Earth Era

"Interstellar dust cloud?"

This was originally just a very ordinary piece of news, so ordinary that almost no one would pay attention to it. Dust clouds are very common in the universe. There are millions of recorded dust clouds observed by humans, with large ones spanning hundreds of light-years and small ones less than one light-year away. During the escape journey after human civilization left the solar system, it passed through hundreds of dust clouds.

They are the breeding ground for stars and the ancestors of all macroscopic objects. The more dust clouds there are in a galaxy, the more vitality it has and the more new stars are born. But when it comes to the dust cloud itself, it really has nothing worth paying attention to.

But combined with the situation he was facing now, a bold idea suddenly came to Wang Hao's mind.

"Perhaps the predicament we are facing now is related to this dust cloud."

As soon as this idea was born, it grew like weeds after the rain in Wang Hao's mind. In an instant, more ideas were born based on this idea: "Atypical Gene Mutation Syndrome" Disease, all the patients currently observed have the experience of leaving the star system for space navigation, and the strong stellar wind is enough to "blow" all the thin interstellar dust clouds away, making it impossible for the dust cloud to enter the interior of the star system, at least not Entering the stellar circle."

"This would seem to explain why no cases have ever been found within a star system."

"Interstellar dust clouds also have their own movements. During their movement, due to the interaction with other celestial bodies, there must be uneven distribution within them. Some places have higher densities, while others have lower densities. It is even possible that There are cavities and cavities. And that could explain why some crew members got sick and some didn't."

"It is possible that the Nimbus spacecraft happened to pass through a place with a higher density of stardust, while the Blue Danube spacecraft, which has no cases, passed through its cavities and cavities."

"Although it is unbelievable that lethal radiation is attached to an interstellar dust cloud, the universe is vast, and it is very common for some strange things to happen. In any case, this is at least a possibility, and it is worth verifying."

There was no harvest for a long time, and any hope was enough to make Wang Hao excited. At this moment, all Wang Hao's fatigue and sleepiness disappeared. He immediately picked up the phone and planned to contact the observatories to obtain some detailed information about this interstellar dust cloud. But suddenly, another idea appeared in his mind, extinguishing all the excitement caused by the possibility of the truth emerging.

"To be called a dust cloud, it has a span of at least light years. If it has completely covered the Phoenix Galaxy, doesn't that mean that we can't escape from any direction before it leaves? No , this may not necessarily be the case. If my speculation is true and the Blue Danube spacecraft really happened to pass through the stardust void, so there were no cases, our fleet would only need to pass through the void to evacuate. You can avoid being affected by it by carefully avoiding the coverage of dust clouds. The most critical question now is to first find out whether it is related to the disease."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Hao pressed the call button.

The coordinator stationed at the Institute of Biochemistry immediately contacted the astronomical observation base according to Wang Hao's instructions, but did not return the information Wang Hao wanted. Instead, he told Wang Hao something else.

"This matter is actually not news. Astronomers have observed this interstellar dust cloud a long time ago, even before we left the solar system. However, because it has no scientific research value, astronomers After only roughly measuring its volume, density, coordinates, direction of motion and other information and recording it, we stopped paying attention to it. As for why it is being unearthed again now, it may be that some small media are too short of news material. People from the Observatory told I, because it has been too long ago, the previous data is no longer accurate. If you want accurate information, they will re-observe and calculate this dust cloud, but this will take some time."

Wang Hao immediately asked: "How long will it take?"

The coordinator whispered to others for a few words before replying: "To ensure the accuracy of the data, they need to unite several observatories to observe together and perform repeated calculations. It is expected to take about a month."

Wang Hao raised his head and looked at an old-fashioned calendar placed beside the table. There was a number clearly displayed on it: one hundred and thirty-five.

This means that there are still 135 days left before the return time announced by the head of state. If nothing else, the human fleet will make its way to the solar system on time.

Wang Hao knew that he had to find the answer to the question before the fleet could be real. Either completely rule out the possibility of dangerous radiation in interstellar space, or find tangible evidence to prove it. The head of state's will will not change because of his delay, and now, there is not much time left for him.

