Chapter 1672 Distress Signal

"...This is Captain Miller. The Lewis and Clark is contacting Houston for the 34th time. All crew members have woken up and are recovering. It is expected to approach Event Horizon in about 180 hours Earth time. The event horizon (the edge of the black hole) spacecraft was on a rescue mission. Engineer Lieutenant Justin reported that the engine was in good condition and could meet the needs of the mission, but he did not understand the working principle of the radioisotope generator at all. He only knew to press the button according to the instruction manual. . Pilot Lieutenant Smith and search and rescue officer Lieutenant Cooper are also undergoing rehabilitation training and continue to complain about the bad taste of the nutritional cream..."

The blurred holographic projection flickered for a while, then returned to normal.

"...This is Captain Miller, the Lewis and Clark is contacting Houston for the 35th time. We have been able to see the Event Horizon through the portholes, but all calls have not received a response from Captain Kilpark. Search and rescue personnel library Lieutenant Bai believes that the crew of the Event Horizon spacecraft may have entered the hibernation chamber and is waiting for rescue. Even though this expectation is too optimistic, the design of the hibernation chamber is not enough to last for 7 years. Dr. Weir claims that the time inside the black hole is distorted by gravity and is different from the real time. It's not the same, but no one knows what happened on that ship..."

"...This is Captain Miller, the Lewis and Clark is contacting Houston for the 36th time. We have been able to clearly see the appearance of the Event Horizon through the observation equipment. This 4.35 billion kilometer journey will usher in the first The victory of the stage. This was a long journey. When I saw the spacecraft floating in space like a giant cross, I realized how far we are from the earth. Voyager 1 took 42 years to Barely leaving the solar system, we spend much of our lives in space, sleeping into oblivion..."

"...This is Captain Miller, Captain Lewis and Clark contacting Houston for the 37th time..."

After sleeping in a pressure chamber to overcome the gravity of a giant planet, proper exercise and medicine were not enough to allow the mortal Assault Sergeant Nicky to completely restore his combat capabilities and tactical thinking. Even if he takes a moderate amount of genetic medicine and undergoes a small amount of surgical modification as a super soldier, he is still a mortal. This recording is drowsy, and Captain Miller's voice gradually changes from initial excitement to boredom. The delay in contacting the command center on Earth frustrated everyone on the Lewis and Clark, even the experienced astronaut Captain Miller.

Fortunately, the dreary environment inside the tactical room did not last long.

The Sisterhood leader in the tactical discussion room showed everyone the psychic readings detected by the forward-firing detector, and then played another recording. The Commander of the Guards and the Chief of the Sisterhood had both heard the distress signal that was constantly wandering in the universe. This recording made all the mortals in the tactical discussion room tense up quickly, and needle-like sweat broke out from their backs. It was as if he had lost control of his body for a moment, and the pain that penetrated his bone marrow pierced his ears.

It was a scream that was almost impossible to squeeze out of a human throat. The sound was like a wave of dense, subtle hums from the flapping wings of countless insects, and like the piercing scream of rough metal rubbing against each other. Mortals can hear their own mother tongue from this recording, but listen carefully Then it seemed like it was just an illusion, a coincidence of countless tracks colliding with each other. Even if the audio is turned off, everyone who has listened to this recording still feels that the voice is lingering in their ears, as if the terrifying and desperate cry has penetrated the space and seeped into the steel. In order to ensure safety, the accompanying Mars technicians completely isolated the storage medium carrying this recording from the tactical analysis processor of the sky aircraft carrier. After analysis, a barely audible sound was pulled out from the screaming audio track. It was a Latin phrase that was repeated repeatedly and shouted with a blood-stained and torn throat, which meant "release me." . The information about each crew member of the Lewis and Clark and the Event Horizon is in the nearby document. After comparison, the recording does not belong to the voice of any crew member on the Event Horizon.

Nicky, the planetary assault sergeant wearing void armor, swallowed. The emotional adjustment before the war could not cover up the fear from his soul. As one of the few mortals present, this officer belonging to the commando team of the 1st Secret Regiment is himself a mercenary without borders. After being recruited, he has undergone specific genetic enhancement procedures and participated in the Battle of Fimbull Mountain. He is authorized to handle The most dangerous secret mission. From terrorist attacks to biological and chemical weapons leaks, from underwater to space, with strong logistical support and intelligence support, this officer and his men can handle it smoothly. Because of this, Regent Victor von Doom was able to This 1st Secret Regiment commando team was authorized to join the operation.

