Dead on Mars

Seconds ticked down on the clock as time slowly passed in that repressed silence.

Tang Yue circled the Kunlun Station’s Hab, occasionally standing close to the walls followed by more circling. He was like a bear acting mechanically after being caged for long periods of time. He rubbed his joints uneasily, the worry in his heart clearly written on his face.

“Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.” Tang Yue looked at the indicator.

Tomcat nodded. It appeared calm and staid when compared to Tang Yue, and it was staring at the computer screen with a stoic expression. Of course, this was because a robot’s face didn’t have very rich expressions available to it.

“Reducing the initial phase angle… Reducing the phase angle further! The precision for the orbit insertion still has room for exploitation… There’s still room for exploitation!” Tomcat gritted its teeth and tested every step of the Eagle’s orbit entry. “Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.”

“Accumulated errors from the inertial navigation exceed 7 meters. It’s unreliable and cannot be relied upon… Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.”

It had already lost count of the times it asked about the wind speed, and ultimately, Tomcat exposed his worry and anxiousness. Even though it didn’t show on its face, it was still worried about the darn weather, subconsciously inquiring about the wind speeds again and again.

The man and cat in Kunlun Station had tried their best, but their efforts were just too feeble. Standing opposite Tang Yue and Tomcat was the massive and magnificent Universe.

Reality was the cruelest thing in the world. It wasn’t a story or a fairytale. In critical moments of life and death, there wouldn’t be a savior descending from heaven, nor would there be a reclusive expert suddenly appearing to change the tides of reality. Even less possible was a completed perfect ending. How many tonnes of propellant were capable of pushing the lander to a higher orbit trajectory was fixed. It couldn’t increase it by a meter.

Tomcat tapped on the ‘Enter’ button on the keyboard, stimulating the Eagle’s orbit insertion.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement… awaiting phase modulation… Failure.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory… Failure.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory, entering parking orbit… Failure.

“Failure!

“Failure!”

Tomcat had lost count of the number of failures it had faced. It seemed to have a billiard cue stick in its paw, and it was trying to shoot a billiard ball into the hold from a kilometer away. Furthermore, it had to do it blindfolded during a hurricane. Failure was the expected outcome.

In physics, there was chaos theory. This theory indicated that it was impossible to pinpoint the results of a complex system with many influencing factors. Taking the weather as an example, the butterfly effect was one of the most well-known metaphors in popular culture—the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas. Any tiny deviations in the initial conditions would be amplified through the complex system, causing huge differences in the outcome.

Therefore, no one could hit the billiard ball into the hole. There were too many factors on the billiard table. From the cue stick to the ball, the wind speed, and the smoothness of the table. Just a millimeter miss was as good as a mile.

However, Tomcat continued seeking out that sliver of hope. It didn’t care if it was fighting chaos theory, the law of physics, or the calculation results. It firmly believed that in the complicated numbers, there was a group of numbers that could cancel out all errors, allowing the Eagle and United Space Station to complete the docking perfectly.

For a robot born out of logic, resisting mathematics and physics probably required the greatest courage. It was a solemn march while holding up the banner of the German philosophy—being-toward-death.

…

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 512th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

Mai Dong softly called out for Kunlun Station.

There was no response from the comms. The radio waves emitted by the space station very likely failed to penetrate the sandstorm beneath, preventing Kunlun Station from receiving anything.

The Crystal core module was filled with all sorts of whirring machines. The girl was dressed in blue work clothes with an earpiece over her head. She was floating and remained connected to the module’s wall via the wire from the earpiece. After the sun rose, the temperature inside the space station also rose. Therefore, Mai Dong had slightly reduced the thermal insulation system’s efficiency.

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 513th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 514th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

Mai Dong extended her hand to twist a knob, raising the volume bit by bit.

“This is Kunlun Station! This is Kunlun Station… Mai Dong? Mai Dong… do you copy?”

“Mr. Tang Yue?” Mai Dong pressed down on her earpiece in surprise when she heard Tang Yue’s voice. She raised the volume to its maximum, but Tang Yue’s voice sounded indistinct over the noise.

“Mai Dong… Mai Dong, can you copy… This is Kunlun Station…”

“I copy!” Mr. Tang Yue replied, “Mr. Tang Yue, how’s the situation? How’s Mr. Cat?”

“Tomcat is working hard adjusting the Eagle. And I’m communicating with you over the winds! The wind here is a little strong…”

Tang Yue held onto the communications antenna and yelled in an attempt to drown out the noise. He felt like a CCTV reporter reporting first hand in the middle of a typhoon, or a disaster victim who was desperately hugging an electric pole in a flood.

“Comrade Mai Dong! Good news… The Eagle is ready! It can… be launched at any moment! You will be receiving your supplies soon! You will be receiving your supplies soon!”

“I know. Mr. Cat has already informed me.”

“Then… Let me… emphasize it once more!” Tang Yue yelled as his voice became intermittent. “You must… stand fast with confidence and await help! The Party and the People will not give up on you! Do not give up… Crap!”

Mai Dong was taken aback as her earpiece crackled before the communication was cut off.

“Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue, what happened to you?”

Mai Dong panicked. She didn’t know what was happening on the surface. Her communication with Tang Yue had cut off way too suddenly.

Kunlun Station.

As Tomcat tapped the keyboard, it turned its head in a rare moment of distraction to glance outside. It saw Tang Yue slowly get up before stumbling to the ground, having failed to secure his footing. He tumbled together with the antenna into the distance. Thankfully, there was a safety rope holding him down; otherwise, it was unknown how he would be found.

A panting Tang Yue propped up the antenna, reinserting the data cable which had become loose. He began adjusting the angle of the antenna, but he couldn’t find the original signal again. All he could hear on the channel was endless static.

Kunlun Station’s communication with the space station was entirely based on luck. After all, the sandstorm above their heads was mobile. In better conditions, the radio waves might be able to tear through the interference, but any worsening of the sandstorm resulted in termination.

Tang Yue frantically adjusted the antenna’s knob, but his glove, which was frozen hard, kept slipping. He couldn’t turn it to the desired angle no matter what he did. Damn it… Why did the communications break up before he had finished saying what he wanted to say?

Wearing the thick, heavy Radiant Armor, Tang Yue tottered around the antenna and kept losing his footing thanks to the storm. Tomcat looked at him and felt that the clumsy figure looked like a bear trying to reach out for a banana.

It was simply heartbreaking. Why was life so difficult?

Look at him, flailing about in the hurricane-like a feeble weed. Yet, he stubbornly stood there, refusing to fall.