Age of Cosmic Exploration

It had been over one month since the mass fainting. However, looking back, this unmitigated disaster seemed so preposterous.

Indeed, this super virus which was assumed would wipe out the entirety of humanity left as quick as it came... On the second day of infection, around 30 citizens over 40 had died. This was even worse than Earth’s Ebola because Ebola at least had a one week latent period. This kind of virus that killed on the second day was unheard of.

Everyone who knew was mentally prepared. Over the past few days, the number of citizens that went to the church to pray skyrocketed. The church was so packed that some had to stand while praying. Other than that, about 70 percent started writing their wills. Some had gone crazy, but most settled into acceptance of their fate. After all, they had expected as much when they chose to join the Noah One.

However, what happened next surprised everyone. The infection didn’t spread, and other than the 200 plus people, none of the rest on the Hope was infected. Even those several thousand who were quarantined alongside the patients didn’t show any signs of sickness. This was a development bordering on the miraculous.

There had never been a virus without such a high fatality rate before, discounting manmade biological weapons. From the perspective of nature, such a disease was impossible...

Fine, they were in space, so anything could happen and nothing could be treated the same as on Earth, but if this virus had such speed and fatality, then... why didn’t it transfer to other people?

Other than the 200 plus people, those that interacted with them didn’t fall ill from the disease. This was obviously not airborne. It was not through bodily fluids either because the few Blue Berets that gave their fainted comrades mouth-to-mouth resuscitation were as fit as horses as well.

The doctors quickly came up with a hypothesis: the virus perhaps only infected a certain type of blood type or genetic make-up. However, after a diagnosis of the patients, their blood samples, genetic make-ups, sexes, ages, occupations, and lifestyles were all random... Some of them did come from the same background, like the 20 Blue Berets, but what about everyone else? It was as random as it could be.

This was where the clues ended. An incredibly scary virus that infected over 200 people had ended just like that. The doctors, microbiologists, and pathologists on the Noah One couldn’t tell what kind of virus this was. The illness disappeared like it completely didn’t happen. Trace of the virus couldn’t be found anywhere on the Noah One or within the body of the patients.

In the end, a total of 190 plus people died and only 26 survived. The fatality rate was about 90 percent!

No matter what, "only" 190 plus people died from this virus that was expected to wipe out humanity so that was something worth being thankful for. This sudden virus was a rude wake up call for those who still held an optimistic view after they descended on a new alien planet and after the Noah One had lost about 2/5 of its supplies and people.

One month later, the quarantine was called off and the Noah One’s officials who had been totally focused on containing the virus found themselves in another quandary, the worst they had ever faced yet...

"Food... Food?"

Captain Norton was discussing the virus with a few doctors, pathologists, and microbiologists when an adjutant came with a report and whispered something into his ear. Norton immediately grabbed the report and flipped through it. He mumbled these words rather blankly.

The adjutant coughed and Norton came out of his reverie. He smiled at the scientists and said, "I will leave the problem of the alien microorganism in your hands. It’s good if there is some animal experimentation. Write me a report and I will look over it later."

The scientists knew Norton was asking them to leave, so they stood up politely and left the captain’s room together after a few more words.

After they filed out, Norton asked the adjutant hurriedly, "How can there be no more food? We collected so much food before warping... It all disappeared, didn’t it?"

The adjutant smiled bitterly. "That’s right, the part that disappeared just happens to be the part where we kept most of our food. That was the heaviest part of this ship, so it was that part that disappeared. I’m not sure whether this counts as lucky or not... Captain, according to our analysis, the remaining food can only last the Noah One for about 2 months. If we ration it out, perhaps we can last for 3 months, but this is not the most important this. Captain, please take a look at the conclusion of the report..."

Norton immediately flipped to the last page of the report. The words that appeared stunned him to his core. After a long time, he sighed dejectedly, "How many people have seen this report or how many people know about this truth?"

The adjutant thought about it. "The people that know the whole truth are only you and me, but there are some that know parts of it, like the maintenance workers, patrols, and agents that work around the storage area..."

Norton pulled down his military cap to cover his face again. He mumbled, "Is that so? This means that the news can’t be contained for long... Food can still last us for three months, but the water supply... we only have one week worth of water left."

"To be precise, it is six days if we continue using the water at the rate we’re using it now," the adjutant corrected Norton calmly.

Norton sighed deeply. "I should have thought about this earlier. Even though there were isolation chambers between the different cabins , the warp still disconnected the internal circuits, especially the water pipes. We were too late with our repairs, and most of the water had seeped outside by the time we finished. Plus, the water storage was at the back half of the ship and so was the water circulatory system... Other than the air circulatory system, the water circulatory was the only one that spread out through Noah One. So only one week left?"

"It’s six days," the adjutant corrected him again.

Norton finally lost it. He threw his cap away and glared at the adjutant angrily. The adjutant was pure European. He had short, blond hair, an aquiline nose, and blue eyes. If not for his sharp gaze, one could easily mistake him for a male model or movie star.

The two stared each other down. Finally, it was Norton who sighed and slumped back down his chair. He said, "Austin, fine, I will tell you the truth. Even though you’ve just woken up from your coma, since you’ve already read through this report, I’m sure you’re already familiar with the situation on the Noah One... You know why those scientists came to see me just now?"

Austin was startled. He thought about it and said, "...I think I know all of them. They are Noah One’s famous doctors, pathologists, and microbiologists. Captain was discussing the mysterious virus with them, right?"

"Not completely." Norton didn’t hide the fact and continued, "After all, the illness has passed and after 10 days of quarantine for you and the 25 other survivors. There were no new cases of illness, so this thing should be over for now... We were discussing something else. The scientists were analyzing the air of this planet when the mysterious virus stuck, but now that the virus is over, they continued their work. They exposed this planet’s air to a few animals and the result..."

"The result was horrible?" Austin caught up immediately.

"Not only horrible, it was incredibly horrible..." Norton continued, "There were in total 20 animals from Earth that were exposed to this planet’s air. From the smallest ZH white mice to the biggest TTTY horse. All of the animals died, with not one exception. The infection started in their respiratory tracks. The air ducts became bloated and then collapsed. Then the blood, internal organs, and even the bones decayed and melted. The situation was even worse than the mysterious virus or those viruses we saw in sci-fi horror flicks. If not for the fact that I’ve witnessed this myself, I would have thought the animals had inhaled sulphur."

Austin suddenly felt some hypothesis and conjectures come to his mind. For example, since there were pathologists and microbiologists among the people who left, he said immediately, "Is it the virus or microbes in the air?"

Norton nodded with a bitter laugh. "Yes, it has nothing to do with the air composition. In the later experiment, after the air was cleaned with high-temperature sterilization, the animals were fine even after they were exposed to it. According to the experts, lifeforms from Earth, no matter whether it’s us humans or the animals, have not developed an immunity against the microbiological profile of this planet. Some of the microbes and viruses are completely harmless to us, while others will be killed by our immune system, but there are some... that will infect us the moment they enter our bodies. Our store of antibiotics were completely useless against them. In other words...

"We have found ourselves on a planet that is hell-bent on killing us. Even the smallest microorganism is extremely hostile to our presence!"