Dead on Mars

Today was Tang Yue’s fifth sol of being trapped on Mars.

He didn’t have the time to bother about any possible reappearance of the Earth. According to the plan, the Eagle would launch within the next twelve hours. Tomcat had made him get some rest; after all, Tang Yue had been working nonstop for more than ten hours. Yet, he came out again after resting for just half an hour in the sleeping quarters.

“Aren’t you going to get more rest?” Tomcat was tweaking the computer in Kunlun Station as a long charging cable extended from the back of its ass.

“I’ve had enough rest.”

“Aren’t you afraid of dying from exhaustion?”

“It can wait until the Eagle is launched.” Tang Yue wore a pair of pants and draped an insulation blanket over him. “Only then would it be a worthy death.”

It was 04:55, 16 August 2052 A.D. based on Earth’s calendar.

The wind speed outside was at 39 m/s.

Tang Yue stood by the window, pulled open a lid, and looked outside with his eyes squinted. He frowned at the sight of the sandstorm’s wanton surging as the darkness remained.

The wind speeds had increased instead of dropping after a night. It had gone from 35 m/s to 39 m/s. Indeed, the weather was unpredictable, tenable to changes at any moment. The sandstorm was the first obstacle the Eagle needed to overcome. If the wind speeds didn’t drop, there was no way to launch the lander safely. It would then be pointless to discuss the subsequent orbiting and docking.

“If you aren’t sleeping, come over and help me.” Tomcat left its seat and pointed at a chair in front of the work desk. “Sit there.”

Tang Yue stood by the side, holding a cup of water. As he was munching on some bread, he was taken aback.

“What help can I give?”

Tang Yue walked over, placed the cup on the desk, and sat down as he chewed on the bread.

“The computer system is doing a series of self-checks. Help me watch it. If there are any problems, inform me immediately. Then, keep a close eye on the wind speed…” Tomcat turned around and removed an IVA suit from the wall. It unzipped the suit noisily and crawled in.

Tomcat suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.

“Tang Yue, help me take a look. Why can’t I zip up the suit?”

Tang Yue turned his head.

“It’s because you forgot to pull out your charging cable.”

“…”

It had forgotten about it, lost to the pleasure of charging.

Tang Yue bent down to help Tomcat pull out the charging cable, zipped up the suit, and helped it put on the helmet. “You are heading out? What for?”

“To the Eagle. I need to do the last rounds of checks before the launch.” Tomcat secured the helmet and confirmed that there weren’t any problems with the seal. Then, it hooked the safety rope onto its suit. “I need to switch on all the systems on the lander, and put it in a ready-to-launch state.”

Tang Yue nodded. “When will you return?”

“In around half an hour.”

“If you don’t return in half an hour, I’ll pull the safety rope back,” Tang Yue said. “Take care.”

Tomcat nodded. With the safety rope behind it, it opened the airlock’s hatch. Tang Yue returned to the work desk as he looked at the green numbers and symbols flashing on the computer screen. A few sinusoidal waves of different colors were slowly moving across the screen. Strings of numbers were changing along with it, but it was an unknown which software they were powering or what its use was. Since Tang Yue couldn’t understand a thing, he chose to turn his attention to the wind speed to protect his eyes.

The liquid crystal display showed a number of 38.89 m/s.

38.89.

Tomcat had determined that the safe wind speed for launching was thirty.

Nine meters per second.

As long as the wind speed dropped by 9 m/s, they could launch the Eagle.

The drop in wind speed was the premise for everything. It was a key condition that couldn’t be influenced by human hands. It all depended on whether the heavens would bestow them with good luck… Tang Yue sat on the chair, staring at the wind speed as seconds turned to minutes. The number representing the wind speed would occasionally jump, giving Tang Yue’s heart a jolt as well.

Deep down, he was uneasy and nervous. Every tiny change in that number triggered Tang Yue’s nerves. Even a change in the two numbers after the decimal point—a drop of 0.01 m/s—was enough to make Tang Yue feel a sense of pleasant surprise.

Drop! Drop! Tang Yue clenched his fist as he silently prayed for the wind speeds to drop! Please, I beg of you. Drop! If you do it, I’ll set up an epithet for you! I’ll raise you up on a pedestal!

He knew that his prayers had no way of influencing the Martian weather, but people often placed their hopes on supernatural elements when cornered.

38.24 m/s.

Drop some more! Come on, give it a kick! Drop further! Tang Yue roared silently in his heart. His lips were parched dry despite holding a cup of water in his hand. He had forgotten to drink his water.

38.17 m/s.

Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more! If you drop a little more, you will break that 38 m/s barrier! Tang Yue clenched his teeth, his face a grimace. It was a mystery whether he was cheering on the wind speed indicator or the wind speeds.

38.02 m/s.

Drop! Drop! Drooooop!

Tang Yue nearly yelled out. He saw hope! The Eagle could be launched! Mai Dong could be saved! The wind speed was in a slow decline! Even though it was a tiny drop, it was still a drop. There would be hope as long as the wind speeds kept dropping. If the trend continued, the wind speeds would definitely drop below 30 m/s!

He couldn’t sit still any longer. He got up and propped his body up with the desk, staring at the red numbers displayed on the wind speed indicator.

You can do it!

You can do it! Drop a little more! Tang Yue clenched his fists and roared. You can do it! He was like a spectator in a race starring a snail. Even though the snail was going slow, it would definitely reach the end if it continued.

38.01 m/s.

38.00 m/s.

Success! Success! Tang Yue was excited. The wind speed was about to break below the 38 m/s barrier!

The number jumped once again.

41.25 m/s.

Drop… Tang Yue was stunned and he couldn’t shout out anymore. All his strength seemed to have been instantly sapped from his body. He slumped into the chair, his soul empty. The wind speeds had instantly increased again. In hindsight, the previous slight drops weren’t any foreshadowing of a drop in wind speeds, but just normal fluctuations in the wind. It went from 39 m/s to 38 m/s before rising to 41 m/s. As long as the speed fluctuated within a particular band, there was no indication that it was dropping.

Something even more terrifying happened next. The wind speed measurements began to continue changing.

42.33 m/s.

42.74 m/s.

42.89 m/s.

43.12 m/s.

43.58 m/s.

The wind speeds rapidly rose in an indomitable fashion. It was so fast that Tang Yue couldn’t even react in time. A series of blows struck Tang Yue’s heart, shattering his tiny figment of hope. Tang Yue’s brain went blank. He even wished to burrow into the wind speed instrument to use all his strength to climb onto that darn number, using every fiber in his body to press down on that increasing number.

The wind speed finally stopped at a despairing 44.28 m/s.

44.28 m/s.

It’s over.

Tang Yue sat in the chair, wishing to say something, but his throat was so dry that he couldn’t produce a single sound.