Chapter 1688 The Invisible Beast

Facing the data board placed on the table, Captain Miller shook his head with a wry smile and said to the sluggish crew members around the conference table, "We are now like sailors trapped on a ship in a storm. The only thing we can be thankful for is Yes, there are no rats in our cabin. Dr. Peters, I hope you have counted the drug reserves, and Dr. Weir, you are the only one here who understands the hibernation chamber."

We are the rats, Dr. Peters thought. We couldn't even pull the sail or turn the rudder, and we were worse than rats chewing on the cables.

"Our drug reserves can still support one hibernation, and the physical condition of all of us can also support it. It is not ineffective for Lieutenant Smith (the driver) to contribute so much sweat on the treadmill conveyor belt." Dr. Peters said with a sad expression. . The mission was so secretive that she didn't even say goodbye to her son, who was disabled in both legs. She was worried that after she had an accident in space, Houston would never tell her son about the highly secretive mission she had carried out. In that case, her son would probably blame her forever. "If you think we can rely on sleep for this part of the voyage, then I can only say that this is a bad decision. I talked to the engine crew and we did not have enough fuel to provide sufficient acceleration on the return, so I think we must Sleeping during return will reduce the consumption of food, medicine, oxygen and water resources. If we don’t do this, we are likely to die in space, from suffocation or starvation.”

"Any more bad news, guys." Captain Miller let out a long sigh.

"I have no problem." Lieutenant Smith said expressionlessly, "I just want to know when we can sail out of this fog. We have not observed this fog at all on Earth, and we need physicists to explain it. .”

"My knowledge cannot fully explain this phenomenon, Smith, and I am not an astronomer." Dr. Will's tone was still gentle. "Based on the photos alone, I can only judge that it may be caused by the collision of a comet or an asteroid." Cosmic dust, or some kind of ionized gas that may affect our navigation system, or even just a layer of cometary ice crystals that reflect cosmic rays. Only a spacewalk to collect samples can determine the specific situation."

"I'm signing up. I'm not willing to sit here and wait to die." Lieutenant Smith finally straightened his back, like a hyena that had found its prey. The aimless life in space almost wore him out. "Whatever is outside the ship, we have to get out there and figure it out, or we'll never get to the Event Horizon."

"I'm also signing up. I've participated in spacewalk training." Search and rescue technician Lieutenant Cooper, a young and enthusiastic black guy nodded, "If you want to figure out what is out there, I have to join."

"I will be responsible for the safety of the spacewalk." First Officer Lieutenant Stark said, "And everything needed for the spacewalk. Captain Miller, now you need to make a decision."

"Our food reserves, Stark?"

"Sixty percent of solid food is consumed, and 44% of pure water is consumed." First Mate Lieutenant Stark is the person who is most concerned about the reserve issue besides Captain Miller. His job as first officer is to ensure that fuel and other supplies last until they return to Earth. In order to carry out an emergency rescue mission, the Lewis and Clark spacecraft and the launch vehicle of the last century had to be pulled out from the warehouse of the Pegasus Project. In order to successfully reach space and perform the mission, all the supplies on the ship were accurately calculated. "We would have run out of food if rationing had not been cut."

Captain Miller was silent for a moment.

"We must make a plan." After a long wait, Captain Miller finally made a decision, "Doctor Peters, Dr. Will, and Stark. Open the dry bag in the bathroom and make full use of the recycled water and the spacecraft. Experimental seeds will be grown here, and if necessary, we will grow edible plants as well as edible insects."

"Honestly, have you been waiting for this day for a long time? I know this plot is in your favorite space movie." The first mate winked at the captain. The atmosphere suddenly became lively and cheerful, and it seemed that it was the captain's duty to keep everyone occupied. The first mate says, “When are we going to do our spacewalk?”

