Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

The expedition team has been away for a long time.Now, radio contact with them has also been lost.Kip was deeply worried about Carlos and his companions, lest they get lost on the ice.Later, to his delight, Ethan allowed Kip to wander around the mechanical bay.In the mechanical cabin, several mechanics are assembling another landing vehicle, the "Beta".Eisen, who is in charge here, has a loud voice, and whoever makes a mistake will be severely reprimanded by him without mercy.At first, Kip was a little afraid of him.Soon, I became intimate with him instead, because Eisen is a warm person, not only has a friendly smile, but also always has time to answer all kinds of questions raised by the child.

"According to Eisenbo, you have been a contractor, haven't you?" "of course." Kip stood in the mechanical cabin, staring at the various landing vehicle parts placed on the deck.He saw many huge wheels, which were as tall as two people when they were not pumped up.These wheels are to be attached to the eight legs of the landing vehicle, and those eight legs are to support the entire body of the landing vehicle.The compartment is a long cylindrical tube that accommodates the nuclear generator and crew.In order to reduce heat dissipation, its surface is polished to a shiny silver, which can reflect the shadows of the people around it, but it is strangely shaped, like a distorting mirror.

"You made this thing?" "That's right. Back then, I won many contracts to build cars like this." Eisen used to have the habit of chewing tobacco leaves, but now that there are no tobacco leaves, he chews a white tablet he calls "refreshing tablets".He didn't take many pills because of luggage restrictions when boarding the ship.Sometimes, he still worries about this matter: After chewing the "refreshing tablet", what should he chew? Now, he took out a small iron box, poured out a "refreshing tablet" from it, put it in his mouth, and chewed it with his dentures.

"Back then, I opened a small company in Idaho, and it was just me and another partner working in it." Eisen talked to Kip about his past, looking very fascinated, as if he had gone back to the past Yes, "We bought the design patent of the landing vehicle from Dr. Steinberg. There are many processes in manufacturing the landing vehicle, and it takes a lot of manpower and material resources, but our vehicles are sold very cheaply and do not make money. Our cars sell well, companies operating in the North Pole have bought a few, and the moon base has bought a few. Of course, the biggest buyer is Operation Space Seed, on its last dozen or so spaceflights , All the landing vehicles used were bought from us. They also bought them on credit and did not pay us.”

"If... If Carlos and his companions are in danger, can you use this car to rescue them?" Kip asked.At this time, a worker carried a toolbox, climbed a high gangway, and got into the steel compartment of the landing vehicle. "Don't expect this car to save them." Eisen frowned and shook his head. "This car is huge, and we only brought two. Without them, the people here will be finished. Therefore, we can't take both of them." Take it out for an adventure. This one is here to stay, for those on the ship. Friends on the Alpha know they can't get into trouble."

"Ah, that's right." Kip felt extremely uncomfortable, but he didn't want others to see it, and looked down at the floor. "Then we can only hope that they are safe." "They will be fine." Eisen reached out and patted the huge wheels, and said, "This car has excellent performance and will not break down." "Thank you, Dr. Eisen. Hope the 'Alpha' returns safely." After the "Beta" landing vehicle was installed and debugged, Eisen drove the surveyors to the beach.There, the prospectors began to investigate the geology, select the site, dig caves and tunnels, and prepare for the construction of residences.Rima forbade Kip to follow.Although Eisen explained that Kip was well-behaved and would not get in the way, Rima still disagreed.After the address is selected, Rima will go to check it out in person.Only then did she agree that Kip would go with her.

"Sonar detection found that the permafrost below contains many large granite rocks," Rima told Kip. "It was brought by glacial activities before the planet was frozen. The granite rocks are abnormally hard and difficult to dig. Dr Zheng believes that it would be easier to dig tunnels directly on the rock face." Eisen was driving below, and Rima took Kip up to the bubble chamber with a transparent protective cover.The car was driving fast, the bubble chamber was very high, far away from the ice, and it shook slightly. It felt like riding an elephant in a zoo.On the eve of leaving the earth, his mother took him to the zoo, not only seeing all the animals on the earth, but also riding an elephant.

After a while, Jim Zheng also stepped on the escalator and came to the bubble room.He was thin, quick, quiet, always smiling, and very friendly.His father was originally a banker in Singapore, but he himself hated the banking industry, changed his career to become a cosmologist, and joined the "Space Seeding Operation" organization. After traveling several kilometers north, the landing vehicle stopped at a valley mouth.The valley is eroded by glaciers, with steep cliffs on both sides.Brighter than starlight, the lander's heat lamps illuminated a swath of frosty ground.The searchlights illuminated the rocky walls of Wuli Beach very clearly.The lower part of the rock wall is off-white; above a height of more than ten meters, it is rusty red; further up is the ice sheet line.

