Chapter 4 third chapter

The laboratory was built in a long and narrow cave.The lights on the ceiling of the cave hung high, emitting a dazzling light, illuminating a row of huge black machines on the ground.A tall barbed wire fence was blocked in front of these machines, and a few bright red letters were hung on the net: CT, beware of danger! Jenkins landed on the corridor outside the barbed wire.Holding a clumsy wrench in his hand, he stared vigilantly at the eerie depths of the cave.He forgot that there was no air here, and still stopped from time to time to listen to the movement around him.The eerie silence filled him with a twinge of terror.

Everything in the lab is going on as usual. At the far end of the lab, directly below where he parked his CT cattle, CT iron ingots shimmered in an untouchable automatic induction furnace. The CT hammers are hitting the iron ingot one by one, but there is no sound, which makes people feel unreal. The CT lathe then undergoes a series of mechanical processing on these iron ingots, and finally, puts them on the slowly moving production assembly line. The assembled base plate is removed from the end of the assembly line by a crane.These newly processed finished products are not completely untouchable CTs. They are shaped like giant mushrooms growing upside down. The CT head around the bottom plate is covered with a layer of material iron. The contact surfaces of these two different properties are permanently connected. Sexual anti-gravity pulls apart, maintaining an invisible gap with the naked eye.This base plate can be directly installed into the material base, and various CT machines can be placed on the vertical CT handle.

Seeing that the lab is still up and running, Jenkins pine.Take a breath.From where I stood, I couldn't see anyone.These machines are remotely controlled and run automatically without the need for special care.He secretly smiled at his own embarrassment at the time o "It's really the same as Lageria, who plundered mobs at every turn, maybe nothing happened. Maybe it's just that the launcher burned out, and they were all pulling Installing new machinery in Gerina's special lab and not even noticing. Mackey's voice must have been figuring out my own imagination, maybe I should take a few months off work." He caught his breath suddenly.Over there, a robotic crane was picking up a freshly assembled floor from the assembly line and placing it on a railcar rack that was already filled with a dozen floor plates and there was no room left.

He anxiously waited for someone to remotely drive away the full car and replace it with an empty car, but there was no one.He couldn't help trembling, and waited for the crane and the entire assembly line to stop automatically, because the relay on the control panel would automatically stop all machines when the car was full, until someone came to change the car and pressed the control button again . But the repeater seems to be malfunctioning. Jenkins watched in horror at what was happening, the long boom of the crane still lowering.Once the round head covered with material iron on the base plate touches the CT handle on the lower base plate, it will definitely react, causing all other base plates to shift and contact each other, and the result can only be that the entire Star of Freedom is blown up.

His heart almost stopped beating.Why didn't anyone see this disaster in the making and pull the insurance?Where did they all go?why not…… He snapped on the beam phone in his helmet, looked up, and aimed the dark red beam at the control room at the end of the corridor, directly above the robotic crane.Rick.Drake should be working on it now. "Rick!" he yelled, his voice hoarse, "Stop the crane!" There was no answer to the pink beams that could be seen flickering on the iron wall behind the high platform.The crane still didn't stop. "Wake up, Rick!" he yelled anxiously, "What happened."

Rick still didn't answer.Nervously gripping the steering column on his spacesuit, he flew down the corridor and onto the railed platform.Rick's burly body was lying limply on the control panel. Thanks to the support of the stiff space suit, his body remained in a sitting posture. At this moment, Jenkins had no time to care about Rick. The crane is still descending. Jenkins grabbed the red-lit emergency switch and yanked it.After that frightening moment, he could hardly believe that he was still alive.All the machines in the laboratory stopped, and a disaster was finally avoided. Undecided, he hurriedly turned to Rick again.Rick's body was limp, his red-haired head was drooping in the helmet, his face was pale, his mouth was wide open, and his eyes were staring blankly.

Jenkins touched it with his hand, and his heavy body fell off the stool. Jenkins hurriedly pulled him back, put him on the platform, raised his head again, and asked hoarsely, "Rick, what's the matter with you?" Rick's body seemed to be still warm, his pale lips seemed to squirm, and he sighed.But he couldn't speak, and his pupils slowly dilated. What happened?Why is the transmitter turned off?Why does the whole planet seem to be abandoned?What made Rick unconscious?He trembled, and looked at the bottom plate hanging on the automatic crane. Is it an abnormal accident, or was it sabotage from outside?He immediately checked the intricate wiring and interrupters under the remote control panel, and none of the wiring was cut off.He got down from the platform, went through a dark corridor, and entered the power generation room.Here's another cave on the same cliff that holds the machine, not yet assembled.It is for it that people work selflessly on this planet.Jenkins stopped on another platform with a guardrail, and he looked around the gloomy cave in confusion and horror.