"Wait until the first seeds sprout," Captain Miller said. After everyone had finished reporting, Captain Miller clapped his hands and asked others to carry out their work. "It's time to get busy, guys. Dr. Will, Dr. Peters, please follow me." When everyone else left the bridge, the fake smile and excitement on Captain Miller's face completely disappeared, "You have How sure are you?"

"What if we figure out what the fog is outside?" Dr. Weir looked into his eyes. "To be honest, I'm not sure, but it's better than letting them fall into despair. In addition, I can't solve the problem of the atomic clock. Without an atomic clock, we can only stay in orbit when returning, and then contact the command center for the time, otherwise our navigation system can only give wrong landing coordinates."

"That's it." Captain Miller exhaled a long breath, "We can only take one step at a time."

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"Check shield integrity."

"Integrity check completed, ready to activate the shield."

Tita nodded and walked to the bridge window.

Here the Emperor stood, as he had for a week since his arrival on the Retribution, staring out the portholes at the ever-increasing, ever-changing silver mist. Just observing with the naked eye, this layer of fog is constantly challenging the normal human mind. This fog has no temperature, no weight, does not emit any visible light spectrum, and will not even have any impact on the micrometeors passing through the fog, as if they are just deep ghosts floating in space. The technicians aboard the Punishment told the Emperor that the radio signals reflected from the fog were full of noise. If you listen carefully to the separated audio, you will also hear inaudible and blood-curdling screams, just like the United States. The space agency received the same signal from the Event Horizon spacecraft.

Tita glanced at Dinah, who was fully armed next to the emperor.

She heard that Dinah came to the Punishment with a huge suitcase, which contained various daily necessities in addition to her and the emperor's clothes. A week has passed, and Tita has not seen the emperor take out any exquisite glass for drinking - but it does not matter. She has always wanted to know the emperor's plan, because the emperor arranged everyone's work without warning, and they Just follow the steps and it's enough - which makes Tita very uneasy. This is not due to a lack of trust. She is uneasy because of the Emperor's protectiveness over her and the other androids, a protection that only arises in times of hardship that they may not be able to handle. She knew she loved the emperor, which made this protection all the more intolerable.

She stood beside the Emperor, her chatty tone of voice asking questions that would not be rejected because of the android's close relationship with their Creator. "My lord, can we still leave after entering the fog?"

The emperor finally moved away from looking out the window and turned to Tita, this lovely and loyal artificial human beside him.

His tone was kind and gentle, as if he were in a living room with a warm firewood burning in the fireplace instead of a bridge densely covered with steel and computers. What was reflected outside the window was not the cold starlight but the lights of the houses across the street.

"This is a labyrinth with the Minotaur. We hold the ball of thread in our hands. After entering the fog, we will soon reach the Event Horizon spacecraft. We just don't know how much the people on that ship have experienced when we arrived. A long time. I just hope it’s not too late, Dr. Will is our best choice to understand the Pegasus Project.”

"Is Dr. Will worth the risk to you?"

"We started too late for Asgard to provide shelter for the human species in the future, and all the critical knowledge we seek to gain must come at a cost. This ship, every aircraft in the hangar, your armor The same goes for weapons. Don’t worry, I’ve arranged everything and I never waste an opportunity.”

"That's what I hate the most."

The commander of the guards cast a surprised look for the first time. He never expected that a completely loyal android would say such willful words. The emperor's smile remained gentle. The soul of the android was born from his alchemy, and he could completely erase the emotion of the android, but Dinah's performance made him give up this decision. In his opinion, Tita's emotions were very cute - androids have no childhood, There is no past, the mind and intelligence are completely dependent on information infusion, and some willfulness is a normal manifestation of alchemical life - the chief artificial man completely ignored the reproachful look cast by the commander of the guards, and boldly said, "Even if you can see the future , but you always put yourself in danger. Conquer the earth first, and you will have more resources to do these things, so there is no need to put yourself at risk."

"Now is not the time, Tita, my opinion is clear." The emperor ended the argument gently, "Now, it is up to you to give the order."

