Ch.200Prequel Episode 5. According to Plan

“It’s starting to smell! Ash! Can you please dispose of the bodies?”

Complaints began erupting from all around.

The corpse of a baby wolf with its head split in half, located in the autopsy room.

And the corpse of a pot-bellied man covered in stab wounds to the stomach, located in the negative pressure isolation room.

Endless requests poured in to please dispose of these two bodies.

Of course, more than half of those requests came from me.

“Alright, alright. I can’t put it off any longer.”

“Wait a minute! Maybe they’re still usable? We could try to—bleurgh!”

“What exactly would you use them for…?”

Under the rule that we always had to move in pairs, I headed toward the autopsy room with Ash, but I had to flee as soon as the door opened.

The body was in decent shape, so I thought maybe we could try something if we just avoided looking at the split head, but the smell was too overwhelming.

Actually, since he’s dead, it probably wouldn’t even get hard anyway.

Those time-wasters, how strong are their stomachs anyway?

“Hurry up and get it out of there…”

“If you’re not going to help, just wait quietly. You think corpses pack themselves into bags?”

After quite some time, Ash emerged dragging a black bag, and I felt strangely melancholic.

Even a man that handsome who seemed to live for his own vanity ultimately ended his life in there.

Life really is unpredictable, which strengthened my resolve to live according to my own dick—I mean, my own rules.

“Ah. This bag won’t fit. Radio the captain and ask if there’s a larger bag.”

“Urgh… urrrgh… I think I’m going to—bleurgh!”

“Jin?!”

Next was the corpse of the pot-bellied man who had been left in the negative pressure isolation room for over a day.

Peeking inside, I could see they had made some effort to save him—oxygen respirators, used blood transfusion packs, and IV bags were scattered everywhere.

This one took much longer, probably due to his enormous size.

I heard some clanking sounds from inside as if something had gone wrong, but I was too afraid to look, so I switched the glass wall to opaque mode and waited outside.

Even so, the stench creeping through the crack in the door was unbearable.

I shouldn’t have come along…

“Is it done?”

“Yes. Now we just need to hold the space funeral.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. What’s that?”

“You don’t know yet? Watch. Step 1: Place the body in the docking pad.”

“Wait, let me take notes. What’s step 2?”

Space funeral.

Doesn’t that sound badass?

I took notes on my portable terminal as I watched Ash place the two black bags in the docking pad.

“Hey! Don’t touch that!”

“Just a moment. Let me see our baby wolf’s face one last time.”

“Baby wolf…? You mean that guy Peter? His face is split in half, it’ll look horrible.”

“Everything about him, even after death, makes him a baby wolf. I just want to pay my respects.”

“Uh… if you insist…”

Ash turned pale and discreetly stepped back.

Since I had permission, I slowly unzipped the slimmer of the two bags.

The cleanly cut cross-section, as if a canoe had split his head, was revealed.

That handsome face was split in half and gaped wide open.

Looking at this made me feel nauseated enough to vomit, yet somehow my heart was racing.

Even a man this handsome ended up so disfigured because he unfortunately encountered an alien parasite.

My gaze fixed on the dried, twisted flesh inside the cross-section.

For a brief moment, I couldn’t help but think it was slightly, just a little bit, beautiful.

“That’s enough.”

The zipper went up with a whoosh.

Only then did I notice I was panting and drooling a little.

If it weren’t for Ash, I might have gotten my dirty saliva on the baby wolf’s corpse.

Art should only be appreciated with the eyes.

“Step 2. Close the hatch.”

“Close the hatch… taking notes…”

We stepped back a bit, and the docking pad closed with the two bags inside.

“Step 3. Increase the internal pressure.”

“The pressure? Why?”

“For step 4. Step 4: Open the outer hatch.”

The pressure gauge needle slowly rose.

When it reached the maximum, Ash pressed a button and a popping sound came from the docking pad.

Startled, I removed the cover and looked through the window.

The two black body bags had already been ejected far away and were drifting further into the distance.

