Yan Shaojun and Vera looked at each other, neither of them said a word. It was as if they knew something was staring at them, or they couldn't rule out whether that thing had entered each other's body.
Sean seemed to be asleep, with his lips tightly closed and his breathing steady.
Yan Shaojun looked at Vera until she saw a kind of doubt and panic in her eyes - which are common human psychological reactions - and she felt a little at ease.
She gently opened Sean's eyelids and saw that his pupils had returned to normal, so she took a deep breath and motioned for Vera to leave the ambulance cabin with her.
"Sean's life should not be in danger for the time being." Yan Shaojun said to Vera. "But our troubles have not been eliminated. I judge that the molecules of the 'cloud body' have entered the spacecraft cabin and are likely to control Xiao."
Well, we must return immediately!"
"The 'Cloud Body' doesn't seem to be hostile at the moment. If they want to destroy us, we won't be able to escape even if we return now..."
"We leave the 'cloud body' and return to Earth not to protect ourselves. We must report the detection data and experiences here to the base. This is our mission."
"What I'm worried about is that if the 'cloud body' notices that we are leaving, it might intervene. Just like when we see an ant crawling on the ground, we will always pick up a branch and draw a circle around it. They will
Will you let us go easily?"
Yan Shaojun returned to the driver's seat and said, "I don't want to fly back just like this." She quickly input instructions on the computer with both hands. "Let's pretend to fly around the sun first, and then look for opportunities to return to the earth!" After that, she
Smiled at Vera confidently.
Vera immediately understood what she meant - if the "Kunlun" flew around the sun first, then its target would be somewhat concealed and the "cloud" would not be easy to detect. However, since there is a path several kilometers long in the direction of travel,
The 100,000-kilometer-long "Great Wall of Clouds" blocks the way. You cannot go straight through it. Unless you turn back and go in reverse direction, you must cross it!
Yan Shaojun boldly chose the latter.
Following Yan Shaojun's instructions, the automatic control system of "Kunlun" activated the orbit change nozzle, and the spacecraft began to move upward away from the orbit of Mercury. After dozens of seconds, the orbit change nozzle stopped spraying. At this time, look at the "Great Wall of Clouds" in front of it.
, obviously already diagonally below the spacecraft.
"Now we should cross over at full speed!" Yan Shaojun was nervous but slightly excited.
The main thrust nozzle at the rear end of the "Kunlun" began to eject, and the spacecraft shot forward at an extremely fast speed like an arrow. However, in such a vast cosmic background, the displacement of the surrounding reference objects was almost imperceptible.
The "Great Wall of Clouds" below was slowly approaching, and only Yan Shaojun and Vera could feel the spacecraft moving forward.
The "Great Wall of Clouds" is getting closer and closer, getting bigger and bigger, and a huge red wave is coming towards them, sweeping towards their feet...
When flying to the top of the "Cloud Great Wall", the scene in front of him shocked Yan Shaojun even more——
Countless large and small "cloud bodies" are emerging around the huge "Great Wall of Clouds", like fireworks blooming in the night sky, and then burrowing into the mother body one after another...
"The width of its parent body is at least 500 kilometers!" Yan Shaojun said, "Even the diameter of those small 'cloud bodies' is at least 10 kilometers or more!"
"There are so many small 'cloud bodies' integrated into it, but the volume of the matrix has not increased significantly, which shows that not only are the gaps between all the monomer molecules inside the 'cloud body' large, but they are also probably undergoing some kind of activity.
"Sequential movement." Vera said.
A few minutes later, the "Great Wall of Clouds" had been left behind by the "Kunlun". It was like an inherent material form in the solar system. It continued to build its own body while swaggering, while allowing the envoys of alien life forms to fly the aircraft.
Leave.
"We've gotten rid of it!" Vera whispered. There seemed to be a faint hint of fear in her voice.
"Maybe this is their real parent body!"
Yan Shaojun carefully checked the detection echo again, and after confirming that there were no other "clouds" in front of the spacecraft, he left the driver's seat and entered the ambulance cabin behind to check on Sean's condition.
As if being disturbed by Yan Shaojun's movements, Sean suddenly opened his eyes. Those eyes were familiar to her.
"Why am I here?" Sean asked in confusion.
"You were unconscious just now." Yan Shaojun replied. "How do you feel now?"
"I'm fine, thank you! Please let me down."
Before Yan Shaojun could remove the sensor electrodes from his body, Sean turned over and jumped off the diagnostic table. "Are we returning home?" he asked.
"Yes, we are returning." Yan Shaojun stared at him. "Mr. Sean, do you still remember the strange feeling you had just now?"
Sean looked at Yan Shaojun with a surprised expression, as if he didn't understand what she was talking about. "What happened to me just now?"
"..." Yan Shaojun hesitated. She didn't know whether she should tell him what happened just now.
"The 'Cloud Body' appears again!" Vera's voice came from the cockpit in front.
