Chapter 176 - Epilogue (1/2)

Chapter 176: Epilogue

Tang Yue lugged the solar panels onto the Mars Wanderer’s trailer. The RTG and backup batteries were also placed on the vehicle. Tomcat was about to set off on a long-distance trip. The latter didn’t need any food or supplies, but power was necessary. He had given all the batteries and solar panels that the trailer could take to Tomcat.

It could be foreseen that when Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I hit Mars, it would trigger an extremely serious cataclysm. Tomcat might survive the shockwave and subsequent quakes, but the large amount of matter that would be tossed up into the sky from the impact would plunge Mars into endless darkness. The dust that blotted out the sky would cut off any solar power. This was the main problem that Tomcat faced.

Therefore, Tang Yue had installed the batteries on the vehicle, afraid that Tomcat would suffer from a lack of power.

Tomcat consoled him by saying that the Martian atmosphere was too thin and the wind was weak; hence, the dust wouldn’t stay too long in the sky. At worst, it could switch itself off and enter hibernation mode. It could then live through the darkest period just like the Chelomey once had. Humans couldn’t survive without three minutes of breathing, but Tomcat could hibernate for a very long time and reduce its energy consumption to a minimum.

Tang Yue circled around the Mars Wanderer, patting its driving compartment and wheels. Tomcat and Tang Yue lacked the tools needed to repair the Wanderer; therefore the vehicle remained covered in damage. Back when Tomcat had plunged into an underground river ruin, the driver’s compartment had been flattened from the impact. The windows were already shattered.

Previously, the Wanderer could be considered a husky.

But now, it was more like a bulldog.

“It wasn’t easy on you.” Tang Yue held his palm to the vehicle. This vehicle was originally pale yellow and white in color. It looked highly spirited, like a young adult who had stepped into the adult world. But now, it was covered in dirt. Its paint had peeled, and the rough scratches on it went from head to tail. This young adult was now a battle-hardened elder. “You’ll be following Tomcat in the future. Leave this place. Go as far as you can. Try to cover the entire planet before your death.”

Tang Yue used a rope to tie down the solar panels. The Wanderer pulled a trailer that was filled with luggage of all sizes.

“It’s all secure.”

Tang Yue nudged the batteries on the trailer to ensure that they wouldn’t fall off.

“Say goodbye to Kunlun Station, you silly dog.”

Tomcat wore an IVA suit and sat in the driver’s seat. In its arms was a glass helmet.

It turned its head to look at Tang Yue coming and going, dexterously packing the luggage. Tang Yue repeatedly went between the garage and the Wanderer, placing the heavy batteries onto the trailer.

“He was laughing,” Tomcat whispered. “Should one be laughing when parting?”

“Mr. Cat, if he were to bid you farewell crying…” Mai Dong asked. “Would you not leave?”

“I won’t leave,” Tomcat placed the helmet on the table and replied without thought. “But that fool just doesn’t cry. For the past couple of days, he has been smiling at me with a grin every time I look at him. He has kept urging me to leave and not stay behind to be killed.”

Tomcat pressed down on its head and slammed its forehead onto the table. “If he had shed just one teardrop in front of me, I would have told him that I wouldn’t be leaving. I would rush out to dismantle the Wanderer’s tires and pull out the battery cables, rip it to pieces, and swallow it. But he refuses to say anything. That punk just grins at me and tells me to quickly scram and not stay behind to kill myself.”

“F*ck. Why can’t he just cry once?”

Tomcat smacked the table as it cursed.

“I’m a f*cking station commander. Kunlun Station’s station commander! I’m a highly experienced senior assistant and guide of the Mars scientific expedition. I’ve resolved a cumulative total of 167 minor and major problems! I’ve saved 13 lives! To have a rookie die before me… Do… Do… Do you think I don’t want to uphold… my reputation?”

Tomcat turned its body around as its voice lowered in a staccato, its shoulders trembling.

“Mr. Cat.” Mai Dong was gloomy.

“Miss Mai Dong.”

“Yes?”

“Sorrow is the enemy of humanity,” Tomcat said out of the blue. “It is also the enemy of cats.”

“Do cats also feel heartbroken?”

