Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 729 33. Accident. Call for help

Reed's spacecraft reconnected with the International Space Station a few hours later.

Unfortunately, there are no astronauts on duty in the space station, but Reed does not need to enter the space station. He and his spacecraft are staying here for 24 hours to receive the last one in this long journey. experimental project.

It was an experiment commissioned by the Life Foundation. When Reid entered the stars three years ago, the unmanned probe spacecraft of the Life Foundation was launched, and the destination was an unknown asteroid outside the solar system.

Researchers at the Life Foundation, which is dedicated to exploring extraterrestrial civilizations, believe that there are likely to be traces of extraterrestrial life on that asteroid.

This project is actually more like an independent project. Reid and his spacecraft are responsible for launching and recovering the unmanned probe ship.

Speaking of which, Reid also helped the Life Foundation revise the design of the unmanned probe spacecraft, so that the spacecraft could theoretically fly faster than the speed of light, but even so, it took a full 3 years for the ship, Just completed a round trip of exploration.

So in theory, the probe ship that was thrown into deep space is actually not only the test product of the Life Foundation, but also Reed's own test product for the FTL vehicle. If this test is successful, if the ship The ship returned successfully, which means that Reid's design idea of ​​the superluminal vehicle is correct.

Then next time if he wants to enter the stars again, he can take a more advanced superluminal spaceship.

"Open the hatch, Ben, watch out, I'm about to drop the omnic."

After the docking of the spacecraft and the space station was completed, Jonathan and Ben immediately began to clean up and contain the residue on the outer deck of the spacecraft.

Before Reed entered the stars, he applied for an omnic assistant for his experimental project. It was a free omnic that was originally used as an omnic sample by S.H.I.E.L.D. As a member of Reed's research team, he and his The team members went into space together and undertook most of the spacewalks and emergency maintenance tasks.

For omnics, entering space is much more convenient than humans.

It doesn't need to wear a heavy and cumbersome space suit, as long as the communication is in good condition and there is no dangerous cosmic rays, there is almost no difference between the omnic's activities in space and the activities on the earth.

"click"

Outside the closed cabin, the hatch of the spaceship was opened, Jonathan patted the omnic named "Paul" beside him, and said:

"It's up to you, Paul."

"Remember to pull me back later, Jonathan, I don't want to float in space for 2 hours because of your mistake."

The omnic Paul and Jonathan made a joke, these free omnic sims are so advanced they fully understand humor and can return it.

The omnic put a protective helmet on his head, put a jetpack on his back, then waved to Jonathan, walked out of the closed cabin with steady steps, and buckled the safety cable to the fixed buckle on the side of the hatch , in the shining light of the information collector, the omnic activated the jetpack and quickly flew towards the depression on the outer deck of the spaceship.

In the control room on the bridge, Ben has been observing Paul's actions, and at the same time is responsible for correcting the direction of Paul's flight.

It's not the first time for the three of them to do this job, so they are quite skilled in cooperating.

"Ben, I've reached the collision and I'm going to start collecting the residue."

In the communicator, Paul's voice with a hint of metallic sound sounded. In the monitor in front of Ben, the omnic was lying in the depression of the spaceship. It fixed the material container prepared by Susan with one hand, and lifted it with the other From then on, in the mechanical transformation of the fingertips, its fingers became shaped like drill bits.

"Paul, we suspect that there is some unknown energy in those stones. It looks like it is shining green. Can you detect its composition?"

asked Ben.

"Its composition is very complicated, Ben. I can only detect a certain amount of fluorine in it, and it has relatively strong radioactivity."

The omnic replied:

"Besides, it has weak energy fluctuations. After the rock was peeled off, I saw a substance similar to green crystal. There is no record of such a substance in my database, Ben."

"Ok."

Ben nodded and said:

"Since it's radioactive, seal it up, Paul. Also, does the outer deck need repairs?"

"Well, it didn't penetrate the outermost deck, but to be on the safe side, it's better to deal with it."

