The Meteor is sunk in a lake with its after section flooded but its nose above water. Two men and the main reactor have gone through a hole in the side of the engine compartment. Screens and ventilators are dead. The only light is from dim, green "evershine panels." (p. 30)
Outside:
the huge, red sun is dim enough to look at;
the sky is deep purple;
there is eternal twilight;
the lake sheens crimson;
the land is barely visible;
leathery-winged creatures croak hoarsely as they fly above;
the air is dank and tropical.
Argens is not sure that he wants to live but Valland insists that it should only take them a few years to get off the planet and Mary O'Meara is waiting for him. As Neil Gaiman's Desire says of the Emperor Norton, his madness keeps him sane.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteI would have been tempted to share Captain Argens' despondency myself! I don't know how I would behave if I survived such an accident. Another way of describing Hugh Valland's determination, besides "madness," would be his self-deprecating way of calling himself a fanatic, for reasons of his own.
Sean