Dead on Mars

Chapter 172 - Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Don’t Press the Red Button
Chapter 172: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Four, Don’t Press the Red Button

“Eh? The comet will land… at a distance of… eight hundred kilometers?”

Tomcat nodded.

Tang Yue nodded as well.

Mai Dong slowly took a step back and she collided with the wall behind her. It was hard to tell if the look in the girl’s eyes was shock or despair. Her gaze was blank and chaotic, filled with the horror that an animal would produce. Mai Dong glanced around but saw nothing. This was because her eyes weren’t able to focus at all.

She had woken up early in the morning, excitedly prepared to continue her work and perfect the landing plans. Yet, Tang Yue and Tomcat had clubbed her with a piece of news that left her stunned.

“What would the outcome be?” Mai Dong asked cautiously as she held onto the last sliver of hope.

“Kunlun Station will be completely destroyed,” Tang Yue replied. “The comet will completely wipe us off the map. No one will survive.”

“Are there no other solutions?” Mai Dong looked at Tomcat.

Tomcat shook its head in silence.

“Then what do we do?” Mai Dong felt helpless. She knew very well of the consequences if Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit Mars. It was an apocalyptic disaster that could produce a whole new geologic period. Placed on Earth, it could destroy all of human civilization.

“Miss Mai Dong, Kunlun Station can’t run. The outcome is fixed, but Orion II still has a chance. Over the past week, I’ve been writing two sets of flight control programs. They are stored on the spacecraft’s computer. Please connect to the control system on Orion II.”

Mai Dong followed the instructions and opened her notebook computer and connected to Orion II’s computer via a wireless connection.

The map-like interface popped up two buttons—one red, one blue.

“Miss Mai Dong, the red button is the button that initiates the atmospheric entry. The blue button sends you out of Martian orbit,” Tomcat explained to her. “If you press the red button, the spacecraft will enter preparations to begin the descent. If you press the blue button, the spacecraft’s computer will execute the mission for orbital maneuver and to leave orbit. We will not force or direct you to make any choice. The choice is ultimately in your hands.”

Mai Dong hugged the notebook computer. The choice Tomcat had given her was easy to understand. There weren’t any lines of complicated code. There were just two square buttons. The left one was red and the right one was blue.

The girl looked up at Tang Yue. Her eyes seemed to say that she wasn’t afraid of death.

Tang Yue slightly shook his head and used the same look as a response: I don’t wish for you to die here.

For a long time, Mai Dong stared at the two buttons on the screen. The two completely different paths with completely different outcomes were in the form of buttons in front of her. If she pressed the red button, Orion II would enter the Martian atmosphere. But at that moment, Kunlun Station was no longer a sanctuary, but a trap that was on the brink of destruction.

If she pressed the blue button, Orion II would stop orbiting and distance itself from the comet threat.

It wasn’t that Mai Dong had never considered the possibility that Kunlun Station might really suffer destruction. But she’d still rather come down on Orion II from orbit and die together. Big deal.

“I choose red…”

“Leave,” Tang Yue interrupted her. “Don’t die here.”

“I’ll die sooner or later.”

“But don’t die now,” Tang Yue said. “You still have sufficient water and food, enough electricity and fuel. Leave, go as far as you can. Don’t come down… Please, don’t come down. Coming down will only mean utter despair.”

“Drifting alone through space would be even more painful.”

“Don’t worry about loneliness. You won’t be alone. Tomcat will accompany you.”

“Mr. Cat?” Mai Dong was somewhat surprised.

“There’s still thirty-seven days before the comet hits. I will get Tomcat to leave Kunlun Station with the Mars Wanderer at the fastest speed possible. Perhaps it can reach a safe distance before the collision happens and survive. Its ability to survive is far better than ours,” Tang Yue explained. “Therefore, even if you leave Martian orbit, you won’t be drifting alone. There will still be Tomcat accompanying you in the Solar System.”

“Tomcat and the Mars Wanderer will have a communications system with them. The space station will be the relay. If the space station is destroyed, the geosynchronous satellites will be the relay. As long as Orion II remains in the Solar System, Tomcat will be able to contact you and converse with you. It will stay with you to the end.”

Mai Dong was somewhat in a daze. Tang Yue had already considered everything. He wanted her out of near-orbit and Tomcat to leave Kunlun Station. This was to minimize damages.

If she chose to enter the atmosphere, the outcome would be that the cat and two humans would perish together about thirty days later.

