Die on Mars

The old cat successfully arrived at Kunlun Station. It groped along the wall and found the door of the airlock. Opening the door, the two of them got in one after another, and then collapsed on the floor of the airlock and gulped. pant.

The distance from the Eagle spacecraft to Kunlun Station is only a hundred meters, but this short distance of one hundred meters is as difficult as a long march.

The old cat got up and turned on the decontamination system and began to blow away the mud and sand on the two of them.

After returning from the sandstorm, even the old cat turned into a mud cat.

"Time?" Tang Yue asked breathlessly.

"Six twelve in the afternoon." The old cat answered. It dragged Tang Yue, who was collapsed on the ground, through the airlock and opened the hatch of the main station hall.

The Kunlun Station was warm and bright. The solid bulkhead isolated Tang Yue's old cat from the violent wind and sandstorms of the outside world. It was like the only small pure land in hell. Tang Yue was really frightened. He and the old cat were both wandering through the gates of hell. After walking around for a while, he underestimated the severity of the weather on Mars. In his entire life, Tang Yue had never seen such a storm that swallowed up the sky and the earth. It was as if the sky had collapsed, and the whole world was completely swallowed up in darkness.

Tang Yue sat up holding on to the wall and pushed up the outer filter mask. The entire Kunlun Station was shaking in the storm.

"Is everything going to be okay at Kunlun Station?"

"No." Old Mao wiped his face and shook his beard, "Don't worry about Kunlun Station. Even if the wind speed is doubled, it won't be able to shake Kunlun Station."

The remaining five supply boxes were still piled on the floor of the hall. The total weight of these items was almost more than 300 kilograms. It took Tang Yue a whole day to move ten boxes of supplies. The remaining five boxes Before he could move it, his movement was interrupted by a sandstorm.

Tang Yue rested for a few minutes and then stepped forward to try to hold the box. "I can't waste any more time. I have to continue transporting the supplies..."

"Are you desperate for your life?" Old Cat stopped him. "With such bad weather outside, if there is a problem with the Mingguang Armor on your body, you won't survive more than three minutes - and there is no way to save him."

"What to do with these supplies?"

Old Mao pushed Tang Yue back, "Listen Tang Yue, if you don't want to leave and never come back, just stay here."

Tang Yue was stunned.

The old cat's forehead and his mask were close to each other. One person and one cat looked directly at each other through a layer of plexiglass. Those bright cat eyes made Tang Yue's heart tremble.

"You will definitely die if you go out. No one can survive in such damn weather. It's forty meters per second. If something goes wrong, even the gods can't save it." The old cat's voice came from the earphones. Soon, with a firmness that could not be doubted or refuted, he said, "I will move these boxes. I am not a human being. The sandstorm has no impact on me. I can come back successfully."

"Then let's go together."

"No, you are a burden." The old cat shook his head, "I can't take care of you."

Tang Yue opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he couldn't. What Old Mao said was true. He could have saved his life by successfully returning to Kunlun Station. Running out in such bad weather was definitely a mistake. Going crazy.

In the past ten years of Mars landing plans, weather changes have always been the biggest obstacle faced by the expedition team. Once they encounter a sandstorm, the team members must immediately abandon all missions and return to the space station for refuge.

Encountering a sandstorm can completely cancel a very expensive Mars landing mission, but there is nothing that can be done about it. No matter how big the mission is, it cannot be more important than the lives of the astronauts.

"Do you understand?" asked the old cat.

Tang Yue nodded silently.

The old cat fished out a bundle of cables from the cabinet, slung it over his shoulder, and then opened the hatch leading to the airlock in the main station hall.

Tang Yue wore Mingguang Armor and helped it move the box to the airlock.

The two closed the inner hatch of the airlock. Lao Mao tied one end of the cable around his waist and put the other end of the rope into Tang Yue's hand.

The old cat covered Tang Yue's hand with his paws, "If anything unexpected happens, I will notify you immediately. Remember to pull the rope when the time comes. If I don't notify you, stay here and stay on standby."

Tang Yue nodded. He wrapped the rope around his waist, tied a knot firmly, and then grabbed the cable tightly with both hands.

This safety rope is the umbilical cord connecting the old cat to the Kunlun Station. It is the lifeline of the old cat. Although the old cat claims that the sandstorm poses no threat to the robot, if you think about it, you will know that this is what the old cat said to comfort Tang Yue. Even if the robot does not A bulky extravehicular suit is required, and no life support system is needed, but no one knows what will happen in a storm, and nothing can guarantee survival in such a situation.

If this rope is broken, the old cat may never come back.

Lao Mao leaned his forehead against Tang Yue's mask, patted his shoulder and smiled.

"Good Luck."

Tang Yue was stunned.

The old cat dragged the box with one hand and opened the outdoor door of the airlock behind him. The air pressure in the cabin dropped to almost zero in tenths of a second. Then the air flow rushed in carrying sand and dust. Tang Yue took a step back. He stabilized his body and raised his head. The old cat had disappeared into the darkness outside the hatch.

"Old cat? Old cat, can you hear me?"

Tang Yue contacted Lao Mao anxiously.

"Listen...can't hear clearly..."

The headphones were filled with noisy current noise, and the old cat's voice was intermittent.

"Old cat? Old cat! Old cat, can you hear me?" Tang Yue yelled, "Old cat! Please answer if you hear me! Do you need me to pull the rope?"

"No...don't pull the rope..."

The old cat's voice disappeared in the violent noise, the contact was interrupted, and there was no response.

The sand and dust in the Martian storm will contain a lot of static electricity due to friction with each other, which will cause serious interference to radio communications, so the Kunlun Station will lose contact with the Joint Space Station.

Tang Yue stood blankly in the airlock, which was making noises in the storm.

He held the safety rope tightly in his hand. The other end of the safety rope extended forward into the dark sandstorm, shaking and swaying in the strong wind. Although there was still tension on the cable, Tang Yue didn't know if the end of the rope was Still attached to the old cat.

Tang Yue and Lao Mao have lost almost all contact. Although there may only be a few tens of meters between them, and they are just a few steps away under normal circumstances, at this moment, it may be the distance between life and death. This fragile The rope is the only connection between the two and the only proof that the old cat is still alive.

For a moment, Tang Yue felt unprecedented panic in his heart. He felt that he might have lost this chatty and stupid assistant. In this dark night with strong winds sweeping the world, Tang Yue felt that he had been reduced to surviving in this world. The only human in a crazy universe.