"Get them as soon as possible."

"OK."

Full of worries, Wang Hao finally fell asleep. No new spacecraft or passengers arrived here the next day, but there were still many specimens being examined here.

These specimens were not from the crew members who returned to the Phoenix Galaxy after the Nimbus spacecraft incident, but from before the Nimbus spacecraft. In Wang Hao's speculation, the Nimbus spacecraft incident was not the beginning of everything. There should have been people suffering from this disease before it, but they were not taken seriously for various reasons. Now, Wang Hao is testing this idea.

Although in the near future, there are fewer and fewer spacecraft returning from outside the system - data shows that in the three years before the Nimbus spacecraft, there were less than 60 spacecraft returning from other star systems in total, but from all over the galaxy The total number of specimens sent and the accompanying health information still exceeds 4,000. This made all the staff in the laboratory busy.

The results of the inspection appear in batches five days later. Among the first batch of 500 samples, it was analyzed that about 80 samples showed varying degrees of genetic mutation. But they don't get to the point of triggering overt manifestations.

"Sure enough, people have been affected by this radiation before the Nimbus spacecraft. It's just that we didn't pay attention to it."

Among the second batch of 500 samples, a sample from a military test spacecraft caught Wang Hao's attention. There were a total of thirteen people in this spacecraft. Records showed that when the spacecraft arrived in the Phoenix Galaxy, the crew members all developed some serious symptoms of physical discomfort and received relevant treatment after arrival. But those treatments didn't work, and the men died over the next six months to a year.

The causes of death shown in the medical records were all different, but Wang Hao knew that behind all the causes of death, the same reason was hidden.

Atypical genetic mutation syndrome.

Within a month, all samples were analyzed. Wang Hao made a statistics and discovered a phenomenon.

"The first recorded case was recorded by the ship's doctor a year and a half ago. Starting from this, there was a steady stream of patients. This seems to mean that the mysterious cause of the disease was in It appeared a year and a half ago. And did anything happen a year and a half ago?"

Wang Hao searched casually and surprisingly found something that happened a year and a half ago.

"Two neutron stars numbered PSR B1509-A and numbered PSR B1509-B have merged into a black hole. The data shows that one side of its poles is approximately facing the Phoenix Galaxy, which means that a gamma ray burst will directly Hit us. But because it's so far away, you won't be able to observe any signs of this collision except in the laboratory."

"Is there a collision of neutron stars?" Wang Hao checked briefly and then closed the page: "This is too far away from us and is unlikely to have anything to do with us."

Apart from this incident, nothing of note occurred during that time period. Wang Hao searched for it and finally gave up the idea.

"It seems that to find the cause of the disease, we have to look for it from the interstellar dust cloud that envelopes us. It has been almost a month. I think the information should be sent to me soon."

Just as Wang Hao expected, the next day, Wang Hao received data from an observatory.

"Number: Cloud cluster XY-AA5, informally known as the Bread Nebula. The longest point: 107.36 light years, the widest point: 59.52 light years, and the thickest point 73 light years Year, the relative motion speed is 369 kilometers per second, the total mass is about 3,700 solar masses, the average density is 37,000 particles per cubic meter, classification: dark nebula, composition: 7% Thirteen hydrogen, 21% helium, 6% other elements..."

In addition to a description of the physical properties, an image of the nebula is included at the end of the document. It was generally rectangular, but had a slight bulge in the middle, making it look like a loaf of bread. The image also specifically indicates the location of the Phoenix star - it is located in the lower left corner of the Loaf Nebula and is completely covered. According to scale conversion, it has probably penetrated into the Bread Nebula for about twenty light years.

"Twenty light years?" Wang Hao was slightly startled. After just a simple mental calculation, Wang Hao calculated that at the relative motion speed of the Bread Nebula, which is 369 kilometers per second, it would take enough time to reach the Phoenix Galaxy and cover the Phoenix Galaxy for 20 light-years. Sixteen thousand years.