Chapter 1695 Vacuum

The discussion was immediately interrupted by the news brought by Dr. Peters.

It was a good thing that engineer Justin was able to wake up, but after waking up, Justin behaved abnormally, so that Dr. Peters had to rush to the bridge for support. Or rather, she had to. Although she was a little panicked, she still described the situation she found to Captain Miller, First Officer Stark, and Major D.J. in brief words.

She followed Captain Miller's orders to take care of Justin, constantly monitoring Justin's vital signs. At that time, Justin was still lying on the medical bed with his eyes open. But when she turned her head and continued to deal with the wreckage of the former crew member, Justin, who was lying on the medical bed, disappeared. When she hurried to look for it, she heard the sound of a hatch closing suddenly, and then the circuit of the spacecraft appeared. A problem occurred, and the excessive current caused the lighting equipment in the medical room to explode. Panicked, she quickly ran to the bridge, and while escaping, she caught a glimpse of a figure who seemed to be Justin walking towards the biological products storage room. After hearing this, Captain Miller nodded and said that he would get Justin back, and then ran out of the bridge to find Justin. He swore never to give up on any of his crew members.

At this time, Dr. Weir also rushed over, but his state was very wrong, and he seemed to be in a trance.

At the same time, something unknown followed Dr. Peters' footsteps to the bridge, and was stopped by the hatch that Dr. Peters closed. The first thing that appeared was the overloaded lumen, the scorching and exploding cold light emitted scorching smoke, and then the thing kept hitting outside the hatch. The thick airtight gate dented under the huge force, and the entire bridge Block after block fell into darkness, with only the continuous spurts of sparks.

Dr. Peters screamed in horror.

She heard the sound.

She heard the voice when Justin suddenly disappeared, and now the owner of the voice was outside the cabin, trying to break open the air-tight door and break in. While others kept retreating due to the panic caused by the leaking gas and abnormal phenomena in the pipeline, Dr. Weir walked towards the airtight gate that was constantly being hit in a trance. Major D.J clearly heard what Dr. Weir kept saying. Something like "open the door."

"Stop him!" shouted Major D.J.

First Mate Stark, who was closest to Dr. Will, rushed forward and grabbed Dr. Will's hand that was reaching for the airtight gate switch. She performed the grapple extremely skillfully and turned Dr. Will's hand behind her back. Along with Dr. Weir's cry due to severe pain, the sounds outside the airtight lock disappeared, and the bridge became quiet again, as if the monster under the bed was driven away by the light, and the fear disappeared because of the restoration of sanity.

"At this time, it is very important to maintain self-control, Dr. Will." First Mate Stark did not let go of Dr. Will until he was sure that he would not engage in some dangerous behavior. At this moment, an alarm sounded in the bridge. The others immediately rushed to the center console without asking about Dr. Will's abnormal behavior. First Mate Stark, as the highest-ranking person on the bridge at this time, immediately walked to the console in front of the captain's seat, "What happened?"

"Forward airlock No. 19." Major D.J quickly judged the situation, "It's the decompression alarm issued there."

"Miller, Cooper, Smith, who of you is in airlock 19?" First Officer Stark opened the communication channel and asked.

"No one." Captain Miller replied on the communication channel.

"It's Justin!" Dr. Peters wiped away the frightened tears on his face, "It must be Justin!"

She hurried towards the airlock, followed closely by the others.

They saw the young figure wearing an air force uniform standing in the front airlock, and the airtight door was slowly lowering. As the only way for astronauts to exit the cabin, the airlock will slowly release the air in the lock to protect the astronauts wearing pressure spacesuits and other crew members in the cabin. At this time they could only see Justin through the small observation window, who was only wearing a regular uniform and nothing else.

Dr. Peters hurriedly called to Justin, asking him to open the inner hatch and come back.

"Miller, emergency!" First Mate Stark used his personal tools to pry open the control panel of the inner hatch and called the captain on the radio. After receiving the reply, she immediately reported the situation. "Justin walked into the airlock, not wearing a spacesuit!"

"I'll go right away."

Lieutenant Cooper cursed in a low voice and stood up from the ridge of the Lewis and Clark. Although the air tightness had been reinforced, the Lewis and Clark was torn apart by the entire ship. There was still a lot of work to do. to be completed. Captain Miller stopped him on the comm channel. Captain Miller asked Lieutenants Cooper and Smith to continue repair work as he was closest to the forward airlock. Meanwhile, bad news comes from First Mate Stark.

