宇宙に迷い込んだ
Lost in Space
暗闇が全方向から迫ってきた。宇宙船のエンジンは突如として沈黙し、生命維持装置の警告音が静寂を破った。空気の循環は徐々に弱まり、船内は冷えた金属の匂いで満たされていく。視界には無数の星々が広がるが、どの光も救いにはならない。ただ遠く、冷たいだけだった。船長である田中は必死にコンソールを叩いたが、反応はない。無限の闇の中に閉じ込められたと理解した瞬間、彼の背筋を恐怖が駆け抜けた。「酸素はあと何時間持つ？」助手の佐藤が震える声で尋ねる。「計算すれば...」田中は画面を睨みつける。しかし、表示されるデータは無意味なノイズに過ぎなかった。機械が壊れただけでなく、彼らの希望も粉々になっていくようだった。その時、不気味な音が船内に響いた。金属が軋むような音。船外から、何かが船体に接触したのだ。「誰かいる...？」佐藤が囁く。「いや、ありえない。ここには生物が存在できる環境ではない」田中はそう答えたが、自分の声が震えているのを隠せなかった。二人は武器を手にしてエアロックに向かう。船体の窓から外を覗き込むと、何か黒い影が漂っているのが見えた。それはゆっくりと動き、こちらに近づいてくる。影はやがて形を成し始めた。まるで人間のようなシルエットだが、目が無い。口も無い。ただ、不気味に歪んだ体が暗闇の中で揺れている。「あり得ない...あれは幻覚だ」田中は自分に言い聞かせた。しかし、影は次第に船内の壁を叩き始めた。その衝撃はまるで内側に侵入しようとしているかのようだ。「船長、どうするんですか？」佐藤の声はパニックに満ちている。田中はエアロックのドアを操作しようとしたが、手が震えてボタンを押せない。その時、影は一瞬のうちに窓を通り抜け、船内に侵入してきた。冷たい気配が二人を包み込む。目が合うはずのない影と視線を交わした瞬間、田中は思った。これは人間の理性が及ぶものではない。彼らは何かに狙われている、ただそれだけは確かだった。最後に聞こえたのは、佐藤の絶叫。そして、船内は完全な沈黙に包まれた。外の宇宙では星々が輝き続ける。しかし、彼らの存在を知る者はもういない。
Darkness was coming from all directions. The spacecraft's engines were suddenly silenced, and the alarming sound of the life support system broke the silence. The circulation of air gradually weakened, filling the cabin with the smell of cold metal. Numerous stars spread across my field of vision, but none of the lights offered any relief. They were only distant and cold. The captain, Tanaka, frantically tapped on the console, but there was no response. Fear ran down his spine as he realized that he was trapped in an endless darkness. "How many more hours of oxygen do we have?” Sato, his assistant, asked in a trembling voice. "If you do the math,” said Tanaka, staring at the screen. But the data displayed on the screen was nothing but meaningless noise. Not only was the machine broken, but their hopes seemed to be shattered. At that moment, an eerie sound echoed through the ship. A sound like creaking metal. Something from outside the ship made contact with the hull. "Is someone there...?" Sato whispered. "No, it can't be." "This is not an environment where life can exist," Tanaka answered, but he could not hide the trembling in his voice. The two men grabbed their weapons and headed for the airlock. Peering out the window of the hull, they saw a black shadow of something drifting by. It moved slowly and approached them. The shadow eventually began to take shape. It was silhouetted like a human, but it had no eyes. No mouth. Just an eerily distorted body swaying in the darkness. "It can't be, it's just a hallucination,” Tanaka said to himself. But the shadows gradually began to pound on the walls of the ship. The impact was as if it was trying to break inside. "Captain, what are we going to do?" Sato's voice was filled with panic. Tanaka tried to operate the airlock door, but his hands were shaking and he could not press the button. At that moment, a shadow passed through the window in an instant and entered the cabin. A cold presence envelops them both. The moment they exchanged glances with the shadow, whose eyes were not supposed to meet, Tanaka thought: “This is beyond human reason." Something was after them, that much was certain. The last thing he heard was Sato's exclamation. Then, the inside of the ship was enveloped in complete silence. Outside in space, the stars continued to shine. But no one knows of their existence anymore.
Comprehension Check
Question 1 of 4
宇宙船で最初に起きた重大な異常は何ですか？