Earth Era

Probably because the hibernation period was shorter this time, Wei Feng felt that he was in a much better state when he woke up this time than before. However, only a few minutes after waking up, Wei Feng had already regained some strength. Wei Feng reluctantly supported his body and sat up in the hibernation cabin, and then asked: "Is there any further information?"

Weifeng is now three trillion kilometers away from the sun. Weifeng can be sure that at his location, in addition to the Xinghai spacecraft and several detectors launched from the spacecraft, there are There are no human creations here. So if an unknown signal is received here, it will be obvious what this means.

"I have not been able to determine the status of the signal source, but one thing is certain, that is, the surface area of ​​the side facing us must not be larger than one hundred square meters. Otherwise, I can see it through an optical telescope. Then I The following conclusions can tell you that its size must not be large, and at the same time, it is orbiting the sun at an extremely slow speed. What it emits is a repeating signal with a signal repeating period of five seconds. If it is This is what it sounds like if it were expressed as a sound that humans can hear."

Wei Feng heard a sound similar to the friction between the table legs and the ground when the table was moved. The sound lasted for five seconds, stopped after five seconds, and then repeated again.

"I can't decipher the specific meaning of the signal." Ye Luo continued.

"Did you send a signal to respond to it?" Wei Feng asked.

"I sent a response signal on the frequency they used, but they didn't respond. They still maintained this unknown signal that repeated every five seconds without any changes. According to my speculation, this may be a stationary machine with only An instrument with working procedures, it cannot respond to any stimulation from the outside. In other words, there should be no intelligent life inside it."

"Find a way to capture it." Wei Feng said immediately. "This is probably a relic left by an unknown civilization. It may have a history of hundreds of millions of years. As long as we capture it, we are likely to get important information from it." s things."

Wei Feng said as he slowly walked out of the hibernation cabin. Then he put on his clothes, and then told Ye Luo: "Immediately prepare some food for me that can quickly restore my mental and physical strength."

"Okay. Please wait for five minutes." Ye Luo said calmly. After a moment of pause, he asked: "Do you have any plan to capture it? Don't forget, our Xinghai spacecraft is relative to it. It moves at a speed of up to 3,000 kilometers per second. Catching it is not an easy task."

Wei Feng held onto the wall with one hand to stabilize his body, while he was rapidly thinking about the specific capture plan in his mind. This time is different from last time. Last time Wei Feng encountered an asteroid. When facing the asteroid. Wei Feng could naturally break it into pieces and then capture the fragments, but what it encountered this time was probably a creation of an alien civilization. It was probably a complete instrument that was still working. Naturally, Wei Feng would no longer be able to crush it.

Then there are only two roads left in front of Wei Feng. One, slow down the Xinghai spacecraft, and two, accelerate the unknown instrument. Among these two options, slowing down the Xinghai spacecraft is obviously unrealistic. The destination of Wei Feng's voyage is the South Gate II system. If the Xinghai spacecraft is slowed down now, Wei Feng will have to accelerate the spacecraft after capturing the instrument. As this goes on, at least 30% of the spacecraft's total fuel reserves will be consumed. This is unacceptable to Wei Feng.

Then the only feasible way is the second one.

Think of this. Wei Feng immediately said: "Ye Luo, you immediately control the detector closest to it to get as close to it as possible, and then try to obtain as much data about it as possible, including its volume, possible mass, etc. At the same time, immediately provide I'm going to prepare the tools and I'm going to modify a few thrusters."

"Okay, I'll do it right away." Ye Luo replied.

Wei Feng's plan is simple. Since the Xinghai spacecraft cannot slow down, then it is better to speed up the unknown instrument. Wei Feng planned to launch several thrusters carrying enough fuel, and then slow down the speed of these thrusters to match that of the unknown device. Then attach it to that thing, and then push that thing to accelerate. In this way, it is captured into the Xinghai spacecraft.

This is the most likely method Wei Feng can take to succeed under the real situation.

