Dead on Mars

Tang Yue looked up at the sun, which was hanging low over the horizon, as he set up the solar panels.

The solar panels had very simple constructions. They didn’t have complicated steering mechanisms, simply for weight reduction purposes. A total of about forty plus solar panels provided the Kunlun Station with all its power needs.

The priority for the solar panel’s power started from the storage battery, the OGS, the temperature control, the water filtering, and other life support system, before the communications systems, the lighting systems, and the Kunlun Station’s mainframe. The Station’s communications computer was a power-hungry monster. To save power, Tomcat switched off most of the station’s functions. After all, there wasn’t any research or observational work to be done. After the Earth had vanished, Tang Yue had stopped all academic research.

The last time the Kunlun Station’s computer systems were fully powered up was three months ago when orbits needed to be calculated for sending supplies to Mai Dong. Ever since then, the computer had not received a serious mission.

A self-inspection was made daily, based on a schedule. It checked that every functional module in the Kunlun Station worked properly before sending a greeting to the United Space Station. This was the daily job of the Kunlun Station’s computer. Such work could have been done by an ancient 386 machine. It was quite a waste of its powerful CPU and data-handling capabilities.

After Tang Yue set up the last solar panel, he leaned on the tiny cart and sat down to take a break.

The forty solar panels were arranged neatly on the sand. Tang Yue gave them a nickname—Battery Farm. With him walking around the solar panels and having to toil at dawn and dusk, made him resemble a farmer.

Not far behind Tang Yue was the Eagle’s Descent Vehicle. The lander’s Ascent Vehicle had been launched into space three months ago, leaving the Descent Vehicle behind. It was a columnar structure, about five to six meters tall. It was propped up by a strong landing pad, and its white surface had already been charred black by the engine’s exhaust.

Tang Yue often went over to the Eagle as though he was visiting a neighbor or an old friend. He would sit there and chat with it… even though the Eagle only listened in silence and never made a sound.

He only had that many friends. Mai Dong on the space station, Tomcat in the Kunlun Station, the lander standing in the desert, the Mars Wanderer in the garage. These people and objects formed a small community. This was all there was to Tang Yue’s world. As long as he didn’t walk out of this tiny bubble, he could still sense the protection and warmth from ‘human’ civilization.

“Tang Yue, can you hear me? Another tomato has borne fruit in the space station!”

Mai Dong’s voice sounded in the comms. She sounded pleasantly surprised.

Tang Yue had lost count of the number of times Mai Dong talked to him about tomatoes.

“How many tomatoes did you plant?”

“Hmm… About eight? There aren’t many tomatoes,” Mai Dong replied. “There are also ten thale cress, eleven prickly lettuce, twenty-three lettuce, seventeen potatoes. Additionally, there’s a batch of fat choy.”

“Are you planning on making the space station into a botanical garden?” Tang Yue asked. “To grow so many plants, they will be vying with you for oxygen and water… You don’t lack food, so why are you planting so many tomatoes for?”

“I pay great attention and control the water expenditure. The incubator uses capillary tubes to deliver water by osmosis, reducing the waste of water to its lowest,” Mai Dong replied. “The space station is too dreary. Having some plants makes it more lively.”

“Lively? Plants don’t speak…”

Tang Yue was taken aback. Speaking of which, he was the same. The Eagle wasn’t able to speak either, but he still babbled at it.

“The growth of the tomatoes is delightful. The first batch that bore fruit has already grown very tall. The colors are bright… These were all seeds I especially selected back then. They have a survival rate of more than 97%.” The girl’s joy was obvious. Over the past three months, she had been meticulously taking care of these plants. The tomato sprout that had germinated was already mature and had borne fruit. Mai Dong was as happy as a farmer reaping in the harvest.

“Lady, is your profession botany or agricultural science?” Tang Yue asked. “Is your research in agricultural science?”

“My research topic is ‘the influencing factors between vegetation growth under prolonged high radiation and microgravity and the eco cycles of a sealed environment,’” Mai Dong said a very long sentence.

She paused and added, “In short, vegetable planting in space.”

“Good day, farmer.”

“We weren’t planting vegetables in the beginning. There were many specimens used in our experiments. Most of them were algae with simple structures, such as Nostocales and brown algae. The mature angiosperms require stringent environments for growth, and they are too weak. If we attempted to terraform the Martian environment or create a small ecosphere in the spacecraft, we would definitely need to start with simple algae,” Mai Dong continued. “Simple plants like algae is really the direction of my research.”

As the girl spoke, there was a rustling sound of leaves in the background. Clearly, she was plucking the tomatoes as she spoke.

“Five… Six, seven, wow this one is huge… I’m going to freeze the tomatoes. This way, I can store them for even longer.”

With the way Mai Dong constantly mentioned the words “tomato,” it appeared as though the true target to whatever research on plantations in microgravity and ecospheres wasn’t algae. The lady was already immersed in the joy of the harvest. As she counted, she threw tomatoes into a basket, completely like a farmer.

“It won’t cause any contamination?”

“It’s soilless culture,” Mai Dong said as she shook her head. “It wouldn’t cause any contamination.”

“Potatoes can also be grown in soilless culture?”

Tang Yue was somewhat astonished. Weren’t potatoes supposed to be buried in soil? How were potatoes to grow without soil?

“Plants of the tuber or root family can be grown using spray aeroponics. Do you know what aeroponics is? It’s irrigating them with a nutrient mist, then you will see potatoes grow in midair.” Mai Dong laughed. “None of this is difficult for me.”

Tang Yue got up and pushed the cart back to the garage before returning to the Kunlun Station. He had already set up the solar panels, and his next step was to have a quick bite to replenish his energy stores. After half an hour of rest, he had to begin his afternoon’s work.

His afternoon work included:

Inspecting the conditions of the Kunlun Station in various aspects.

Quibble with Tomcat.

Check on the Mars Wanderer.

Quibble with Tomcat.

Store the solar panels before sunset.

Quibble with Tomcat.

Tang Yue opened the airlock’s hatch as he shuffled into the airlock, turned around to close the hatch, and switched on the sanitation system.

“Tomcat—! I’m back.”

Tomcat opened the inner hatch as Tang Yue walked in, panting. Suddenly, his feet staggered as he collapsed to the ground.

“Tang Yue?”

Tang Yue looked down at his feet as his calves trembled vigorously as though he was having a cramp. Furthermore, he couldn’t use any strength. “Tomcat… it seems like there’s something wrong with my legs.”