La Forge de Vulcain
Encyclopedia
La Forge de Vulcain is the third book from Yoko Tsuno
comic book
series written by Roger Leloup
and published in 1973. (ISBN 2-8001-0668-9)
near Martinique
is threatened by some unnatural tidal activity ever since one of the drilling attempts yielded a crystalline, strongly magnetic and near-indestructible ore. The material closely resembles that of an orb Yoko was given by Khany as a farewell gift in Le Trio de l'étrange
. Yoko immediately sets out to Martinique, with a skeptical Vic and Pol in tow.
Just as they are filled in by the oil company's manager, the platform's supply helicopter arrives with the need for a laser cutter and its operator. Since the latter is not available, Yoko offers to help out. Since the pilot doesn't agree, she hangs herself onto the helicopter's skid until he is convinced.
At the platform, Melville, the chief engineer, reluctantly tells her that a strange capsule with a man inside got snagged on one of the support beams, but the waves render an approach impossible. Yoko, however, suggests to pump drilling mud onto the water to calm them, and after Vic and Pol have been brought in for help, she manages to open the cabin and recover its heavily injured and unconscious occupant - a Vinean. Just as Yoko attempts to explain about the alien race living under the face of the Earth, a Vinean transporter suddenly comes out of the ocean and lands upon the platform. One of its passengers is Khany, Yoko's Vinean friend.
The reunion, however, is overshadowed by a dire warning: The drillers have damaged a pipeline
transporting magma
, which was to serve the Vineans - under Karpan's direction - in a gargantuan project: they are raising an ancient submerged volcano
's plug to create a new continent
; the plug is pushed towards the surface with fresh magma. The lava escaping from the broken pipeline threatens to ignite the oil well
above it, triggering an artificial tsunami
which would devastate Martinique. Karpan, however, believes that this catastrophe will only serve both to accelerate the project (by taking the islands after the tidal wave has decimated the population) and to intimidate the Terrans; he does not acknowledge that the Vineans will certainly be wiped out as well. Khany and some of her trusted operatives are working to prevent that, but they also require Yoko's help, mostly because of her ability for flexible thinking.
After Yoko has convinced Melville to give them 24 hours' grace, the trio takes off in the transport and descends into the depths of the Earth through an artificial whirlpool
. Khany's attempts to throw off Karpan's Security forces - including using a Yoko look-alike -, however, prove to be in vain, and soon she and Yoko are chased by the guards all across the lava-conducting facilities. Some of the things the two have to do in order to escape are hijacking a laser
driller and using emergency sleds to escape into a cavern filled with huge medicinal mushrooms. Also, Yoko gets to meet several highly intelligent Vinean children (engineers in training) and receives several electric stun capsules for self-defense.
Reuniting with their friends, Yoko and Khany use a secret entrance to gain entry to the main facilities for the operation: the central control and the magma filtering facility. As it turns out, the only way to stop the lava flow into the damaged pipeline is to force Karpan into shutting it down or hijacking a filter block filled with magma and empty it over the pipe's power cables. Yoko fashions herself a bow and arrows to deliver the stun capsules at a greater range (as depicted on the cover), and with these weapons she, Vic and Khany manage to enter the filter crane and overpower its operator; then they drive the crane to central control, where Karpan is at the present.
The crane halts before the main control booth, but despite the threat Karpan does not relent; he also informs them that the disaster will occur in two days anyway and that it will take longer to cool the magma, so blackmail is pointless. Impulsively, Yoko releases the clamps holding the filter block, which crashes onto the other pipelines and breaks them, flooding the central control hall with lava. In response Karpan shuts off the area and prepares to release sulphuric gasses, intending to suffocate them all. When the chief supervisor protests that he is endangering the Vinean workers, Karpan cold-bloodedly kills him.
The crane operator, however, intervenes; by closing the crane's pincers around the control booth, he crushes it, taking some wreckage and Karpan with him, then he drops the villain into the lava. However, this does not resolve the actual problem, and so the conflicting Vinean fractions unite to avert the impending disaster. But to stop the catastrophe more radical measures have to be used: the hydrocarbon gas (which is created by the heated oil) must be released into Earth's atmosphere to relieve the rising pressure in the oil field. Since the gas would escape into the atmosphere unchecked and trigger a vast explosion upon being ignited, Vic suggests torching it off as it escapes. Yoko, Vic, Pol and Khany return to the surface to carry out the plan, and a laser shot from Khany's transporter creates a column of fire several miles high.
After the operation is successfully executed, Khany announces a plan which incorporates the return of the Vineans to their home planet, but she parts with the promise not to leave before seeing Yoko and her friends again.
