Chapter 40 Chapter 33 Detention pit

"This is the sloppiest job I've had since leaving school," murmured the chief engineer, "but we all did our best." The telescoping line stretched fifty meters away, through the chemical-covered rock, to the now-quiet spout of the Old Faithful, which resembled a rectangular funnel opening downward.The sun had just risen from the mountain, and when the water reservoir at the bottom of the fountain felt the first heat, the ground began to shake slightly. Dr. Fo, standing in the observation room, could hardly believe that so many things happened in just twenty-four hours.The first is the split of the crew into two opposing groups, with one led by the captain and others led by him.They were treated with indifference and politeness, without really fighting each other.Sometimes he likes the nickname "Dr. Buddha who committed suicide", although it is not a good title.

So far no one has worked on the "Fojo strategy" (the name is not fair, Dr. Fau insists that Jorsen invented it, but no one believes him. And Mihailovich also said: "Aren't you ready to take some responsibility ?”) to find any fundamental errors. The first test will start in twenty minutes, because that's when the Old Faithful starts to move.Even if it works, and the propellant tanks are filled with clean, pure water rather than the mud Captain Smith predicted, the path to Europa remains unclear. There is a small but not negligible factor in this, and that is the will of the travelers; who had intended to be home in a fortnight, but now, unexpectedly and somewhat dismayed, faced a situation that would make them The danger of passing through half the solar system, even if it succeeds, there is no fixed time to return to Earth.

Willis is extremely annoyed that all his work schedules will be disrupted.He complained everywhere about going to court, but no one sympathized with him. Greenberg, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited that he could actually be involved in space again! And Mikhailovich, who had been composing noisily in a cabin away from all the noise, was also excited about this, and he was sure that this trip would lead him to a higher creative space. Mobella is full of philosophers: "If our actions can save many people," she said, eyeing Willis, "how can anyone object?" As for Merlin, Dr. Buddha took great pains to explain to her specifically, but found that she was very aware of the situation.Much to his surprise, Merlin asks a question that no one else has noticed: "What if the Europas won't let us land...even if we're trying to save our friends?"

Dr. Buddha stared at her in amazement. He still couldn't see her as an ordinary person. He would never know whether she was a genius or an idiot. "Good question, Merlin. Trust me, I'm working on it." He was telling the truth, he never lied to Merlin because he felt that would be sacrilege. The first stream of steam appeared at the mouth of the fountain, and then shot up through the unnatural vacuum track, quickly gushing in the strong sunlight. The old servant coughed again and cleared his throat.Then, a snow-white (much more unexpected) column of crystalline icicles and water droplets rose rapidly into the sky.All Earthlings intuitively thought it would fall apart, but of course it didn't.It continued onwards and upwards, only partly fanning out, until it was completely submerged in space, in stark contrast to the comet's still-expanding stupor.Dr. Fo watched with satisfaction the vibrations as the fluid rushed into the line.

Ten minutes later there was an argument on the bridge.Captain Smith, still angry, gave a slight nod to indicate that he knew Dr. Buddha had appeared.His No. 2 deputy spoke for Captain Smith with some embarrassment. "We were amazed how well it worked. At this rate we could fill our propellant tanks in twenty hours, but we occasionally had to go outside to fix the lines." "How to deal with the sludge?" someone asked. The second-in-command holds up a squeeze ball filled with a colorless liquid. "This filter will filter everything down to a few fine scum, and we will filter it from one tank to another tank to be safe. I don't think we will have a swimming pool until we pass Mars .”

This somewhat caused some laughter, and even the captain relaxed a little. "We first check whether Harley's water will cause abnormal operation with the smallest engine power. If it does not work properly, we have to abandon this idea and go to the moon and use the water on the moon as fuel." There was "all silence," as everyone waited for someone else to speak.Then Captain Smith broke the embarrassment. "As you all know," he said, I did not agree with the idea, in fact—" He changed his tone suddenly. It was known that he had contemplated delivering his resignation to Sir Laurence, but it was a deliberate gesture.

"But something has happened in the past few hours. The owner has agreed to the plan because our tests have not detected enough problems to disprove the concept. The most surprising thing is that what I and everyone know As much, that is, the World Space Council not only agrees with this idea, but also requires us to make this conversion, and at the same time agrees to bear all possible costs, which we all agree on. "But I still have a concern..." He looked suspiciously at the small ball that Dr. Buddha was rooting in his hand and slowly encroaching on the water moving under the light. "I'm just an engineer, not a chemist. This thing looks It's clear, but what about filling the propellant tank?"

Dr. Fo didn't understand why he did this at all, such a rash action was completely meaningless.Perhaps he was impatient with the whole argument and wanted to get back to work; or maybe he felt the captain should improve the morale of the ship. He suddenly and quickly turned on the tap and drank about 20cc of Halley's Comet water. "It's all right, Captain!" he said as he swallowed the water. Half an hour later, the ship's doctor said, "That's one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. Don't you know it has cyanide and cyanide in it? God knows what else!"

"Of course I know." Dr. Fo smiled, "I have read the analysis report, and the content is only one part in a million. There is nothing to worry about, but I am indeed a little surprised." He said sadly. "Then why?" "If you could ship this filler back to Earth, you could get rich selling it as a laxative."