Dead on Mars

Chapter 215 - Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Make Sure You Don’t Sleep
Chapter 215: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, Make Sure You Don’t Sleep

“I didn’t know you had a younger sister.”

“Didn’t I mention it before?” Tang Yue pulled out a piece of scrap paper and handed it to Tomcat over the monitor. “Old Wang and the rest knew about it… Tomcat, there’s no way to calculate this. Can you do some preliminary cleaning up for me before giving it to me? This string of numbers is longer than your tail. This darn thing needs repeated expansions. Even the computer is suffering from an overflow.”

Tomcat took the paper, glanced at it, and handed it back.

“The answer is 42.”

“You never mentioned it to me,” Mai Dong said. “I thought you were an only child.”

“I’m not an only child. My sister is three years younger than me. She’s extremely terrifying and foul-tempered,” Tang Yue said. “At a young age, she was sent by my mom to study Taekwondo. After Taekwondo was Wing Chun. There was also boxing, grappling, and all kinds of MMA. In my mom’s words, a girl is naturally physically weak, so she needs to learn how to protect herself… Heavens, she’s considered weak? That lass dared to stop an entire class in their tracks back in primary school.”

Mai Dong was taken aback.

She never imagined that she would have such a powerful sister-in-law.

“Ever since we had a fight over the television remote during summer holidays where she pummeled me to the ground, she realized that I wasn’t her match. From that moment forth, she no longer showed me any fear. I lost all my dignity as her elder brother…” Tang Yue spoke about the tragic history of him being trampled by his sister. It was heart-wrenching. “Tomcat! Look at this! The computer is warning me… What’s this? Modified Rodrigues parameters…”

“Got it.” Tomcat tersely answered. “Leave the rest to me.”

Tomcat took control.

“My sister isn’t the most terrifying when she’s in a bad temper. What’s more terrifying is my parents indulging her. She played with boys her own age when she was little, often beating them up and sending them scurrying like chickens.” Tang Yue sighed. “My mom even said that she was a weak lady, so she needed to eat more. But have you seen a weak lady with abs more developed than a man’s? Her one punch could cleave apart two solid bricks. I think one of her punches would kill me…”

Mai Dong giggled.

She had never met Tang Yue’s sister, but for some reason, a blurry female’s figure naturally surfaced in Mai Dong’s mind. She was filled with the valor of a male, active, clean and sharp.

If Mai Dong had the chance of meeting that girl, she would probably match her imagination, right?

“That’s nice,” Mai Dong whispered.

“I now often console myself that Earth is still around. That my family and friends are still around, that everyone is still around. It’s just that we can’t see them.” Tang Yue touched his chest. “That hot-tempered sister of mine is still living with my parents. After all, she hasn’t graduated.”

“But it’s a fact that the Earth is already…”

“I still need to give myself a reason to live on. I often encourage myself that as long as I live well, there will come a day when Earth will appear again,” Tang Yue said. “A life without any goals is no different from prison. That will be true despair.”

He turned to look out. The Sun had already set and it was pitch-black outside. The day was over.

Tang Yue had sat in his chair doing his calculations without realizing that he had been working an entire day. Tomcat kept throwing work at him, leaving him in a high-stressed state. The only thing that eased his mind was Mai Dong’s voice. He had been chatting with Mai Dong since morning, leaving his throat dry. He had no choice but to drink more water.

However, the United Space Station would enter a no-signal zone in a periodic fashion. During this period, no one would speak to Tang Yue. Furthermore, once Tomcat was in work mode, it stopped being talkative. Tang Yue stared at the equations on the paper alone as his eyelids grew heavy. Every time he almost fell asleep, he would hear “Tang Yue, can you hear me” to jolt him awake.

“Orbit-attitude spin-coupling model completed.”

“Commencing simulation.”

“Second simulation.”

“Give me the control moment curve.”

Tomcat’s big eyes moved back and forth as it muttered.

It had become one with the computer.

Tang Yue was very gratified that the workstation was able to cooperate with Tomcat despite all the abuse it had suffered under Tomcat. With the HP workstation followed proletarian ideology to a tee, the cat and computer brought about an immense increase in efficiency that Tang Yue had no choice but to focus to work with them.

Tang Yue didn’t even have time for dinner.

“Tang Yue, give me α’s number.”

“α?”

“The semimajor axis. In addition, give me the K1 parameter’s sine and cosine values.”

“Roger that.”

“Attitude deviation?”

“The deviation has been reduced to zero.”

“Accurate Ω value. Give me it’s expected value.”

“Which Ω? There are four Ωs.”

“The right ascension of the ascending node.”

“Right ascension of the ascending node… OK!”

Tomcat and Tang Yue’s cooperation was highly effective and tight.

“What other data do you need? The argument of periapsis? The orbital inclination angle?”

“There’s no need for that for the time being. Tang Yue, there’s nothing needed of you for now,” Tang Yue said. “Is Miss Mai Dong still there?”

“I am, Mr. Cat,” Mai Dong replied over the comms. “However, the space station is about to enter the no-signal zone.”

“There’s no need for me now? Do you mean I can finally rest… I’m so sleepy and exhausted.” Tang Yue yawned. He could finally relax his tense nerves. All his strength seeped away with his sweat. “How terrifying. I’ve been wrangling with mathematics the entire day.”

“Orbital mechanics is physics.”

“But it’s still mathematics at the end of the day.” Tang Yue lowered the pen in his hand and tidied up the messy table. “The differential equations were each longer than the last. The matrices were each bigger than the last… I didn’t know how I managed to list down a matrix with a dimension exceeding 5,000. Damn, that was terrifying.”