The laboratory below the platform is divided into two huge hemispheres, the upper and lower, connected by dozens of boards.The lower hemisphere is made of material iron and covered with a cadmium plate shield.The upper hemisphere is made of shiny CT metal that looks harmless, surrounded by iron bars.The red warning sign reads impressively: CT.Above ground, CT mills, separators, conveyors and material injectors are all enclosed by high guardrails. The material machines that can be safely touched are all placed in the material area around the lower hemisphere, and they will be used to crush and purify the material fuel, and then spray a certain amount of dust into the reaction chamber through the injector, which is different from the atom structure of the CT nozzle. The dust reacts, generating enormous amounts of energy.

If only the off-white conductive alloy coils were already installed in the reaction chamber, how nice it would be!A large amount of induced current will flow continuously along this super wire from the Lemien-Dauberg conversion field to the Bryan transmitter on the highest cliff of the Freedom Star. He suddenly thought of the present again. The reactor has been built, the converter is almost completed, and the transmitter is waiting to be placed on the cobweb-like iron tower on the cliff. However, the current receiving line, bus bar, wires and the electrode part of the transmitter itself must be used. Conductive alloy fabrication.However, this matter has been delayed, and energy freedom has not been realized for a long time.

This new alloy of rare isotopes costs $12 per gram and requires a total of 80 tons.Nothing else can replace it in the generating chamber, and even metal conductors will turn into gas before the current sent to the planets is half-strength.The cost of purchasing this alloy is obviously a headache for Brian, because as early as two months ago, the old Drake asked him for it. Jenkins stopped thinking about these things.He carefully inspected the dim cave, looking for clues of the enemy. The surrounding machines were motionless, and he could not see anyone, let alone any signs of destruction.He knows Paul.Anders was supposed to be working here, so he grabbed the yoke again, flew off the platform, and landed on the ground.

