Dead on Mars

Chapter 204 - Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Rescue Failed
Chapter 204: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Six, Rescue Failed

Tang Yue didn’t know where Tomcat had hidden the petri dish away. It might even have thrown out all the bacteria, allowing those microbes to fend for themselves in the harsh Martian environment. Under normal conditions, this was a contamination of the environment, but no one cared anymore.

Whether the mutated bacteria could really evolve into Martian amoebas was left up to fate.

“How much longer before Tianzhou arrives?” Tang Yue slumped on the table as he pressed on the keyboard again and again in a listless manner.

“140 hours,” Tomcat replied. “In the past three sols, you have asked this question 167 times. That was the 168th time.”

“How much longer can the space station last?”

“I’ve no idea,” Tomcat replied. “Perhaps an hour, or maybe 150 hours. You have asked this question equally as many times as the last one.”

When Mai Dong was online, Tang Yue and Tomcat never discussed the lifespan of the United Space Station. The man and cat would appear rather calm, playing cards and engaging in nonsense as they usually did, as though they were certain that Tianzhou 37 would arrive in time. However, once the space station entered the no-signal zone, Tang Yue’s worry and unease would immediately show. He was like a cat on hot bricks, he was almost hopping. Yet, he had to force himself to remain calm. Tang Yue literally asked about Tianzhou and the space station every few minutes.

Tianzhou 37 was in a race against time, but this was a participant who couldn’t be whipped.

Tianzhou needed to reserve enough propellant for its deceleration and descent. Apart from that, Tomcat had used all the propellant to accelerate it. It was already going at its fastest speed, and it couldn’t go any faster.

“Strictly speaking, whether the cargo spacecraft can save Miss Mai Dong is a fixed outcome. There aren’t other variables in it,” Tomcat said. “That’s because Tianzhou’s time of arrival is fixed. Likewise for the space station’s time of crash. If the former is before the latter, we can save Miss Mai Dong. But if the latter is before the former…”

“That would be game over, right?” Tang Yue threw up his hands. “In the past three sols, you have told me the same thing 167 times.”

“That’s because, in essence, we are the same,” Tomcat said.

“A broken record?”

“No.” Tomcat shook its head. “We are all trying to find hope in a dire situation… Listen to me, Tang Yue, we need to have the greatest determination and confidence, but also make plans for the worst.”

“That the rescue fails?”

Tomcat walked over and pressed Tang Yue down into his chair. “Yes, we need to make plans for the failure of the rescue. Tang Yue, you need to think it through carefully. If the United Space Station can’t last until Tianzhou arrives… How are you going to face that reality?”

Tang Yue was taken aback.

If Tianzhou didn’t arrive in time, it meant that the United Space Station would crash.

The crashing of the United Space Station meant Mai Dong’s death.

Mai Dong’s death meant that he would be the last human left in the Universe.

“You have given me a conundrum,” Tang Yue said sullenly. “Even if I don’t face reality, reality will seek me out. The cruelest part about reality is that you have no way of escaping from it. As the last human in the Universe, what can I do? Stand in the middle of the desert to kowtow in every direction, thanking all my ancestors for their blessings for being the last one standing?”

“I’m being serious here.”

“Same here.” Tang Yue scratched his head and sighed. “I will not joke about such matters, but do you know what it means by asking me this question? You are asking me what will I do if the world were to be destroyed tomorrow… What can I do?”

He turned the monitor around to show it to Tomcat.

Tomcat looked up and frowned.

“What’s this? The historical information you’ve edited? Or your mission log?”

On the monitor was an open document filled with text.

“It’s a story I’ve written over the past two sols when I had the time.”

“Story?” Tomcat was somewhat puzzled. He didn’t realize that Tang Yue had such a trait.

“The story is very short, and the writing is bad. Just make do with it. The plot is about a sea disaster. The cruise ship that the male lead and female lead are on board capsizes and sinks to the bottom of the sea. The female lead fails to escape in time and is trapped in a sealed cabin at the bottom of the sea. Although she doesn’t die immediately, with the constant depletion of oxygen, she only has a few hours to live.” Tang Yue explained. “In the cabin filled with seawater, there is no means to communicate with the outside world apart from using her cell phone to contact the male lead.”

“That female lead’s cell phone can still be used despite being soaked in seawater?” Tomcat asked.

“It’s a China-made waterproof imitation, so it can be used normally even in the Mariana Trench,” Tang Yue said. “The girl got through and the male lead consoles her by telling her that he had managed to escape and made contact with the search and rescue team. The team is about to arrive and he gets her to describe her surroundings and exact location to him to enable the rescue team to find her by opening the hull.”

“And then?”

“As the ship’s sinking was a chaotic situation, the girl doesn’t remember where she exactly is. Therefore, the two keep talking to one another, but it’s fruitless. With the passage of time, the remaining oxygen gets less and less, while the girl finds it harder to breathe. Yet, the rescue team is unable to find her,” Tang Yue continued. “Later, the male lead gets angry, calling her stupid with only boobs and no brains. He says that she’s better off dead.”

“What happened in the end?” Tomcat asked. “Was the girl successfully rescued?”

“The girl failed to remember where she was to the very end. By the time the rescue team cuts open the hull and finds her, it’s already too late,” Tang Yue said. “She had been speaking to the male lead with a phone, so the more they conversed, the more oxygen she used. By the time the rescue team arrived, the girl had already suffocated to death.”

“That’s the ending to your story?” Tomcat asked. “The girl dies?”

“Yes, that’s the story’s ending. The girl dies. She really dies at the bottom of the sea.” Tang Yue nodded.

Finally, the female lead drowned in the cabin filled with water. This outcome was within expectations, but as a story’s ending, Tomcat found it too insipid.

“But this is only one of the endings,” Tang Yue said. “This story also has another ending.”

“What kind?”

“The female lead recalls her location and tells the male lead where she is. The rescue team quickly finds and rescues her. But when she reaches the sea surface, she doesn’t find the male lead. When she asks the rescue team about him, they are shocked as well. They inform the girl that they had expected the person they were rescuing to be a man.”

Tomcat fell silent for a few seconds.

“Is there a third ending?”

“Nope.”

“I think the first ending is more reasonable. If a cruise ship sinks, the people who are trapped underwater have a very low chance of survival because it’s just too difficult to save them.” Tomcat straightened its body and walked to the airlock. “Most people are unable to last until help arrives.”

“Tomcat,” Tang Yue shouted at it.

“What’s wrong?”

“You got me to make plans for the worst,” Tang Yue asked. “Is it because you have already determined that the rescue will be a failure? You have already calculated the outcome, but have chosen to keep it from me?”

Tomcat paused for a moment and shook its head.

“No.”

It turned its head. “I’ve told you before that we lack the detailed orbit data of the United Space Station. We are completely unaware of its present situation; therefore, there’s no way to calculate its trajectory. Even I do not know how long the space station can last.”