Niqi couldn't figure out why these girls with so beautiful and exquisite faces could be so calm in the face of such terrifying noises. It was said that the emperor especially doted on these beautiful girls with violent tempers, and even equipped them with recoil powerful enough to make ordinary people. A bolter with a shattered shoulder.

"Aliens, or worse?"

Tita looked at Constantine.

The commander of the guards remained silent, but no one in the bridge space where he was located could ignore his presence. After receiving the nod of permission from the Guard Commander, Tita was allowed to reveal some information to the mortal soldiers. "I will not disclose the source of the information, but it is certain that the pollution level of the Event Horizon spacecraft is far more serious than that of the Attilan base on the moon. We must determine the level of pollution of the Event Horizon spacecraft as soon as possible and recover the hyperspace engine on it. Maybe we will face extradimensional symbiotic aliens. I need soldiers to be prepared and continue to receive psychological adjustment, and we must solve this problem before it gets out of control."

At this moment, the USS Punishment sky carrier had just passed through Saturn through a precisely calculated serial gravity slingshot, and the receiver flying to Neptune intercepted the communication sent to the earth from Captain Miller of the Lewis and Clark spacecraft. Through Captain Miller's description, the commander of the guards and the chief of the sisterhood on the Punishment were able to understand the information on the rescue ship.

Since all information about the Event Horizon spacecraft is classified and none of the equipment used by the Lewis and Clark spacecraft can be reproduced, the entire crew of the latter had to leave their families on Earth for up to a year. The space voyage has placed a considerable burden on the psychology and physiology of all astronauts. Captain Miller told Houston in regular communications that the crew members all experienced nightmare symptoms after the hibernation voyage. However, the ship's doctor, Lieutenant Peters, believed that this was a common symptom of using a hibernation cabin. This was considered possible in the space navigation dormancy experiment, so Captain Miller didn't pay too much attention.

There is a special passenger on board the Lewis and Clark spaceship.

Dr. Weir is responsible for designing the Event Horizon spacecraft.

This person was deeply involved in the Pegasus project, and in order to explore the boundaries of the solar system, he designed the Event Horizon spacecraft with Dr. Raul, the leader of the Pegasus project. After receiving a distress signal, he initiated a request to the Space Agency and the Pentagon, and organized the Lewis and Clark conducts rescue operations.

Part of the reason why this rescue operation could be organized so quickly (referring to the launch of the space shuttle within two years) was because of the irreproducibility of the hyperspace engine. The Chitauri invasion of New York in 2012 heightened the anxiety of the US government. . This is the main reason why the Lewis and Clark spacecraft was able to be completed and launched secretly after 2013. However, even Dr. Weir does not know the origin of the hyperspace engine - he only knows that it is a product of the Pegasus Project, although he has never seen the hyperspace engine project be established, nor has he heard of any scientists involved in it.

In order to recover the hyperspace engine as quickly as possible, he also took it upon himself to use the sub-light speed engine manufactured by Dr. Raul, another project in the Pegasus Project, that could not be reproduced or reverse engineered. The cost of this rescue operation is extremely high. If it were not for the Pentagon's inability to reproduce the sublight engine, the world's theoretical mathematics and applied physics would not be able to crack this technological black box, and Dr. Will would not be able to use such a valuable asset.

"After calculation, the arrival time of Retribution will be 12.2 Earth hours slower than that of Lewis and Clark." On the solar system star map, it means that Lewis and Clark and Event Horizon are moving slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye. , the Punishment technical officer and hyperspace engine researcher from Mars reminded in a synthesized electronic voice, "The Punishment uses Saturn and satellites to perform multiple gravitational slingshot accelerations. Even so, we will not be able to arrive before Lewis and Clark and intercept. "Unfortunately, if the contamination level of the Event Horizon spacecraft is Alpha, the survival rate of Dr. Weir, the designer of the Event Horizon spacecraft, is less than one percent. We will lose Dr. Weir."

"Dr. Will's priority is lower than the hyperspace engine. I formally reject your proposal and veto the proposal to contact the Lewis and Clark."

The commander of the imperial guards moved like a living god.