In the vast space, hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the port side of the Xinghai spacecraft, a small detector began to work. Its tail suddenly spurted out a stream of flames. Driven by the flames, its speed suddenly increased and it sailed towards the location where the unknown instrument existed in the calculations.

"Probe No. 2 will be 10 million kilometers away from the signal source in one day, passing it at a relative speed of 3,600 kilometers per second. After passing it, Probe No. 2 will no longer be Any available fuel, this means that it will continue to move away from us, and we will no longer have the ability to recover it. We will lose it forever." Ye Luo said calmly.

"In order to recover the instrument left by an unknown civilization, it is worth paying the price of a detector." Wei Feng responded, "Since we are destined to lose this detector, then Ye Luo, when it passes by the signal source and After sending back the detection data, can you control it to explode? In this way, we may be able to use the light emitted by its spontaneous explosion and use the high-precision telescope on the spacecraft to obtain more information about the signal source."

"Okay." Ye Luo said, "I'll do the relevant calculations right now."

Preparatory work has begun in earnest. After spending several hours recovering his strength, Wei Feng finally gained the ability to work, so the preliminary modification work on the thruster began.

A day passed quietly. As if calculated, Probe No. 2 passed 10 million kilometers away from the unknown signal source. After sending the information it obtained back to the Xinghai spacecraft, it exploded and turned into A firework in the dark universe. But it is too far away from the Xinghai spacecraft, and it is impossible for Wei Feng to see the light it emits with the naked eye.

Wei Feng couldn't see it, but the telescope on the Xinghai spacecraft captured the scene clearly. The light from the No. 2 detector's self-explosion increased the intensity of the reflected light from the unknown signal source by a dozen times. Coupled with some information previously sent back by the No. 2 detector, Ye Luo finally managed to obtain some information about the location signaler. .

"It is probably an instrument in the shape of a screw. The diameter of the screw head is larger and the diameter of the rest of the screw is smaller. Its total length is about seven meters and its maximum diameter is four meters. Based on this volume, I think it The total mass will not exceed fifty tons.”

"Its surface is not smooth, but very rough. Look here, although you can't tell the specific details, I think these are some cables or pipes that are exposed in the cosmic environment. It doesn't even have the most basic protection None. From this point of view, this is a very simple instrument. But this also means a contradiction. Since an instrument can be sent to such a place, how can it not be able to add the most basic equipment to it? Protection? Or...it's not that it has no protection, but that its protection was later damaged."

Ye Luo presented the received signal in front of Wei Feng in the form of a picture, and explained something to Wei Feng.

"To make a detector lose even its most basic protection... I think this should be a war. Only war can turn a perfect instrument into such a mess." Wei Feng said, "If this is the case, Then our previous speculation can be verified.”

The discovery of a fragment of an unknown civilization in the open space between the ecliptic disc and the Oort cloud can barely be explained by coincidence, but now a second one has been discovered, which cannot be explained by coincidence. After ruling out the possibility of deliberate human manipulation, the only remaining possibility is that encountering fragments of unknown civilization creations here is a high probability event. Combined with the fragment that was suspected to be torn apart by the explosion, and the tattered appearance of what seemed to be a probe at this moment, there seems to be no other explanation except that a large-scale interstellar war once occurred in and around the solar system. explained.

"We must capture it. There may be many things in an alien probe that is still working." Wei Feng said, "Ye Luo, you immediately add enough fuel to the thrusters and then slow them down. , and then let them push the detector to the spacecraft."

"Okay. The four thrusters will be launched in twenty minutes. They will continue to decelerate for two months. When they arrive at the signal source, they will decelerate to a standstill relative to the signal source. After that, they will spend about It will take thirteen years to push the detector to a position only a hundred kilometers away from the spacecraft and keep it relatively stationary. At that time, I will wake you up and let you decide the next course of action. "

Long distance means long time. Just capturing a detector would take Wei Feng more than thirteen years. But even if it takes one hundred and thirty years, Wei Feng thinks it is worth it.

"Okay." Wei Feng replied, "I will stay awake until two months later. After confirming that the signal source has been successfully captured, I will start hibernating and hibernate until it reaches us." (To be continued~^~ )