Chapter 486 Star Shuttle No. 3
Chapter 486 Star Shuttle-3
Today is a big day. The first manned passenger ship of the Phoenix Project will take off, carrying 145 passengers to the Phoenix 0.1 version where the core cabin has been built.
These passengers are either CNC engineers, environmental experts, or experienced astronauts and mining ship drivers. There is no redundant person.
They will be the first to see the humans of Phoenix with their own eyes, and they will also continue to complete its construction. Phoenix Group has sufficient human resources to choose from, and they have selected all elites.
Of course, the censorship system is more than that. As a refuge for the rich, an Eden used to escape the invasion of superhumans and players, the last thing they want to see is superhumans or players sneaking into Phoenix.
Every passenger has undergone strict blood tests and consciousness screening to ensure that there is no potential risk of awakening and the possibility of being descended.
If the wealthy class who control half of the world's wealth still can't figure out what threat they are facing, then they really deserve to be exterminated on Earth.
What players are, where they come from, and what their purpose is, these people know almost as much as Mikkelson. Many naturalized families who are good at hedging their bets have taken many tickets to Phoenix City, so they are naturally not stingy in buying some intelligence for their own people.
The Star Shuttle-3 spacecraft responsible for sending these people to the sky is manufactured by the Houston Aerospace Industry Center and currently owned by the Phoenix Orbital Construction Group.
"Cole, this is the Star Shuttle-3, everything is normal, waiting for the ignition signal." The main driver Copperfield checked the LCD screen in front of him to ensure that all the instrument readings were normal. The co-pilot next to him was the rookie Nicole. This was his first time operating a real machine, so Copperfield had to complete all the inspections himself to prevent accidents.
In order to meet the immigration wave in a few years, they need to train a large number of qualified drivers. Now all experienced drivers are equipped with a rookie deputy.
Copperfield sometimes feels that the world is too unfair. Those rich people can always enjoy the best and most guaranteed services, while the service staff below are directly classified as those who can practice.
Just like now, aerospace is a serious and precise job. The Star Shuttle-3 is currently one of the world's largest carrying capacity and longest-range carrier spacecraft. Strictly speaking, rookies like Nicole are not allowed to exist.
But all rules are meant to be broken, and Copperfield can only follow the arrangements.
"Permitted to ignite, Star Shuttle-3, I wish you a safe journey." The response came from the command center. Today is a big day for Phoenix Orbital Construction Group and Copperfield. No one wants accidents.
As an experienced pilot, Copperfield was selected to become a resident of Phoenix City early on. As a benefit, he also secured two places for his family, which made him very happy that he left the space center and entered the commercial aerospace industry.
This damn world will soon be left behind by him
"Starting the ignition program, countdown, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Ignition successful!" Copperfield felt the thrust of the rocket manufacturing, and the whole person was pressed tightly on the seat. Gravity was trying in vain to retain him, but his destination was ultimately in the dark starry sky.
"Nervous?" Copperfield turned his head to look at Nicol. Rookies always bear the greatest pressure.
"I'm fine." Nicol looked very calm, without even a drop of sweat, which made Copperfield very satisfied and felt that he would soon become a qualified co-pilot.
At this time, the main propulsion rocket that had completed its mission began to separate actively, adjusting its attitude to fall back to the earth, and the Star Shuttle-3 had already arrived at the synchronous orbit lightly.
They need to circle the earth three times here, find a suitable angle, and start the next journey, the journey to Phoenix.
"Do me a favor, go to the back to see the passengers, and ask the stewardess for a tube of coffee paste." Copperfield asked Nicol with a smile, and the other party obediently left the cockpit.
Then Copperfield began to enjoy this moment of tranquility. This was not his first time in space, but every time he liked to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the sun passing through the cockpit for the first time alone.
This is a chaotic era. On the one hand, humans can build farms in space and even have the ambition to build a space city, but on the other hand, they are losing the ability to manufacture high-thrust engines.
