wandering planet

Jiang Che obtained Bering's room number from Heaney on the grounds that "a passenger asked me to clean her room, but I forgot her room number".

Bering lived on the fifth floor.Ovid was waiting for him on the stairs, and asked Jiang Che curiously: "Why not use the elevator? The elevator is very convenient."

"Isn't it good to exercise your legs and feet?" Jiang Che asked back.

Ovid followed him up the stairs.

The interior of Faust is very hot, and the ship shakes slightly from time to time. The external temperature tester hanging on the wall can no longer display accurate numbers, and there are three huge red letters on the LCD screen: 999.

Passengers who realized that something was wrong crowded the corridor, looking around anxiously.

Route 118 is very empty, and there is darkness beyond Faust, only a few stars flickering in the far, far away place.

This scene is completely different from the "magnificent cosmic landscape you can watch along the way" advertised by the travel agency.Panic quickly spread. The parents hugged the child tightly, and when they found a person in overalls, they grabbed hold of him. They kept asking where the captain was and why he didn't come out to explain the situation.

Jiang Che and Ovid arrived on the fifth floor, and the sound here was even more noisy: because the passengers on the fifth floor were all VIPs who paid a lot of money, and they were yelling around the deputy captain of Faust at this time.

Jiang Che was about to go out when Ovid suddenly stopped him and pointed to a small door beside him.

There is a small room in each stairwell, which contains all kinds of sundries. As the cleaner who does the most work on the ship, Jiang Che has the keys to the small tool rooms on each floor.

There was a strange banging sound between the tools, as if someone was pushing the door leaf desperately, trying to get out.

Jiang Che walked over and knocked on the door.

The voice inside the door fell silent, followed by an angry roar: "Leather rice! Let me out!"

Jiang Che was taken aback: it was the long-haired young man who was arguing with Pimi just now, and he remembered that Pimi called him Lin Ni.

"...Lin Ni... General?" Jiang Che asked tentatively, "Is that you?"

There was a moment of silence in the tool room, and Lin Ni seemed to be vigilant: "Who are you?"

Jiang Che didn't say any more.He knew Linney was on the same side as him.

He took out the key and opened the door, and Linney was indeed in the tool room.It's just that he was a little embarrassed, his clothes were disheveled, and there were some scratches on his face and arms.

"Your captain, Pimi, is a bastard!" Linney was furious, "I was locked up here!"

"I heard what you said to Pimi, and I know the current situation." Jiang Che said quickly, "General Linney, do you know Bering? One of the most outstanding female captains in the history of Marseilles, the captain of Faust Former owner. She is also on this ship."

Lin Ni was obviously taken aback: "Bering?!"

Jiang Che pulled him out of the tool room: "She may know the secret order to stop the jump. General Linney, you are a general, please find the Bering ship..."

"Where is she?" Linney asked stiffly.

Jiang Che paused.He could see displeasure in Linney's eyes.

"Tell me where she is." Lin Ni looked at Jiang Che, then at Ovid, "Stop calling me a general. I'm not a general now."

"I'll take you there." Jiang Che said.

Lin Ni took a few steps and glanced at Jiang Che: "Are you afraid of death? In order to survive, why do you help me like this?"

A strange thought flashed through Jiang Che's mind. He remembered Lin Ni's action of pressing the cigarette butt to his palm without changing his face, and his conversation with Pimi.But this unclear thought was groundless and vanished as soon as it emerged.

He turned to look at Lin Ni: "Because I want to go back to Earth, I want to go home."

Linney looked at him and suddenly laughed.This mocking smile was very uncomfortable, and it brought a gloomy indifference to his originally handsome face.

"What about you?" he asked Ovid again.

Ovid was stretching his hand from under his clothes to his stomach to wipe the sweat to prevent the sweat from affecting the wound. He pointed at Jiang Che with his chin: "I'll help him."

Bering was not in the room.When Jiang Che and others found her, she was guarding outside the cockpit on the sixth floor, scolding Pi Mi loudly.

The navigator's bitter voice came from the cockpit: "Bering, the captain is not in the cockpit."

"The situation is already so dangerous, where did he go!"

"I don't know...the vice-captain is also looking for him." The navigator said, "I'm the only one here, I can't let you in."

Lin Ni strode forward and pressed the button of the instant communicator: "Open the door and let her in, if you don't want to die."

The navigator was taken aback by the sudden appearance of a strange voice: "Who are you?"

"He is Linney Pole Leeswright." Bering interjected, "General Leeswright's second son."

Jiang Che and Ovid glanced at each other.