"He activated the override." First Mate Stark frowned. When asked by Dr. Peters, she said she could only give it a try. She said angrily, "I don't know how he learned to turn on the override device. This is not part of the engineer's training!"

"Justin, open the door!"

Major D.J tried to order the crew again through the airlock intercom, but the engineer did not give him any response. At this time, Captain Miller on the other side of the ship had already put on his space suit, walked out of the nearest airlock and hung himself on the maintenance track. This is a device used for astronauts to move quickly on the surface of the ship to perform efficient operations. After Captain Miller connected his spacesuit waist lock to it, he was dragged to the airlock in the other direction.

"Stark, report the situation."

"He activated the override and I can't open the door!"

"I'll get the keys." Major D.J couldn't stay any longer.

He turned and ran back to the bridge, trying to get the key to the airlock door's mechanical lock. At this time, Dr. Peters was still calling for Justin anxiously - she had always had a maternal concern for the youngest boy in the team, especially when she was far away from her son who needed care on earth. As for Justin, she usually calls her "Mama Bear" - this originated from a joke. Captain Miller claimed that when she protected Justin, she was like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

It is undeniable that Dr. Peters devoted all his guilt and care for his son, whom he could not see for many years, to the youngest crew member. At this time, Dr. Peters could not tell whether the burning smell in his nasal cavity was the smell emitted by the burnt wires nearby, or the smell emitted by his brain being burnt due to excessive anxiety.

Following First Mate Stark's instructions, she kept trying to attract Justin's attention with conversation. Finally, the boy turned and looked at her, much to Dr. Peters' delight.

"Did you hear that?" Justin was indifferent to Peters' plea to open the door. They saw that the young man was pale, with tiny water droplets hanging on his wet skin. He looked like he had sweated a lot, but his whole body was exuding coldness. After a brief silence, he asked again, "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, I heard it." Dr. Peters had to admit that this feeling was as weak as admitting that he still believed in the monster under the bed. However, they encountered a strange incident not long ago, and any rebuttal at this time seemed weak. "Do you know what that sound is?"

"It gives you some sights. Horrible sights," Justin deadpanned.

"What is it?"

"A dark self from another dimension. I don't want to go back."

"Baby Bear, open the door quickly." Dr. Peters almost cried. She shook her head desperately, "Come back quickly!"

"What's the situation now?" D.J, who rushed back, handed the key to the mechanical lock to First Officer Stark. "Open the external airlock and he will be dead. No one can survive in a vacuum."

"She couldn't persuade him," the first mate replied shortly, his hands moving as quickly as ever, "The door is about to open."

"No, listen to me!" Doctor Peters slammed the airlock door hard. Although she was anxious, she changed her tone. She used a commanding and reprimanding tone, very much like a mother teaching a naughty child. "Listen to me, Justin! Now, open the door quickly!"

Justin's voice is still so ethereal, like white mist floating in the air.

"If you saw what I saw, you wouldn't have stopped me."

"That's because you're delirious!" Dr. Peters yelled. She pointed to the side through the observation window, "Open the door. It's over there."

Dr. Peters watched as he reached for the switch to the inner hatch and breathed a sigh of relief, signaling that this exhausting farce was finally over. Then she noticed to her horror that Justin had a weird smile on his face. Immediately, he pressed the button to open the external hatch. The automatic voice announcement announced that decompression would begin in 25 seconds. Justin immediately covered his ears and screamed, the sharp pain of decompression piercing the consciousness that enveloped his soul.

"Where am I?" Justin seemed to wake up from a dream, rubbing his eyes hard, opening his eyes with difficulty and looking around. Then he saw Dr. Peters through the viewing window. "Hey, open the door."

"Stark, open the damn door!" Major D.J shouted.

"I can't! Once the outer hatch is activated, the inner hatch cannot be opened, otherwise the whole ship will be depressurized!" First Mate Stark shouted angrily in response, "Now the authority has been overridden and I can't cancel it. Order to open external hatch!”

"Mama Bear, open the door." Justin stood there and called with a trembling voice. The sound broke Dr. Peters' heart, but Major D.J discovered that although Justin was scared, he did not move a step toward the inside. He just stood there, as if glued there. "Please. Captain..."

"Let me talk to him," Captain Miller said.

"Captain Miller, ask them to open the door..."

"Can't open the door." Captain Miller grabbed the maintenance railing and headed towards the front gate at high speed.

"I don't want to die here!" Justin's voice began to tremble, as if fear had emerged from his stomach.