Anders was lying under the reaction room, with a roll of blueprints scattered in his hand.That's the wiring diagram for the Lemien-Dauberger converter. Jenkins moved him to a place with better light and found that his symptoms were exactly the same as Dunk. What made both of them faint?Jenkins took another look at the helmet, which was intact.The air pressure, temperature, and humidity inside are all normal, and the indices of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and helium are all correct.There was no blood, and there was no sign that Ren was still under surprise attack. Was it radiation?Jenkins clearly recalled Mackey's premonition about the CT explosion, maybe there is such a special phenomenon as telepathy!He bent down again with difficulty to look at the Geiger on Anders' wrist. The geiger flashed green once, then again.Those occasional penetrating particles and photons are by no means deadly.The needle showing the surrounding radiation level is still in the white zone, far away from the orange zone for warning, the red zone for danger and the black zone for death.They did not receive CT radiation. Maybe some kind of infectious disease?Jenkins, who had studied space medicine for four semesters, was not showing any symptoms at this time.The quarters where they lived were clean and tidy, though a bit cramped.Moreover, the two men must have felt normal when they went to work before being attacked by an inexplicable surprise, or Rick would have turned off the machines in the laboratory. So is it poisoning?In order to compete for the increasingly depleted uranium and thorium, there is almost a war between the planets, and CT technology is likely to become their must-have.Jenkins thought of the desperate people, the twenty or so whom the spies from Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and even Interstellar Corp. were ready to kill in order to take control of Liberty Star. He bent down again to pick up Anders' arm. Through the thick sleeve, he couldn't feel the beating of the pulse, but the muscle still seemed warm and elastic.Anders was still breathing extremely slowly. he is alive!It would have been different if the automatic crane had lowered that floor.Jenkins stood up and began to search the light and shade under the reaction chamber.Unspeakable dangers peeked out from the flickering shadows, making his heart tremble. Afterwards, he left the power generation room, walked through an insulated pipe specially used for the passage of alloy cables, and reached the cliff.There, a bare iron tower stood on the transmitting platform, and there was no movement around it.And no one.He hurriedly prepared to go to the living area, but suddenly thought of La Gerina's laboratory, and a greater sense of fear rose in his heart.He immediately turned and flew north, with cold sweat streaming down his face, and he clearly remembered the scene when old Drake talked about the real purpose of the special laboratory. "CT weapons!" I was almost out of breath, "What are they for?" "The Star of Liberty has become a place that is ignored by everyone," Drake said slowly, with a serious expression on his face. "Your uncle said that someone wanted to seize our laboratory for military purposes. In terms of secrecy, we haven't done enough, he asked us to develop a small self-guiding missile with a CT warhead for self-defense." "Aren't we protected by the trustee government?" He himself boldly raised an objection, "Don't we have a research license? Besides, we have the protection of asteroid clusters and space mines?!" Old Drake nodded, a little tired. "Your uncle says that's not enough. He's worried about spies, and says the Trusteeship is a weak organization that any planet would dare to defy. He insists we develop it, and says you'll be in charge of it." "No!" I shook my head resolutely, I am only interested in the daily use of CT, I don't like CT weapons!I would rather continue to drive the CT cow, you should find someone else. " "I don't want any CT wars either," old Drake promised anxiously. "We're only developing the small arms we need to protect the Liberty Star, not the bigger ones." He shook his head again. "Nick, your uncle will be disappointed if you don't do this job." He himself is still unwilling, and rides CT cattle to mine as usual.At that time, Rajduanna returned from his vacation and was still afraid of going to space, so he took charge of this special laboratory. Now, Jenkins had turned the end of the cave, which concealed the entrance to the laboratory.There was darkness in front of him. He was afraid of exposing himself, and he didn't dare to turn on the light beam in the helmet. He just groped into the laboratory, but he didn't want to trip over something hard but elastic, and almost fell down. He ate it and hurried back.With some difficulty, he found the light switch at the entrance and snapped it on.He bent down vigilantly and scanned the long and narrow laboratory without any hostility.He took a hard breath before looking down at what he just kicked. three people!All in white spacesuits. Bending over with difficulty, Jenkins saw their pale faces and drooping heads.He recognized them at a glance: the sturdy Feinberg, the blond-haired Hansen, and the short Qin, all engineers from La Reduan's team. Their limp bodies were placed neatly along the iron wall.Evidently they had been dragged there. Jenkins flew up.Carefully searched the room again.There are more CT machines in the fence here, and they're still there.He flew up to the high control platform to look for La Gerina, but he didn't see anyone. He still doesn't understand what happened.When he turned around and returned to the door, he realized that the machine was gone, and a few missiles on the missile rack against the wall flew away unexpectedly. Empty rack! He suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem, immediately fell back to the ground, and began to look for other clues.Several reloading hooks were abandoned on the ground, apparently the enemy used them to lift the missiles from the racks.There are also several wide parallel marks on the ground.It must be left behind by the anti-gravity conveyor pipeline across the ground.Finally, there was a heavy missile lying on the ground at the end of the outer hole.The shell has been worn out, and those people must have dropped it on the ground in a panic, before they could lift it away.Jenkins stood up and looked at the stars outside the cave, but what emerged before his eyes was the disaster with unimaginable consequences. "Impossible! This is impossible!" But things have already happened, and the enemy did it so neatly, which can only show that this action was premeditated.How could the enemy's spaceship get here through the asteroid swarm and the minefield?There must be a traitor on Liberty Star!People loyal to the Star of Liberty are all unconscious, what is going on?To prevent his return, the enemy cunningly deactivated the launcher and left with the loot, where were they? "They can't go far!" Jenkins mustered up his courage. It's been less than three hours since the launcher was turned off. Even with the most advanced anti-gravity conveyors, these enemies have to spend half of the time to load these dangerous missiles and machines, and find their way through drifting mines and meteor swarms , even Mackey himself would have to take some time. "Anyway, I'm going to try!" He hurried out of the hole and flew back to the place where the CT cattle were parked.This hulking CT bull is not a weapon, but it might still be useful.As long as the distance is close enough, the observer can detect the fleeing enemy, and if the enemy's ship is slower, the low-energy drive may catch up with it.Furthermore, the CT metal in the ore box and the CT components on the machine itself weigh several tons, which is a CT warhead that is powerful enough to destroy any spaceship, or even all planets. Jenkins doesn't want to kill himself, if the CT cow is used as a missile, he will drive away in the spacesuit himself.He secretly made up his mind that he must not let the enemy's spaceship slip away. The CT Missile will mean the end of the Trusteeship and the start of a new Star Wars, where the enemy will use it to destroy and oppress any planet other than their own. As soon as he entered the exit hole where the CT cattle were parked.He clamped the spacesuit on the cold metal seat and turned on the reactor that had been extinguished.He held the steering wheel and watched the gauges, waiting for the trembling pointer to stabilize.At the same time, he tried to calm himself down.At last everything was ready, and he bent down to undo the anchor head. The Star of Freedom vibrated violently. He heard nothing.Because there is no air here.This huge iron stone trembled, and the bulky CT cow trembled beneath it.Overhead, a bright light illuminated the opening of the cave.The light was so strong that it was too blinding to make out any colors. Jenkins was dazzled for a while, and slowly the trembling on the Liberty Star stopped.There was still silence all around, and all he could see was a fading blue light. Even without looking at the Geiger.He also understood what was going on.The geiger vibrated against his wrist, warning, a crimson light glowing across its surface.Jenkins raised his hand to look at the pointer.The pointer has slipped through the red zone, and then entered the black zone. "Nick Jenkins, you've been irradiated!" sighed the air current under his jaw. "You don't need to go out and try your best. Whoever the enemy is, they've already defeated you. Because you're going to die, Jenkins, from CT radiation!"