by <unknown>
Chen Chen returned to the NASA headquarters under the camouflage of the night sky. Although it was at the height of midnight, the NASA headquarters building was still occupied. Chen Chen entered from one of the windows.
In a certain command hub designated for receiving communication signals from outer space, there was a team of NASA personnel. They were sweating profusely with their eyes fixed on the display above them.
"General, the rescue team have... Failed their mission!"
An elderly member who stood at the head of the desk promptly held his fingers over a button with a heavy expression over him. "The rescue team has successfully reached the Event Horizon but they failed to find any survivors on the spacecraft. To make matters worse, some kind of incident seemed to have occurred and the rescue spacecraft was destroyed in the process..."
"What, the rescue spacecraft is destroyed?"
A frantic voice came out from the other end of the communication channel. "D*mn it, what happened to Dr. William? He's the designer of the space warp engine and we cannot afford to lose him. I'll have you all fired if something happens to him!"
"That won't be necessary yet..."
The elderly man sighed with relief and quickly explained, "Dr. William is still alive. The other remaining survivors are Richard Jones and another female crew member. All three of them are inside the hibernation chambers now and we'll be dispatching another rescue team to collect them."
"The one at the bow of the Event Horizon?"
The voice on the other end sounded confused.
"Let me explain, general."
The elderly man began explaining, "During the design process of the Event Horizon, it was decided that it would be split into two sections. The bow and the hull are separated parts that remain functional even if detached from one another. The idea is that even if the wrap control engine located in the hull malfunctioned and cannot be salvaged, the bow and hull will be separated immediately. This way, we can at least ensure the safety of the crew on the Event Horizon..."
"But the Event Horizon still went missing for seven years!"
The general barked fiercely.
"There's not much we can do about that."
The elderly man explained again patiently, "Till now, we have no explanation for what happened seven years ago and we have no idea where the Event Horizon went off to in that period. The good news is that Dr. William is still alive and has also retrieved the black box in the Event Horizon. Upon their return, we should be able to find out just what happened to it in these seven years."
"Let's hope so."
With that, the call ended without a formal farewell.
"Phew..."
The elderly man heaved a sigh of relief. The reason he was made the current director of NASA in the first place was the Event Horizon mishap seven years ago which had forced the previous director to step down. This was how the position became vacant and allowed him to take over as the new director. This time, the rescue team's incident was entirely on his shoulders.
Fortunately, Dr. William was still safe and sound. This meant that he was only going to be harshly reprimanded but his position should be secure. As far as the elderly man was concerned, this was as good as it could be.
After that, he tapped another button and cast an image on the display. It was the live feed from somewhere in the distant universe.
A row of cryogenic chambers with transparent covers positioned upright could be seen on the display. Inside two cryogenic chambers, the silhouette of a person could be vividly seen inside them. This was footage from the Event Horizon showing that the crew members had now entered a cryogenic state as they were instructed to.
"Hm? Why are there only two occupied cryogenic chambers? Isn't there someone missing?"
The elderly man was mildly disturbed by this observation. He tapped the refresh button to obtain the latest footage. It took eight minutes for light to travel from the Sun to Earth and a whopping 6.8 hours for light to travel from Pluto to Earth. This meant that to obtain the latest footage on the Event Horizon, they would have to wait six to seven hours.
Six to seven hours filled with agitation...
Chapter 586: An Additional Person |
"Where would the electronic and paper documents of the space warp technology be kept?"
Chen Chen searched through some offices and thought of invading NASA's intranet in the same way as before. Unfortunately, the computers in these offices were all linked to external networks. Chen Chen had searched for a long time and found no trace of the intranet.
If he could not access the intranet, naturally, he could not find the data on the space warp engine.
Chen Chen noticed that the sky was gradually turning pale with daylight as groups of employees walked toward the building. He knew that if he continued to linger here, he would be discovered.
Although it was not a big deal even if he were discovered, NASA would become more vigilant and guard their secrets more fiercely.
Thus, Chen Chen had to turn around and retreat, leaving the NASA headquarters building.
"Sir Commander, what should we do next?"
X-112 asked, "The space warp engine technology has become the top secret of NASA and even the entire Northern American Continent. I'm afraid that few of those in the entire senior management would know about it and it will be difficult to obtain data if we don't use some special methods."
"No rush."
Chen Chen frowned. "According to the timeline, the plot of the movie has just ended not long ago. Although the destruction of this world is close at hand, all of Earth should still be safe as long as the rescue spacecraft hasn't returned.
"We have a safety period of about fifty days or so. No matter what, this much time is enough for us to get the space warp engine technology… So, we'll just do what we always do."
As he spoke, Chen Chen spread out his hands and a God chip as small as a fingernail appeared in his palm…
…
NASA's full name was the Northern American Space Agency and the director's name was Frank.
Frank felt that something strange had happened on the Event Horizon —
Every six hours, he checked the footage sent from the Event Horizon but the image only showed people in the two cryogenic chambers while the rest of the cryogenic chambers were empty.