“That concludes the space funeral procedure, rookie.”

“Isn’t this just dumping bodies?”

“Of course not. What is space?”

“A shitty place.”

“No. For those who drift through space, it is both home and life itself. Isn’t sending the dead on an eternal journey through that space the most respectful thing we can do for them?”

“Ohhhhh!”

That sounds so convincing.

So cool.

When Ash dies someday, I’ll throw him into space naked, without a body bag.

If you’re going on a space journey, it’s much better to feel the universe directly on your skin.

I applauded while thinking this.

“You know, Ash is actually quite intellectual.”

“What context made you think that…?”

“Nothing specific. I’ve known you for a while now. Just something that occurred to me.”

For someone with a medical background, it seemed his intelligence hadn’t gone anywhere.

There’s something different about him.

It’s like knowledge seeps out every time he speaks.

He’s on a completely different level from Ranger, who’s clearly a deserter from the military based on how he talks.

“By the way, Ash, aren’t you taking sleeping pills anymore?”

“Huh? Oh, that.”

“Yeah. You said it was a habit and took one even during work hours.”

“I’m trying to cut back. With that damn alien parasite around, we need to stay alert.”

“Ah. *sniff sniff* Did you change your cologne? Your scent seems different.”

“Oh! R-really?”

“Let’s head back to the bridge! Come on!”

“Wait, Jin.”

As I was about to head back to the bridge, my wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Ash’s expression was quite serious.

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?

“Later… I’m going to my room…”

“Solo activities are prohibited.”

“Yeah, I know. We need to be in pairs. So… would you come to my room for a bit?”

“Ew. I absolutely hate that idea.”

“Oh.”

Has this person lost his mind?

What’s going on?

I compliment him a little on being intellectual, and he starts coming onto me?

This is why you shouldn’t give compliments in male-dominated environments.

But what’s most absurd is Ash’s shocked expression with his mouth hanging open.

Did he really think he wouldn’t get rejected for flirting like that?

Consider your age, you fool.

“Guys, I think we’re screwed.”

“…?”

Leaving the frozen Ash behind, I returned to the bridge where the captain was suddenly setting a mood by lowering his voice.

I always feel the same way—the captain’s frivolous voice suits him much better.

“What’s the problem?”

“I found a crack in a window. Unfortunately, it’s on the outer glass, so we’ll need to work from outside.”

“Oh come on. Can’t we just leave it?”

“Ranger, it’s your room window. If you want daily radiation showers, by all means, leave it alone.”

“I’ll go out, Captain.”

Ranger immediately stiffened his expression and clenched his fist.

What a girl.

As if a little crack in the outer glass would let radiation in.

There’s a solid metal shield anyway.

The captain is known for being a strict principlist, so he was probably just trying to scare him, but the cowardly Ranger fell for it completely.

“Wait, Ranger.”

“What is it?”

“Check your spacesuit pressure before you go. There might be a hole in it.”

“What? Why would there be a hole… Oh.”

Ranger looked around, met my eyes, and sighed as if he understood.

This crazy bastard.

“Wait, are you suggesting I might have put a hole in it?”

“Better safe than sorry, right?”

“I may curse Ranger to die every day, but I wouldn’t do something that underhanded! If I wanted to kill him, I’d strangle him fair and square!”

“Eeeek?!”

“Stop scaring him… He’ll make mistakes if his gloves get sweaty. And Jin, I wasn’t talking about you, but the parasite. It might have made holes. It wants all of us dead before we reach Mars.”

The pressure gauge needle reached a certain level and remained steady.

There were no holes for oxygen to escape through.

At least the spacesuit and helmet were safe.

Ranger kept glancing at me nervously as he slowly put on his spacesuit.

Anyone watching would think I was bullying him.

“Should I go out through docking pad 1?”

“That’s connected to the OK-Jeon.”

“Then I’ll go through docking pad 2.”

