Dead on Mars

An hour later, Tomcat returned in a sorry state.

“Damn it. How is that wind becoming stronger in this darn weather?” Tomcat wore an ashen expression as it shut the airlock’s hatch. It cursed while removing the safety rope around its waist. “Tang Yue… What’s wrong with you?”

“I need some alone time.”

Tang Yue sat slumped in his chair, covering his face, feeling weary towards life.

Tomcat took off the helmet of the IVA suit, placed it on the table, and unzipped the suit. It then nimbly jumped out of the suit. “What’s the present wind speed?”

“It’s… 43 m/s.”

Tomcat turned its head to look at the display. Four jarring red numbers were displayed there.

43.59.

Tomcat frowned. At wind speeds of 43 m/s, the situation wasn’t promising.

It looked at the time. It was half-past six in the morning. The sun should have risen by now, but it remained pitch-black outside. Clearly, the pitiful amounts of sunlight Mars received weren’t enough to penetrate the dust layer spanning more than ten kilometers above Kunlun Station. All of the Eagle’s computer systems had been booted up. The self-checks were completed and the docking program had been set up. It could be launched at any moment—as long as the wind speeds dropped below that safety threshold.

“Is there any hope for us?” Tang Yue asked.

“As long as the weather turns for the better,” Tomcat replied.

“Can the Eagle launch at such speeds?”

He hoped that if the wind speeds didn’t drop, they could still forcefully launch the lander. At the very least, the Eagle was designed up to 50 m/s wind speeds. Wind speeds of above 40 m/s still weren’t too great a threat.

“Yes, but it won’t be safe. Even if the hurricane doesn’t fail the Eagle’s launch, it will still interfere with the lander moving into orbit. It might cause the final docking to fail.”

Tang Yue stared at the cup on the table in a daze as he suddenly had the urge to smash the cup of water.

If the final docking failed, the launch would have been for nothing.

He got up and stood in front of the window, looking in the direction of the Eagle. He knew that it was standing about a hundred meters away, laden with rescue supplies.

This situation left him burning with anxiety. Tang Yue suddenly understood the feelings rescuers experienced when responding to a marine disaster. You could receive the distress signals of the survivors and you knew that they were alive, but due to the darn hurricanes and huge waves, helicopters filled with supplies and medical help were unable to take flight.

As you wished for the weather to turn for the better, you watched helplessly as the chance of a successful rescue slipped away. One by one, the survivors had their lives snuffed out.

“You said that we only have a 10% chance.” Tang Yue turned around and while leaning on the wall, slowly slipped down to the floor. He whispered, “Then the probability of failure is 90%.”

“That’s right.”

“Does this count as having slim hopes?”

“Tell me, how did you get yourself here?” Tomcat asked.

Tang Yue was taken aback, unable to figure out the purpose of the question.

Tomcat took a step forward and looked into Tang Yue’s eyes. It was short and wasn’t much taller than the sitting Tang Yue.

“In this mission to Mars, how many candidates, including you, were eventually selected to participate in it?”

“Including me… ten.”

“Then you are one in ten.” Tomcat pointed above. “That lass is also a one in ten. Do you know what mine is?”

Tang Yue shook his head.

“I was the only robot that passed the rigorous tests out of a batch of ten thousand robots,” Tomcat said. “I’m one in ten thousand.”

… So the purpose of telling me this is that you are a thousand times more impressive than me?

…

“I’m telling you that the Earth is gone, but we remain alive. You, me, and that lass are three in 6.5 billion. If we expand the denominator to all life on Earth, then you might even be more than a trillion in one,” Tomcat said calmly. “For you to encounter a one in a trillion event, why should you be afraid of a one in ten event?”

Tomcat returned to the work desk. On the computer display, there was a rectangular map of Mars. Following that, a blue waveform appeared over the map.

The sinusoidal wave was the United Space Station’s trajectory. To be precise, it was the trajectory of the space station’s substellar point. A substellar point on a planet is the point at which a celestial object is perceived to be directly overhead. As a spacecraft’s trajectory and the equatorial circumference have certain intersection angles and are not completely parallel, the projection of the space station on an unfolded map—the orbit trajectory—would result in a sinusoidal motion.

Back when Tomcat re-established communications with the United Space Station, it had obtained an update on the space station’s accurate position. Now, the space station’s orbit was stored on Kunlun Station’s computer system. Similarly, it was stored on Eagle’s computer. This orbit could be extremely precise without deviating a millimeter.

