Chapter 216 - Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, The Final Sol (1/2)

Chapter 216: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven, The Final Sol

“Lass!”

Tang Yue’s muscles twitched as he suddenly lifted his head.

It was already bright outside. The bright sunlight was penetrating the windows onto the ground. The air was swirling with floating dust particles. Tang Yue blinked his eyes as he surveyed the area. It was twenty minutes to ten in the morning. He was the only one in the Hab. Tomcat had likely headed out to move the solar panels.

Half of Tang Yue’s face was numb. He had drooled over the table. Clearly, he had slept the entire night on the table. As for Tomcat, that bastard hadn’t woken him up to sleep in the bed. Tang Yue recalled his last conversation with Mai Dong… She had asked him not to sleep regardless of anything, that he wait for her to return.

Upon realizing this, Tang Yue’s heart skipped a beat.

No good, he had stood her up.

Damn it.

From the current situation, it was obvious that he had failed to last until the space station left the no-signal zone. He had slept the entire night like a pig.

Tang Yue picked up the saliva-soaked scraps of paper and threw them aside. He then put in his earpiece and called out to the United Space Station.

He was wondering how he could apologize to her.

There was only static in the earpiece. Taking it off, he smacked at it, but there was still no signal. The communication quality between Kunlun Station and the United Space Station was deteriorating with each sol. Recently, even the most basic voice communication couldn’t be guaranteed… Tang Yue took a look at the time. It was possible that the United Space Station was in a no-signal zone at this time.

He had a quick wash and began having breakfast. Using this period, he needed to think of a good way of explaining himself to Mai Dong.

I’m sorry. I was just too tired, so I couldn’t hold out?

This is all the fault of my eyelids. They refused to obey the orders from my brain and closed themselves?

Sorry, I accidentally fell asleep. As compensation, all the lobster on the cargo spacecraft is yours?

As Tang Yue slowly chewed on the biscuits and waited for the space station to enter the signal zone, he wondered if lobster could placate her.

If lobster didn’t work, he would raise the stakes with canned fruit.

With a click, the airlock’s hatch opened. Tomcat walked in with heavy footsteps before locking the hatch. It turned to glance at Tang Yue without a word. It then walked straight to the wall and placed the tools hanging from its body on the rack. Then, it sat back down beside the table.

“The solar panels have been taken out?” Tang Yue asked.

“Yeah.”

“Is Wanderer working?”

“Yeah.”

“What work do we have to do today? Continue refining the rendezvous program?”

“Yeah.”

“The communications with the space station are worsening.”

“Yeah.”

Tang Yue shot a glance at Tomcat. The cat seemed more depressed than usual.

“Is the earpiece broken? It’s only emitting static the entire time. Can you fix it?” Tang Yue took off the earpiece and shook it.

“The earpiece is fine,” Tomcat said softly.

“Then there’s something wrong with the communications system?” Tang Yue frowned.

Tomcat looked up and stared at Tang Yue intently. It was hard to tell the look in its eyes. It looked like it was penetrating Tang Yue’s body, leaving him stunned and creeped out. “Why… Why are you giving me such a look?”

“Are you waiting for Miss Mai Dong?”

“That’s right…” Tang Yue nodded. “She’s likely in the no-signal zone. In a while, she’ll…”

Tang Yue was suddenly stunned as the rest of his sentence was stuck in his throat.

He had been waiting for Mai Dong since he woke up. He had washed, eaten breakfast, finished his daily chores, and even Tomcat was back. Yet, the United Space Station remained uncontactable.

If she were in the no-signal zone, she had been in there for way too long.

With a thud, the earpiece fell onto the table as Tang Yue suddenly felt at a loss.

“Don’t wait any longer,” Tomcat shifted its gaze away and said gently.

Tang Yue was confounded. He immediately understood what Tomcat was saying, but he couldn’t believe it. How was this possible? The United Space Station was clearly still at a safe altitude. It was clearly still at a safe altitude! Tang Yue sat down, switched on the computer and communications system. He crazily searched for the United Space Station’s signal, but his hands were trembling. Following that, his body began to tremble. When he moved the mouse to click something on the desktop, he needed to do it several times before hitting the icon.

“Don’t scare me… Don’t scare me… Lass, don’t scare me…”

Tomcat sat across him in silence, watching him doing everything possible to contact the space station.

It watched him slowly stop his trembling hands only to have them tremble again. It watched him trying to speed up his actions only to slow down. It watched him push away all the usable tools aside. Finally, it watched him sit on the chair, motionless like a statue.

“Wasn’t… Wasn’t it supposed to be eleven sols…” Tang Yue’s throat moved, his voice hoarse. He had never felt as helpless as he felt today. He looked around, but couldn’t find anyone he could seek help from.” Wasn’t it supposed… supposed to still be at a hundred kilometers…”

“Put in the earpiece.” Tomcat threw the earpiece over into Tang Yue’s chest.

Tang Yue was stunned as he wore the earpiece.

There was no longer static in the earpiece. It was very silent, with the light breathing of a girl.