Who was General Lee Swright?He asked Ovid with his eyes.Ovid frowned, leaned into his ear and whispered: "The Leeswright family was one of the first people to land in Marseilles, and there were many, many generals from their family."

He paused, and couldn't help but continue: "But Linney is no longer a general. He is now a book author for a living. Have you read his best-selling book "Spirit of Fire"? Can I put Tell you a story."

Jiang Che didn't hear the words clearly because the door of the cockpit was open.

The navigator of Faust is a young boy.He first looked at Lin Ni, then grabbed Bering's hand, hesitated for a long time and finally said the word "Captain".

"Help us." The young boy seemed to be about to cry, "This is my first long-distance running, how could this be..."

He told Bering and Linney that before the first jump, both he and the deputy captain had reminded Leathermi that they were going to take Route 18.But Pimi was drunk at the time, and pressed the three numbers "118" with his fingers somehow.

Recently, due to the need to deploy additional scientific ships and supply ships to the 118 route, the port has opened the access to the 118 route. Faust broke into the 118 route by mistake.

"We can't contact Marseille." The navigator said, "The 118 route received too much electromagnetic radiation interference. Faust itself is not used for deep space exploration, and there is no signal transmitting device that can pass through these electromagnetic radiation. Now The Faust is completely a lost ship."

Jiang Che and Ovid also entered the cockpit, the navigator had no time to pay attention to them, and guided Bering to the console.

"There are scientific ships on route 118, and I remember that they have been sending more and more during this time." Bering patted him on the shoulder, "The scientific ships are traveling faster than Faust, and they will meet us."

"No... not necessarily. The route 118 was developed by the science ship, and it is also specially set up for the science ship. Therefore, only the science ship can smoothly follow the established route and carry out the subspace transition on 118. Faust's transition setting It’s different from Route 118, and the direction is completely different.” After speaking, he panicked, “Captain, Faust has already jumped three times, maybe he has left Route 118, and it’s impossible to meet him. Marseille's science ship."

He pointed to the continuously flashing numbers on the console: "There are still 13 minutes until the next jump."

Bering was taken aback, and quickly said to the navigator: "Find the leather rice immediately! No matter what, stop the jumping procedure first!"

"He forgot the secret order to suspend it." Lin Ni said again at this time, "Bering, do you still remember?"

"If the leather rice has not been corrected." Bering did not hesitate, and immediately called up the subspace transition control panel.

Everyone looked at her hands.

At this moment, Bering hesitated.She turned to look at Linney.

"Linney, I am no longer the captain, and I have no right to go beyond the leather rice to operate all this." She said, "If I return to Marseille in the future, I will be sent to a military court."

Lin Ni was very irritable: "Bering, you have never been such a mother-in-law! Stop the procedure!"

Bering straightened up.From Jiang Che's position, he saw Bering quietly press a small button on the console.

"Can you guarantee that I'm fine?" Bering asked, "Can you guarantee that the young man who put me in won't be court-martialed like me? And these two crew members who came with you, If you can't make a guarantee, even if Faust returns to Marseilles, we will die. You are the child of General Lee Swright, and he will not leave you alone, but we..."

"Enough!" Linney yelled, "I promise! I will tell father, this is an abnormal situation, you just crossed the leather meter to protect all the crew and passengers on the ship, abort the procedure!"

Bering smiled at him, immediately raised his hand and pressed the button she touched just now.

"Pilot, I have recorded what he said just now. After the program is terminated, you should immediately copy this recording and keep it carefully. Don't lose it. It can protect you and the two crew members." Bering quickly looked at each other. The stunned young man said, "This is indeed an abnormal situation, but I can't be sure that Marseille allows us to make such arbitrarily determined decisions. Remember what I said?"

The navigator nodded again and again: "I see."

Bering didn't hesitate any more, nor did he say any more nonsense.She pressed the number keys.

After entering the 12-digit digital code, Faust's hull suddenly trembled a few times, and Ovid seemed to lose his footing all of a sudden, and was grabbed by Jiang Che.

"The secret order has not been changed...the secret order has not been changed!" The navigator suddenly jumped up, threw himself on Bering and hugged her tightly, "Captain Bering, the secret order is correct!"

The countdown on the console stops at 12 minutes and 32 seconds.

The young navigator's name was Pierre, and he had very handsome blond hair, freckles on both sides of his nose, and a small blue badge pinned to the left breast of his navigator's uniform.Jiang Che asked him a few times before he revealed his age very shyly.

"It's been a year since I graduated, but this is the first time I have participated in a long-distance travel." Pierre said, "I used to only sail in the Alpha galaxy. Although the ship is not as big as Faust, at least there will be no such horrors. things."