“Of course. Cats also feel sad.” Tomcat had its back facing Mai Dong. “If one’s owner isn’t around, a cat will be very, very sad. It will wander about the spot where its owner once lived, then jump up onto a climbing rack and while chewing some fish, staring blankly at the empty room.”

Mai Dong hugged Ah Q tight. She didn’t know how to console this sad cat. Cats were always solitary and cold creatures. If they became sad, they would shed away their mischief and turn into wandering ghosts.

However, a fat cat like Tomcat probably couldn’t wander about. Garfield had already been expelled from being a cat.

Tang Yue stepped onto Kunlun Station with his EVA suit still cold before he took it off. He had been busy the entire morning. He had moved the solar batteries and RTG onto the vehicle and had placed the hard disk that stored the developmental history of human civilization in the vehicle. These things were to be taken away by Tomcat as he couldn’t allow them to be destroyed together with Kunlun Station.

“Phew… That was tiring. I’ve finally packed everything.” Tang Yue poured himself a big cup of water. “How’re the preparations? Tomcat, can you leave yet?”

Tomcat shot him a glance. Tang Yue’s tone was the same as usual as though everything was fine. It was as though the one leaving wasn’t Tomcat but him.

“I’ll sit here a little longer.”

“You said that three days ago. And three days before that, you said the same thing. You have sat all the way to today. Any longer and the comet will hit,” Tang Yue said. “Every second you sit here is one less second for you to go.”

“I know.”

“You know sh*t.”

“I don’t need you to remind me when I should leave.”

“If I don’t remind you, you’ll be sitting here until the end of the world. Do you think you are Bodhidharma?”

“Do you believe I won’t leave?”

“You dare?”

“Tang Yue, I’m telling you. I’m Kunlun Station’s Station Commander in the true meaning of the word. It was determined by the Secretary-General of the United Nations!” Tomcat yelled. “You have no right to order me around.”

“The Secretary-General of the United Nations doesn’t care about this. The role he gave you doesn’t have any legal effect. Don’t you try to appeal to authority. Kunlun Station’s Station Commander is the Commander of the standing mission. Therefore, it’s Old Wang,” Tang Yue said. “You are only a cat.”

“So what if I’m a cat?” Tomcat glared.

“Even worse, you’re just a fake cat.”

It hit a soft spot. Tang Yue’s remark was precise and accurate.

“A fake cat is still a cat!” Tomcat roared.

“Since you’re a cat, be obedient.” Tang Yue stepped forward and hugged Tomcat’s shoulders and said heavily, “Let’s put the sophistry on hold. Go, buddy ol’ pal. Hurry up and leave. You won’t have any more time if you don’t… You can’t save me, so why struggle?”

The words Tomcat yelled instantly lost their voice and weight. It fell silent.

Regardless of what Tomcat did, it couldn’t save Tang Yue.

Stalling for time was useless. That comet would ultimately hit the Martian surface. This was an outcome that couldn’t be changed.

“If neither of you is around… Is there any meaning to my existence?”

“Mai Dong will still be around, “Tang Yue said. “Take good care of her.”

Tomcat slowly nodded and hugged Tang Yue tightly. It took a last picture with Tang Yue in front of a camera, saying that hanging it up above the dashboard could be used to ward off evil. Mai Dong also took a picture and sent it to Tomcat, saying that it was for remembrance.

Mai Dong didn’t mention when she would leave herself, but it was quite obvious from her actions that she would stay until the moment the comet arrived.

Tomcat took a step back, clicked its heels together, stood at attention, and raised its paw in a salute.

“Comrade Tang Yue, Comrade Mai Dong. Mars Landing Project Senior Assistant and Guide, Employee Number UNMEP360037A, Tomcat, bids you farewell! Take care!”

Tang Yue and Mai Dong wore stoic expressions as they raised their hands to return the salute.

“Comrade Cat, Mars Landing Project Payload Specialist, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, Employee Number CNMEP390012C, Tang Yue, bids you farewell! Take care!”

“Comrade Cat, Mars Landing Project Payload Specialist, Botanist and Agrotechnician, Employee Number CNMEP390022C, Maidong, bids you farewell! Take care!”

Tomcat wore its helmet and took one final glance at Tang Yue and Mai Dong before turning to step into the airlock.

With a click, the hatch closed.

Tomcat had left.

It wasn’t returning.