"This is limestone." Eisen pointed his mouth at the rock wall and said, "Dr. Singer said that in the beginning, when the climate was warm, this part of the rock wall was submerged under the sea water. It is formed by the accumulation of brought silt. The rusty red color on the surface indicates that it contains iron.” Then, he turned to Lima and said: "This is a good sign, you have mines to mine." "Where is the residence? Where is it going to be built?" Lima asked, frowning, looking at the rock wall. "It's built on sandstone." Eisen pointed out, "The sandstone is stable, dry, and not too hard, so it's easy to dig with a laser drill. It's just that scaffolding has to be built when the work starts. However, as the project progresses, digging The broken rocks can just be piled below to form a slope, and it is convenient to enter and exit the cave."

Afterwards, Lima asked Eisen to drive along the mouth of the valley, and stopped at a flat and smooth place at the bottom of the valley.Rima used a holographic camera to record images everywhere. "Look, Kip," she said to her son, "this is our new home." Kip looked up and down and left and right.Below is the valley floor covered with hoarfrost; above the head is the dark night sky; all around are bare rock walls.Wherever one looked, there was nothing but ice, rock, and darkness.Kip felt a shudder all over his body. "I know that the environment here is indeed harsh." Lima smiled hopefully, "But we just want to carve out a new city on this rock wall to keep the severe cold out. We will have nuclear power, There will be a bright future. We are also building a nutrient solution farming farm, which can grow all kinds of fresh vegetables and grains, such as wheat, corn, soybeans, etc. The taste is not comparable to synthetic biscuits."