"You're not going to die," Captain Miller replied firmly.

He used all his strength to pull himself forward to the airlock, not getting confused by Justin's pleas. He unlocked the lock, abandoned all safety measures, and used the airflow from his suit to propel himself toward the structure opposite Airlock 19. Perhaps it was this risky move that prompted him to secrete a lot of adrenaline, or maybe it was because he was already tired from the journey and he began to zone out, and Justin's pleas became a noise far away from his consciousness.

The hydrogen-filled atmosphere of the planet below erupted with intense lightning. The most violent storm clouds in the solar system were larger than a continent on Earth. The burst of light even illuminated the spacecraft that had moved to the dark side. He thought of a rain of diamonds falling in the high-temperature and high-pressure storm below. Countless shining gems sparkled in the bright lightning, like water droplets scattered after waves crashed on the rocks on the coast in the early morning.

Then a scream brought him back to reality. Justin lowered his head and saw the protruding veins on his arms.

"my eyes……"

"Don't think about anything! Close your eyes!"

Justin began to float and scream.

"Five seconds left!"

"Cuddle up, now!"

"I can't breathe...Oh my god, it hurts..." Inside the airlock, Justin covered his eyes in pain. Ruby-like blood squeezed out from between his fingers and swung toward the airlock observation window as he swayed. Dr. Peters looked at the scene in front of him in horror. His hands and feet felt cold and he was speechless.

"Breathe out, let out all the air!" Captain Miller adjusted his posture, opened his arms at the airlock, and fixed himself with the magnetic boots of the space suit. "Did you hear that? Let out all the air!"

As the airlock door slowly opened, the air became thinner and thinner, and the screams of the curled-up Justin became smaller and smaller. He finally lost consciousness completely and was spit out by the airlock that was filled with white condensed air, as if the dark spacecraft had spit out something that should not have entered its body. Justin opened his arms and floated in the vacuum. The blood vessels all over his body were like ravines emerging from the earth. The boiling blood was squeezed out of his throat, nose, eyes and ears, and then quickly condensed. Captain Miller closed the magnetic boots, jumped towards the airlock, and hugged the twitching Justin across the void.

"I caught him! Get ready!"

He gripped Justin's shoulders tightly and floated into the airlock.

First Officer Stark stared closely at the readings of the airlock. At the moment when the external hatch closed automatically, the readings finally reached a safe range. "The cabin is pressurized. Open the door!" First Officer Stark twisted the key, and the internal hatch quickly rose. Major D.J. and Dr. Peters, who were twisting the first aid box, rushed into the open door along with the air that hit the airlock. He opened the hatch and immediately held Justin, who was covered in blood on the airlock deck.

"We need 5 units, hold his head down!" Major D.J. yelled, "Keep him breathing."

"He's bleeding and his blood pressure is dropping!"

"Start the transfusion. No time for the blood to warm up! Warming blanket, we need a warming blanket."

No one noticed that Dr. Will was not here. He sat in the captain's seat on the bridge, and the shouts from Airlock 19 kept pushing into his ears and pounding back and forth between his skull. Not only that, but sounds from every corner of the ship were jammed into his brain, from the slight noise of micrometeors hitting the ship's armor, to the hissing of cables, the murmur of equipment running, and the slowness of the hyperspace engine. Start calling. He covered his ears, but he couldn't stop the sounds from invading his thoughts. His tongue and nose tasted the taste of water and blood, as well as the scent of shampoo and shower gel, his wife's favorite brand.

"You will stay with me forever."

The naked woman looked at him with her bloody eye sockets open, her skin covered with water drops, as if she had just stood up from the bathtub. Her face was pressed against his, and there was a faint smell of blood in the air. All sounds disappeared, and he could only hear the beating heart of the ship calling him, and the veins beating like war drums on his forehead gradually subsided. Dr. Will put down his arms. His skin was covered with sweat, as if he had just survived a painful disease. His remaining sanity was squeezed dry like the water in a wet towel, and his eyes were soothed from madness with some residue. Staring crazily at the void outside the porthole window.

He noticed a wet handprint with a slight bloody smell on the armrest of the captain's seat.

