Dead on Mars

Mai Dong sat in the command module of the Orion II. She buckled her seatbelt and reached out to turn on the control panel’s switch.

With a clear series of clicking sounds, the command module’s indicator lights and screens lit up. Following that, there was a humming sound. The slumbering spacecraft gradually awoke as the various systems began a self-inspection.

Mai Dong had never manually controlled the Orion II. Or it should be said that she had never touched the Orion’s flight controls.

In the entire mission, the only professional astronauts were Old Wang and Thomp. Both of them knew how to control the beast, while the other payload specialists didn’t have the capability to do so. In fact, the manual control system was only a redundancy. The Orion’s computers had all the programs needed to return to Earth.

In the past few decades, the Orion spacecraft had gone back and forth between Earth and Mars. The manual control system had never been used once.

Today was the first time it was put into use.

“Mr. Cat, I’m in position!”

Mai Dong focused on the lit-up screen before her eyes. The white English label “ORION” slowly appeared as all sorts of colorful indicators blinked.

“Well done, lady.”

Tomcat looked down and quickly flipped through the manual in its paws. This maintenance manual was about the thickness of an Oxford English dictionary. Even its writer probably hadn’t memorized the entire book.

However, Tomcat needed to memorize the manual in twenty minutes and gain mastery of it before teaching Mai Dong.

It had confidence in Mai Dong. She had already proven herself to be a beautiful genius with a great learning capacity.

As expected of a top student from Zhejiang University. It was truly unworthy of her talents for her to get her Master’s degree at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Such a thought quickly flew through Tomcat’s mind.

“Listen up, Miss Mai Dong. I’m going to teach you how to do the inspection before the flight initiation! There are a total of seven categories with 200 steps. Do you copy?” Tomcat asked loudly. “Repeat if you copy.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah… There are a total of seven categories with 200 steps for the inspection before the flight initiation.” The girl’s voice trembled a little as she rubbed her hands. Her palms were covered with sweat as was her short, black hair that stuck to her forehead.

“Don’t be nervous. You can do it! You definitely will! You are the smartest lady I’ve met,” Tomcat said. “Tang Yue, can you still hold on?”

“Don’t worry.” Tang Yue chuckled. “My life… is stronger than a cockroach’s.”

1,100 seconds left.

The United Space Station was silently orbiting, hurtling through space at a speed of 3 km/s. Outside the station was the endless darkness for it was behind Mars.

But far into the distance, there was a point of light, a result of the sun’s reflection. It was Mars’s moon, Deimos, and stood 23,000 kilometers away from Mars’s surface.

The other Martian moon was on the other side of Mars, and nothing of it could be seen.

The Orion and the space station were connected. From afar, it looked sharp and jagged in a very irregular state. It was like a bamboo raft that had become a mess while drifting across the vast oceans.

The United Space Station was supposed to be the best creation of humanity, an engineering masterpiece, but with it being sixty million kilometers away in deep space, it appeared like a frail and simple shack. In the face of the vast and broad United Space Station, human civilization’s tiny achievements were not worth mentioning. It was even a little laughable.

Time slowly passed in the dead silence of the void.

800 seconds left.

“FUEL… FUEL… Here’s the FUEL!” Mai Dong pressed buttons in proper sequence and pointed at the complicated lines on the screen and confirmed them one by one. “Following that, it’s the conditions of Valve 1, 3, 22, 23, and 29… Mr. Cat! Code 1202 alert! Code 1208 alert! Code 1409 alert!”

“You can ignore Code 1202’s alert! Close the alert!” Tomcat waved its paw. “Code 1208… Code 1208’s alert requires you to shut down Valve 20! You can ignore Code 1408’s alert. Just close the alert!”

600 seconds left.

“NAC! NAC system panel!” Tomcat flipped the page of the maintenance as its gaze swept through the two pages.

“NAC systems activated.”

“Listen up. You will see two neat rows of white buttons on the control panel. On the first row, from left to right, press the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, eleventh buttons. Then, on the second row, press the fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth buttons!”

“First row. Second! Fourth! Seventh! Ninth! Eleventh!

“Second row. Fourth! Fifth! Sixth! Ninth! Tenth!”

The girl pressed down on her earpiece. “Done!”

“What does it say on the screen?”

“Program Adjustment Completed.”

“Excellent!”

Mai Dong followed closely with Tomcat’s pace as it worked like a machine gun. Her actions were also akin to a machine gun. The massive and complicated Orion spacecraft gradually recovered its activity under her hands. The program in the spacecraft’s computer was being modified bit by bit. In spots where Mai Dong couldn’t see—the thousands of valves inside the spacecraft, the electric lines, pipes, and the actuators—were all experiencing changes. They were sending out commands from the command module to every corner of the spacecraft.

The Orion II which doubled up to carry cargo and passengers was transforming into a powerful tugboat.

400 seconds left.

Tomcat focused on the computer screen. It was strictly measuring and calculating the space station’s and the Eagle’s trajectories. The latter would plummet into the atmosphere after six orbits around Mars.

The lander was like a fish jumping out of water, and the United Space Station was a fisherman with a long netted bag in its hands. They only had one chance for the catch… When the fish jumped to its highest point, they had to extend the net below to intercept it.

If they missed this chance, the fish would fall back into the water, and they would never have another chance of fishing it out.

“Miss Mai Dong, turn on the data connection between the Orion and Kunlun Station!”

“Turned on! The data link has been established!”

“I’m rewriting the flight program!” Tomcat roared as its paws flew across the keyboard. “Help me watch it by the side!”

“How?”

“When I add a number, look at it! See if it appears on the screen! Make sure that there are no mistakes!” Tomcat said, “First up, 112.7!”

“112.7!”

“Second, 202.4!”

“202.4!”

“214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!”

“214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!”

Tomcat was as deep as water.

Mai Dong’s expression was heavy.

This was a crazy attempt, a real all-out bet that was a desperate action to fight for her dear life. No one knew if it would work, nor did anyone know if it would succeed. There wasn’t even a 2.477% chance of success this time.

200 seconds left.

A huge bright outline slowly appeared against the pitch-black background. It was a curve like a new moon—Mars horizon. The sunlight behind the planet was lighting up the boundary and atmosphere of Mars. In this intersection of light and darkness, a blinding but resplendent light rose up like a mountain. It felt like an awe-inspiring power was being born behind it.

The long night was finally over.

The sun had risen once again.

The dark red plains, mountains, and valleys swept beneath the United Space Station. Mai Dong looked up at the light before her as her thin face was being illuminated. She suddenly had the illusion that… she was flying towards the sun.

Ten seconds left.

Tomcat’s voice sounded in her earpiece.

“Ten!

“Nine!”

Mai Dong closed her eyes. All that could be done had been done. There was nothing else she could do.

“Eight!

“Seven!

“Six!

The control panel’s indicator lights lit up. The Orion II’s computer began to issue commands as the rocket engine’s turbine pumps were activated!

“Five!”

A slight tremor reached out from behind her as the vibrations grew increasingly intense. From the seat to the console deck, there were loud thudding sounds.

“Four!”

The propellant was injected into the combustion chamber as it was ignited!

“Three!”

The engine’s nozzles spewed out bright flames. At that instant, the light it emitted, even overwhelmed the sun. The massive Orion II began adjusting its direction.

“Two!”

The girl clasped the seat and seatbelt tightly. She could feel the massive thrust coming from behind her as the powerful G forces pressed her to her chair.

“One!” Tomcat roared. “Orion, away you go—!”