While listening to his mother, Kip raised his head again and looked at the world around him.He couldn't imagine the beautiful picture his mother had painted.All he saw was solid rock, ancient frost, and eternal night. "If you like ham, eggs, hamburgers and steaks, we can produce them. Everything will be available." Dr. Zheng also said, "We have brought frozen animal embryos. Once we have open space and food in the future, we will Livestock can be raised." "We will get used to life here." Lima said, holding Kip in his arms, "this valley will soon change the world, it will be as bright as day. We also need to build roads, mine minerals, build ships, will There's a lot of interesting work for you to do. We can live happily ever after. Really, Kip, it's a great feat." Mom is so eager that Kip doesn't quite trust her.For this, he felt a little sorry and felt sorry for his mother. "I'm waiting for this to happen." He grabbed his mother's hand. "Really, Mom, I'm waiting." Later, this valley full of hope was named Sunbreak Valley. Mother was on duty in the command module again, and Kip and Di stayed in the cabin.When she came back, Kip had been waiting impatiently, hoping that his mother would bring good news.Sterling China Sci-Fi stick list as short as a case "Carlos he..." When the mother heard it, her face was sullen.Knowing that she had committed another heart attack, Kip quickly stopped.Kip regretted that she still didn't trust Carlos. "What about the expedition team?" He asked again, "Is there any news about Dr. Anderson and the expedition team?" "No." The mother looked worried, "You know, they have gone beyond the direct range of the signal wave, and the signal can only be received if it is reflected by the dust belt in outer space. And the dust belt is not continuous, and sometimes it can reflect radio waves. Sometimes they can't. They have called many times, but no results. One time they got in touch. They were reporting that they found a wall of ice with colored halos in the wall or something, but the signal was suddenly cut off. The content of the report was only a few words, Can't explain the problem." On the construction site of the residence, the workers have already started construction.Rima was going to the construction site again, and Kip asked to go with her, and her mother agreed.When I went to the construction site, I saw that a large hole had been dug in the red rock wall at a height of 20 meters.At the foot of the rock, a worker in a yellow spacesuit drives a bulldozer, pushing the chipped rock together to form a slope so that other machines can drive directly into the hole.Dr. Singer, who was working in the cave, wanted to take a ride back to the spaceship with them.Once in the car, she dropped her spacesuit in the airlock at the entrance and rushed straight up to the bubble chamber. "Fossils! I have found fossils!" Her eyes lit up, and she said to Lima out of breath, "Fossils that can help explain the 'Ice God' and the colorful halo! I guessed that there were fossils, but I never thought of it in my dreams, and I found it all at once." "Really? Tell us quickly." Lima asked impatiently. "Calcareous bones," said Singer eagerly, "found in alluvial sandstone formations above the ancient seabed." "That is to say, these bones were buried under the sand brought by the flood." Seeing Kip's confused face, she further explained. "I dug it out slowly with a small laser drill. It's a meticulous work, the technology I used to participate in the Archaeological Excavation Society during my vacation." Singer turned to Rima and said. Singer studied biology before joining Operation Space Seed.Of course, that's just geobiology. "This is a relatively complete skeleton. Of course, how to explain it is still a difficult problem, because there is no comparison, that is, other physical evidence about the history of life evolution here. However, this can at least prove that there are advanced life forms here. Perhaps, They are some complex life forms like us. This is an astonishing discovery. It can be deduced that this is a vertebrate, and it is estimated to be slightly shorter than humans, about 1.5 meters. Further research will be done in the future. With New discovery, report again." When Dr. Singer brought the fossilized skeleton back to the spaceship, Kip saw it too.Half of the skeleton is still embedded in a heavy red sandstone.It was a skull fossil, very flat.There are two empty black holes where the eyes are, and the teeth are slightly open, as if smiling.In addition to the intact skull, other bone fragments were embedded in the stone.Looking at the skull, Kip felt a little horrified, and shivered unconsciously, imagining what it would look like when it was alive. "It's almost human," Rima said. "Yes, the same is a biped, but I think it can fly." Dr. Singer bent over and studied the fossil carefully, "because the bones are not only light, but also hollow. Many bones are broken and this Looking at it a bit, I guess it fell to death from the air. The arm bone is very long, maybe because it was longer than flying. Of course, the structure of the wing part is fragile, so it has not been preserved. I also found some small bones, possibly finger bones, a A three-fingered hand with a special purpose. The legs are very short and end in fins instead of feet. I suspect that this animal first evolved in the sea and later became a flying animal." "It's amazing!" Rima exclaimed.Together with Singer, she surrounded the fossil and watched it carefully.Finally, she raised her head and said, "Thanks for having an expert like you with us." "Thank you." Dr. Singh said calmly, "For a while, I dreamed of mastering all the knowledge about life on earth, but then I gave up this dream and joined the 'Space Seeding Operation' program to find A new life form." As she spoke, she took out a small plastic bag and opened it, "Look, I found it." She poured the contents into the palm of her hand. It turned out that there were six shiny black stones like gemstones, small and exquisite, each with six sides, about the size of a pencil head, with exactly the same shape, size and color.Singer fiddled with his fingers, and the six stones stuck together like a beehive.Kip looked down and looked up at Singer. "Carlos has one too." "What?" Singer looked at Kip and asked suspiciously, "Are you sure?" "Where did he get it?" Rima also asked. "In the same valley where the house is now built. He and Mr. Anderson went there in space suits. They scraped the frost there and took soil samples," Kip replied.Then, frowning again, he asked Singer, "What are these things for?" "Maybe, for decoration?" Singer shook his head while playing with the stones. "Or, for money? They are scattered around the fossils, and they must be something carried or worn by this animal. In short, what are they, It’s not yet certain.” "The way they stick together is also very strange." Lima said, reaching for