“But you did it wrong.”

“I’m not you. I’ll definitely make mistakes doing math questions the entire day. My brain feels as though it’s about to explode. My eyes are filled with blood and my fingers are numb. I can’t even hold a pen… We clearly finished work that would usually require a team of engineers. The amount of work I’ve done today can probably hold up a tent, right?” Tang Yue stretched his numbed fingers. “Isn’t it faster with me?”

“We were indeed doing the work that’s required of a team.” Tomcat nodded. “However, you finished a single person’s usual workload. As for progress, the rough framework is done. What’s next is to refine the details.”

Tang Yue stretched his limbs as he glanced at the clock, only to be alarmed. “It’s already half-past eleven. I’ve been sitting here for fifteen hours straight… Have the solar panels been stored away? If not, I’ll have to trouble you to do it.”

“Can’t you do it yourself?”

“I have osteoporosis and a slipped disc. Will you believe me if I say that I could die right in front of you the moment I head out?”

Tomcat pushed the keyboard away and got up to head out. It took on the task of storing away the solar panels.

It entered the airlock, closed the hatch with a dull click. Tang Yue was the only one left in the Hab.

Tang Yue rubbed his stiff neck and exhaled lightly.

“Tang Yue,” Mai Dong suddenly called out.

“Yeah? Lass, you’re still there?”

“Of course. Can you tell me your childhood stories? I… I still want to know more about you.”

“Sure. I’ll definitely not hold back. I’ll tell you everything you’d like to know. After all, Tomcat wants us to know each other better.” Tang Yue yawned. “But I’m really too sleepy. Why don’t we chat tomorrow… There’s plenty of time tomorrow.”

Sleepiness was really something he couldn’t hold back when it hit him. He felt he could plunge head down on the desk even if there were nails on it.

“Are you really that tired?”

“Yes, I’m really tired.”

“Then… spend another ten minutes with me?” Mai Dong hesitated. “Five?”

Tang Yue smiled as he tried to pump himself up. “Tell me whatever you want to say. I’ll give up my life to spend all day with you until tomorrow morning. I’ll just not sleep tonight.”

“Okay. You promise me to stay with me until morning.”

“Yes.” Tang Yue yawned.

“Tell me more about your sister.”

“Her? She’s a really terrifying violent woman. She’s the kind of person who can punch through a door.”

Tang Yue sat on the chair, leaning his back against it with his legs bent to his chest. He looked up at the dim and gentle light. To him, it had only been a year or two since those matters happened, but his memories felt extremely distant.

For some reason, Mai Dong was suddenly very interested in his stories. Tang Yue began telling her about all the dumb antics he had done when he was young. For example, copying from the student sitting beside him during a primary school exam, only to realize that there were two sets of exam papers with a different ordering. In secondary school, he placed sodium in his pocket and ended up setting his clothes on fire. During an English listening comprehension exam, he finished all the questions while the instructions were still being played. Mai Dong kept laughing as a result.

“Tang Yue, I see the Sun. The space station is about to enter the no-signal zone.” Mai Dong restrained herself from laughing as her voice turned garbled. The signal was possibly getting unstable.

“I’ll wait for you to return.” Tang Yue rubbed his eyes.

“Tang Yue.”

“Yes?”

“Since we have already decided to get married, you haven’t expressed…” Mai Dong said, “It’s always me who mentions it first.”

Tang Yue was taken aback, feeling a little embarrassed.

Being silent and introverted were one of the excellent qualities as someone who was forever alone.

“Eh… You want to hear the three words? Four? Or is it five?”

“Is five the most you can do?” the girl narrowed her eyes and scoffed.

“No, the most is five hundred words. Let me prepare myself…” Tang Yue took a deep breath.

“Hold it. Not now. Say it when I’m back,” Mai Dong cut him off. “So… Don’t you sleep before I’m back.”

“Alright.” Tang Yue nodded.

“Don’t sleep.”

“I won’t.”

“Make sure you don’t sleep…” The girl’s voice was drowned by the static, and moments later, the comms were cut. The United Space Station had entered the no-signal zone.

After an unknown period of time, the comms fell silent. Tang Yue held his head looking at the digital clock in front of him.

It was already midnight. The red number was ticking away the seconds. How long does it take for the United Space Station to get out of the no-signal zone? Thirty minutes? Twenty minutes? I don’t remember… Tang Yue stared blankly at the time. His brain seemed to process his thoughts, but it was also seemingly mixing into mush.

He wanted to think of something to dispel his sleepiness, but he was just too sleepy and tired. The numbers in front of him gradually distorted as Tang Yue suddenly found himself unable to identify them. He stared at them intently but was unable to figure them out.

Tang Yue knew that his brain had gone on strike, and his recognition abilities were gone. The signals his eyes sent were rejected by the brain as his eyelids seemed to weigh a ton.

Don’t sleep.

Make sure you don’t sleep.

You agreed that you wouldn’t sleep.

Who can slap me?

Where’s Tomcat… Tomcat isn’t back yet.

Why isn’t it back…

Why would it take so long to move the solar panels…

As fatigue overwhelmed him, Tang Yue was certain that he had never been this exhausted before. As everything before him turned into a blur, the rest of his body began going on strike after his brain.

Vaguely, he seemed to hear someone calling his name.

Tang Yue…

Tang Yue!

Is that Mai Dong?

He didn’t know if it was an illusion or a dream.

Tang Yue began making his final struggle as he pinched his cheeks hard, hoping to keep himself awake.

But it was black the next moment. The world had plunged into pitch-black darkness.