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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: Servadac listened attentively. He was at a loss what to say;
and the only reply he made to the recital of this novel theory was
to the effect that, if it were true, he would prefer being captured
by Mercury than by Jupiter, for Mercury, being so much the younger,
would probably prove the less imperative and self-willed master.
It was on the 1st of September that the comet had crossed
the orbit of Jupiter, and on the 1st of October the two
bodies were calculated to be at their minimum separation.
No direct shock, however, could be apprehended; the demonstration
was sufficiently complete that the orbit of Gallia did not
coincide with that of the planet, the orbit of Jupiter being
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