Yan Shaojun quickly returned to the cockpit, and Sean followed closely.
Vera, who was observing outside the porthole, looked back and saw Sean. She was stunned for a moment, and then continued to report to Yan Shaojun: "Several more large 'cloud bodies' appeared in front of the spacecraft!"
Yan Shaojun came closer to the port window and saw five or six large "cloud bodies" spreading on the route of the "Kunlun". The distance between them was gradually narrowing, and they were about to completely merge together.
"Stop!" Yan Shaojun jumped onto the driver's seat and entered a new orbit change command into the AI. Faced with the obstruction of the "cloud" ahead, she immediately made the decision to return the spacecraft immediately.
The "Kunlun" turned to the left at a nearly 90° right angle and flew towards the orbit of Venus at high speed. Those "cloud bodies" seemed to know Yan Shaojun's intention, and chased after him, and quickly formed a whole body.
Keep a certain distance from the spacecraft.
"What do they want to do?!" Vera asked nervously. "Do they want to chase us?!"
"They are not chasing us." Sean said, "Obviously, the 'Cloud Body' has discovered us. They are following us! They must want to know us!"
Yan Shaojun looked at Sean and judged in his heart: "Who does he represent now?"
"We can't escape!" Sean said again.
Yan Shaojun thought calmly for a moment, turned on the communication system, and called the base: "The 'Kunlun' reported that we are returning, but are being pursued by the 'Yunti', with unknown intentions!"
"We are now about 50 million kilometers away from Venus. We can make a detour around Venus to see if we can get rid of this hateful stalker first and then return to Earth!" Sean suggested.
"Agree! I also have this plan!" Yan Shaojun said. "Venus has a dense atmosphere. As long as we can fly there, we can use the cover of Venus's atmosphere to get rid of the tracking of the 'cloud body'!"
At this moment, the "Kunlun" has accelerated to the limit of 500 kilometers per second. According to this sailing speed, it is estimated that it will take 28 hours to reach the orbit of Venus. However, what worries the three astronauts is that the "cloud body" can obviously reach the orbit of Venus at a faster speed.
It is easy to move at a fast speed and surpass or surround the "Kunlun". Can it allow the spacecraft to successfully sail to Venus?!
Yan Shaojun still has a worry in his heart: Are the "cloud body" molecules still on the spacecraft? Does it or they already know her plan? Sean's abnormal behavior just now is by no means accidental!
The "cloud body" seemed to continue to track the "Kunlun" unhurriedly, and the distance between the two never changed, just like a small mosquito pulling a huge ball of cotton in space.
Flying at medium and constant speed...
On the big screen in the X Base Control Center, the chase scene that took place in space was being played simultaneously in 3D. Of course, this was a real-time signal from a few minutes ago.
"Strange! Why can they move so fast?" Li Zhanxiong said to himself, "And they can always maintain this distance!"
From time to time, conversations between ground personnel and Yan Shaojun came from the loudspeaker. As the distance between the "Kunlun" and the earth continues to shorten, the interval between the two conversations has also been reduced from about 12 minutes to less than 12 minutes.
It’s been 9 minutes.
"The 'Cloud Body' is still following us, the distance is about 600 kilometers."
"Are the power and flight controls of the 'Kunlun' normal?"
"everything is normal!"
"Have you ever been detected by them?"
"...can't tell."
"Can't explain? Please give a specific answer!"
"The situation is special and cannot be described in detail... We are planning to go to Venus first and get rid of them there!"
When Li Zhanxiong heard this, he stood up quickly. He grabbed the microphone and asked: "Yan Shaojun, there is no Venus in the 'Project No. 2' mission plan. The situation there is unknown, please consider it carefully!"
"The 'Cloud Body' is following closely... We don't want to bring it back to Earth..."
"But do you know? The environment on Venus is like purgatory. If you make a mistake and fall, it will be fatal! And it is impossible to rescue!"
In the next few minutes, Li Zhanxiong was extremely anxious. He knew that Yan Shaojun and the astronauts on the "Kunlun" did not want the earth to be attacked by the "cloud body" again, or in other words, they did not want the "cloud body" to discover
Human beings on earth. However, their actions are undoubtedly risking their own lives!
"We have done calculations, and AI has confirmed it. There should be no problem for Kunlun to fly into the shallow atmosphere of Venus with the protection of the magnetic bubble. The 'cloud' tracking us is very large, and it can even wrap around the entire earth.
...If we let it enter the earth's orbit, the consequences will be unimaginable! If we want to come back safely, we can only risk going to Venus... This is the decision of all the members of the Kunlun!"
Yan Shaojun's belated answer made Li Zhanxiong feel heartbroken and helpless.
The "cloud" behind continued to track, always maintaining a distance of 600 kilometers. The astronauts of the "Kunlun" seemed to be numb. They were no longer afraid, and even felt accustomed to it.
"Three million kilometers away from Venus!" Vera reported.
