Chapter 45 Chapter 44: The Trick of Disappearance

It's a really engaging and fun game, and everyone involved in the design - only at their leisure.Even Tanya came over to give her advice, although she still called it a "hypothetical experiment." Floyd knew very well that others were attracted only by the wonderful prospect of returning to Earth a month early, not because of fear of some unknown danger like him. No matter what it is for, he is satisfied.He had done his best, and the rest depended on fate. One thing is very lucky, otherwise this plan would have been aborted long ago.Considering the safety of Jupiter's atmospheric braking strategy, the Leonov was designed to be short and thick, less than half the length of the Discovery, so it happened to be able to ride on the back of the Discovery, and the antenna mount in the middle of the Discovery Excellent hitch location again - assuming it can withstand the enormous tension from Leonov's inertia when Discovery starts up.

The mission center was completely confused by the inquiries sent back to Earth in the next few days: tension analysis of the two spacecraft under special loads, axial centrifugal effects, strength distribution of the hull - these are just more abstruse to be solved by the confused ground engineers A few of the questions.They asked worriedly, "What happened?" "Nothing," Tanya replied. "We're just looking at options. Thank you for your cooperation. End of call." Meanwhile, the original plan is progressing smoothly.All systems on the two spacecraft have been carefully checked and prepared for their respective return flights. Vasily simulated the return trajectory, and then compiled by Chandra and input into Hal-Hal for the final verification.And Tanya and Floyd amicably plan the march to Big Brother together like a general commanding a war.

That's what Freud is busy with these days, but his mind is not there.His inner experience cannot be shared with anyone - not even those who believe in him.While he's still productive, most of the time his mind is already wandering. Tanya understood him very well. "You're still hoping for a miracle that will convince me, aren't you?" "Or maybe I can convince myself, I don't like being so uncertain." "I think so too. But it will soon be clear which of you and I are right." She glanced at the status display, which was slowly flashing "20."This is the most boring message on the spacecraft, because everyone knows very well that there are still a few days before the launch window opens.

The march to "Rangodak" is also on the agenda. Here it is again, Heywood Floyd watching things unfold in a different way.But that didn't make much difference, even if viewed from the surveillance cameras, there was only a blurry darkness in the big square. He was on duty again on the Discovery, and Sasha was on the Leonov.As usual, the evening seemed peaceful, with the automatic systems working as faithfully as usual.Just a year ago Freud would not have believed that when he orbited hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Jupiter, he only occasionally glanced at it-and even after he buried his head in the less successful Letce Sonata" (the work of Leo Tolstoy, a great Russian literature master, tells the story of a man on a train who the author listened to a nobleman who killed his wife narrate the cause and effect of the incident, revealing the normality of men and women in aristocratic bourgeois society. Relationships, especially the alienation of love and marriage, and the tragedy of life brought about by the corruption of morality.——Reviser's Note) The gap between the original works.According to Sasha, it is the most beautiful sex scene in (respectable) Russian literature, although Freud has only read a small part and has not yet been able to prove it.And now he certainly won't continue.

At 01:25 he was disturbed by a spectacular scene outside, nothing out of the ordinary, just an eruption on the bright and dark edge of Io.A huge mushroom cloud rapidly expanded into the sky, and then fell into pieces and fell to the burning land.Floyd has seen this scene dozens of times and never gets tired of it.It is incredible that such a small planet could contain a giant of power. To get a better view, he moved to another observation window.What he saw—or rather, what he didn't see—made him forget about Io and forget about it. When he came back to himself, he was glad he hadn't freaked out—another hallucination? —for confirmation, he called to another ship.

"Good morning, Woody," Sasha said, yawning, "no—I wasn't asleep. How's your old Tolstoy going?" "I didn't. Look out the window and tell me what you saw." "Nothing! In this part of the universe, Io goes round, Jupiter, all the stars... oh my god!" "Thanks, it's true, we'd better wake up the captain." "Of course, and everyone. Woody—I'm a little scared." "You'd be idiots if you weren't afraid, let's get to work. Tanya? Tanya? It's Woody. Sorry to have to wake you up—but the miracle you asked for happened. 'Big Brother' is gone, yes—gone. Three million years later, it decided to leave.

