The painful and boring two months of sailing passed in a flash. Qin Zhongquan and Father Lewis sat cross-legged in the corridor leading to the hangar, looking at the empty universe projected on the fake window screen, and numbly gnawing on the dried meat strips in their hands with recycled water with a hint of fecal odor.
Due to a lack of supplies, the mess hall on the Estella was out of service, and food, water, and other consumables were all rationed on a wartime basis. These resources were primarily managed by three unreliable nutritionists, overseen by the captain and first officer. The crew could see a scrolling display showing the remaining supplies and estimated days' supply in front of the mess hall's main entrance.
Honestly, Qin Zhongquan hadn't expected such a system to last this long. He'd assumed the free mercenaries, lacking any cohesion, would have long since complained and attempted a rebellion. In other words, if he hadn't known the truth, which had been hidden from him, and if he'd been placed in their shoes, he felt certain he would have rebelled.
In reality, their normal food supply had been exhausted fifteen days prior. All they had left was a collection of awful contraptions concocted by the experts from scrap materials, including, naturally, some corpses. Of course, on the sixth day after departure, someone discovered the bodies had been stolen. The enraged first officer shot the idiot who had hidden them in the freezer. It wasn't until the next day that Qin Zhongquan learned the deceased was the first navigator of the Apocalypse. And then, ironically, that man's body and the stolen corpse were served simultaneously.
Fortunately, the navigator had set the course early in the morning, and everyone on the Terminus would remember his contribution.
"Father, did the God of Thor predict how long I would have to endure suffering?" Qin Zhongquan put down the dried meat, touched his loose canine teeth, spat out a mouthful of blood into the waste bucket beside him, and asked tiredly and slowly.
The priest nodded weakly: "He said that those who return will not die on the way."
"But I haven't dreamed of Him for a week. I wonder if our cannibalism has angered Him."
"No." The priest rinsed his mouth with water. "Thor also ate humans. When the horizon was still warm, all things withered, and Thor offered living sacrifices to the gods. - "The Origin of the Book" Volume 4, Page 66. He took a long breath and continued, "Humans are ultimately only animals. They struggle to survive in times of danger. He will not blame them."
"Okay." Qin Zhongquan expressed his agreement with silence.
After a moment, he continued, "I don't think we can find Him. The optical radar has scanned 96% of the airspace in the direction of flight, but hasn't found any reliable metal response. So, are the stations really made of metal? Is it possible that they're hidden in the cracks of the rocks like AB-007233-M? Or are they simply assembled from plastic blocks like Lego blocks?"
"Don't worry." The priest seemed to be talking in his sleep. "They are already here. The important thing is to let them find us."
"Let them find us? But the Moron class has no stealth capabilities, and this place is so empty. Will it be difficult for them to find us?"
"Don't forget about speed. We can't feel the speed of inertial cruising, but speed is everywhere." A kind smile appeared on the priest's face hidden in the darkness. "We were moving so fast that it took them a while to catch up with us."
As soon as he finished speaking, the alarm bells in the corridor rang, and the first mate's hoarse voice, almost a roar, spread to every corner of the Terminus: "UFO detected, ahead, no, all over the area! 260,000 identification signals! Distance, 80-120 kilometers, very close! All ships, prepare for battle!"
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