the honeycomb-shaped thing, "Are they made of magnets?" "They're attracted to each other, but they're not magnets," Dr. Singer said. "At least not the kind we know." In the middle of the night, Lima woke up suddenly, feeling that something was wrong, as if something had happened.Earlier, Di was restless and had crawled into her bed, calling Mimi by name, saying she was lost on the ice.Lima hugged her and finally put her to sleep.But somehow, she was the only one left in the bed.She sat up and listened.Only Kip's even, slight snort was heard, and nothing else.Listen again, still no Dai's voice.Lima was trembling with fright, turned over and got up. Dai's bed was empty.Not in the cabin, not in the bathroom. "Dai!" She suddenly called out, her voice was a little scary, "Dai, where are you?" No reply. She turned and turned on the light. "Mom?" Kip woke up. "What happened?" "Day is gone." Rima grabbed a smock and rushed out of the house.Kip rubbed his sleepy eyes and followed, staggering behind his mother.I looked for the circular passage next to the elevator, but there is none.Shout out, get no answer.Everyone in the spaceship is asleep.Rima pressed the switch of the elevator. "Before 4 o'clock in the morning, stop the service," the computer automatically said, "In case of emergency, please use the gangway, or call the security personnel." The gangway was open.Rima ran up the spiral gangway, and Kip stumbled to follow.The cabin on the upper floor was still empty, and all the cabin doors were tightly closed.Rima panted and continued to run up.On the next floor, there is still no one.Run again, find again.Finally, she came to the command module on the top floor.The command cabin was quiet, only a few instruments made slight sounds.On the holographic monitoring screen on the top, a strange starry sky is displayed.Co-pilot Steinberg, wearing headphones, sat in front of a semicircle of glowing green consoles. "Sir, did you see Dai? My daughter?" Rima asked panting. Steinberg was startled, blinked, and raised a finger to signal Rima to be quiet.Lima stood there, gasping for breath, trembling all over.Finally, Steinberg shrugged and took off the headphones on his head. "Hinchy's in trouble with his people," he said, "and they can't be reached. What's wrong with you?" "My youngest daughter, she...is missing." "I didn't see it, call security." Steinberg put the earphones back on as he spoke. "sorry sir." Barefoot and wearing a smock, Lima ran back along the long gangway, calling her daughter's name to every corridor.Empty, dead, frightened.Still no reply.Lima was going crazy. "Mom, wait a minute!" Kip called after her. "Don't panic. She can't leave the spaceship. She must be somewhere on the ship. No one will hurt her." Recalling Dai Ping's daydreaming, Lima became more and more frightened as she thought about it.The planet is long dead, too cold, too cold.She was about to transform it and tame it, but it suddenly became hideous, full of terrible nightmares and unsolved mysteries of death.Now the old devil had slipped into the spaceship again and taken her child away. Rima felt a throbbing pain in her chest.She fell, fell on the gangway, staggered up, and rushed forward.Round and round she ran down the spiral gangway, calling Day's name into every corridor.Kip's breathless call was far behind her.The entire spaceship was empty and dead, like the ice and night outside.Finally, Rima came to the main cabin below. An on-duty police officer wearing a black cap sat in front of the monitor at the security checkpoint, muttering something while pressing buttons.A recording suddenly played back in the machine. "Yes, sir." The voice of the passenger stole Carlos was played back on the tape recorder. Because the voice was highly distorted and distorted, he became very unfamiliar. "There is a situation. I found a colored halo. What? A signal? I don't know." The officer pressed another key, and the voice sounded again. "...a very high wall..." Then, there was a harsh noise.The officer turned down the volume. "Sir? Have you seen my little girl?" Rima asked, raising her voice. "Is it Dr. Valari?" The police officer didn't seem to hear Rima's words clearly. He turned off the recorder, blinked, and asked, "The signal from Alpha. They found a barrier and another signal light." He squinted Surveillance screen, shrinking body, as if already feeling the cold, "The damn monster has appeared again, which makes people feel horrible. I really hope to return to my hometown of Salt Lake City, continue to be a policeman, and do my old job." "My little girl? See my little girl?" "I'm sorry." The police officer shrugged his shoulders and apologized, "I didn't see any little girls." As he spoke, he reached for a notepad, "Tell me about her clothes and appearance..." Ai Bo's father waved his Chinese sci-fi tie "Mom!" Kip cried from behind. "I see her! She's out in the airlock." I saw Dai wearing only a pajamas, standing on a toolbox at the hatch—she moved the box there by herself—grabbing a screwdriver, tiptoeing, to open the hatch. Control switch, want to go out.Seeing this situation, Lima rushed over. "Wake up, honey! What are you doing?" she yelled as she ran. Hearing the shout, Dai's thin body convulsed like an electric shock.She turned around, raised the screwdriver defensively, and looked at everyone as if she were a stranger.Her eyes were wide open like a beast, full of madness and terror.Rima was terrified and trembling all over. "Baby, don't you recognize your mother?" Kip grabbed her arm and she squealed "meow-meow" like a cat.He also raised the screwdriver and stabbed Kip in the head.Lima grabbed her and she struggled stiffly.After a while, she trembled all over, sobbed and returned her voice. "Mommy, let me go! Mimi is calling me. It's running for its life outside on the ice, and there's a monster chasing it. It's lost and freezing to death." "Wake up, baby! Please wake up. It's just a nightmare." "It's Mimi! Really, it's my Mimi. She's cold and she's scared." Then came another trembling, and another weeping.Leaning in her mother's arms, she slowly calmed down.The security police officer apologized to Rima, saying that he was so busy playing Alpha's recorded report, hoping to discover something, that he didn't even notice the child passing through the security checkpoint.He also said that this damned planet is not a place for human beings, and that there are no conditions that can satisfy the needs of noble humans.He hopes that the experts can lead everyone back to the quantum wave state and leave this ghost place. "It's very lucky that this child was not able to open the door of the airlock and go outside. Otherwise, she would be frozen to death within a second without wearing a space suit; within 10 minutes, she would be frozen to steel Hard as hell," said the officer. He found the key to the elevator, opened the elevator, and escorted the family back to the cabin.