Chapter 28 Chapter 22 Dangerous cargo

It is not an easy task to operate a scheduled transportation route between destinations whose positions change millions of kilometers every few days and whose speed changes by tens of kilometers per second. It is very difficult, and sometimes it is necessary to ignore the predetermined voyage and wait for each planet in the solar system to re-run to a shorter docking position at the docking port (or at least in orbit). Fortunately, these cycles are known the year before, so the spacecraft can make good use of this waiting time for regular maintenance, updates, and freedom of movement for the crew.Occasionally, with luck or aggressive salesmanship, a spaceship can be placed on local charter missions (even if it's just a "week around the harbor" event).

Captain Eric Laplace was pleased that the three-month stay of the spacecraft on Gurneymede was not a cost penalty because of an unexpected grant from the anonymous Planetary Science Foundation, Funding it to undertake a re-exploration of Jupiter's satellite system (even though no one is calling it a magic star yet), with a special request to detect some oft-overlooked small moons, some of which have never been properly explored But, let alone log in. When Van den Berg heard about the assignment, he immediately called Zong's Shipping Company to ask some serious questions. "Yes, we will first go directly to Io, then fly over Europa..."

"Just passing by? How close?" "Wait a minute, it's strange that the flight plan doesn't have details. But of course it won't enter the forbidden area, I suppose." "The last regulation fifteen years ago has reduced the distance to approach Europa to 10,000 kilometers. In short, I will volunteer to participate in the mission as a planetary scientist. I will submit my qualification certificate..." "No, Dr. Vandenberg. They've appointed you to attend." People are often blind.When Captain Laplace looked back, he found many strange places (he will have more time to think back in the future).Captain Laplace recalled that two crew members had suddenly fallen ill and were replaced at urgent notice, and since he was happy to find replacements, he did not review their qualification documents as carefully as before. (Even when he scrutinized them, he found them to be fairly compliant.)

Then there is the issue of containers.As the captain, he has the right to inspect any items on board.Of course, it is impossible for him to check every item in detail, but as long as the reason is justified, he will not hesitate to check.The crew of the spacecraft are generally highly responsible people, but long-term duty will make them feel bored, so it is necessary to ban anti-boring drugs (although it is legal on earth) on board. When second-in-command Chris Floybe Jr. raised his doubts, the captain's first thought was that the color and smell detection equipment on board had detected the high-grade opium stash that a large group of American crew members occasionally carried.This time, however, things were much more serious—very serious.

"Captain, the cargo No. 456 placed in the second item of the third cabin, the cargo list lists scientific instruments, which contain explosives." "what!" "No mistake. Sir, this is the result of electronic detection." "I believe you. Little Chris, have you checked?" "No, it was a sealed box, about half a meter by one meter by five meters, one of the largest boxes the science team brought aboard. It was marked 'Fragile, handle with care,' and each Boxes are marked like this." Captain Laplace followed the plastic edge of the table with his fingers. (He hates this style of table and intends to replace it during the next renovation.") Even such a small movement caused him to get up from his seat and naturally wrap his feet around the legs to stabilize himself .

While he didn't doubt Little Chris's report (his new second-in-command was competent, and the captain was glad he never initiated a discussion of his illustrious grandfather), he thought there must be a naive explanation .Taste detectors may be misled by other exciting chemical ingredients. They could have pursued it and forced the case open.No, that might be dangerous, and it might involve legal issues, it's better to go directly to the person in charge, sooner or later he will have to do so. "Please bring Dr. Anderson here, and don't mention this to anyone." "Yes, sir." Little Chris gave a very polite but unnecessary salute, then slid away.

The leader of the scientific team, Dr. Anderson, was not used to the zero-gravity environment, which made him appear extremely awkward when entering the captain's cabin.But his dissatisfaction was useless, and several times he had to hold onto the captain's table wobbly for support. "Explosives! Of course not, let me look at the manifest first... the second item is No. 456..." Dr. Anderson tapped on the keyboard of his laptop computer, and slowly read out the reference: "'Probe number five, number three.' Certainly no problem." "What exactly is a probe?" asked the captain. Although he cared very carefully about the matter, he had a hard time suppressing a smile, because the probe sounded colored.

"Standard planetary sampling equipment. You drop it, and if you're lucky, it creates a crack up to ten meters long, even in the hardest rock, and it sends back a full chemical analysis. It's research like Mercury. The only safe way to go to places like the Light Side or Io, where we'll drop the first probes." "Dr. Anderson," the captain said with effort, "you may be a brilliant geologist, but you don't understand the mechanics of the universe. You can't throw things from orbit..." As can be seen from Andersen's reaction, he apparently missed the indictment of his ignorance at all.

"Idiot!" he said. "Of course I should have noticed." "That's right. Solid fuel rockets are classed as a dangerous cargo, and I'm asking for clearance papers from the insurance officer, and I'm asking for your personal assurance that there's absolutely nothing wrong with the safety systems, or they'll be moved overboard. Now, Are there any other surprises? Are you going to do an earthquake detection? I'm sure there's a risk of blasting that too..." A few hours later, the reprimanded scientist discovered two vials of fluorine, which could be used to excite lasers thousands of kilometers away to penetrate celestial bodies and sample them with spectrographs.Since pure fluorine is known to be the most harmful substance to humans, it is also listed as a highly prohibited substance, but it is also one of the keys to the success of the mission, just like the rocket that sends the probe to the target.

When Captain Laplace thought the safety precautions were in place, he accepted the scientist's apology, and his assurance that these oversights were solely due to the tight schedule of preparations for the expedition. He believed that Dr. Anderson was telling the truth, but he also felt that there were indeed some odd things about the mission.It's just that he never imagined how weird things would be.