Jiang Che and Ovid sat with him in the corridor on the sixth floor, staring at the boundless darkness outside.

Ovid found Pierre's eyes were very beautiful dark blue, couldn't help staring at him for a long time, and asked him aloud: "Blue eyes are beautiful, aren't they?"

Pierre: "...you have blue eyes too."

Ovid: "Yes."

Pierre: "What do you mean? Need I compliment your eyes?"

Ovid: "If you really want to do it, I won't refuse."

Pierre: "Who the hell are you?"

Jiang Che didn't care to listen to the meaningless conversation between the two, and kept paying attention to the voices in the cockpit.

The door of the cockpit was not closed tightly, and once the dispute inside became fierce, it could be heard in the corridor.

Pimi was yelling: "I didn't come here because I wanted to be this captain! I was just the captain of the transport ship in the Alpha Galaxy, and I can count the number of interstellar journeys on one hand!"

Bering retorted sharply: "It has nothing to do with whether you are willing or not! Since you are in Faust, since you have accepted the appointment, you have to take it seriously! Drinking? Are you drunk? Leather rice, you are not only A qualified captain, you are not even qualified to be a qualified crew member!"

Jiang Che put his elbows on his knees, tilted his head and listened carefully.

Shortly after the warp procedure was aborted, Leathermi returned.He was so shocked to see Bering and Linney in the cockpit that he couldn't say anything at all.

Linney drove the rest out of the cockpit, and started arguing with Leathermi before the door was closed.

The transition has stopped, but Faust has been captured by the gravitational force of the galaxy's nuclear bulge. With Faust's power level, there is almost no possibility of getting rid of this strong gravitational force.Jiang Che didn't know how they could get back to the correct 18 route.

"Then why did you withdraw Bering?" Lin Ni's voice came out, "Bering has been driving Faust, she is the most suitable candidate..."

"Because I'm divorced." Bering said calmly.

There was a moment of silence in the cockpit, and Linney gritted his teeth: "So why did you get a divorce before sailing?!"

Bering laughed loudly: "Is this something I can decide on my own?"

Both Jiang Che and Ovid were confused, and they both turned their heads to look at Pierre at the same time: "Can't you drive a ship if you're divorced?"

"After three months of a change in marital relationship, members of the ship are not allowed to board the ship," Pierre said. "This is a requirement of Bigger's personality test."

After many additions to the Beagle Personality Test, a "total veto" mechanism has been added: Anyone who has experienced major changes in personal life and work within three months, no matter how excellent the 499 questions of the Beagle Personality Test, will be rejected. Board a ship as a crew member.This "major change" includes a lot of content, such as changes in marital relations, such as the death of a relative, such as serious problems in personal health, and so on.

"It's not just divorce, it's the same with marriage." Pierre explained, "When Captain Bering and Captain Samuel filed for divorce, Faust was still a month away from departure. She was temporarily withdrawn. .Because the main task during this period is to add scientific ships and supply ships to Route 118, there are not many captains available, and even fewer are qualified and have time for long-distance travel.”

"Do these so-called major changes really change people's personality?" Ovid asked.

Pierre: "Even if it doesn't affect the personality, it will change the mood a lot. Deep space travel is very boring and boring. Those who can board the ship are those with stable emotions and little ups and downs, such as me."

Ovid looked him over.

Jiang Che listened to Pierre's words, he felt that this personality test was correct."Major changes" in life can indeed completely reshape or destroy a person, and he has a deep understanding of this.

"How do we go back?" He whispered, "Without any external help, we can't escape the gravitational force of the nuclear sphere."

Ovid stared at Jiang Che, who was depressed, and asked in a low voice: "Jiang, do you want to eat drunken eggs? People will be happier after eating."

Pierre followed Jiang Che's words on the side and said: "Many ships have disappeared on the 118 route, and they have not been found so far, such as the Copernicus. In fact, sometimes I guess, these ships have not disappeared or crashed. They were just captured by the gravity of other planets and could not escape."

Jiang Che didn't respond any more, but Ovid thought of the drunken egg he hadn't finished eating, and earnestly encouraged Jiang Che to "eat", so that he would "be happy".

A few hours later, Jiang Che and Ovid were in the tool room on the first floor, and heard the ship-wide announcement from acting captain Bering.

"...We have encountered some crises, but they are not serious. Faust will soon return to the correct route, and we will reach our destination Earth smoothly." Bering's voice was steady and powerful, "I am Fushi Bering, the acting captain of Faust, is the youngest female captain in Marseilles and the person who has been in charge of Faust for the longest time. Please trust me and our crew, we will do our best to bring Faust and Faust together. Bring everyone back to a safe and secure route."