Frank was thoroughly puzzled by this scene.
"The distress record sent back clearly indicated that three people survived but why are there only two people in the cryogenic chambers?"
Frank felt that his heart was going to burst from anxiety. "Where's the remaining person? Why didn't all of them enter the cryogenic chamber?"
He did not know and he did not understand. It would take at least fifty days for the spaceship to return to Earth from Pluto, which meant that no rescue would happen within fifty days. Then, in the bow of the Event Horizon, without any supplies, how was the remaining person going to survive?
Frank wanted to contact them but all the messages he sent out vanished into the void without a response.
In this ambiguous state of affairs, he had been at the headquarters for three days. Finally, he could not stand it anymore and left his work unit.
The full-time driver drove him back to his home. Frank only felt groggy in his head. He set the next alarm directly and lay down on the bed, falling into a deep sleep with no regard for his family's inquiries.
In the middle of the night, a dark shadow slowly descended from the sky and landed on the lawn of the villa in the suburbs of Washington.
"Click!"
There were a few bright flashes and the black shadow walked into the villa as if there were no one around. Behind him were a few housekeepers who stood rooted to the spot with blank eyes.
"This is it."
Chen Chen stood in the lobby of the villa, looked up to the second floor, then walked directly in and saw the old man Frank still sleeping in his bed.
The smell in the room was a little filthy, with a faint odor that wa
s unique to the elderly.
"Click."
After he locked the door casually, Chen Chen took out several medical tools from the bundle he had carried and stuck one of the needles into the old man's slack arm in front of him.
"Hiss?"
Frank was awakened by the feeling of being pierced by the needle. He blankly looked at the strange man beside the bed. He wanted to exclaim in alarm but found that no matter how he tried, there was no sound coming from his throat.
"You're very tired now, very tired…"
Chen Chen and the old man gazed at each other. Suddenly, Frank only felt that the eyes of the man in front of him were like two dark bottomless pools. He stared dazedly and then an irresistible wave of sleepiness struck him again.
This time, Frank passed out completely.
At this, Chen Chen nodded in satisfaction. Chen Chen turned the old man over so that the old man was lying on his stomach in bed while Chen Chen picked up the scalpel next to him and started to cut proficiently…
Within a few minutes of work, the old man's cervical vertebrae were exposed to the air.
Chen Chen used medical cotton to absorb the blood from the old man's neck and then implanted the God chip into it. After doing all this, he took out tweezers and other tools again to patch back the old man's skin layer by layer.
He glued the skin using a bio-adhesive. As he bonded layer after layer, soon there was only a one-centimeter-long red mark on the back of the old man's neck.
Then, Chen Chen took out a bottle of spray again and sprayed it on the old man's wound.
This spray could activate human stem cells and accelerate wound healing. In reality, it was a military-grade strategic material. After its use, the wound of the old man would disappear completely within two or three days.
After doing all this, Chen Chen turned and left without any delay.
It was not until noon the next day that Frank woke up lazily. He only felt a swollen ache in his head. His body was numb and powerless as if he had experienced a hangover.
"What's the matter, my body…"
Frank sat up weakly, then tilted his head, and suddenly felt a tingling pain in the back of his neck.
"Hiss…"
The piercing ache even made him inhale sharply.
Frank hurriedly touched the back of his neck, but he could not feel anything. It was just that the skin was aching faintly. As he pressed down gently, the sharp tingling sensation grew stronger.
"Huh?"
Frank stood up a little bewilderedly and walked straight to the bathroom. In the bathroom, he held up a round mirror and at the same time, with the help of the mirror in front of the sink, he saw that there was a light red scratch on the back of his neck.
"When did I get hurt?"
Frank was a little puzzled but then he cast the matter aside because the entire NASA had been going crazy recently, and he had more important work to do.
Thus, after a hurried breakfast at home, Frank had no time to accompany his family before he went to NASA headquarters again, picked up by the full-time driver.
"We still haven't made contact with the crew member who didn't enter the cryogenic chamber?"
As soon as he entered the command hall, Frank asked quickly.
"Mr. Director, we have not."
The group of researchers with bloodshot eyes, who had stayed up all night, immediately replied. Compared to Frank, this group of researchers had to work even harder and many of them had not been home for a week.
"Why hasn't the person gone in yet?"
Frank only felt a little confused. After so many days, even if someone had not entered the cryogenic chamber at first, they should enter now, unless that person was not on the Event Horizon at all…
However, he did not know that at this moment, everything he saw in his eyes and everything he heard in his ears was observed by Chen Chen in secret.
"It turns out that the Event Horizon began its return four or five days ago…"
Chen Chen sat in a temporarily rented apartment and silently looked at the screen in front of him. The image on the screen was composed of two circles. The two circles were arranged side by side, one on the left and one on the right, with a large section overlapping in the middle. At the same time, the closer the image was to the edge, the more blurry it became, just like a picture taken by two fisheye lenses.
