Chapter 65 Chapter 55 Magma

"Master," said the master computer in the room, "while you were sleeping, I entered the special program of Gnymede. Do you want to watch it now?" "Okay," replied Dr. Paul Craigie, "ten times faster and silent." He knows that someone must have a lot of introductory information that he can skip or read later, and he wants to find what he is thinking of as soon as possible. The data flashed by quickly, and Victor Willis appeared on the screen, gesticulating frantically somewhere in Gurnymede, but there was no sound at all.Dr. Paul Craigie, like many hardworking scientists, views Willis with a somewhat biased view, though he admits he has accomplished some useful tasks.

Wellis suddenly disappeared, replaced by a less wobbly object, Mount Zeus, only much more alive than any normal mountain.Dr. Craigie was very surprised to find that Mount Zeus had changed a lot since the last picture from Europa. "Return to normal speed," he ordered, "add sound effects." "It sinks almost one hundred meters every day. And the angle of inclination has increased by fifteen degrees. The crustal activity is now extremely violent, and the lava extending outward is flowing around the base. I have already contacted Van den Berg, Fan, what do you think? Sample?"

Dr. Craigie thought: Given everything my nephew has been through, he seems to be doing pretty well.Of course, this is the reason for proper maintenance on weekdays. "Europa's crust has clearly not recovered from the initial impact, and under such a large cumulative pressure, the cracks have become more serious. Since we discovered Mount Zeus, it has slowly sunk down, but in the past The rate of sinking increased dramatically over several weeks. You could see it changing every day." "How long is it before it disappears completely?" "It's hard for me to believe this is happening..."

The scene quickly switched to another scene of Mount Zeus, and Wei Lisi explained it outside the camera. "The above is what Dr. Vandenberg said two days ago. Any comments now, Fan?" "Hmm! Looks like I was wrong, it's going down like an elevator. I can't believe it, only half a kilometer left! I refuse to make any more predictions..." "You're so smart! Fan, well, that's in the past anyway. Now we're going to give you a time-lapse sequence." Dr. Paul Craigie sat and leaned forward, watching the final action of the series in which he also played a part in the distance.

There is no need to speed up the replay, because it is already a hundred times faster than normal.Compressing an hour of events into a minute is like shortening a human life to the length of a butterfly's. Mount Zeus descended before his eyes, molten sulphide rock blasting into the sky with blinding speed, forming a bright and intense blue parabolic spectacle, a bit like a ship fighting a storm at sea, surrounded by electrical discharges, Not even the most spectacular volcano on Io can match the intensity of this sight. "The greatest treasure discovered in history is about to disappear before our eyes." Willis said in a quiet and pious tone. "Unfortunately, we cannot show the last scene. You will know why after watching it." .”

These fast movements slowly slow down to normal speed.Only a few hundred meters remained of the entire mountain, and the lava that spewed out around it was moving at a much slower pace now. Suddenly the whole picture tilted. The stable camera image device used to resist the continuous vibration of the surface has now lost its function. For a while, it seemed that Mount Zeus had floated up again, but in fact it was because the camera tripod was tilted. for the sake.The last scene transmitted from Europa is a series of shots of intense lava devouring the equipment. "Gone forever!" Willis lamented. "The wealth is far greater than that produced by Koda or Kimberly. What a tragic and heart-wrenching loss!"

'Idiot! said Dr. Craigie anxiously, "doesn't he understand—" It's time to write another article for Nature.And the secret seemed too big to hide any longer.