War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 289 The Film in the Box
"What is this?" Eric, who was curious about everything here, was the first to ask.

"how could I know?"

While speaking, Professor Jonas had already knocked the tip of the ice ax into the gap in the cover of the wooden box, "But if you open it, you'll know?"

Seeing this, Wei Ran took a few steps back subconsciously, but Leo, who was rummaging through boxes and cabinets, dropped the miscellaneous spoils in his hands and came up.

"What is this?" Eric exclaimed.

"It seems to be a film?" Professor Jonas saw Wei Ran approaching him again, and took out a bakelite sealed cylinder from the full wooden box to look at it.

Before Eric, his cousin Leo and Wei Ran reached out, the old man reminded, "To be on the safe side, we'd better not open these sealed tubes, the film inside might not be washed out yet. Opening it hastily is likely to destroy the contents inside."

"But what's the use of these films?"

Wei Ran deliberately took out one, and secretly observed the expression on Professor Jonas's face while fiddling with it.It wasn't until a trace of tension flashed across the old face of the other party that he refocused his attention on the film seal in his hand.

This black cylinder, which is a circle thinner than the toothpick holder and slightly longer than the toothpick holder, is painted with a line of pencil-thick red paint in the middle, and on the upward end, there are some words of unknown meaning written in bright yellow paint. , an alphanumeric code.

"Probably it was the intelligence information of the German Navy's investigation in this sea area at that time."

Professor Jonas put the sealed cylinder in his hand back into the wooden box, and at the same time signaled Wei Ran and Eric to put the sealed cylinder back in his hand, "But no matter what it is, after nearly half a century, can these films be able to develop photos? It’s a question mark, so let’s discuss what’s inside after bringing them back to France.”

While speaking, Professor Jonas knocked back the cover of the wooden box, then pointed to the iron door next to him, "Go ahead and see what else is there, I'll sort out the weather data here, and then Time to get to work."

Before Eric finished translating, Leo, who had long been aroused by curiosity and couldn't wait, had already broken the padlock on the rusty iron door with his climbing pick.

It's a pity that although the space behind the iron gate is not small, there are not many valuable things, except for a dozen 200-liter oil barrels piled up against the walls on both sides, a box of kerosene lamps, various generators, and radio equipment. Damaged accessories.

The only things that are considered rare are a few sets of neatly stacked German military uniforms from World War II, some balloons needed for meteorological observation, or steel cylinders neatly placed in the corners.

In addition to these, in this room with a small window open but tightly blocked by the snow outside, there is also a set of disassembled small wind power generation equipment, as well as some stacked crates and boxes. A few boxes of canned food in small quantities.

After all, there was oil in it, and the three of them with kerosene lamps in their hands didn't dare to stay for too long, so they hurriedly left the room and pinned the iron door with the smashed lock.

"There is good news"

When Professor Jonas saw the three of them coming back, he shook a folder in his hand and said, "I just found the catalog here, from October 1940 to the summer of 10, during this period The various meteorological data of each day are recorded in detail here."

"Every day?" Wei Ran and Eric exclaimed in surprise.

The former was surprised by the long history of this weather station. You must know that during World War II, Germany only occupied the entire territory of Norway in June 1940.In other words, the Germans had already started building a weather station here under the cover of the Norwegian campaign almost immediately after the end of the war, or even before the end of the war.

As for the latter's exclamation, it was entirely because of the "special surprise".After all, five or six years and more than [-] days of weather monitoring data are enough to meet the total amount of data Eric needs to set up a research project alone.

“Everyday indeed”

Professor Jonas put the folder on the table, "But there is also bad news. If we want to take away so much data, I'm afraid we will have to take pictures here for a long time. I'm even worried about the film I brought. Is it enough?"

Hearing this, Eric immediately turned his head and asked something to Leo who was leaning on the table and flipping through antique pornographic magazines, and the latter responded without raising his head.

"Do not worry"

Eric said confidently, "The fishing boat returns to Finnmark for replenishment every half a month, and it can serve us all the time until spring, so we not only have plenty of time, but even if we don't have enough film, we can always get replenishment. "

"In this case, how about we celebrate first?"

Professor Jonas thumped his shoulder and said, "It's been a long time since I've done such physical labor, it's even more tiring than leading you to do a project."

"It really needs to be celebrated!"

After Eric finished speaking, he turned his head and said something to his cousin Leo again. The latter simply stuffed the stack of pornographic magazines on the table into his arms, and after responding, he turned his head and walked out.

"While Leo is preparing meals, let's clean up here!"

Professor Jonas continued, "This place is much more comfortable than living in a tent, and there are plenty of coking coals outside. As long as you light the stove, it will definitely be very warm."