“But that’s not for people, it’s for ejecting corpses…”

“Eek! Then I’ll go through the cargo bay exit…”

“Just use the docking pad, man. The cargo bay is too far from your room window.”

“Ugh.”

He’s such a coward.

Does he believe in some superstition that living people will die if they go through where corpses go?

It’s truly pathetic.

How did he ever become a soldier with such a weak spine?

I’m 100% certain Ranger is a deserter.

-Aaaah, the safety line! Eek?! Ack! Huh…! N-nearly dropped it, shit…

“We can hear everything through the radio, you idiot.”

-No problem here.

“Really?”

-Well… actually, this safety line feels ominous. Can I change it?

“Just replace the glass panel and come back.”

Soon, thumping sounds made the spaceship vibrate slightly.

Ranger must be moving across the top.

If he lost the safety line, it would mean death…

Which would be great, but the safety line was firmly attached to his spacesuit, so that wouldn’t happen.

-Replacing… the glass panel…

“Oh, I can see Ranger.”

The captain pressed a switch, raising the shield on the rear window of the bridge, revealing Ranger clinging to the spaceship’s wall.

But his awkward posture didn’t inspire any confidence.

Is this guy really ex-military?

I was just thinking how amateurish everything about him seemed when—

Beep… Beep… Beep!

Suddenly, red lights started flashing and a loud alarm blared.

It was the solar wind alert.

“Close the bridge front window! Now!”

“Yes, sir!”

The captain shouted urgently, and Allen, who had been spacing out, punched the button.

The shield began to lower, but the speed was frustratingly slow.

At this rate, we’d be hit by the full solar wind.

“Solar wind impact imminent!”

Crackle…!

Just before the window closed completely, there was a crackling sound and the bridge lights went out.

Oh shit. Instead of Ranger, we all got the radiation shower.

That probably increased our breast cancer risk by 10 percent.

And shortened our lives by about 10 years.

“Damn. What’s wrong with that?”

“Huh?”

At that moment, the control stick started moving on its own.

The startled captain rushed over to try to return it to neutral, but it was no use.

“The control stick is malfunctioning! Someone help me!”

Everyone hurriedly gathered to push the control stick, but it was futile.

The control stick had completely locked up.

It seemed the solar wind had thoroughly destroyed the navigation system.

“Oh no.”

As the spaceship suddenly changed direction, Ranger, who had been working outside, hit his head hard against the wall and bounced off, visible through the window.

Judging by his complete lack of movement, he must have knocked himself unconscious.

Ranger was drifting further away, pulling out more and more of the safety line from his spacesuit.

Wait, if the ship suddenly turns in the opposite direction in this state…

“It’s working! The control stick is moving! Back to neutral!”

“Captain! Wait a moment!”

“What? Just endure the negative gravity with grit!”

“No, it’s not that—Ranger is—”

“What about Ranger… Oh.”

As the control stick returned to neutral, the centrifugal force that had been pressing on the spaceship began to act in the opposite direction.

Along with this, Ranger, who had been thrown off, started coming back toward the spaceship.

Wouldn’t Ranger hit the wall again?

If that were the only problem, it would be fortunate.

The issue was that Ranger’s safety line was now completely extended.

The maximum length of the safety line was enough to reach from the docking pad to the rear engines with plenty to spare.

So if he approaches the spaceship with the safety line fully extended, Ranger would…

“Hey, hey, hey! Pull the control stick again! Quickly!”

“Why, what is it?”

“Aaaaargh!”

Be sucked into the engine’s flame.

The captain let out a frivolous scream as he watched the white spacesuit disappear into the flames.

We hurriedly shut off the engines, and about 10 seconds later…

“Ah… shit…”

Soon, what appeared to be the remains of a spacesuit—now blackened—could be seen drifting away from the stern.

Two pieces of it.

It seemed to have split apart, unable to withstand the intense flame discharge.

We remained glued to the window in silence for a long time after Ranger disappeared from view.

“At least he got cremated in one go.”

Until I broke the silence.