It didn't matter because he remembered why he had launched this mission and everything else was just dust in the air. Even if the thought passed by in a fleeting moment without leaving any trace, he already knew how to do it, just like the instinct engraved into his genes through hundreds of millions of years of evolution - not because of the Pegasus Project, not because of Wendy Lawson, and not because of Wendy Lawson. Carol Danvers, it's because of that voice - it's the voice you hear when you're tortured by endless nightmares and overdose of antidepressants at night, it's the voice that comes from the endless starry sky with temptation and promise, it's the voice that comes from your soul. The sound of the dead returning to their homeland. It was the voice of his wife who had committed suicide.

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In the dormant cabin, Major D.J didn't have time to clean up the blood stains on his arms and clothes.

The same goes for Dr. Peters and First Mate Stark, and Captain Miller goes to help before he even takes off his space suit. Now they were unable to maintain Justin's vital signs at all. After a brief communication with Dr. Peters, Major D.J decided to put Justin into the sleep capsule of the Event Horizon. The hibernation chamber used for long-term hibernation has the best life support system on the entire ship, which not only maintains Justin's vital signs but also reduces his pain. After all, the crew members in the dormant cabin will always receive infusions of sedative drugs. All Major D.J has to do is increase the dose to ensure that Justin will not wake up due to pain.

"His face is completely ruined. I hope he can survive until we return."

He glanced at the cryogenic fluid in the dormant cabin that was slightly bloodshot, and at the unconscious people soaked in it. Justin's eyes were completely sealed after being sterilized, and his completely bleeding ear canal was also sealed and blocked. He wore a breathing mask to breathe high-concentration oxygen. Major D.J couldn't help but sigh, and said half in hope and half in prayer, "It is said that people can survive in a vacuum for 90 seconds. Justin was exposed to the vacuum for not that long, and he also exhaled all the air in his lungs. He had to get out, otherwise his lung would have exploded by now. Now that he's barely stable, I believe Justin can make it through."

"We will." Captain Miller said vaguely. Others didn't know whether he was referring to Justin or the return voyage. "Stark, how much time do we have?"

"In four hours, the carbon dioxide will reach toxic levels. Unless we can repair the ship's oxygen supply system." First Mate Stark glanced at Dr. Will from the corner of his eye intentionally or unintentionally. The Ph.D. in Physics sat there without saying a word, as if the whole world had nothing to do with him. If they could repair the oxygen supply system, they should have more time at this point, but Dr. Will, who was responsible for repairing the circuit, made a mistake, and the abnormal current was his mistake. Not only was the lighting system damaged, but the circulating air system that had been running at low power was also burned out, significantly shortening their time.

"Okay. Peters, find out the logbook to avoid a recurrence of tragedy."

"I can do it on the bridge. I don't want to go to the infirmary," Dr. Peters said weakly. She was very tired and the short break was not enough to complete her work. She could feel the stickiness between her skin and her uniform. They had not practiced personal hygiene in a long time to save water.

Captain Miller agreed.

"Justin once mentioned the dark self." First Mate Stark looked at Captain Miller, indicating that this was a continuation of the previous conversation, "What does that mean?"

"Doctor?" Captain Miller nodded and asked Dr. Will, "Do you have anything to say?"

"I don't see the point in that."

Dr. Will hesitated and left.

Captain Miller angrily chased after him and grabbed Dr. Weir. "Don't even think about running away like this. I want answers. I want to know why my crew jumped out of the airlock suicidally. I want to know where the loud noise that hit the hatch came from! "Dr. Weir still said the same thing. For example, the loud noise was caused by the rapid expansion and contraction of the ship due to changes in temperature difference, and the hallucination was caused by high concentrations of carbon dioxide. Captain Miller rarely got angry, "Don't talk nonsense, you built this spaceship!"

"I was not the builder of the boat, I was just involved in the project and the builder was Wendy Lawson."

"You are the person who knows this ship best, but you keep prevaricating me!" Captain Miller stared into Dr. Will's eyes, but the latter did not dare to look directly at him. "I know Wendy Lawson. Wendy Lawson is dead. You are the only person in the world who knows the answer! Yes, I have participated in the Pegasus Project, and I also know that damn woman."

"What do you want me to say?" Dr. Will spread his hands

"You said the hyperdrive opened the door to space. Where? Where did you send them? Where has it been for the past seven years?"

"I don't know." Dr. Will forced out one word.

"'I don't know' is not an answer, Doctor. You are supposed to be the expert, and I need answers. This is your mission. Now tell me, where is the other dimension?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Dr. Will finally stopped and said incoherently, "Listen, I don't understand what's going on here at all. I need time."

"That's it." Captain Miller nodded and stared at the Physics Doctor fiercely, "We are short of time now, Doctor!"