The Assault Sergeant's eyes were full of awe. He had witnessed the capabilities of the Praetorian Guards on the battlefield.

As a notorious PMC (private military company) on the battlefield, although not as depraved as Blackwater, mercenaries have never been regarded as one of their own by any party, and will not be reminded even of enemy bombings. However, because they did not fall into problems like drug abuse, alcoholism, fights, torture of prisoners, shooting of civilians, smuggling of arms, etc. like Blackwater, their group of mercenaries were captured rather than killed by the Guards. He would always remember that day, on the battlefield in Iraq, when the golden-armored demigod single-handedly and effortlessly penetrated the two-kilometer-long defense line they had set up, destroying several armored vehicles, and even the rescue helicopter was shot down by the god-like figure. . It's just that he doesn't know whether the golden-armored demigod is the commander of the Imperial Guard named Constantine in front of him. His authority does not allow him to understand the Imperial Guard. Like the whole world, he has no understanding of this powerful force. Genetically modified warriors are still poorly understood.

"The fog has shrouded all information, and the Praetorian Order of Prophecy has been unable to ascertain any details."

The Praetorian Order of Prophecy mentioned by Constantine is actually a newly established organization, affiliated with the Praetorian Order and accepting the overall jurisdiction of the Praetorian Guard. The main members are female mystics within Kama Taj who are proficient in prophecy skills. The one who specializes in providing prophecy services to the commanders of the guards and the emperor, and whose position is similar to that of a court mage. This is the crazy lady with the eye of disaster (the price of prophecy is To put up with her humming off-key, nonsensical holiday songs and to judge appropriately is the price of omniscience). Unexpectedly, the commander of the guards discovered that Ms. Calamity Eye had a cute face under her mask. After taking off the mask, she was no longer so crazy. However, she also lost her omniscient prophetic ability. , only a little bit of knowledge learned by using the mask to peek into the truth of the universe is still preserved, and she can be called a witch who is both bad and extremely safe.

Most recently, the crazy woman claimed that a terrifying enemy waits outside the aperture (the sun's plasma wind radiation), then pointed out that the terrifying entity's final destination was Earth. Thinking of the location of the Event Horizon spacecraft, it is easy to see that the Lewis and Clark rescue mission will not be smooth sailing. All the crew members on the Lewis and Clark will face threats from another dimension. If the Punishment does not set sail, then A contaminated spaceship would also spread madness to Earth.

"We can't save them." said the leader of the Praetorian Guards. "The Event Horizon spacecraft has suffered severe extradimensional energy pollution. If there are survivors, everything must be carried out in accordance with the rules and regulations. The Praetorian Guards will take action against anyone who is contaminated. people for harmless treatment.”

The head of the medical department on the Punishment nodded. As a subordinate department of Sola Red Forest Druid Order and Genetic Laboratory, many people in this department have studied in the Eternal City. These people have witnessed many contaminated human samples and are also aware of the contamination. The scary thing is not the pure physical mutation - according to the genetic laboratory, extradimensional energy shattered and reorganized the DNA of carbon-based organisms, causing them to rapidly mutate - the real scary thing about pollution is the impact on the mind. pollute. Memory is no longer reliable, everything the brain understands will be distorted, and the memes developed by human civilization and personal experience will be contaminated and cause contamination and spread in the material universe.

Constantine's grammar is very strange. He did not specify the contaminated object. It may be the crew of the Lewis and Clark and the Event Horizon, or it may be the crew of the Punishment. It may even be his gaze through the ruby ​​eyepiece. The focus is on the Mars Punishment technical officer and hyperspace engine researcher. This was a warning. The stern look that penetrated the electronic detection equipment and display screen made the mechanical appendage connected to the laser cutter behind the technical officer's back twitch slightly. This technical officer is not a soldier, nor is he directly under the command chain of the Adeptus Praetorian Order. If there is anyone on this ship who is most likely to violate the rules and regulations, it is only those technical personnel from Mars.

"No one is allowed to touch the source of pollution without permission. I am referring to the hyperspace engine of the Event Horizon spacecraft. That engine is severely contaminated and can no longer be used safely." The guard commander said firmly, "Please control it. Our own curiosity. When we complete our mission, we will scuttle the Event Horizon spacecraft, completely dismantle it into pieces and sink it to Neptune."

Tita looked into the void outside the armored porthole of the bridge.