Chapter 58 Chapter Fifty-Eight Can't Choose

"I'm sure Heilmann and Hiroshi Yamanaka were careful," Richard explained. "The sooner they left, the more supplies they could bring. In such a small lifeboat, every thousand grams counts." life." "How?" Nicole asked. "Hmm - time will make the airship go into Earth's orbit quite differently - and maybe miss the orbit and not be rescued." "So that's how it is." She asked anxiously. "Can only one of us use this boat?" Richard didn't answer right away: "I think it's possible. It depends on when we leave. We'll have to do the math quickly so we can make the right decision. But I see no reason why we shouldn't consider just opening the military cabin entirely." Go. I was trained as a backup pilot... The only problem is that there are too few pilots, because the ship is too big. But if we lose a few things, it may work...Besides, we need to do some calculations."

Nicole was assigned the task of checking that there were sufficient provisions in the lifeboat for two or three persons during the voyage.Meanwhile, Richard remains passionate about flying the military capsule back to Earth.So, he asked Nicole to go through the ship's cargo manifest to see how much there was to throw away. While O'Toole and Walkerfield were busy calculating in the control room, Nicole came to the spacious cargo hold alone.She examined the remaining boat carefully first.This small boat is generally used for some single-person extravehicular activities, and it is also designed as a lifeboat for escape in an emergency, and can take two people.On the shelf at the rear of the transparent cockpit, there are enough supplies for a week.

"Then what about three people?" Nicole thought, "Impossible, the third person would have to squeeze into this shelf, and then there would be no room for the supplies." It immediately occurred to Nicole that if he stayed in this shelf for seven or eight days, it would be better than being trapped in the city of "New York". She checked the quantity and variety of food items that Hellman and Hiroshi Yamanaka threw on the shelves in their panic, enough for a week's trip;Nicole took notes.She thought again, added to the list some necessary items for two people, and then went to the other side of the cargo hold.

Her gaze rests on the bullet-shaped nuclear bomb.They lay quietly beside the airtight door.Nicole walked over to touch it, her hands lightly stroking the smooth metal surface. "Oh, this is the super weapon that can destroy everything, the masterpiece of those physics geniuses in the 20th century." "They are a reflection of the sad nature of those of us on Earth." Nicole mused as he walked among the nuclear bombs, "A visitor comes here, does not understand our language, and simply discovers where we live , it just turned the corner and we blew it up before we knew what it was going to do."

She walked slowly out of the cargo hold and towards the living quarters, her heart filled with sadness.She said to herself: "Your problem is always expecting too much. Expecting too much from yourself, expecting too much from your loved ones, and even expecting too much from humans. You know, we are still a very imperfect species." Suddenly, a fit of nausea forced her to stop. "What's wrong?" she thought, "Are these bombs making me sick?" In the back of her mind, she recalled the same feeling she had experienced 15 years earlier, on a two-hour flight from Los Angeles to Paris. superior.

"Impossible?" she was a little surprised, "but I have to check right away..." "That's the second reason why we couldn't get around in a dinghy. Don't be so upset, Nicole. Even if we could pack our bodies and supplies into the dinghy, it wouldn't be able to get around under such a heavy load. day orbit. Our chances of being rescued are zero." "If that's the case," Nicole said to Richard with a forced smile, "at least we have other options. We can drive the big ship back. I estimate that at least 10 tons of items can be thrown away..."

"I don't think there's any use for that," General O'Toole interjected. Nicole stared at Richard in amazement and asked, "What did he say?" Richard Walkerfield stood up, walked up to Nicole, took her hand and said, "They broke the navigation system too. They used an automatic search to find O'Toole's code." Decoded software, messed up the ship's software systems. Deleted and overwritten many things, including navigation programs. As a means of transportation, the ship is useless." O'Toole's voice became low and muffled, losing its usual upbeat mood: "They must have started doing it a few minutes after I left. Richard read the command log in the computer and found that the decoding software was on my computer. Connected to the host less than two hours after leaving."

"But why did they cripple the Newton?" Nicole asked. "You still don't understand?" O'Toole was a little emotional, "The priority has been changed. In their eyes, nothing is more important than detonating a nuclear bomb, and they don't want to waste time transmitting signals between the Earth and the Newton. So Here they perform their calculations. Thus, every string of digits found to be a possible password is immediately used for input trials without delay." "We know that under normal flight control procedures," interjected Richard, pacing the room, "this fully loaded military module on the Newton actually changed orbits more than those two small boats with backup power systems." even worse. ISA safety officials never imagined the need for such an abnormal operation."

"What happened here has never been seen before." The general said angrily, "Damn! Why didn't they wait for me to come back." Nicole sat down suddenly in an empty chair.She felt dizzy and dizzy. "What's the matter with you?" Richard hurried over and asked. "I've been nauseous today," Nicole replied, "I think I'm pregnant, I'll find out later." She smiled at a stunned Richard. "It's very rare to get pregnant off the 90-day long-acting pill. It's happened before though. I don't want to speculate..."

"Congratulations, congratulations," General O'Toole interjected enthusiastically, "But I didn't know you were getting married yet!" "Me too," Richard replied, apparently still not recovering from the surprise.He held Nicole tightly in his arms and muttered, "I don't know either!" "Stop discussing it," General O'Toole said solemnly to Richard. "Even if Nicole hadn't conceived a child, I would have insisted that you go in a small boat. That's the only sensible decision. First, we all You know, weight is the factor, and I'm the heaviest; besides, I'm much older than you; and, you know how to steer a boat, which I've never handled." Then he added , "Besides, because I refused to carry out the order, I will face a court-martial after I return to Earth."

"And you, my good doctor," he went on after a pause, "you need not tell me that you are carrying a special child. He or she will be the only human baby conceived on an alien ship." He stood up, looked around, and said, "Now I propose to open a bottle of wine and spend our last moments together." Nicole watched as General O'Toole approached the cabinet. He opened the cabinet and began searching. "I'd be glad if there was juice, Michael," she said. "I can't drink any wine right now." "Of course," he replied suddenly, "I forgot. I just thought, on this last night, we have to do something special together..." General O'Toole walked back to the table with wine, juice and glasses, and while passing the glasses to Richard and Nicole, said quietly: "I want you to know that I have never seen such a wonderful A great couple. I wish you success, especially with this little guy." The three astronauts sipped wine and juice in silence. "We all know that, don't we?" General O'Toole said in a low voice. "The missile must be on its way. How much time do you reckon, Richard?" "According to what Admiral Hellman said in the video, the time for the first missile to reach Rama will be within 2 days. In this way, we can ensure that the two small boats and the rescue ship leave the area where the explosion fragments are scattered, so as not to be hit by the fragments .” "What else didn't you tell me?" Nicole said. "And what about the missiles?" Richard leaned over to her and said, "The COG has ordered missiles to be fired at Rama. They can't be sure that General O'Toole will return to the Newton and find out the code, and the automatic search and decoding system is too time-consuming, so they think the missiles are the only ones." Attacking is what keeps Earth safe." "Then, there are less than forty-eight hours left before my last meeting with God." General O'Toole calculated in his heart, and said, "I have lived an unforgettable life, and I have a deep respect for the Lord for this." With gratitude, I will return to the arms of the Lord with no regrets."