"Don't you feel blush for boasting like this?" Ovid asked, "And this is a lie, right? The problem is obviously very serious."

"This is the only thing I can say about passengers. She is amazing." Jiang Che said, "There are not many women who can navigate deep space, and she is the best of them."

Ovid remembered one thing: "Pierre said her husband is Captain Samuel, do you know who it is? Is it powerful?"

Jiang Che sighed deeply: "I don't know. Can you go to rest? You really... talk too much. It's very noisy, I need to be quiet."

Ovid looked at Jiang Che's hand: "I thought chefs would especially need to chat with people when they were cooking."

Jiang Che: "No, I don't need it."

Pimi gave the post of captain to Bering, and he considered himself incompetent and lazy, and no longer managed things on Faust.After Bering took over Faust, he immediately activated the full-frequency transmitter and sent out distress signals without interruption, with the purpose of finding the scientific ship on route 118.Pierre continued to pour cold water, repeatedly emphasizing with Jiang Che and Ovid that the communication frequency used by scientific ships is different from that of ships on civilian routes, and the possibility of receiving it is almost zero, unless scientific ships also The full frequency reception is also turned on.

Jiang Che was hungry, and after eating a bland and nutritious meal with Ovid and Pierre in the crew dining room, he remembered that he still had a large piece of beef in the freezer, so he didn't have time to eat it.

It's too late if you don't eat.He thought, even if he dies, he will be a full-fledged ghost.

It was the first time that Ovid saw the beef being handled in the way of beating and piercing, and he was full of problems, but he was afraid that if Jiang Che was unhappy, he would deprive himself of the right to enjoy the food, so he kept his mouth tightly shut.

This piece of snowflake beef happened to be tenderloin. After Jiang Che cut it into strips, he beat it continuously with the back of a kitchen knife, and then used scissors to insert it one by one without stopping.

"...the meat will be looser and softer," he said to Ovid. "Is that what you want to ask?"

"Yes." Ovid nodded in satisfaction, and continued to watch Jiang Che carefully handle the beef.

Jiang Che felt very strange.He was afraid of death, of not being able to get home, but there was no trace of fear in Ovid.He seemed to have no fear, no worries, nor any temperament and sense of responsibility that a killer should have.

An eccentric person.Jiang Che thought to himself.

"I'm going to make honey roast beef." He explained, "The beef is processed, and I'm going to marinate."

Ovid nodded repeatedly.

Jiang Che wiped his hands after putting the beef strips into the marinade made with salt, sugar, light soy sauce and several kinds of sauce spices.

"It takes an hour to soak in the flavor." He sat with Ovid, and watched Ovid poke the meat in the marinade with interest. "After marinating, it is not boiled, but roasted. We Take it to the kitchen and use the oven to roast, but the authentic way to eat it is to burn it directly. After burning, the beef strips are very deep red, crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, and the gravy and sauce are locked in In meat, it can be eaten with rice or as a snack.”

Ovid swallowed.

"The taste of the fire is not the same as that of the oven." Jiang Che said, "The fire has a smell of smoke and fire, and it also has an uncontrollable burnt smell, but it tastes very strong. know why."

"Speaking of scorch...do you see that necklace Linney is wearing around his neck?" Ovid asked. "There are scorch marks on the badge."

Jiang Che remembered that Lin Ni was indeed wearing a thin necklace, and the pendant was an orange-red badge.He remembered that Bering was also wearing one of these little things.

"What's the badge?"

"It is the badge of outstanding graduates of the Marseille Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics." Ovid explained, "the badge of ordinary graduates is blue, and the badge of outstanding graduates is orange. This badge will always accompany them to old age and death. It's part of the honor of life."

With his fingers dipped in water, Ovid sketched a picture on the table.

"The badge is circular, and the main body is a planet and a ship. The planet is Marseille, and there is a circle of Marseille's satellite orbit outside. The ship is in the center of the planet, and it is a gesture of leaving the port." Ovi Pointing to the oval shape he drew, which means "ship", De said, "This ship is the pioneer ship of the 'Great Retreat' of mankind more than 500 years ago, the Phoenix."

The author has something to say: I forgot to say in the last chapter: the science popularization of the galactic nuclei is true.The image of the Milky Way we see, if you look down, you can find that the center of the vortex is always brighter, and when you look at the side view, you will find that the center of the Milky Way is a raised bright part.There is the star wall, and inside the star wall is a huge black hole.

A spoiler: Regarding the Phoenix, remember the wedge from Chapter 1?whee