Chapter 31 Chapter 31 Ultimate Speed

Lieutenant Colonel Newton had never lost a man, and he was not about to lose one now.Long before Jimmy set off to the South Pole, he had considered how to rescue him in case of accident.But the problem is so difficult that until now no solution has been found.For now, all he can do is cross off the options that obviously don't work. How can you climb a vertical 500-meter-high cliff?With the right equipment and training, it should be easy.There were no gouge guns on the Endeavor, and no one could think of any other feasible way to drive the hundreds of necessary studs into that hard, mirror-like surface.

He skimmed through all sorts of bizarre schemes, some almost insane.Maybe a monkey with suction-cup feet could climb it.But even if it worked, it would take too long to train monkeys and experiment. It is tempting to use the thrusters of the EVA.But their range is too short because they are designed for zero-gravity zones. Can the thruster of the extravehicular activity be sent up with automatic control, and only let it carry a lifeline?He had studied this idea with Sergeant Myron, but it too had been immediately dismissed.The engineer pointed out that there were several serious stability issues with doing this, and while these could be fixed, it would take too long for them to pay for it.

How about using a balloon?Seems like a possibility if they could make a bag and have one.It was Newton's only non-negative salvage when the question was no longer a theoretical inquiry but a matter of life and death, and had become the headlines of every world inhabited by humans. As Jimmy trudges along the sea, half the smart people in the entire solar system are trying to save him.At Spaceship Fleet Headquarters, all proposals are considered and screened, and approximately one in a thousand is sent to Endeavor.Among them, Dr. Carlisso Perilla sent it twice: once through the Space Survey and Mapping Bureau's own communication network, and once through the Rama direct channel of the Planetary Communications Agency.The scientist thought about it for about five minutes, and then it was calculated by an electronic computer for a thousandth of a second.

When Newton saw this suggestion, he began to think it was a bad joke.But when he saw the sender's name and the attached calculation manuscript, he immediately reread it carefully. He handed the telegram to Karl Messer. "What do you think about this?" he asked in as non-intrusive a tone as possible. Carl read it quickly and said, "Well, I deserved it! Of course he's right." "Are you sure so?" "He was right about the hurricane, wasn't he? We should have thought of it ourselves, and it makes me feel like a fool." "Then you've got company. The next question is—how do we reveal it to Jimmy?"

"I don't think it's necessary to let him know ... until the last minute. If I were in his position, I'd rather. Just tell him we're coming." Jimmy knew the general direction the Resolution was coming from, but he didn't see the boat until it passed New York.There were 6 people on board, but no rescue equipment was found. When it was about a kilometer offshore, Jimmy recognized Colonel Newton and started waving.After a while Newton saw him too. "Glad to see you doing well, Jimmy!" he radioed. "I promised I wouldn't leave you alone. Do you believe me now?"

Jimmy thought, not quite convinced yet!Until now he wondered if it was a gesture of encouragement.But the lieutenant colonel wouldn't cross the water himself just to say goodbye, and it seemed he finally had a way. "I will trust you, Captain!" he answered, "when I go down on the deck of the boat. Now tell me what I shall do?" "We're sorry about that, Jimmy, but we wanted to keep you from worrying too much." This sounds like an ominous omen, what the hell is in his gourd? The Resolve stopped fifty meters away, below five hundred meters.The lieutenant colonel spoke into the microphone: "That's it, Jimmy. You'll be perfectly safe. You'll need strong nerves. We know you've got plenty. You jump down."

"500 meters!?" "Yes, but only half a g." "I see! Have you ever jumped 250 meters on Earth?" "Shut up! Or I'll revoke your next vacation. You should have figured it out yourself. It's just a matter of terminal velocity. You can't hit 90 kilometers an hour in this atmosphere—whether you're Jumping from 200 meters or 2,000 meters. 90 is a little bit high for comfort, but we can cut it down a bit. That's what you're supposed to do, you listen." Jimmy stopped interrupting and listened to what Newton had to say without commenting.Yes, it sounds reasonable. If a genius wants to use his brain, it is really simple.Besides, maybe people who don't plan to do it themselves can figure it out.Now Jimmy understood that the lieutenant colonel had been vague about the details of his plan just now, in order not to give him time to think and come up with objections.