Although the chief cyborg was still a little dissatisfied, she still nodded because her emotions could not affect the mission.

"Lower the explosion-proof curtain." Following her order, a thick composite armor plate immediately lowered behind the porthole. "Open the shield and let us enter the fog."

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The broken atomic clock wasn't the only time-related thing aboard the Lewis and Clark spacecraft. Everyone found that the time displayed on their data pads and watches was completely different. Sometimes when they walked from the cab to the engine room, the time on their watches actually jumped forward, and a tacit and strange atmosphere spread in the cabin. Captain Miller insisted that it was caused by cosmic rays in the fog outside. Dr. Weill supported this statement with silence, although the latter knew very well that cosmic rays could penetrate the cabin and affect the discharge of the quartz of the mechanical watch. Killing every cell in every one of them.

Due to the damage to the atomic clock, the time displayed on different data boards is completely different. Captain Miller can only plan the time according to his regular schedule. When the scratches of the first standard cycle (seven days) appeared on the notebook, the vegetables grown by Dr. Peters in the plant laboratory had finally taken root and sprouted, and they might be able to eat fresh potatoes in a while. They had to do a spacewalk before they could eat the potatoes, and Captain Miller privately had to question it again. In the original plan, the spacewalk was supposed to be conducted by search and rescue personnel, but now pilots and others were trying to get involved, which made Captain Miller very uneasy.

"I don't think the fog outside the ship is dangerous."

Dr. Will rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He was left to take on more duty while others prepared for the spacewalk. Dr. Weir was happy that it allowed him to escape sleep, since nightmares had been attacking his dreams lately, but he told no one. Dr. Peters will only prescribe him more psychotropic drugs - on this ship, taking psychotropic drugs is the only way to escape the endless void and nightmare, but Dr. Weir is proud of his mind, and he doesn't like it very much. The drug for fuzzy thinking.

"The temperature of the surface of the ship has not increased, and the insulation layer has not been damaged. As long as we take biological isolation measures and radiation protection measures, those samples will not be in danger. Maybe we will find that they are just tiny ice crystals, It happens to be able to reflect radio signals, and we're just going in circles." Dr. Weir said, "You know, the length of human legs is not the same. If you blindfold a person, he can't walk in a straight line at all. , maybe we are like this now.”

"The spacecraft relies on engines, not legs."

"Maybe you're right. I'm not an engineer. I can only come up with ideas."

Captain Miller closed his eyes and shook his head in pain. "That's all. Doctor Peters, is there anything else you want to say?"

"I'm afraid we won't have to do a space walk." Dr. Peters lifted up his short blond hair, his face flushed with excitement. She shouted loudly, "The fog has cleared and we can see the Event Horizon!"

Lieutenant Smith was equally excited.

He waited in the wheelhouse for Captain Miller to arrive, and then pointed into the void outside the porthole window. But without his signal, anyone could see the black beast bathed in the pale sunlight in the dark void. It was a giant cross in space, floating there quietly, with no light on the black hull, and the most violent storm in the entire solar system moving at a speed visible to the naked eye below the orbit. Captain Miller was not dazzled by the sudden good news. They came to this place inexplicably, and Dr. Weir told him that the atomic clock on the ship and everyone's mechanical watches had returned to normal, which made him feel the fog. As if waiting for something, the invisible giant beast in the void spat them out as if it was another prey.

Sure enough, bad news followed.

"We found a ship." Captain Miller gestured with his eyes to the first mate to continue, "It's not the Event Horizon. That ship is behind us, and the communication code used is not NASA or the European National Space Agency."

"Is it human?"

Dr. Peters said with some annoyance, "Now is not the time for joking, Will!"

"No, I'm serious." Dr. Weir's eyes made everyone realize that this gentle physicist seemed not to be joking, "The Pegasus Project has contacted aliens. They have arrived on Earth before. During the Cold War, Period. Now I need to ask again, did the people on that ship speak the language of Earth?"