Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Dolphin House

Every night at sunset, the dolphins swim into the dining room.The only time they have changed routine since Floyd became president was on the day of the 2005 tsunami.Fortunately, the tsunami lost most of its energy before it reached Hilo (Hiro is the largest of the Hawaiian islands - rescaler's note).The next time his friends miss another appointment, Floyd will get the family in the car and drive up to the highlands, usually heading straight for Mauna Kea. 183 meters - Note for recalibrators). As cute as they were, he had to admit that their naughtiness was sometimes a nuisance.The wealthy marine geologist who designed the house never minded getting wet, as he usually wore nothing but swimming trunks—or even less.But there was such an unforgettable scene here, when all the directors were well-dressed and sipping cocktails by the pool, waiting to meet a VIP from the mainland, the dolphins thought they should do an impromptu performance.So Mr. VIP was very surprised to be greeted by a crowd of people in wet and inappropriately wearing bathrobes - and the buffet was very salty.

Freud often wondered what Marion would think of his strange and beautiful cottage on the Pacific Ocean.She never liked the sea, but the sea won the final victory, and although the scene has faded in his memory, he can still remember the sentences he saw on the screen at first: "Dr. Freud— — Urgent personal business.” Then the words scrolling on the fluorescent subtitles quickly burned the news into his mind: "I regret to inform you that flight 452 from London to Washington crashed in Newfoundland. Although rescue personnel have been dispatched, it is feared that no one survived."

If it weren't for fate, he might have been on that plane too.For several days, he almost spent his time regretting that business at the European Space Agency had kept him stranded in Paris, even though it had saved his life. Now, he has a new job, a new home - a new wife.Fate has left another irony here.The scolding and questioning of the Jupiter mission ultimately ruined his career in Washington, but a man of his caliber was never out of work for long.The more leisurely pace of university campus life is more suitable for him, coupled with the charm of this paradise, this job becomes irresistible.Just a month after his appointment, he met the woman who would become his second wife, while he was with a large group of tourists viewing Chilaua (Hawaii's active volcano that continues to spew lava every year - revisited Note) hot springs.

With Caroline, he found comfort as important as happiness, as well as lasting warmth.She was a good stepmother to Marion's two girls and bore him Christopher.Despite the twenty-year age gap between them, she could still empathize with his emotions and help him out of his occasional depression.Thanks to her, he could now remember Marion without sadness, although, for the rest of his life, he would never be able to shake off that deep sorrow. Caroline was fish-feeding the largest dolphin—the male they called Scarback—when a slight vibration in Floyd's wrist told him that someone was calling.He tapped the metal strap to silence the vibrating bell, turned on the dialogue device, and walked to the side of the house.

"I am the principal, who is it?" "Heywood? I'm Victor. How are you?" In an instant, various complex emotions flooded Freud's mind.It was exasperation at first: His successor — and, he was sure, the mastermind behind his ouster — hadn’t tried to contact him since he left Washington.And then curiosity: what were they going to talk to him about?Then he stubbornly decides not to help as much as possible, then he feels ashamed of himself for being naive, and finally, a surge of excitement emerges.Victor Milson would call, only for one reason. He replied in as calm a voice as possible, "It's all right. Victor, what's the matter?"

"Is this line safe?" "No, thank God, I don't need a wiretap-proof line." "Oh, well, let me put it this way, do you remember the last project you worked on?" "My memory is fine, especially since I was called in by the NASA hearing committee just a month ago to give more evidence." "Of course, of course. I should really read your statement when I have time. But I'm busy with follow-up business and have a question." "I think everything is going according to plan." "It's -- unfortunately. We can't move forward, and even the highest priority only gets it weeks ahead. That means we're too late."

"I don't understand," said Floyd with affected innocence. "While we don't want to waste time, there must be no deadline." "No, there's a—two deadlines." "It's amazing." Even if Victor noticed the sarcasm in his tone, he didn't want to go too far, "Yes, there are two deadlines - one is artificial and one is not. Now, it has been confirmed that we will not be the first to arrive - er, Where the incident happened. Our old adversary was at least a year ahead of us." "too bad." "That's not the worst. Even if there's no competition, we're too late. By the time we get there there won't be any."