Tomcat was trying to minimize all possible errors. Due to the weather, the Eagle might very well lose its connection after the launch. The Kunlun Station would be unable to guide it, so all trajectory changes and docking procedures would have to rely on the lander’s computer. The difficulty was akin to hitting a billiard ball into a pocket from a kilometer away… Without any human supervision, the Eagle’s success at autonomous docking was only 5%.

A more precise number was 4.837%.

Tomcat had previously mentioned that the chance of probability was about 5%, but there was still the possibility of raising it a little higher. And with the RD-0172’s propellants on the payload capsule capable of two trajectory changes, the chance of success was 9.44%.

It was less than one in ten.

“What’s the present wind speed?” Tomcat tapped noisily on the keyboard, its eyes peeled to the screen.

“43 m/s.”

Tomcat nodded. Without saying another word, its two paws rapidly moved across the keyboard. It was modifying the flight program of the lander bit by bit, making the last three significant figures to five significant figures and, therefore, more precise. Then the numbers of five significant figures were made even more precise to ten.

The only sound left in Kunlun Station was Tomcat’s tapping on the keyboard. Tang Yue didn’t dare to disturb it.

“What’s the present wind speed?”

“42 m/s.”

Tomcat’s face was heavy. It expressed the solemnity and meticulousness a robot should have. Again and again, it optimized the Eagle’s launch procedures. Complicated numbers and functional figures on the screen reflected in its bright eyes. Tomcat was putting in the last bit of effort to fight that 9.44% chance.

By making precise more than a hundred parameters, perhaps it could raise the probability to 9.441%.

Although it was only an increase of 0.001%, it still held meaning.

After all, the chances of Tang Yue surviving from Earth’s disappearance was 0.0000000001%. A trillion in one probability might seem meaningless to most people, with it being no different from zero, but its meaning was everything in Tang Yue’s life.

That 0.001% held the meaning of a million Tang Yue’s.

Seconds ticked down on the clock as time slowly passed in that repressed silence.

Tang Yue circled the Kunlun Station’s Hab, occasionally standing close to the walls followed by more circling. He was like a bear acting mechanically after being caged for long periods of time. He rubbed his joints uneasily, the worry in his heart clearly written on his face.

“Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.” Tang Yue looked at the indicator.

Tomcat nodded. It appeared calm and staid when compared to Tang Yue, and it was staring at the computer screen with a stoic expression. Of course, this was because a robot’s face didn’t have very rich expressions available to it.

“Reducing the initial phase angle… Reducing the phase angle further! The precision for the orbit insertion still has room for exploitation… There’s still room for exploitation!” Tomcat gritted its teeth and tested every step of the Eagle’s orbit entry. “Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.”

“Accumulated errors from the inertial navigation exceed 7 meters. It’s unreliable and cannot be relied upon… Wind speed?”

“43 m/s.”

It had already lost count of the times it asked about the wind speed, and ultimately, Tomcat exposed his worry and anxiousness. Even though it didn’t show on its face, it was still worried about the darn weather, subconsciously inquiring about the wind speeds again and again.

The man and cat in Kunlun Station had tried their best, but their efforts were just too feeble. Standing opposite Tang Yue and Tomcat was the massive and magnificent Universe.

Reality was the cruelest thing in the world. It wasn’t a story or a fairytale. In critical moments of life and death, there wouldn’t be a savior descending from heaven, nor would there be a reclusive expert suddenly appearing to change the tides of reality. Even less possible was a completed perfect ending. How many tonnes of propellant were capable of pushing the lander to a higher orbit trajectory was fixed. It couldn’t increase it by a meter.

Tomcat tapped on the ‘Enter’ button on the keyboard, stimulating the Eagle’s orbit insertion.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement… awaiting phase modulation… Failure.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory… Failure.

“Raise the wind speed to 43 m/s. Preliminary orbit measurement, adjust the phase angle, begin rotating trajectory, entering parking orbit… Failure.

“Failure!

“Failure!”

Tomcat had lost count of the number of failures it had faced. It seemed to have a billiard cue stick in its paw, and it was trying to shoot a billiard ball into the hold from a kilometer away. Furthermore, it had to do it blindfolded during a hurricane. Failure was the expected outcome.

In physics, there was chaos theory. This theory indicated that it was impossible to pinpoint the results of a complex system with many influencing factors. Taking the weather as an example, the butterfly effect was one of the most well-known metaphors in popular culture—the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas. Any tiny deviations in the initial conditions would be amplified through the complex system, causing huge differences in the outcome.

Therefore, no one could hit the billiard ball into the hole. There were too many factors on the billiard table. From the cue stick to the ball, the wind speed, and the smoothness of the table. Just a millimeter miss was as good as a mile.

However, Tomcat continued seeking out that sliver of hope. It didn’t care if it was fighting chaos theory, the law of physics, or the calculation results. It firmly believed that in the complicated numbers, there was a group of numbers that could cancel out all errors, allowing the Eagle and United Space Station to complete the docking perfectly.

For a robot born out of logic, resisting mathematics and physics probably required the greatest courage. It was a solemn march while holding up the banner of the German philosophy—being-toward-death.

…

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 512th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

Mai Dong softly called out for Kunlun Station.

There was no response from the comms. The radio waves emitted by the space station very likely failed to penetrate the sandstorm beneath, preventing Kunlun Station from receiving anything.

The Crystal core module was filled with all sorts of whirring machines. The girl was dressed in blue work clothes with an earpiece over her head. She was floating and remained connected to the module’s wall via the wire from the earpiece. After the sun rose, the temperature inside the space station also rose. Therefore, Mai Dong had slightly reduced the thermal insulation system’s efficiency.

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 513th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

“Kunlun Station, this is United Space Station. I say again for the 514th time, please answer if you copy… Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy…”

Mai Dong extended her hand to twist a knob, raising the volume bit by bit.

“This is Kunlun Station! This is Kunlun Station… Mai Dong? Mai Dong… do you copy?”

“Mr. Tang Yue?” Mai Dong pressed down on her earpiece in surprise when she heard Tang Yue’s voice. She raised the volume to its maximum, but Tang Yue’s voice sounded indistinct over the noise.

“Mai Dong… Mai Dong, can you copy… This is Kunlun Station…”

“I copy!” Mr. Tang Yue replied, “Mr. Tang Yue, how’s the situation? How’s Mr. Cat?”

“Tomcat is working hard adjusting the Eagle. And I’m communicating with you over the winds! The wind here is a little strong…”

Tang Yue held onto the communications antenna and yelled in an attempt to drown out the noise. He felt like a CCTV reporter reporting first hand in the middle of a typhoon, or a disaster victim who was desperately hugging an electric pole in a flood.

“Comrade Mai Dong! Good news… The Eagle is ready! It can… be launched at any moment! You will be receiving your supplies soon! You will be receiving your supplies soon!”

“I know. Mr. Cat has already informed me.”

“Then… Let me… emphasize it once more!” Tang Yue yelled as his voice became intermittent. “You must… stand fast with confidence and await help! The Party and the People will not give up on you! Do not give up… Crap!”

Mai Dong was taken aback as her earpiece crackled before the communication was cut off.

“Mr. Tang Yue? Mr. Tang Yue, what happened to you?”

Mai Dong panicked. She didn’t know what was happening on the surface. Her communication with Tang Yue had cut off way too suddenly.

Kunlun Station.

As Tomcat tapped the keyboard, it turned its head in a rare moment of distraction to glance outside. It saw Tang Yue slowly get up before stumbling to the ground, having failed to secure his footing. He tumbled together with the antenna into the distance. Thankfully, there was a safety rope holding him down; otherwise, it was unknown how he would be found.

A panting Tang Yue propped up the antenna, reinserting the data cable which had become loose. He began adjusting the angle of the antenna, but he couldn’t find the original signal again. All he could hear on the channel was endless static.

Kunlun Station’s communication with the space station was entirely based on luck. After all, the sandstorm above their heads was mobile. In better conditions, the radio waves might be able to tear through the interference, but any worsening of the sandstorm resulted in termination.

Tang Yue frantically adjusted the antenna’s knob, but his glove, which was frozen hard, kept slipping. He couldn’t turn it to the desired angle no matter what he did. Damn it… Why did the communications break up before he had finished saying what he wanted to say?

Wearing the thick, heavy Radiant Armor, Tang Yue tottered around the antenna and kept losing his footing thanks to the storm. Tomcat looked at him and felt that the clumsy figure looked like a bear trying to reach out for a banana.

It was simply heartbreaking. Why was life so difficult?

Look at him, flailing about in the hurricane-like a feeble weed. Yet, he stubbornly stood there, refusing to fall.