Yoko Tsuno
Yoko Tsuno is a comic book series created by the Belgian writer Roger Leloup published by Dupuis and in Spirou since its debut in 1970. Through twenty-five volumes, the series tell the adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female electrical engineer of Japanese origin surrounded by her close friends, Vic...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written by Roger Leloup
Roger Leloup
Roger Leloup is a Belgian comic strip artist, novelist, and a former collaborator of Hergé. He is most famous for the Yoko Tsuno comic series.- Biography :...
and published in 1973. (ISBN 2-8001-0668-9)
Story
An oil platformOil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
near Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
is threatened by some unnatural tidal activity ever since one of the drilling attempts yielded a crystalline, strongly magnetic and near-indestructible ore. The material closely resembles that of an orb Yoko was given by Khany as a farewell gift in Le Trio de l'étrange
Le Trio de l'étrange
Le Trio de l'étrange is the first book from Yoko Tsuno comic book series written by Roger Leloup and published in 1972. -Story:...
. Yoko immediately sets out to Martinique, with a skeptical Vic and Pol in tow.
Just as they are filled in by the oil company's manager, the platform's supply helicopter arrives with the need for a laser cutter and its operator. Since the latter is not available, Yoko offers to help out. Since the pilot doesn't agree, she hangs herself onto the helicopter's skid until he is convinced.
At the platform, Melville, the chief engineer, reluctantly tells her that a strange capsule with a man inside got snagged on one of the support beams, but the waves render an approach impossible. Yoko, however, suggests to pump drilling mud onto the water to calm them, and after Vic and Pol have been brought in for help, she manages to open the cabin and recover its heavily injured and unconscious occupant - a Vinean. Just as Yoko attempts to explain about the alien race living under the face of the Earth, a Vinean transporter suddenly comes out of the ocean and lands upon the platform. One of its passengers is Khany, Yoko's Vinean friend.
The reunion, however, is overshadowed by a dire warning: The drillers have damaged a pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
transporting magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
, which was to serve the Vineans - under Karpan's direction - in a gargantuan project: they are raising an ancient submerged volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
's plug to create a new continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
; the plug is pushed towards the surface with fresh magma. The lava escaping from the broken pipeline threatens to ignite the oil well
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
above it, triggering an artificial tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
which would devastate Martinique. Karpan, however, believes that this catastrophe will only serve both to accelerate the project (by taking the islands after the tidal wave has decimated the population) and to intimidate the Terrans; he does not acknowledge that the Vineans will certainly be wiped out as well. Khany and some of her trusted operatives are working to prevent that, but they also require Yoko's help, mostly because of her ability for flexible thinking.
After Yoko has convinced Melville to give them 24 hours' grace, the trio takes off in the transport and descends into the depths of the Earth through an artificial whirlpool
Whirlpool
A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft...
. Khany's attempts to throw off Karpan's Security forces - including using a Yoko look-alike -, however, prove to be in vain, and soon she and Yoko are chased by the guards all across the lava-conducting facilities. Some of the things the two have to do in order to escape are hijacking a laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
driller and using emergency sleds to escape into a cavern filled with huge medicinal mushrooms. Also, Yoko gets to meet several highly intelligent Vinean children (engineers in training) and receives several electric stun capsules for self-defense.
Reuniting with their friends, Yoko and Khany use a secret entrance to gain entry to the main facilities for the operation: the central control and the magma filtering facility. As it turns out, the only way to stop the lava flow into the damaged pipeline is to force Karpan into shutting it down or hijacking a filter block filled with magma and empty it over the pipe's power cables. Yoko fashions herself a bow and arrows to deliver the stun capsules at a greater range (as depicted on the cover), and with these weapons she, Vic and Khany manage to enter the filter crane and overpower its operator; then they drive the crane to central control, where Karpan is at the present.
The crane halts before the main control booth, but despite the threat Karpan does not relent; he also informs them that the disaster will occur in two days anyway and that it will take longer to cool the magma, so blackmail is pointless. Impulsively, Yoko releases the clamps holding the filter block, which crashes onto the other pipelines and breaks them, flooding the central control hall with lava. In response Karpan shuts off the area and prepares to release sulphuric gasses, intending to suffocate them all. When the chief supervisor protests that he is endangering the Vinean workers, Karpan cold-bloodedly kills him.
The crane operator, however, intervenes; by closing the crane's pincers around the control booth, he crushes it, taking some wreckage and Karpan with him, then he drops the villain into the lava. However, this does not resolve the actual problem, and so the conflicting Vinean fractions unite to avert the impending disaster. But to stop the catastrophe more radical measures have to be used: the hydrocarbon gas (which is created by the heated oil) must be released into Earth's atmosphere to relieve the rising pressure in the oil field. Since the gas would escape into the atmosphere unchecked and trigger a vast explosion upon being ignited, Vic suggests torching it off as it escapes. Yoko, Vic, Pol and Khany return to the surface to carry out the plan, and a laser shot from Khany's transporter creates a column of fire several miles high.
After the operation is successfully executed, Khany announces a plan which incorporates the return of the Vineans to their home planet, but she parts with the promise not to leave before seeing Yoko and her friends again.