Chapter 217 - Epilogue (1/2)

Chapter 217: Epilogue

Three days later.

The Tianzhou 37 cargo spacecraft slowly landed on the desert as its reverse engine roared sent sand flying into the sky. Fifty meters from Kunlun Station, sounds from the rocket engines should have sounded like a thunderclap, but due to the thin atmosphere, they sounded like a two-wheeled tractor in Tang Yue’s ears.

He turned to look out. The cargo spacecraft’s white, circular body looked extremely striking in the brownish-yellow sand. Tang Yue could even see the blue acronym plastered across the fairing: CNSA. He even saw Tomcat’s tiny figure standing amidst the sand, guiding the spacecraft’s landing. Its fur was being ruffled by the strong airflow.

This was the first time Tang Yue had seen a man-made object after Earth’s disappearance descend on Mars. Tianzhou 37 was no doubt a beautifully contoured spacecraft with a huge bullet head. It was one-use, and couldn’t fly again after landing. Therefore, it wasn’t split into an Ascent and Descent Vehicle. The white, smooth fairing reflected the sunlight as the spacecraft slowly unfolded its landing gear. A few millimeters from landing, it cut the engine’s power as it stably landed.

Everything was perfect.

The spacecraft had traveled more than a hundred million kilometers with no human guidance, finally landing five meters away from its originally scheduled landing zone.

Tomcat lowered the spacecraft’s accommodation ladder and elevator before unloading its cargo.

They had waited for this spacecraft for far too long. It brought all the hope that Kunlun Station needed for survival and continuation.

Tang Yue should have been happy.

He had eaten more than half a year of compressed biscuits and tomatoes. Now, he could finally eat canned beef and Australian lobster. If this were any time in the past, it would be like the festive New Year.

But when he watched Tianzhou 37 land, there wasn’t so much as a ripple in his heart. He had even declined Tomcat’s invitation to unload the cargo with it.

It was not as though he even liked lobster.

Tang Yue sat in his chair, his gaze on the monitor on his desk. He was in a daze. This was common for him over the past three days. His brain was just too tired to process anything.

The computer was still showing the orbit equation he had calculated three days ago. He had tried everything to design a rescue plan, but fate didn’t give him a chance to carry it out. He couldn’t understand why the space station would crash. Tomcat said that he needed to discount the numbers Mai Dong gave by 30%, and even that would be an overestimate.

This cat knew everything, but it didn’t say anything.

This was the way artificial intelligence worked. It forever maintained rationality, forever choosing the optimum solution. Tomcat had probably estimated the outcome on the sol the space station crashed. It was the one who peeped inside the dice container. However, it had told Tang Yue that it didn’t, leaving him unaware of the outcome inside.

When Tomcat was designing the rescue plan, what was it thinking? It was using completely fake numbers to construct a plan that couldn’t be carried out. Then, it put on a show to do one calculation at a time, making sure that it was airtight, giving Tang Yue the confidence that everything was real.

It had probably long given up.

Far earlier than any one of them.

Tang Yue continued maintaining his habit of wearing the earpiece. He had repeated the final recording over and over again, listening silently with a deadpan expression. Tomcat didn’t disturb him, allowing him free reign to do whatever he wanted. Tomcat knew very well that such low spirits were only temporary. Time could wash away everything. No matter how important or impressionable a person was, given time, it would eventually blur under time. This was a self-protection mechanism of the brain.

Unfortunately, Tomcat didn’t have such a mechanism. No matter how long it was, the crash of the space station would appear as though it was yesterday.

Every sol, it would wake up from its sleep, able to recall what Mai Dong said to it like it was yesterday. To take good care of Tang Yue.

Therefore, it had to take good care of Tang Yue.

With a click, the airlock’s hatch opened. Tomcat dragged a heavy crate in, then tore off the seals. The crate was filled with soft-packaging canned food. Tianzhou 37 had brought plenty of supplies to them. It had carried a load enough for six people. From food to water to medicine, there was everything. It was enough for Tang Yue to eat for a very, very long time.

Tomcat returned to unload. It stacked the crates in the landing zone and went back and forth with a tiny cart. It did so in a regular and unhurried manner. Apart from food and water, the rest was stored in the garage.

“A-type canned food… Sixty sets.”

“C-type canned food… Eighty sets.”

“E-type reconstituted food, thirty kilograms.”

Tomcat held a tiny notebook as it took stock. It resembled a farmer’s gathering of the harvest.

Tianzhou had landed at ten in the morning. It had begun work then, all the way until half-past eight in the evening. It went back and forth between the spacecraft and Kunlun Station, watching the supplies in the Hab pile up. It didn’t feel any fatigue until its power had nearly depleted.