, you can move to live elsewhere. In this regard, Professor Kazan has another opinion.When Johnny and Mick found him checking the blown wire at the dolphin pool, the professor said: "The storm dragged us back for a full half a year, but we got through it. Equipment can be replaced - but people and knowledge are not. Fortunately, we lost neither." "What about the computer 'Oscar'?" Mick asked. "It can't work, and it can't resume work until the electricity comes, but the memory bank and the circuit are intact." So, Johnny thought, there might be no classes for the time being.It's true that no matter what misfortune happens, someone always benefits from it. But the biggest loser was Nurse Tessie.Seeing her infirmary turned into a pile of ruins, the big woman couldn't help but feel distraught. A cut, a bruise, a crushed arm, she can handle.She had been bandaging the wounded since daybreak; but there was nothing she could do for the worst pain.Now she has no penicillin at all. After the storm, the weather is suddenly cold, and it is very likely that someone will catch a cold and have a fever.People whine without drugs.She had expected it all.Ah, by the way, don't waste any more time, go to the communication building and send a telegram to request the supply of medicine. Her early work experience taught her what medications were urgently needed in this situation.She quickly made a list and hurried to the communication center.The result surprised her even more. Two dispirited electronics technicians were toasting their soldering irons on a portable vaporizing kerosene stove, surrounded by tangles of wires and broken electronics.A pandanus fell straight from the roof and landed on the radio equipment. "I'm sorry, Tessie," they said. "It would be a miracle if we could get in touch with the mainland by the end of the week. Now we'll have to go back to ancient times and use smoke as a signal." Tessie thought about it. "I can't take chances," she said. "We have to send a ship to the mainland to make contact." After hearing this, the two technicians could only smile wryly. "Don't you know?" one of them said. "The 'Flying Fish' turned over, and other ships are anchored on the trees in the middle of the island!" Tessie chewed the report slowly—it was slightly exaggerated, but only slightly—and she felt more embarrassed than she had ever been in her nursing career.The only hope is that everyone is healthy.If you are sick, wait until the telecommunications are restored to regenerate! But in the evening, one patient's foot appeared to be gangrene.Then the professor came to see her; he was pale and trembling. "Tessie," said the professor, "take my temperature. I feel I have a fever." By midnight, Tessie was diagnosed and the professor had pneumonia!