"If only that generator was still working," Eric followed up.

"Leave the generator to me." Professor Jonas smiled. "I used this kind of antique when I was young. Maybe I can fix it."

"Then let's go and light up the stove." After Eric finished speaking, he urged Wei Ran, who had been silent all this time, to walk towards the door.

Glancing at the old man standing next to the navy property crate intentionally or unintentionally, Wei Ran, who was secretly vigilant, followed Eric to the entrance of the cave.

The two worked together to lift the heavy engine to the door, then each pulled out their ice axes and began to clear the ice from the floor and the stove and chimney.After a while of rummaging through boxes and cabinets, Professor Jonas walked towards the generator with the wrench and a bucket of fuel he found.

While the three of them were busy, the cast iron stove was the first to ignite the flames, and when the thick smoke was drawn out by the chimney, the cave quickly warmed up.

Even the generator in charge of Professor Jonas started running after some tinkering. Amidst the beeping noise, it provided the cave with stable power enough to drive the light bulb above the head to emit a light yellow light.

When the three of them put the two tables that had been cleaned up into a square next to the stove and set up the chairs, Leo also brought over the prepared meals and two large bottles of wine.

The two wooden doors and the outermost iron door with bullet holes were closed, leaving only a bowl-sized vent, and by the way, a gap was opened in the iron door leading to the inner room and the glass window buried in snow, The four of them sat down around the table in the warm and bright cave, and while enjoying a hearty meal, they discussed the next work arrangement in Eric's translation.

"Take a nap after eating."

Professor Jonas paused, and continued, "After waking up, bring the working box in and start retaking the weather data. This cave is so warm, even if there is a snowstorm outside, don't worry."

Just after Eric finished translating the former passage, Leo, who was holding a wine glass in one hand and a crab leg in the other, put down what he was holding and said something with a serious expression.

Seeing that Professor Jonas and Wei Ran were all looking at him, Eric quickly explained, "Leo said that it doesn't matter how long we work here, but we have to go to the tent outside to rest at night, and there must be people outside at all times. "

"Why?" Professor Jonas was the first to ask, but Wei Ran picked up his cup and took a sip again with a face full of surprise.

"avalanche"

Eric pointed to the top of his head and replied, "Leo said that this cave is indeed strong and comfortable enough, but once an avalanche occurs on the top of the mountain, it will definitely be buried here. Even if the food and fuel inside are enough to last for a long time, as long as it is destroyed The snow is trapped here, and it won't take long to die of suffocation."

Professor Jonas looked hesitantly at Leo with a serious face. After hesitating for a long time, he finally nodded, "Then leave it to Leo."

After confirming the workflow, Professor Jonas changed the subject in a timely manner.The four around the table began to chat about all kinds of strange rumors about the looted treasure buried by Germany in World War II.

During the dinner, Professor Jonas toasted frequently, and even Leo, who couldn't understand the language, joined the ranks of drinking and persuading him.

As for the result, of course, everyone did not drink less. When the meal was finished, everyone drank at least one bottle of potato wine.

At the end of the dinner, under Leo's repeated insistence, the drunken people got up and left the warm cave, walked back to the tent in the middle of the valley, got into the warm animal skin blankets, and fell asleep with the strength of alcohol.

However, less than two hours later, Professor Jonas, who lived in the same tent as Eric, sneaked out, looked warily at another tent not far away, and then carried a small flashlight , carrying an empty mountaineering bag in his hand and walked towards the gate of the warehouse.

After passing through three doors in a row, Professor Jonas glanced at the cast-iron stove that was still glowing scarlet, locked the door, then carefully turned on the flashlight, and with the faint light, he opened the door marked with the navy again. Crate boxes for belongings.

Obsessively fondling the tightly packed film sealing tubes inside, Professor Jonas took out a large box of heavy lead pendants from his mountaineering bag and put them next to him, then picked up a sealing tube and unscrewed the film inside. Pour it out and throw it into the mountaineering bag, and then stuff a piece of lead skin into it and screw it on again.

Under the nervousness of the old man, all the films in the crate were quickly repacked.However, after the old man restored the crate to its original state, he did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he pulled out a screwdriver from his waist and deftly disassembled the two radio stations on the table, and removed a piece from the top that was quite large. The important circuit boards were thrown into the mountaineering bag, and then the casing of the radio was installed and the flashlight was turned off, and the mountaineering bag full of film was left in the dark to leave the cave, and the outermost iron door full of bullet holes was re-hung with a lock .

Almost at the same time when he turned around to go to the tent, Leo, who poked most of his head out of the tent, quickly shrank back, and behind him, Wei Ran, who was snoring on the animal skin blanket, also closed his eyes immediately. eyes.

(End of this chapter)