Yet, at such times, Tang Yue became more rational than anyone. He had discussed many plans with Tomcat and had chosen to maximize the safety of them all. Orion II’s atmospheric entry was already deemed a dead end. Mai Dong’s only chance of survival was to leave.

Tomcat and Mai Dong had a chance to survive.

Only Tang Yue didn’t.

He was trying his best to push for the departure of Orion II from Mars to ensure Tomcat’s and Mai Dong’s lives. From the most rational and objective point of view, this was no doubt the most reasonable plan. It was to prevent the last enclave of humanity to be wiped out at once by the comet.

“The comet still has thirty-seven days before hitting… What about you? Tang Yue, what do you plan on doing during this period?” Mai Dong muttered.

“Continue our unfinished work. After all, there’s a ton of material that’s awaiting my editing,” Tang Yue said with a smile. “I want to use my limited life to serve the people infinitely.”

“I’ll head down and help you,” Mai Dong blurted.

“You can still help me without coming down.” Tang Yue rejected the offer.

“If I don’t head down, won’t all our hard work for the past few days been for nothing?”

“That hard work was to ensure your safety. If your life is threatened, we have to abandon it.”

“I don’t care about the threat!”

“I care.” Tang Yue was very calm. “The ultimate goal for letting you descend was to protect you and not send you to your death. Under the present circumstances, coming down has lost its meaning.”

“But I’m willing to head down!” Mai Dong’s eyes were red. Almost yelling, she said, “I really, really want to head down. I really want to see you and Mr. Cat!”

It hadn’t been easy for her to come this far.

Now that she was just a step short away, how could a time out be given out of the blue?

The girl broke down.

Tang Yue almost failed to keep his deliberate composure intact, but he still worked hard to maintain his poker face. He didn’t break down or let his emotions get the better of him. Otherwise, the two might end up a sobbing mess across a screen. Then, as they cried, they would agree on the descent.

“Life is very precious. Think about those plants of yours. Do your best to live on. Do the best you can to preserve humanity’s inheritance—you are the most precious inheritance of humanity. Therefore, you must protect yourself. In addition, we still have plenty of work we haven’t completed. Humanity’s glorious history has yet to fully unfold. We definitely won’t be able to finish it in thirty-odd days. I’ll still have to rely on you and Tomcat to finish it in the future.”

Tang Yue stared at Mai Dong, trying his best to make his tone sound relaxed so show it wasn’t a life-and-death parting. However, he knew that this was forever. There was no way they could meet again. All Tang Yue could do was to give his best well-wishes for the future to this lady who was about to embark on a distant voyage.

“Of course, if you do not wish to leave Mars, you can try to raise the orbital altitude… Tomcat, will raising the orbital altitude avoid the comet’s impact?”

“I did the calculations. There are no guarantees.”

“Alright then, it’s best you leave Mars. Do not come down for any reason.” Tang Yue had a stern expression. “Do not press that red button.”

“You said that… you wouldn’t force me to make any choice.”

“I’m not forcing you.” Tang Yue was taken aback as he revealed a lonesome look. “I’m just requesting that you do so.”

Mai Dong really wished to be willful for once.

She wanted to ignore whatever Tang Yue was saying and press the red button.

She was a young lady and a girl had the right to be willful.

But a darn sense of responsibility bound her hands and feet. Mai Dong looked back and could see the billions of life on Earth, the glorious history of human civilization that spanned thousands of years. She felt that her life didn’t belong to her, but to all of humanity. She had no right to use her life in exchange for something she wanted.

If only she were a little more obstinate.

If only she were a little fiercer.

If only she were a little more unreasonable.

That way, she would have immediately pressed the red button the moment she opened the notebook computer. She wanted to head down even if the sky collapsed.

“Tang Yue, Mr. Cat.” The girl’s eyes welled with tears as they turned red. “I… I… wish to hug you.”

Tomcat smiled.

Tang Yue smiled as well.

“Lass, we wish to hug you as well. To say it shamelessly, I wish to do it even in my dreams. However, things in this world often don’t go according to one’s will. We might obtain success at times, but face failure at other times. Lady Luck doesn’t always throw a six.”

Tang Yue got a hold of his emotions as he took a deep breath and stood up straight.

“Comrade Mai Dong, the Party and People will finally give you an extremely massive and difficult mission. You must complete it.”

“What is it?” Mai Dong asked subconsciously.

“Live on filled with hope, strength, and optimism. Live to the last day of your life.”