Dead on Mars

Chapter 53 - Sol Five, Good People Live Long
Mai Dong opened her eyes. She had a splitting headache.

She held the back of her head where there was a huge bruise that hurt upon contact. The excruciating pain made the girl draw cold breaths of air.

Clearly, she had hit her head due to the accident and was suffering a minor concussion. This was possibly why she had lost consciousness briefly.

She didn’t know how long she had been out for. The warning alarms in the module had come to a stop, and the lights were dim. The LED lamps along the module’s walls had been switched off, with only a few indicator lights still lit. A faint charred smell emanated through the air, but the smoke could no longer be seen.

Mai Dong slowly moved her neck as she looked around. A tiny black cube appeared in her vision and the girl recognized it to be a panel button that had fallen off.

There were all kinds of tiny components, pencils, tape, cables, floating around her. They were slowly colliding with the module walls before bouncing off in a random mess.

The interior of the Crystal module was like a floating trash heap. As Mai Dong reached out to make a way for herself she grabbed the communications earpiece floating in midair.

She didn’t know what had happened… All Mai Dong remembered was Mr. Cat giving her a warning, but before she could react, she had lost consciousness.

Thankfully, the computer and communication systems in the core module were still operational. Mai Dong reached out to grope around before switching on the lights. Instantly, the Crystal module lit up as the control panel’s screens flashed and lit up.

Mai Dong discovered that the hatch beside her had closed. The computer system indicated that the Dawn module had been damaged and had completely lost pressure. The hatch between the Crystal module and the Dawn module had been sealed shut.

“Mr. Cat… Mr. Cat? Mr. Tang Yue? This is the United Space Station. Answer me if you copy?”

Mai Dong attempted to establish communications with Kunlun Station.

“I’m Mai Dong. What exactly happened… Did the docking succeed? Mr. Cat?”

Tomcat’s clear voice sounded from the earpiece. “Miss Mai Dong, this is Kunlun Station. I copy you.”

Mai Dong heaved a sigh of relief.

“You are safe and sound,” Tomcat said. “That’s…”

Tomcat paused before holding back the word “good” at the tip of its tongue before swallowing it back.

“Mr. Cat… What happened? There was apparently a collision with the space station. The Dawn experiment module has been destroyed and the hatch is sealed shut…” Mr. Cat felt a sense of horror.

She sized up the control panel, and there were all kinds of alerts from the various systems. Clearly, the damage to the space station was sizable.

The girl opened a cabinet attached to the wall and took out an IVA suit and put it on. Finally, she attached a helmet.

“Listen up, lady. Don’t panic. Calm down. Let me report the situation to you first,” Tomcat said.

“Yeah… I was hit in the head and blacked out, but I should be fine now.” Mai Dong nodded as she checked the various systems in the Crystal module. “Apart from the Dawn module, there aren’t too many problems with the space station. Things are just a little messy. The inner lining has peeled off in certain places, and the power systems are tripping in a few spots. A battery has been disconnected, but the computers are functional. There aren’t any malfunctions.”

Tomcat nodded.

“The space station’s attitude seems a little problematic… The light censor’s direction is a little off-axis,” Mai Dong continued. “There are also a few alerts from the Hope and Discover modules. However, the hatches are all sealed shut. I can’t head over, but it shouldn’t be anything serious. The indicator seems to imply that it’s a few loose wires.”

Tomcat nodded.

“Anything else?”

“The space station’s status is considered stable. The life support system is operational,” Mai Dong replied. “The temperature is 20°C, and the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels are normal.”

Tomcat felt a little relieved. It was afraid that the Eagle’s collision had resulted in some latent problems that were hard to detect.

Now, since Mai Dong was awake, she could do a complete inspection of the space station herself.

“Mr… Mr. Cat?”

“Yes?”

“Did the… docking succeed?” the girl asked cautiously.

Tang Yue’s and Tomcat’s hearts tensed up. They didn’t know how to answer Mai Dong. The lady’s tone was so soft and careful, filled with brittle hope. She was like a hopeful child that asked her parents for money, or a terminal patient asking a doctor is she could be saved.”

The lady was tugging at your sleeve in darkness and despair, cautiously asking you, “Can you take me with you?”

She had hope, but it was so fragile, so fragile that a shake of the head might shatter her like glass.

The channel plunged into a prolonged silence.

The last time such a silence happened was when Tang Yue informed her that the Earth had vanished.

Tomcat remained silent for a very long while.

“Miss Mai Dong, I… I’m very sorry.”

Mai Dong wore her earpiece, floating in the core module, then she suddenly felt her surroundings become silent.

“I’m really very sorry.” Tomcat’s voice lowered in volume. “We’ve completely lost control of the Eagle. It has already gone out of orbit. It was our mistake. If only we had made more thorough and detailed inspections… If only we hadn’t wasted so much time… If only we were able to control the lander…”

Mai Dong shook her head.

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Cat. Nor is it Mr. Tang Yue’s fault. Who could predict that… an error would happen to the rockets. It’s not your fault at all.”

She exhaled as she looked up at the white lining of the module. She rubbed her eyes and pursed her lips into a smile.

“It was me who caused you to waste so many precious resources. I should apologize to you. Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I’m really very sorry. I made you waste so much time and effort, as well as a spacecraft and half the supplies for nothing. I’m really very sorry.” Mai Dong picked herself up.

“You don’t have to blame yourselves. Mr. Cat, and Mr. Tang Yue, both of you have worked hard. I’m very grateful that you’ve been working so hard to save me.”

As she spoke, her eyes were already red. However, tears couldn’t flow out in space. All they did was well up in her eyes.

“Mr. Cat, Mr. Tang Yue, both of you are good people.” Mr. Tang Yue continued, “I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done. Both of you have taken very good care of me. I will remember all of that for the rest of my life.”

Tomcat sat in its chair, listening to the girl’s speech.

Very grateful for everything it had done? Remember all of that?

And remember it for the rest of her life?

What use is that? You won’t live long, and you are about to die! Do you understand that, lady!? How many days do you have to your life? You are apologizing? Why are you doing that? You should brutally curse us! You should curse us for being inept! You should blame us for being incompetent fools that turn everything we touch to dust!

Tomcat’s temper suddenly worsened. It wished to smash something.

On this cold and dark lonely planet, what it didn’t wish to hear were the last words of somebody.

“I hope that both of you can live on well.” Mai Dong wiped away the tears in her eyes. “Live as long as you can live. The longer the better. As others say, good people live longer.”