The Star Shuttle-3 still uses old goods from the Federation era. The only contribution of Phoenix Orbital Construction Group in this regard over the years is that it can replicate this engine, rather than making a stronger one.
Fortunately, Copperfield is just a pilot. In his opinion, this is actually a good thing. He does not need to learn more fault manuals. It would be great if he could drive the Star Shuttle-3 for a lifetime.
At this time, Nicole, who had just made a request to the stewardess outside, was observing the crew members while observing the passengers.
He has two identities, one is the supervisor of the security department of Phoenix Orbital Construction Group, and the other is an undercover in the Joint Investigation Office.
The former requires him to secretly assess every employee participating in the Phoenix City plan as a new employee to ensure that there are no undercovers from other forces among them, and the latter requires him to do the former's work well and strive to become a permanent resident of Phoenix City as soon as possible.
Nicole took the coffee paste from the stewardess and assessed her mental state. Her palms were damp and wet with sweat.
But according to her resume, this should be her fourth round trip on this kind of space route. She shouldn't be so nervous unless something beyond her duties is bothering her.
Nicole asked calmly: "How was it today? Did everything go well?"
"Very well, the passengers are a little uneasy, but this is a normal phenomenon. The company has given them special training, and they will overcome it." The stewardess was stunned for a moment, then replied with a smile.
"Have you got the Phoenix settlement permit?" Nicole asked again, and this time the stewardess's face was no longer smiling.
The cruelest thing in the world is to let you know the news of the flood in advance, but your name is not on the ark list.
At this time, these workers who have already got the tickets have become the objects that the stewardess can never reach in her life.
"I believe the company will make a fair decision in the end." The stewardess answered formally.
"I believe it too, but before that, keep hope and don't do stupid things." Nicole's words made the stewardess's face change, and she immediately replied: "I don't understand what you are saying!"
When Nicole wanted to say something else, the stewardess had already made a resolute decision, and before anyone could react, she shouted: "You traitors of humanity will be punished!"
Boom!
The explosion was not loud. Nicole could even imagine that the explosive was only the size of a watch, and the stewardess must have hidden the explosive itself with her body.
The equivalent could not even destroy the hull itself. The stewardess probably stuck it on the reinforced glass, and the Star Shuttle-3 began to lose pressure instantly.
According to the normal process, the depressurized cabin will be automatically closed, but the stewardess obviously had an accomplice and destroyed the cabin's sealing ability.
Just in front of Nicole, the not-so-strong door leading to the bathroom was gradually denting. The only thing he had time to do was to hold on to the only fixed object around him.
The next second, the entire door was torn off, and the air pressure in the cabin sprayed gas outward through the gap. The body of the stewardess was adsorbed on the gap and only lasted for a few seconds before it was broken and drilled out in a state of parts.
At the same time, in the power cabin, a maintenance technician also destroyed the power system, causing the Star Shuttle-3 to temporarily lose power.
Although other maintenance technicians stopped his further actions in time, it would take at least four hours to restore the power. The Star Shuttle-3 would lose the best orbital escape time, and the next window period would need to wait for another twenty-six hours.
Currently, Phoenix City stays near Ceres to facilitate those autonomous machines to collect enough mineral materials locally.
In fact, the entire Phoenix City plan was originally established around the Ceres autonomous mining system. This project will provide 46% of the raw materials for the entire Phoenix City plan.
In addition to 145 passengers, the Star Shuttle-3 also carried some materials that the Ceres mining system could not produce, such as insulating materials and special glass.
Copperfield calmly dealt with various alarm signals and responded to inquiries from the top management of Phoenix Orbital Construction Group. He knew nothing about what happened in the cabin. He only knew that the current problems had not affected the mission itself.
Star Shuttle-3 is a large ship with a high safety margin. To deal with it, it requires military strike-level destruction.
So Copperfield was not panicked. His affirmative answer made the management of Phoenix Orbital Construction Group feel a lot more at ease.
