Marvel Magic Case Files

"Dr. Will, I hope you can fix the circuit. After you finish the work, it will be your rest time."

Captain Miller assigned the physics PhD another task, to which the PhD nodded, seemingly unaffected by the argument. Captain Miller noticed that Dr. Will showed no resistance whatsoever, appearing quite pleased to be back in the engine room, away from the blood-soaked bridge.

The wreckage left by the original crew of the ship has not yet been completely cleared.

Despite Major DJ's warnings about the biohazard risks, they still lacked a good enough way to dispose of the pieces of flesh still stuck to the walls, and they didn't have time to deal with the minor details. They were like sailors stranded at sea in an old-fashioned era; as captain, he had to take care of everyone's emotions and assign tasks to each crew member.

Whether sailing on the high seas or in the void, it's never just the ship itself that faces challenges; the mental health of the crew is also severely damaged. Major DJ seemed somewhat dazed, constantly crossing his arms and staring at the sticky flesh and blood on the bulkhead; First Mate Stark seemed to have something to say, but hesitated; Dr. Peters was once again overwhelmed with guilt, even though she knew she was just hallucinating, the thought of abandoning a disabled child on Earth who needed careful care still made her feel guilty.

Space has no day or night. This realm, ruled by coldness and solitude, is a maddeningly silent void. A mist still lingers above orbit, the pale starlight barely illuminating the cold, deep blue planet below. Anyone standing here would feel an unprecedented fear, a fear even more profound for those with reason—completely different from looking down upon the planet that nurtured humanity from Earth's orbit—a warm, magnificent experience, a proud, confident, and cautious observation. Here, it was different. Looking down at Neptune through the porthole, they saw only coldness. The distant stars could not warm their bodies, nor banish the monsters of the night. This fear was especially overwhelming when they realized their place in the universe.

他们只是身处直径100000光年、拥有2千亿到4千亿恆星的银河系边缘的古尔德臂，围绕着直径56000光年公转轨道运动的直径4光年的恆星系里一颗不起眼的行星所孕育的生命，此刻正被天文数字般的寂静宇宙包裹。

Like floating dust.

Captain Miller had found himself losing control of his emotions more than once, just as he had recently slammed Lieutenant Smith onto the control panel. Lieutenant Cooper, Lieutenant Smith, Major DJ, and First Officer Stark were all his comrades-in-arms; they had served together for a long time on the space station and in the space shuttle. Under normal circumstances, he would never have ordered his comrades around in such a rude manner. He couldn't blame DJ for holding a scalpel to Smith's neck, nor could he blame Smith for throwing a punch at Dr. Will, and he certainly couldn't blame Dr. Peters for missing his child and being overwhelmed with grief.

He was quite certain that the ship had shown them what was deep within their hearts.

"Dr. Peters," he asked in a low voice as he stepped aside, "where are the medication supplies?"

"Not nearly enough, Captain Miller." Dr. Peters wiped his eyes. "NASA didn't expect our mission to last this long. We only have a few tranquilizers left."

"Give everyone one tablet. I'll require everyone to take it together in critical moments." Captain Miller looked into Dr. Peters' eyes. "Take care of yourself, Dr. Peters. You should know that your son has always been proud of you; you are his hero. Even if he doesn't understand now, he will understand how great his mother was in the future."

Dr. Peters managed a weak smile. "Thank you for your comfort, Captain Miller."

"Now, please go and take care of Justin. I hope he recovers quickly. I swore I would bring everyone back safely." Captain Miller patted her shoulder, then turned to his comrades and subordinates. "Stark, do you have anything to say?"

“My conclusion might be a bit…superstitious.” First Mate Stark stood to the side, looking somewhat hesitant. “Do you remember the life signals we detected before we boarded, Captain? Shortly after Lieutenant Justin, you, and Dr. Peters boarded, we detected a large number of life signals.”

So-called life signals are actually information generated by processing parameters of vital activities such as breathing and heartbeat detected by millimeter-wave radar inside a spacecraft. This is a long-range detection method, and the detection process is not limited by weather, terrain, or other conditions. As a rescue ship, the Lewis and Clark naturally carried such equipment. The fields of combining radar technology with bioengineering in military operations, counter-terrorism activities, and disaster relief on Earth share the same principles as the life detection radar on the Lewis and Clark, only differing in scale and power.