Paul replied:

"I'll fix it when I'm done with it, you go and rest, I'll do the work."

"Okay, thanks for your hard work, Paul."

Ben responded that as a scientist, his views on omnics are very rational. He thinks that the existence of Paul is not a bad thing. Paul has proved himself to be very good during his three-year space travel. Experimental assistant, in fact, according to the current development trend of earth science and technology, maybe there will be many omnics like Paul participating in the future aerospace industry.

Two hours later, on the bridge of the Reed spacecraft, Susan received a message. She said to her fiancé and her friend Ben on the communicator:

"The Life Foundation's spacecraft will arrive at the space station in 10 minutes, and it will dock with our spacecraft, Reed, you and Ben get ready, we need to transfer all the samples collected by that spacecraft to our spacecraft's experiment in the room."

"OK, dear."

Reed, who was resting in the cabin, put down the book in his hand, moved his body, walked out of the cabin and joined Ben, and 10 minutes later, a shuttle-type probe spacecraft appeared in space within sight of the two of them on time.

There is a big logo of the Life Foundation on the spaceship.An ugly logo with "LIFE" in capitals

"Look, the child who traveled far has returned home."

Reed watched from the porthole the probe ship that was constantly slowing down and approaching Reed's spaceship along the predetermined track. He said to Ben beside him:

"It seems to be in good condition, which proves that our FTL design is correct."

Beside him, Ben maneuvering the outer landing gear of the spacecraft open to assist the docking of the probe and the Reed spacecraft, he replied:

"Your designs are always right, and occasionally I can't help but think, when are you really wrong once?"

"I'd like to know about your question too."

Reed shrugged. He was used to this kind of teasing among friends.

"click"

A few minutes later, a muffled sound sounded from the joint of the spaceship above the two, which represented the completion of the docking of the two ships. Reed put on the chemical protective suit and gestured an OK gesture to Ben. The cabin opened, and Reed climbed from his spaceship into the Life Foundation's detection spacecraft along the ladder in the cabin.

The ship is designed to be unmanned. 80% of its internal structure is power and automatic control systems, and only 20% of the space is used to store the collected samples.

Reed originally thought that this spaceship would at most collect some alien stones or microorganisms. However, when he climbed into the probe ship, he saw a surprising scene.

In the cabin of the exploration ship, there are already collected living samples inside several large storage cabinets used to store living objects.

Black, blue, red and yellow, weird, weird life forms like some kind of sticky ooze are being sealed inside the containment cabinet, they look very inactive, lazy, like They looked like they were about to die, but the occasional twitching meant that they still had some kind of vitality.

"Oh, God."

Seeing this scene, Reed, who never believed in God, couldn't help but exclaim.

"Ben, come and see!"

Reed called in the communicator:

"The Life Foundation's theory is correct, they have found living samples of extraterrestrial life, and they are right in front of my eyes."

"Really?"

Ben made a voice of doubt, but due to the curiosity of the researchers, he quickly put on the chemical protective suit, and climbed into the detection ship with Reed. He also saw the four large Weird substance in the sample box.

The two scientists were surprised by this weird alien life, but if Merlin was here, he would definitely remind them to stay away from those four things.

Because those things... are not friendly.

"Reed? Reed!"

Ten seconds later, Susan's voice sounded on the communicator at the unguarded spaceship connection, and she reminded:

"The ship's energy detectors have detected an impending solar storm that will reach our location within minutes. You and Ben would be better off closing and probing the ship's connection hatch, Reed? Heard answer me .”

However, Dr. Reed and Dr. Ben didn't hear this reminder. The two of them were still on another docked spaceship, studying the living life samples brought back from outer space by the Life Foundation.

Susan, who repeatedly called and failed to get a response, sensed that something was wrong, she quickly rushed out of the bridge and rushed to the connection hatch at the rear of the spaceship.

And Jonathan, who returned to the spaceship side by side with the omnic Paul who had just completed the repair of the outer deck, saw his sister's anxious expression, and realized that something was wrong, so he hurriedly followed.