"I think it must know what we don't." Fifteen minutes later, a small group gathered uncomfortably for an emergency meeting in a cabin normally used for lookouts and rest.Even those who have just fallen asleep are quickly awake, sipping hot coffee through a straw in thought—and occasionally glance at the unfamiliar scenery outside the window to confirm that "Big Brother" has really disappeared. "It must know what we don't." Sasha repeated what Floyd had just blurted out, his voice filling the dead, ominous air.That quote sums up what everyone—even Tanya—was thinking.

It's not time to cry "I told you so" - and this incident fails to prove whether the warning has worked.The problem now is that even if it's safe here, there's not much to do here.With no subjects to study, they might as well go home, as soon as possible.But things are not that simple. "Heywood," Tanya said, "I'm going to take that warning message more seriously, and I can't go on foolishly ignoring it after this happened. However, even if there is any danger, we should weigh it Pros and Cons. Linking Leonov and Discovery together, launching Discovery with huge axial centrifugal loads, separating the two ships in minutes for Leonov to fire at the right time, no one in charge The captain of the ship would have made such a decision without a very good reason - I mean without a choice. Even now, I do see the danger, and all I see is a... Ghosts are not obvious evidence that can be presented in court."

"Or show it to the investigation team," Walter Kono said in an unusually calm tone, "even if we will support you." "Yes, Walter - I've thought about that. But if we get back safely, all will be proven - and if we fail, what does it matter if we're right or wrong? Anyway, I'll make a decision now. When we report I'm going to sleep for a while after I know this situation, and I'll tell you the decision I made when I wake up in the morning. Heywood, Sasha, can you go to the bridge with me? We have to wake up the mission center, and then you can go to the bridge again. Return to duty."

The miracle of the night is not over yet.Somewhere in the orbit of Mars, Tanya's brief report brushed past a message sent in the opposite direction. Betty Flanders finally spoke.The CIA and NSA, pissed off, try all their tricks of coaxing, patriotic appeals, and intimidating threats, and fail utterly - while a producer of a cheap-chat TV network succeeds, landing him in the Forever in the TV yearbook. It was part luck, part inspiration. The news director of "Hello, Earth!" suddenly realizes that one of his staff bears an uncanny resemblance to David Bowman, perfected by a clever makeup artist.Joss Flanders must have told the young man that he was taking great risks, but that he had the good fortune that favors the brave.Betty gave in when he first stepped through the door.When she started—quite softly—throwing all kinds of things at him to get the hell out of him, he'd got the whole story in its entirety.To honor his credit, he broke the news on his affiliated network, but without the malicious sarcasm often used in previous reports.This earned him an annual Pulitzer Prize.

"I wish," Floyd said wearily to Sasha, "that she would have spoken out sooner. That would have saved me a lot of trouble. Anyway, this ends the argument, and now Tanya will have no more Any doubts. I'd like to tell her when she wakes up, though—what do you think?" "Of course - it's important, but not urgent. And she needs a good night's sleep, too. I have a feeling we're not going to get enough rest from now on." I'm sure you're right, Freud thought to himself.He felt tired, but found he couldn't sleep even when he wasn't on duty.He was so excited, he kept analyzing what happened on this unusual night in his mind, trying to predict what kind of amazing things would happen again. From a certain point of view, he has a sense of relaxation like a stone falling to the ground.Any doubts about the evacuation were gone, and Tanya didn't have to hold anything back. But there is a bigger suspense, what is going on? There was only one experience in Freud's life that could be compared to the present.When he was young, he and his friends were canoeing down a branch of the Colorado River—and they got lost. They were washed farther and farther by the torrent in the steep canyon. They were not purely helpless, but they could only control themselves not to be submerged in the water. There might be rapids ahead—or even a waterfall, they didn't know.In short, they can only resign themselves to fate. Once again Floyd felt caught in the grip of some force majeure, driving him and his companions toward some unknown destiny.And this time the dangers are not only invisible, they may also be beyond human comprehension.