Chapter 225 - : Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Goodbye, Kunlun Station (1/2)
Chapter 225: Sol Three Hundred and Thirty-Four, Goodbye, Kunlun Station
“Airtight seal is working fine. Internal pressure, 42 kPa.”
Tang Yue turned the seal on his wrist as it produced a light click. The glove was locked in place, indicated by a green light.
“HUT fully operational. Shoulder joints a-okay. Elbow joints a-okay. Wrist joints a-okay. Lower limb joints a-okay. LTA fully operational.
“Life support system a-okay. Liquid cooling a-okay. Average heat dissipation, 300W. Internal temperature 22°C. Oxygen circulation at 17 l/min.”
Tang Yue tapped the control terminal on the back of his hand as the glass visor reflected figures that rapidly changed. Tang Yue reported them as they flashed past.
“Remaining battery capacity, 97%.
“CCA a-okay. Communications a-okay.”
He reached out his hand and pressed the opening button on the airlock hatch. A soft fan whirred into action as the airlock pressure began rising. Finally, it was in equilibrium with the Hab.
The bolt retracted as the hatch slowly opened. Tang Yue turned around and gave Kunlun Station one long look.
The Hab was tidied neatly, with the workstation chassis placed under the table. It had been switched off and its plug pulled. It had finally escaped the devilish claws of Tomcat. No one would squeeze everything it had again. The computer monitors were placed with their backs facing each other on the table. The chairs were lined up against the wall in a row, and all the paper had already been put inside drawers. The table was clean. Even the cups and clock were lined in a row, just like an inspection at a military retreat.
The OGS remained switched on, but it was running at its lowest power output. Tomcat had mentioned that it could last fifteen years, something Tang Yue wasn’t too sure of. However, as long as the OGS remained operational, all life on Kunlun Station would continue to survive.
The plants were sitting high on the racks. Tang Yue and Tomcat had used a rubber tubing to make a drop dispenser. The water inside Kunlun Station’s water tank would be drawn to water the plants. They had also filled the containers with soil and fertilizer, greatly broadening the tomatoes’ lifespans.
Tang Yue cast his gaze on the tomatoes with lush leaves. He paused at each plant for quite some time.
The most luxuriant one was First.
Beside it was Second.
There was Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh.
Daddy will be going on a faraway trip.
I’ll be going somewhere very, very far away, to fight a very, very difficult war. You have to take good care of yourselves.
Make sure to take good care of yourselves.
Be good.
“This is Mars Wanderer. Copy.” Tomcat’s voice sounded over the earpiece.
Tang Yue stepped into the airlock as the hatch closed behind him. With a click, it was sealed shut. Step after step, he walked through the six-meter-long cylindrical room before pressing the button that opened the outer hatch.
The air inside the room was rapidly emptied and the moment the hatch opened, Tang Yue said to the Martian land that greeted him, “I’m out. It feels alright.”
Tang Yue had already moved all the necessities onto the Mars Wanderer. Now, it was truly like Thomas the Tank Engine. Behind it was the geolab with food, oxygen, and water inside. Behind the geolab was a trailer that had solar panels tied to it. This was all of Tang Yue’s and Tomcat’s luggage.
Tomcat sat in the driver’s compartment to check on the Mars Wanderer’s condition. It was already in a bad state, with its front smashed flat. Its frame was warped and all the glass had shattered. The driver’s compartment was an airy broken shack. The only thing still usable was the steering wheel, accelerator, and brake. Tang Yue had seen manual tractors used by farmers in a museum, and he had mused that they gave off vibes of Dieselpunk. They were purely mechanical without any liquid crystal glass.
Now, the Mars Wanderer had also turned into a genuine manual tractor.