"This is ridiculous. I'm sure I'll hear about it if Congress repeals the gravity law." "I'm serious. The situation is fluid - I can't go into details right now. Will you be there tonight?" "Yes," Floyd replied, before realizing with pleasure that it was past midnight in Washington. "Very well, a package will be delivered to you in an hour, give me a call as soon as you have time to look through it." "Will it be too late then?" "Yes, but we've wasted too much time. I don't want to waste any more." What Milson said was true, and a large wax-sealed envelope was delivered to him by an Air Force colonel an hour later, not less than a minute.The colonel chatted patiently with Caroline while Freud read the letter. "I'm afraid I'll have to take it with you after you've read it," said the high-ranking courier apologetically.

"Fine," Floyd replied, before he sat down in his favorite everyday chair. Inside were two documents, the first of which was very short.It was stamped "Top Secret," but the word "Top" had been crossed out, and three barely recognizable signatures had been signed over the redaction.It's clearly an excerpt from a very long report, and it's annoying to read with lots of blank space.Fortunately, its conclusion can be summed up in one sentence: "The Russians will be there before the real owner of the Discovery arrives." Since Freud had already known this, he quickly opened the The second document—before he noted with satisfaction that this time they got the ship's name right.As usual, Dimitri was right again.The next manned mission to Jupiter is a spacecraft named Alex Leonev.

The second document is longer, but only classified as "confidential"; in fact, it is an academic draft and cannot yet be published.It's clearly titled, Space Vehicle Discovery: Irregular Orbital Behavior. Next came dozens of pages of math and astronomy tables.Floyd brushes it aside, poring over it for a hint of apology or embarrassment.But when he finished reading, he had to squeeze out a smile of admiration.No one can guess how surprised the tracking station and interstellar computing station are, and they are frantically covering up the error.There was no doubt that those in charge would go, and he knew Victor Milson would be more than happy to let them go—as long as he wasn't the first to step down.To be fair though, Victor protested when Congress cut funding for the tracking network.Maybe that would help him get away.

"Thank you, Colonel." Floyd said after reading it. "As in the past, they are all confidential documents. This is something I can't avoid." The Colonel carefully put the papers into his briefcase and locked the combination. "Dr. Milson would like you to call him back as soon as possible." "I know. But I don't have a security line, and I'm sure some important guest will come to me, and if I drive up to your office in Hero just to tell him I read two papers, I'll be damned. Tell him I We have carefully reviewed these two documents and are waiting for further communication." At this moment the colonel seemed to want to argue something, then he thought for a moment, said goodbye stiffly, and disappeared into the night. "What's going on?" Caroline asked. "We don't have any guests, important or not, tonight." "I hate being bossed around, especially by Victor Milson." "I think he'll call you as soon as the Colonel reports to him." "Then we'll have to turn off the VCR and create some party vibes, but honestly, I really don't have much to say right now." "If you may ask, what is it about?" "Sorry, dear, it seems the Discovery is deceiving us. We thought the ship was in a stable orbit, but it appears to be going down." "Fall on Jupiter?" "Oh no -- that's impossible. Bowman places it at an inner Lagrangian point (Lagrangian point: a point in space where a small body is gravitationally attracted by two large bodies, At this point, the small object remains basically stationary relative to the two large objects. The existence of these points was deduced and proved by the French mathematician Lagrange in 1772. In 1906, the asteroid moving in the orbit of Jupiter was discovered for the first time (see off Luoyang group asteroids) are at the Lagrangian point under the action of Jupiter and the sun. In each system composed of two large celestial bodies, there are 5 Lagrangian points according to inference, but only two are stable, That is, even if the small object is disturbed by the external gravitational force at this point, it still has a tendency to remain in its original position. Each stable point forms an equilateral triangle with the point where the two large objects are located.——Reviser’s note), At the point of balance between Jupiter and Io. It should stay there, although interference from outer satellites will make it wobble back and forth. But what is happening now is weird and we don't know how to explain it. 'floating' toward Io faster and faster—although sometimes it speeds up and sometimes it backs off. If it keeps going like this, it will be heading towards the star in two or three years." "I don't think that happens in astronomy. Isn't astromechanics an exact science? That's what we poor biologists are told." "It's an exact science, all things considered. But there's something strange going on around Io, besides its volcanic activity, where there's massive electrical discharges—and Jupiter magnetic field every ten