The omnic Paul regarded Reed and the four of them as friends, and quickly followed.

A few minutes later, they reached the point where the two ships were connected, and Susan stood under the open connection and called to it:

"Reed Richards! Ben Grimm! Come down! You two idiots!"

"Susan?"

Dr. Reed poked his head out of the connection port, he waved to his fiancée, and said:

"Come on, Susan, look at this! A sample of life from outer space! It was brought back by this spaceship."

"Come down, you two!"

A piercing alarm has sounded on the console in Susan's hand, which means that the chaotic energy caused by the solar storm has reached the vicinity of the space station. Jonathan grabs the escalator and drags Reed down from above, and the omnic Paul is even more nimble. He rushed into the probe ship and threw the bewildered Ben back into Reed's spaceship.

Outside of the two spaceships connected together, a terrifying solar storm has set off on the surface of the largest star in the solar system. At this moment, a huge amount of invisible cosmic rays fills the stars beyond the earth at a speed beyond the light. In it, it is like a pot of water being boiled, but it cannot be really seen.

Those mysterious, so far unexplained mysterious rays swept across all objects in the stars.

The cabin of the spaceship was closed urgently, but it was still in the combined state of the two ships and could not be completely shut down. The omnic Paul was quickly unlocking the two ships, but the four of Reed had been exposed to the invisible Among the cosmic rays, those shining lights lingered on their bodies, making their expressions extremely painful.

"boom"

Ben's head fell on the controller, and the docking procedure of the two-handed spacecraft was restarted. Amid the rattling sound of the landing gear of the spacecraft, the detection ship fixed on the outer deck of the Reed spacecraft was killed. Throwing away, it cannot actively ignite, but can only be captured by the gravity of the earth and fall to the blue planet.

Paul, the omnic who rescued Ben back into the spaceship, was a step behind. It was locked outside the cabin of the spaceship. The omnic grabbed the door of the cabin and shook it in space.

"Open it! Pull it back!"

Jonathan, who had the best relationship with the omnic, got up weakly and tried to reopen the hatch, but outside the cabin, the omnic Paul shook his head vigorously.

It knows what opening the hatch means to the four people in the spaceship in this situation, and it regards them as friends, and real friends don't sit by and let their friends fall into crisis.

Under Jonathan's gaze, Paul stretched out his hand with difficulty, and waved to the four of them, as if waving goodbye. An ugly smile appeared on his metal cheeks, as if it was a final farewell.

The next moment, Paul let go of his hand on the cabin, and the omnic fell into space in a suspended posture in the burst of cosmic rays caused by the solar storm.

It is also captured by the gravity of the earth and falls towards the place where it was born.

It spread its limbs, like a falling feather, drifting farther and farther under the gaze of the four people, as if melting into the blue planet.

The birth of the machines is insensible, and it is not known whether their death is the same.

But compared to the omnic Paul, he is not afraid of death, at least he saved his friend before dying...

It's a pity that the disaster of the four of Reid is far from over. They were exposed to the cosmic rays set off by the solar storm, and they fell into an indescribable state.

Reed felt that his mind and body were constantly being stretched, and his eyes became blurred. He shook his head hard and tried to stand up. In his vision that had begun to blur, he vaguely saw the Burning Jonathan, Ben turned to stone, and Susan disappearing.

He suspected he was hallucinating.

And with the passage of time, this symptom is still intensifying rapidly.

"Snapped"

Reed pressed his fingers on the console with difficulty, gritted his teeth, and said with the last of his strength:

"Send...a message for help...help us..."

"Recipient..."

"Merlin... Riley!"

"Snapped"

After saying this, Reed couldn't hold on any longer, and threw himself onto the ground of the channel. At this moment, the entire spaceship was as quiet as a ghost ship, and only the four researchers moaned in pain. Echoes in the cold passage.

After a while, a line of words jumped out on the screen of the console.

"Sent!"

(End of this chapter)