"I'm not urging you," Newton said in a persuasive tone, "but the sooner the better." Jimmy wrapped his precious memento, Lamari's only bouquet, carefully in a handkerchief, and threw it over the cliff.It landed slowly, getting smaller and smaller until it was out of sight, but seeing the Resolve move forward for a while, he knew it had been picked up. "It's beautiful!" the lieutenant colonel exclaimed. "I'm sure it will be named after you. Well, we're waiting!" Jimmy took off his shirt, clutched it tightly in his right hand, then ran a few steps and jumped far away.

There was nothing to hurry now, he had twenty seconds to appreciate the experience.But it can't waste time, the wind around him is getting stronger and stronger, and the resolution seems to be getting bigger and bigger.He grabbed the shirt with his upraised hands and let the air blow it into a hollow tube. As a parachute, it doesn't do much.It's not useless to subtract a few kilometers from his landing speed, but it's not critical.Its more important function was to keep his body vertical so that he could shoot straight into the sea like an arrow. At the last moment, he dropped the shirt, took a deep breath, and squeezed his nose and mouth tightly between his hands.As instructed, he straightened his body and pressed his legs together.

"It's like diving from a diving platform on earth." The lieutenant colonel once compared it like this, "It's nothing special, as long as you deal with it the moment you enter the water." "What if it's not handled well?" he once asked. "Then you have to climb up and jump again!" It felt like something had tapped his foot, hard but not too hard.When he entered the sea, even though he closed his eyes tightly, he felt that it was getting darker and darker, and his ears felt the sound of pressure.He knew it had been inserted into the depths of the Sea of ​​Cylindrical Sea.

With all his strength, he began to swim out towards the light.He could only blink slightly, the poisonous water stung his eyes like some kind of acid.He seemed to be struggling for a long, long time, and occasionally ventured to open his eyes to see if it was brighter. When he finally broke out of the water, eyes still closed, he took a breath of precious air before rolling over on his back and looking around. The Resolve was heading toward him at full speed.After a few seconds several enthusiastic hands grabbed him and dragged him aboard. "Have you swallowed the water?" the lieutenant colonel asked anxiously. "Probably not." "Still rinsing your mouth with this. How do you feel?" "I can't say yet, let me take a minute. Oh... thank you, I feel seasick," he admitted sheepishly. Just then, a flash of lightning flashed in the sky behind them.All eyes were on the South Pole, and Jimmy forgot his dizziness for a moment.The horns began to sparkle again. Thousands of meters of fire beams, jumping between the central corner and the small corner, once again showed the spectacular rotation, and they began to accelerate, turning faster and faster, until they merged into a flickering cone of light. The sight was more awe-inspiring than anything they had seen before, and the distant rumble added to the disorienting power.The performance lasted about five minutes, and then stopped, as if someone had suddenly flipped a switch. "I'd like to know what the Rama Committee will say about this." Newton murmured, not targeting anyone. "Anyone have any theories?" No one had time to answer, for at that very moment a very excited call came from the hub whistle. "Resolution! Are you safe? Do you feel it?" "Feel what?" "We think there was an earthquake. That's when the firelight stopped." "Anything to lose?" "I don't think so. It's not very strong, but it shakes us enough." "We didn't feel it at all. At sea we wouldn't." "Of course, I didn't expect that. Now things seem peaceful again...until next time." "Yes, until next time." Newton responded.Rama's mystery keeps growing.The more they discover about it, the less they understand it. From the helm came another sudden cry: "Captain—look—over there." Newton scanned along the ring of the sea, almost reaching the zenith, and he was looking at the opposite side of the world. "My God!" he whispered slowly, now realizing that the "next time" had come. A row of overwhelming waves was rushing towards them from overhead along the eternal cylindrical sea. ----------------------------- Notes: