Dead on Mars

Tomcat said with great aplomb, as though it was filled with confidence.

However, Tang Yue felt uneasy. Tomcat’s plans were increasingly unreliable and odd. Getting Orion II to descend vertically was already a crazy idea, and now, Tomcat was letting the Eagle plunge into the atmosphere with the inflatable service bay attached to it?

“I don’t think there’s any problem with that.” Mai Dong was eating something, having found the rare opportunity to take a break.

Ever since they had started carrying out the descent project, Mai Dong had become the busiest person. She was alone on the United Space Station with no one to help her. She had to do everything by herself, causing her to have less and less sleep. She also had little time to take care of the plants on the space station. She forever held some dry rations and wrench in hand, so that she could take a bite when hungry.

The United Space Station had an independent kitchen located in the Harmony service module. It had a wide dining table with a heating appliance, an infusion gun, and an oven. The table could seat six. All the utensils and cutlery were made of metal and were fastened to the magnetic table. When they had sufficient supplies, the astronauts could heat up the food in the kitchen and even have seared beef steak and tuna.

However, Mai Dong had no use for them. She sat in a chair with her legs secured with a strap. There were only compressed biscuits, a sandwich, and a tomato in front of her.

“Of course it won’t be a problem,” Tomcat said. “As long as we secure it tight enough, with the rocket’s thrust sufficiently powerful and sufficiently slow descent speeds, the airbags won’t fall off. Do you know the most secure way of tying?”

Tang Yue shook his head.

Mai Dong also shook her head.

Tomcat revealed a smug smile.

“Look at you two rookies. You are still far inferior to Commander Wang. He’s experienced and knows the most secure way of tying.”

“What did Old Wang say?” Tang Yue and Mai Dong asked in unison.

Tomcat twitched its ears and recalled.

“He said kikkou , a form of Japanese bondage.”

…

Tang Yue was using a knife to slice the biscuit on his plate into cubes.

“No matter how you slice it, squid-flavored biscuits will still taste like squid-flavored biscuits.” Tomcat sat to his side. “It won’t turn into red-braised beef.”

Tang Yue sighed. To him, consuming food was already a burden.

He was sick of eating compressed biscuits. Tang Yue even suspected that his taste buds had perished, making everything taste like wax to him. Kunlun Station had many compressed biscuits of different flavors—pickled vegetables, red-braised beef, shrimp, fish, and squid. However, he couldn’t tell the difference anymore.

If it wasn’t because he needed to replenish his body with a sufficient amount of carbohydrates, Tang Yue would have no intention to touch them.

“How much water do we have left?” Tang Yue threw his knife on the plate, planning to eat half a tomato first.

“1100 liters.”

“We’ve already expended a hundred liters?” Tang Yue did a count. “On average, we are losing 0.36 liters of water a sol. It’s not what we estimated previously. I recall you saying that Kunlun Station loses 0.28 liters of water a sol.”

“Clearly, Kunlun Station’s water recycling situation isn’t as ideal as we imagined. With gravity present, it’s impossible to recycle every milliliter of water,” Tomcat said. “In fact, Kunlun Station’s water depletion rate isn’t at 0.36 liters a sol. The reason we still have 1100 liters of water is all thanks to the replenishment the Eagle’s Descent Vehicle provided. Otherwise, we would have a lot less water.”

“Then at this rate, Kunlun Station’s water can still last…”

“3000 sols.”

“When we did the math six months ago, there were 4000 sols left. Less than 300 sols have passed, and we now only have 3000 sols left?” Tang Yue quipped. “The rate of this water loss isn’t at a constant speed, but at a constant acceleration.”

“It will accelerate.” Tomcat turned its head around. “With the passage of time, the Water Reclaimer’s efficiency will keep dropping. You are lucky that the water recycling is very reliable. It hasn’t malfunctioned to date… If a serious malfunction happens, our situation will be worse than when the OGS’s temperature control processor malfunctioned.”

“What’s the worst malfunction of the Water Reclaimer?” Tang Yue asked.

“A rupture in the water tank,” Tomcat said. “1100 liters of water lost.”

“Then I can prepare to die.”

Tang Yue finished the tomato in hand. It was unknown when it began, but “death” was no longer taboo. In a certain way, Tang Yue was fighting the heavens in his bid to survive. Every day lived was a day earned.

“If we can successfully bring down Miss Mai Dong, Kunlun Station’s water expenditure will only accelerate. I estimate that the water left behind in Kunlun Station can last for another 1000 sols at best.” Tomcat did the calculation. “That’s if Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I doesn’t exist.”

“That’s right. If not for that comet, we could still live another 1000 sols on Mars.” Tang Yue threw the biscuit crumbs into his mouth. “Didn’t you say that a trillion tonnes of dust will be thrown into the atmosphere when the comet hits, leaving all of Mars dark? Kunlun Station’s solar panels won’t be usable after that, right? How are we going to produce electricity? Love?”

“By using the electrical generator on the gym bike.” Tomcat used its hind paws to point at the bike used for physical workouts in the corner.

Kunlun Station’s bike was used for physical workouts. Every day, Tang Yue needed to peddle five kilometers on it to prevent his muscles and bones from atrophying. Kunlun Station and the United Space Station were equipped with such exercise equipment, mainly to ensure the physical health of the astronauts.

But later, a particular engineer with the surname Tang felt that it was quite a waste to have the astronauts peddle daily for nothing. Hence, he installed an electricity generator on the pedals. Muscular men like Old Wang could produce enough energy to light up a bulb in Kunlun Station when exercising.

“What’s the efficiency of that thing?” Tang Yue was appalled. “What kind of electricity can you produce with that? Wouldn’t I be sitting on it all day, pedaling twenty-four hours a day?”

“You’re an electrician and mechanical engineer. How can this little problem daunt you?” Tomcat showed great confidence in Tang Yue. “Just set up some gears, and make a few connected electrical generating units. As long as there’s enough torque, there’s not a single problem with the rotation speed!”

Tomcat was describing the future for Tang Yue. After the comet hit Mars, the world would be pitch-black with crazy howling winds. It would be as dark as night, and Tang Yue would be sitting on a gym bike, pedaling away with sweat raining down his forehead!

The gears and dynamo brush would produce sparks from the friction, producing endless amounts of current to provide Kunlun Station with electricity. As for Tomcat and Miss Mai Dong, they would sit under a warm light, taking in the warm breeze of the OGS while leisurely sipping tea.

“Are you using me as some kind of livestock…”

Tang Yue suddenly thought of a hamster in a wheel.

“How can you be livestock?” Tomcat waved its paw and said in great excitement. “You’re zap, you’re my light, you’re my only fairy tale! You are our superstar!”