"Campbell, John W. - The Moon is Hell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Campbell John W Jr)

Melville is almost completely healed, and Rice has made him a sort of push-cart on which he can move readily.

June 9.

No word from Long, though we have waited till 12 o'clock, New York Midnight. Garner ordered us to rest.

Two more burners arranged. Rice has made a compact recharging outfit, and Garner has agreed to the plan.

Some fear today the temperature will fall below freezing and burst the water tanks and food tins. It would be disastrous, for they-would be lost beyond redemption.

June 10.

Signals from Long! It began at 11:30 P.M., and Rice at once took bearings. The signals were too weak to decipher. At 11:45 they were readable. Long was then twenty-five miles or so from the Dome. He had thrown away everything, except one oxygen tank, almost empty. He hoped to reach the station before it was exhausted.

Rice wanted to head a relief expedition at once, but was ordered to remain at the radio. Bender is leading an expedition commanded by King, carrying oxygen tanks, and a stretcher.

June 11.

The sun rises in five hours. Long is freezing. His battery is exhausted, and his oxygen so nearly gone he cannot work to maintain bodily heat. Distance 22 miles. The expedition has covered five.

Dr. Hughey has made a startling proposal. The expedition cannot reach him in time, and Hughey advises that he allow himself to freeze as quickly as possible! From his experience with Melville's leg he says he feels sure thyra-dren will restore him to life. If it is possible it will save Long's life.

Long has assented. He has thrown himself into a position that will be shadowed even after the sun rises, and covered his suit with the emergency radiation paint. He has stopped speaking.

Later--sunrise. The expedition found Long, and brought him back on the stretcher. He was frozen solid, and the oxygen and gases in his suit are liquid. The photocells are pouring in power, a great relief after nearly freezing to death. It has been hard on us.

(Equipped as the expedition was with light summer blankets, working on a starvation diet, stating that it was "hard on us" was a fearful understatement of facts.) Hughey had Long brought into the Dome, placed inside a huge coil of wire, and from the main radio set, drew radio frequency current at the maximum power. The body was warmed to 99 degrees in less than five minutes. Artificial respiration with pure oxygen mixed with carbon dioxide was started, and heavy injections of thyradren administered directly to the heart.

The process has been continued for half an hour now, with.no results as yet.

Later. Long is alive! He was badly starved, as well as under-oxygenated, and already he has eaten! He is recovering with unbelievable rapidity. He is apparently wholly unharmed. It seems a miracle to us who saw him brought in, a frozen statue, bathed in liquid air, brittle as glass, and as dead! Kendall, worse than any newspaper photographer, has photographs, he says. Long will be interested!

Work continued this afternoon, consisting mainly of setting up the photocells, and starting the furnaces. Everything is working smoothly. Long has not been allowed to speak yet.

June 12.

We were disappointed to hear that Long had been unsuccessful. He stayed twelve hours within sight of the Earth, trying vainly to correspond. Neither heliograph nor radio brought results. Radio, he believes, was inter- fered with by the tremendous group of sunspots he noticed, and the aurora of Earth was magnificently bright, even from there. He evidently picked an unfortunate moment for his brave attempt.

It was the twelve hours delay which caused his--death, as a matter of fact, though it seems wrong to say that while he sits watching me.

Hughey is writing a medical report, which will explain the case more fully than I could.

June 13.

Work progressing rapidly. Gypsum fed into the furnaces is quickly ejected as de-hydrated CaSC>4, the water collected, and taken to the electrolysis apparatus. It is warm and comfortable inside the Dome now, for which we are all thankful, and the work on photocells is progressing rapidly. Another load of silver selenide was hauled over today.

Rice has repaired the batteries to the best of his ability, and they are being recharged for lighting and laboratory needs during the night. The burner hearing system is being charged and more burners prepared.

I find in re-reading the diary that I have not described this. Hydrogen and oxygen, derived from water, electro-lyzed during the day by our photo-cell power, is stored, and burned together for warmth during the night. The water so formed is collected, condensed, and stored to be re-electrolyzed the next day. It is thus a perfectly reversable action, requiring only the electro-chemical energy from the photo-cells. And our heating plant will be once more free of the batteries' defects.