Church's Diary Thirteen:
We had originally decided to sail north because, setting aside all the unreliable assumptions, staying where we were was the most scientifically sound decision. The Tubuai Islands were less than two days' journey north. And regardless, the probability of encountering land was higher heading north. Even the worst-case scenario—we might sail past the Southern Islands and Hawaii Islands and end up in the Aleutian Islands —would still be better than encountering icebergs in Antarctic. Along the way, if we encountered a large island, we could determine its location using the chart, adjust our course, and eventually find inhabited land.
However, after sailing for a few hours, I discovered a problem—we were going in circles.
The problem lies with the compass. The magnetic poles of the pointer appear to be pointing correctly, but after the ship has traveled a certain distance, it will deflect slightly, causing the Discovery to turn.
This slight change in direction was barely perceptible to the naked eye, but as an experienced helmsman, I quickly noticed something was wrong. Not only me, but my first mate, second mate, and many of the sailors also noticed the problem. We all saw that the Discovery was circling at sea, with the compass pointing to a fixed point on the vast ocean.
I told Mr. Robbins about the situation. He said there might be an extremely strong magnetic field somewhere on the seabed, which might be the root cause of the series of strange events we've recently encountered, and the source of the magnetic field is very likely related to the pyramid we're looking for.
This conjecture was exciting. We drove in the direction the pointer indicated, hoping to reach above the center of the magnetic field. But strangely, the compass never seemed to lead us to that center point. Perhaps due to the dual influence of the Earth's magnetic poles, it was constantly correcting its direction along the tangent of the circle at the edge of the magnetic field.
Now I'm truly at a loss. If I can't even use a compass, then the Discovery is practically blind in the vast Pacific Ocean. Am I supposed to navigate like an old pirate ship, relying on wind direction and gut feeling? But that's too dangerous.
Robbins asked me if I could use my experience to find the center of the magnetic field. It didn't have to be perfectly accurate, just close enough, so we could go out to sea and take a look. The only problem on the ship was the communication failure; all the other equipment was still working.
I said it was too late, I'd try again tomorrow.
Church's Diary, Part Fourteen:
Fortunately, when I sailed with the old captain in my youth, technology was not advanced enough. Back then, the most reliable thing on a ship was not technological equipment and navigation systems, but human eyes and experience.
Otherwise, I don't think I would have been able to find the center of that strange magnetic field today.
I first steered the boat around the magnetic field a few times according to the compass, and then, based on experience, determined the direction and distance to the center of the circle, before turning the boat around and heading there. During this process, the compass needle kept trembling wildly.
About forty minutes later, I felt we had arrived at our destination, so I stopped the boat. At this point, the compass needle returned to calm, and judging by the position of the Sun, it pointed to the Arctic again, as if the strong magnetic field on the seabed had disappeared. I guessed that this magnetic field might be like the eye of a hurricane, with a hollow center where the surrounding magnetic field is very strong, but the center point is empty.
I suddenly realized the GPS had a signal. This was incredibly exciting news, even more so than the joy I had just experienced during my perfect voyage. I immediately wanted to tell Robbins the news, and as I ran towards the cabin, I almost bumped into the communications officer responsible for contacting ground control at the passageway.
He was also on his way to find Robbins because all the communication equipment had been restored. And strangely, when the equipment was restored, it continued the instructions before the loss of contact, sending a request report to the ground saying, "Arrived at destination, preparing to anchor, requesting satellite angle calibration."
However, before we could find Robbins, we heard a sailor on the bow shout, "Tsunami! Get back to the cabin! Tsunami!"
I looked back and saw a white column of smoke rising into the sky not far to our side. Then, huge waves surged around the smoke column, forming a high gray wall of waves. Then there was a loud bang, and a gust of wind blew in our face, causing the ship to rock noticeably.
Seeing this, my first thought was of an underwater nuclear explosion. However, who would conduct a nuclear test underwater in the Pacific Ocean? If the United States were to do it, they would at least give prior notice and close off the area.
Despite my thoughts, I still yelled and ran back to the captain's cabin, quickly issuing orders to the crew to take their positions and prepare to face the onslaught of the upcoming giant waves.
I adjusted the direction of the bow because we had to face the large waves head-on, vertically, before they arrived. If the boat tilted even slightly, it could be capsized.
The waves, forming a wall tens of meters high, quickly surged up, and I felt the ship rock violently. The sound of the giant waves crashing against the bow deck drowned out the sailors' shouts, and the misty spray obscured my vision.
Most of the young sailors had never experienced such a sudden change and danger, and this experience will surely be unforgettable for them. After this battle, I think they will all become more mature.
The bow of the ship was repeatedly churned up by huge waves. I took the helm myself, shouting and issuing various commands while praying to God and the sea god. I heard a loud bang, and something hit the side of the ship.
After what felt like an eternity of hardship, the ship finally stabilized, and the sea returned to calm.
Still shaken, I rubbed my aching hips and back from nearly falling several times, then trudged off with trembling legs to check on the others.
Anderson was reassuring our young sailors when he said to Church, "Go and check on the intellectuals; leave this to me."
I then headed towards the cabin. The incident happened so suddenly, and those people were inexperienced; they certainly didn't have time to take the correct actions to protect themselves.
Sure enough, many people in the cabin were injured, several of whom may have suffered fractures.
Mrs. Larry hit her head and her face was covered in blood, but she stubbornly refused any help. She took a first-aid kit, bandaged herself up, and then went to help others.
Robbins was tending to Pardik, who had fallen to the ground, a heavy machine crushing him. Alice was crying beside him, saying he had been badly injured protecting her.
I went over to check and found that Pardik's breathing was very weak. In addition to being crushed by the machine, his head also seemed to have been hit.
The sailors' situation was also not optimistic; four were missing and about ten were injured, though their injuries were not serious.
The cabin was flooded, and the port side was dented by something. Almost all the equipment on board was damaged. Upon inspection, it was found that it had likely been hit by something like an electromagnetic pulse explosion. All electronic equipment was malfunctioning, and the electrical circuits were also faulty. Fortunately, our ship uses a diesel engine; if it were running on gasoline like a car, the ignition controller would definitely have failed.
After a tense emergency repair, we barely managed to restore power to the ship. Fortunately, the ship was still navigable and there was no irreparable damage. Our only concern was the crew's injuries. The ship's doctor examined Pardik and said he had two broken ribs and suffered a concussion. We didn't know if there would be any long-term effects.
May God bless everyone and may they all get better.