At this time, Nicol returned to the cockpit. He had successfully dealt with the decompression problem in the cabin. The only price was that in the next 140 hours, all passengers would only have one toilet available.
Fortunately, most of the passengers were locked in their cabins and had no idea what was happening outside.
"What happened?" Copperfield asked while trying to start the backup power system. As an old driver of Star Shuttle-3, he had confidence in the ship.
"Earth supremacists." Nicol shook his head. The security personnel on the ship had already started investigating and believed that there would be results soon.
Since the birth of the Phoenix Project, Earth Supremacists have emerged. They despise the original intention of the Phoenix Project and think it is a betrayal of human civilization.
In fact, this is true. They not only want to leave by themselves, but also want to take away the most essential part of the entire civilization.
Of course, for the participants of the plan, this behavior is more like stopping losses in time and accumulating strength for the future. One day, they will return to Earth like angels and become the real savior.
Nicol is very indifferent to the condescending attitude of the Phoenix participants, but he also disagrees with the Earth Supremacists, because the latter have no way to deal with the current dilemma faced by mankind, and all effective resistance comes from Mikkelson.
So, he firmly believes that he is on the right side.
But the journey of Star Shuttle-3 is destined to be not peaceful. The internal problems are only the first hurdle, followed by the threat from the Arasaka Group.
Although the Arasaka Group was driven out of the Federation in the corporate war, it is still a behemoth, and its influence in outer space needs to be paid special attention to.
The largest man-made structure in the Earth's orbit, the Crystal Palace Space Station, is its masterpiece.
"This is Crystal Palace Defense Post No. 11. Approach permission has not been detected. Please do not venture near this post. You will bear the consequences at your own risk." When a space station that looks about the same size as Star Shuttle-3 appeared in the radar range, Copperfield's face was a little ugly.
Although this was the first time to transport personnel to Phoenix City, he had run the freight route twice before, and there should not be such a large space station on his route.
If the other party did not deliberately move to his orbit, then it could only be that he deviated.
Not everyone is happy to see the success of the Phoenix City plan, such as Saburo Arasaka. The Crystal Palace of the Arasaka Group was originally the place closest to the Garden of Eden, but it was too close to the earth.
Those increasingly powerful superhumans may threaten its existence at any time, and Phoenix City, far away near Ceres, has become a more suitable ideal place.
From the perspective of interests, the Arasaka Group does have reasons to trip up the Phoenix Plan, but the Phoenix Orbital Construction Group judged that the Arasaka Group would not tear its face like this. After evaluation, they agreed to the other party's request for armed personnel to board the ship for inspection.
As the captain and pilot of the Star Shuttle-3, Copperfield was very dissatisfied with this behavior, but he could only accept it.
Then things got out of control. After the armed soldiers of Arasaka boarded the ship for inspection, they left a passenger behind.
"Where is this?" Sigitas Lange, who was wearing a straitjacket, looked around with a cold face. When he saw the vast space through the porthole, he was completely stunned.
Saburo Arasaka promised to send him to see Tangji, but asked him to cooperate with him in an experiment.
Saburo Arasaka wanted to know what would happen if a player was sent to a place far away from the earth. Would they still have delays, and would they be disconnected and reconnected?
Of course, his explanation to Sigitas was not so detailed. He just asked him to go to a certain place, come back, and tell him what he saw and heard.
It is actually very simple to convince Sigitas Lange. Anyone who is obsessed with death can find his spiritual support in neon culture.
In the process of communicating with Saburo Arasaka, he was quickly moved by the beauty of the end that was as gorgeous as cherry blossoms in the other party's mouth, and volunteered to take on this task.
The other party promised him that when he returned, he would invite Tangji to be his kaishakunin with the highest etiquette, so that he could die gloriously as a samurai.
Although it was ridiculous, as a player, Sigitas felt that this was a very meaningful adventure. As for what the people on the Star Shuttle-3 thought, no one knew
PS: I suddenly remembered that I forgot to change the leave note last month and lost 100 million