"But there are no survivors on this ship, except for us." Captain Miller pointed out the crucial question: "Is it possible that it was a miscalculation?"

"The life signals we detected are spread throughout the entire ship. Life radar couldn't possibly have such errors, and it's even less likely that the ship's hull is creating a scattering interference antenna. As far as I know, this ship doesn't possess similar technological characteristics." First Officer Stark shook her head vigorously, seemingly trying to shake some terrible thought from her mind. But encouraged by Captain Miller's gaze (bad news is never too much, as Captain Miller said), she mustered the courage to speak. However, before uttering those words, she took several deep breaths, and even DJ, who had been lost in thought, stared at her with bloodshot eyes.

"What we scanned is related to the hallucinations you saw. Those hallucinations are like some kind of immune system, and now that reaction is gradually increasing. I suspect that this ship seems to... have brought back some kind of life."

"So you're telling me this ship is alive?"

"You want an answer, and this is the answer I can think of." First Officer Stark sighed. "I've wanted to tell you this from the beginning, Captain."

As an astronaut with extremely high scientific literacy, she couldn't deny how foolish and insane the idea was; such a superstitious notion was an insult to the knowledge she had acquired. Then, to her surprise, she saw Captain Miller nod thoughtfully, seemingly acknowledging some merit to the idea.

Undeniably, the ship knew his secret.

As he firmly told everyone else, it was definitely not a hallucination as Dr. Will claimed. He could name the burning body that crawled out of the cooling pool, knew its past and hobbies—a secret he had never shared with anyone, not even his longtime acquaintance, Major DJ. He had never told anyone that he had made the right judgment in a space accident, yet it cost him his friend his life, nor had he told anyone how terrifying and beautiful flames in the vacuum could be. That accident was buried deep within, just like the other products of Project Pegasus. He also couldn't tell anyone that he had once known a woman who radiated light and could fly in space, or the disaster she had caused.

"We've encountered many strange things, Stark. Like that fog, we still can't tell if it's a layer of micrometeorite ice crystals or strange, low-temperature plasma from space, nor do we know how far we've deviated from our course in space, or why we ended up on this ship. But now that we're on this ship, we can't rule out any possibility that hasn't been proven yet."

Captain Miller encouraged the young first officer again, then turned to Major DJ, who had remained silent. He seemed surprised by his impulsive actions in controlling Lieutenant Smith, and since then he had been deep in thought, appearing to be summarizing some idea.

"DJ?"

"My conclusion isn't much better. I've been thinking about one thing: the space agency's processed recording." Major DJ looked his superior in the eye. He had determined from the beginning that the recording was in Latin, and as the only crew member who understood Latin, he naturally took on the task of translation. After they began repairing the Event Horizon's logbook, the owner of that voice, the owner of that recording, was none other than the Event Horizon's captain, Kilpark.

As for why Captain Kielpak sent a distress signal in Latin, they still have no answer.

"I need a conclusion, DJ. You're the only one here who understands Latin."

“I think the previous translation was wrong, Captain.” Lieutenant Commander DJ took out a recorder and began playing the recording. Judging from his practiced movements, Captain Miller could guess that he must have listened to this recording many times in private. “I thought he was saying ‘liberate me,’ meaning, ‘save me.’ But not ‘me,’ it’s ‘liberate tutume,’ meaning, ‘save yourself.’ What’s worse—” He pressed play again, and the evil, noisy, sound that seemed to be squeezed from a bloody throat once more pierced their ears. In contrast, Lieutenant Commander DJ’s voice became softer, his gaze sweeping across the bridge as if he were worried about waking some sleeping creature. “—I think he said, ‘ex inferis.’ Save yourself, escape from hell. If Dr. Will is telling the truth, this ship crossed the boundaries of the universe, crossed the boundaries of science, who knows where it went, what it saw… and what it brought back.”

"Something from hell," Captain Miller asked. "Do you really believe in these things?"

Major DJ shook his head, his blue eyes almost turning violet under the bridge lights. "The person who sent this message believes it."

Silence enveloped the three people on the bridge until Dr. Peters burst in.

"Justin!" she cried out in terror, "He's in the airlock!"