Venus has appeared in front of the "Kunlun", but the visual effect is not clear yet, and its surface texture can only be discerned with the magnification of the telescope.
"Continue to maintain the speed!" Yan Shaojun said. Then he glanced at the "cloud" image captured by the camera behind the spacecraft displayed on the central control screen.
An hour later, Vera reported again: "One million kilometers away from Venus!"
"Slow down! Prepare to enter the atmosphere of Venus!"
Venus is right in front of you, and the hazy atmosphere is mixed with yellow and brown textures. In Yan Shaojun's eyes, it looks like a ball she played with when she was a child... However, the "ball" in front of her is actually a human being.
An untouched, mysterious and full of unknown horrors of purgatory!
"Kunlun" is flying towards Venus, and its speed is gradually decreasing; the "cloud body" following it is still following it. 30 minutes later, the speed of "Kunlun" has dropped to 20 kilometers/second, which is less than 10 kilometers away from Venus.
100,000 kilometers.
The direction and angle of entering the atmosphere of Venus need to be considered in advance. The rotation direction of Venus is opposite to that of other planets in the solar system, from east to west; and the thickness of Venus's atmosphere is about 200~300 kilometers, of which the dense troposphere is distributed below 65 kilometers.
At high altitudes, the temperature and air pressure are higher as you go lower. Here, the clouds move very fast, usually exceeding 100 meters per second - currently even the largest Category 17 hurricane on Earth is far behind in comparison.
! Therefore, if the spacecraft only enters the shallow layer, it still cannot hide its traces; and if you want to penetrate the depth of Venus’ troposphere, the risk is extremely high. You must control the entry angle and sail with the wind. Once you cannot grasp it,
Well, the magnetic bubble will lose its effect in the extremely high lateral crosswind impact, so that the outer shell of the spacecraft will be subject to high-speed friction from the sulfuric acid droplets in the dense cloud, and it will inevitably be corroded, even damaged or disintegrated. This will be fatal to the astronauts
of!
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yan Shaojun decided to first let the "Kunlun" fly along the parabolic orbit along the rotation direction of Venus, that is, to the left of its sphere, and continue to decelerate to 10 kilometers/second.
Next, observe the "cloud body" situation at the same time - if it is still tracking, then when the spacecraft turns back, it will cut 100 kilometers below the atmosphere of Venus until it enters the troposphere, and try to use the cover of the dense atmosphere to try to get rid of the "cloud body"; otherwise, if
If the "cloud body" no longer continues to track, then after the spacecraft bypasses Venus, it will directly turn to the earth and accelerate its return.
"Kunlun" passed from east to west about 50,000 kilometers above the equator of Venus, and the "cloud body" behind it began to deform strangely - it seemed to extend a long "tentacle"
, the front end of the "tentacle" always maintains the original distance from the spacecraft, while its parent body significantly slows down its forward speed, and even almost stops. At this time, if viewed from a God's perspective, this "tentacle" is like
It is a bright tail flame drawn out from the space 600 kilometers behind the spacecraft, from thick to thin, and the end of the tail flame is connected to the beautiful cloud body as big as a planet...
"The 'Cloud Body' has changed! But it's still following us!" Vera said.
"Yes, I know. Keep observing!" Yan Shaojun replied calmly.
"Kunlun" circled Venus, flew past the top of its parabolic orbit, and then turned back. The "tentacle" also drew an arc in space, following closely behind, as if marking the perfect trajectory of the spacecraft...
…
"Does it really want to follow us into the atmosphere of Venus?!" Yan Shaojun once again checked the instructions he had entered into the AI and confirmed the entry angle. All that was left was to wait anxiously.
"The spacecraft will enter the atmosphere of Venus in 20 minutes!" AI report.
"Open the magnetic bubble!" Yan Shaojun said calmly.
A light blue light gradually appeared outside the ship's window, as if it was wrapped in a thin layer of transparent gauze. It was an ionization phenomenon caused by the friction between the magnetic bubble and the thin molecules in the outer space of Venus' atmosphere. As the spacecraft moved at high speed
Approaching the atmosphere of Venus, the bright light gradually began to change from light blue to orange, from orange to orange-red, until finally it turned into a raging "flame"...
Venus seems to be approaching the "Kunlun" with open arms. It is getting bigger and bigger, more and more dazzling, and more and more terrifying...
A low, indescribable, strange sound that gradually grew stronger and stronger began to be heard in the cabin, like the roar of a giant beast and the devil...
"Oh my god! What the hell is this sound?!" Sean covered his ears with his hands, "Are we going to enter the gate of hell?!"
The hull of the ship began to shake continuously...
Vera gripped the armrest of the seat tightly, closing her eyes tightly...
Yan Shaojun held the rudder tightly and tried to keep her inner composure and stability. However, looking at the dazzling planet that occupied almost all the space in front of the spacecraft, she still couldn't help but secretly ask in her heart: Is it purgatory in front of her? Or paradise?