The lenses' image on the screen was of Frank's eyes.
Chen Chen silently looked at everything from Frank's perspective, but his expression became more and more serious. When he saw the rescue plea sent by the Event Horizon, he even stood up in shock. "What? Three people survived?"
At this moment, Chen Chen only felt a chill run down his spine. He knew the plot of Event Horizon very well, so of course, he knew that the ending of the movie should only have two people escaping. How could there be one more person?
Chen Chen continued to look at the list of the three people: Cooper, that was, the black man in the movie with an extraordinary attitude; Lieutenant Starck, that was, the woman who survived, and the remaining one was Dr. Weir!
"Dr. Weir…"
Chen Chen stared at the name, his eyes full of solemnity. With his brain power, it was impossible for Chen Chen to have memory problems. Therefore, it was Dr. Weir who was the problem.
In the movie's story, Dr. Weir had been eroded by the darkness and turned into a demon-like existence. In the end, the rescue team captain triggered the bomb and died together with Dr. Weir. Only then could the two survivors escape from the ship of the Event Horizon. Chen Chen could not possibly have remembered this plot incorrectly.
However, now, the name of Dr. Weir had appeared on the list of survivors.
"There are only two people in the cryogenic chambers. Is he still looking for a third person?"
Chen Chen also understood Frank's thoughts at this time and then he shook his head. The third person was Dr. Weir, but Dr. Weir was dead. How could he appear in the cryogenic chamber?
Chen Chen seemed to have foreseen how humankind in this world would be destroyed.
He continued watching the screen. At this time, through Frank's eyes, he saw the footage sent from the Event Horizon, which was an image of the cryogenic chambers.
The technology of the cryogenic chambers in the dimension of the Event Horizon was the same as reality. One would be injected with a shot of antifreeze agent and then enter cryogenic sleep in the cryogenic chamber. The only difference was that here, the chamber was placed vertically. After someone had entered, the interior was filled with liquid that could withstand strong acceleration, before cryogenic sleep began.
As soon as they woke up, the sleeper would have moved from the earth to the position of Pluto's orbit, which was extremely convenient.
At this time, due to the transmission limits of the long distance from Pluto to the earth, the image signal was a bit distorted, but one could just about make out the cryogenic chambers. Most of the cryogenic chambers were empty, except for two which contained human figures. It was not clear who the people inside were.
"NASA has sent a rescue spacecraft."
X-112 suddenly said, "At the same time, the Event Horizon is also returning to Earth on the same route. About 25 days later, the two spacecraft will be able to dock and meet, and the Event Horizon will return to Earth in 50 days."
Chen Chen thought for a while and seemed to be calculating something. "In this case, we can try to prevent the end of this dimension from happening."
"What should we do?"
X-112 was suddenly curious.
"Interstellar sweeper."
Chen Chen said curtly.
The so-called interstellar sweeper was a surface-to-sky super missile developed with the ultra-long-range intelligent missile technology from the dimension of Elysium during the military competition between Blacklight Biotechnology and the Earth Federation in the past decade.
What did "surface-to-sky" mean? It was different from "surface-to-air". Surface-to-air mi
ssiles only included tactical missiles that were shot from the ground to flying targets in the sky while surface-to-sky missiles were strategic missiles that could be shot directly from the ground to high-speed flying targets in outer space.
This missile had four-stage rocket boosters. Each booster stage had a gravity adjustment device, independent infrared and thermal imaging guidance systems, long-range environmental sensors, digital barriers, micro-fusion thrusters… Almost all cutting-edge technologies could be seen on this missile!
The interstellar sweeper had a range of up to 400 million kilometers and could shoot to Mars directly from the earth. Its speed was 11.2 kilometers per second in the atmosphere and the highest speed outside the atmosphere was 30,000 kilometers per second, which was a tenth of the speed of light.
The biggest advantage of this kind of missile was that it was a single-soldier unit. All in all, it did not exceed one hundred kilograms, and it could be wielded by an XTN robot.
It could be said that today, the interstellar sweeper missile was the pinnacle of technological creation by the Blackwatch Corporation.
The moment X-112 heard the name interstellar sweeper, X-112 immediately understood that Sir Commander's intention must be to destroy the Event Horizon and the rescue spacecraft directly in space before they reached the earth.
Although there were two survivors on the Event Horizon and a dozen innocent people on the newly dispatched rescue spacecraft, Chen Chen could not care about that. He still did not know where the Event Horizon had been, what was brought back from there, and what was the thing that could infect humans and turn them crazy enough to kill each other.
He could not be certain whether the rescue team would be controlled and infected by some mysterious thing after contact with Event Horizon, so he could only eliminate all of these contacts. Perhaps this could create a chance for the survival of human civilization in the dimension of Event Horizon.
Of course, that was all Chen Chen could do. After all, it was just a small effort. If this action could save humankind, of course, that would be ideal. If not, it was not a big deal. It was just that Chen Chen absolutely would not come out and save this plane by himself.