The sternness and coldness that Tang Yue tried hard to maintain instantly crumbled. He took one step back at a time before sitting down on a chair.

“Tang Yue, are you not going to send off Mr. Cat?”

Tang Yue had his back facing Mai Dong as he shook his head.

“Mai Dong, do you know why I can’t head out? Be… Because I’m afraid that if I head out… it… it wouldn’t… wouldn’t be able to leave…”

“Is it because Mr. Cat doesn’t wish to leave?”

Tang Yue shook his head as he fell silent.

Mai Dong’s eyelids drooped. She watched as the man’s shoulders shook uncontrollably. This was probably the one time in his life that he had sobbed so sadly.

…

Ten minutes later.

Tang Yue was slumped over the table with his head turned sideways, staring blankly at the computer monitor. Kunlun Station was silent, and Mai Dong was still online, but she didn’t say a word.

On the screen was a picture from Mai Dong. It was a selfie she had taken for Tomcat as a memento. She was facing the camera, wearing a blue worker’s uniform and cap. She had a faint smile just like a passport photo. Her background was a control panel and all kinds of monitors. She had wanted to take a playful picture but just couldn’t face it, with the parting happening.

Tang Yue moved his mouse, his thoughts an unknown.

Deciding to stay behind alone to face death was a courageous act.

However, Tang Yue was the only one who knew what he was feeling inside.

The long inaction had placed the computer in standby mode. The monitor blacked out as Tang Yue continued staying slumped on the table and closed his eyes.

He wished to sleep.

Suddenly, he heard a click. Tang Yue looked up.

The airlock’s hatch had been pushed open. Tomcat was there, having returned unexpectedly.

Tang Yue and Mai Dong were stunned. At the same time, they were overjoyed. It felt like seeing a lost one return.

“W… Why are you back?”

Tomcat wore a heavy and anxious expression. It brought with it a gust of wind as it ignored Tang Yue’s question. It didn’t even greet Tang Yue and Mai Dong. It didn’t even take off its IVA suit and walked straight forward, pushing Tang Yue aside and sitting in front of the computer. It brought the computer out of standby.

Tomcat looked at the picture on the screen. It was the selfie that Mai Dong had taken for Tomcat.

“Miss Mai Dong! Can you hear me? Miss Mai Dong!!”

“Mr. Cat… What’s wrong?”

“Don’t say a thing. Don’t say anything… This was a picture you just took and sent me, right? This was a selfie you just took, right!?” Tomcat’s voice was trembling. Its paw that held the mouse was trembling. Tang Yue and Mai Dong sensed that something wasn’t right.

“Yes.”

Tomcat zoomed into a monitor in the background of the girl’s picture. It showed the pitch-black starry cosmos. The picture appeared blurry, perhaps an observation image from the space station’s telescope.

“Miss Mai Dong! Is what’s shown on this monitor the star-searching system of the United Space Station’s survey telescope?”

Mai Dong was puzzled as she nodded.

“You got the telescope to constantly track that comet?”

“Yes.”

“Tomcat?” Tang Yue was at a loss.

“Shut up! Hold your tongue! Don’t interrupt me,” Tomcat shouted. “It stared at the picture intently. “Miss Mai Dong, in this picture of yours, how many celestial bodies can you see approaching you?”

“How many celestial bodies are approaching me in this picture?” Mai Dong didn’t understand the reason for Tomcat’s question. She opened her notebook computer and loaded the observation data from the survey telescope. “Isn’t it obvious. There’s only one—Comet Tomcat-Tang-Mai I… Wait, what’s that?”

Mai Dong’s final question puzzled Tang Yue. He didn’t know what was happening, but it was clear that something extraordinary had happened.

“That’s not right. How would it be here? It shouldn’t be here at this time! How can it be possible? This isn’t it’s trajectory!” Tomcat quivered in excitement as it pounded the table with its clenched paws. “Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! This is completely impossible. It’s impossible!”

“What are you talking about?” Tang Yue came over.

Tomcat turned the monitor around and zoomed into the complete observation picture. At first glance, it didn’t look any different from the other pictures produced by the survey telescope. Tomcat pointed at a blob on the left side of the picture. It could be clearly seen through the telescope’s optics. “Do you know what this is?”

“A comet?”