Dead on Mars

Tang Yue snapped awake in the middle of the night as he reached his hand out to get an idea of the ambient temperature.

He got up and dressed, drew the curtains to his quarters as a biting cold rushed at him. Tang Yue trembled.

Kunlun Station was dim and silent. The communications system was still online, but Mai Dong wasn’t in the Crystal module. She was likely sleeping.

The plastic tent was propped up in the middle of the Hab. Over the plastic sheet were blankets and cloth, and the light from the blinding high-pressure sodium lamps was seeping out of the cracks in the blanket covering.

The computer monitor on the desk was black. The clock was flickering a red light every second.

Tang Yue walked over, crouched beside the greenhouse and through the plastic sheet, which was covered in dew, he could see the water troughs on the floor.

Inside the water troughs were the tomato sprouts. Their white kernels were buried in the soil as a light green tender leaf tenaciously stood out.

Tang Yue lost himself looking at the tomato sprout and he suddenly realized why Mai Dong gave names to the plants.

For the longest time, he believed that he was an advanced creature with intelligence. He had already left the primal world and was nothing comparable to lowly plants. But in fact, it was just humans putting themselves on a pedestal.

Only now that he was on the Martian desert and facing the Universe alone did Tang Yue realize that he was no different from the tiny tomato sprout.

If the Universe had supreme intelligence, would it believe that Tang Yue was more advanced than a tomato?

In the eyes of nature, perhaps there wasn’t any difference.

“According to usual practice, I should give you a name,” Tang Yue said to the tomato. “What should I name you? Washington? Roosevelt? Kennedy? Or Nixon?”

“Got it!” Tang Yue thought for a moment as he slapped his thigh. “From today, you’ll be named Zhang Wuji ¹ !”

The tomato sprout didn’t respond, its thoughts were unknown.

The other sprout that had revealed itself was named Yang Dingtian ¹ by Tang Yue.

Tang Yue crawled into the greenhouse and hugged the two water troughs tightly. He used his body temperature to warm these tomato sprouts, worried that the heat produced by the RTG and high-pressure sodium lamps was insufficient for the plants to withstand the cold Martian night.

Tang Yue sat on the floor, hugging them as he began droning on. “Wuji… Quickly grow up… Be strong, bloom, and have fruit. Your master, Golden Haired Lion King ¹ , is still in the hands of those darn monks at Shaolin Temple and awaiting your rescue…”

The high-pressure sodium lamps cast a shadow of the man onto the plastic sheet as he hugged the water troughs as though he was hugging his children. This was the only beacon in the pitch-black Martian desert, tiny but bright.

…

“This is United Space Station. Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy… This is United Space Station. Mr. Cat, please answer if you copy.”

The Mars United Space Station was sweeping across the Isidis Planitia at an average speed of 3,500 m/s. The high-gain antenna was directed to the surface, and the girl’s voice was captured by an electret’s carbon membrane. This converted into a digital signal before being amplified and sent into an electromagnetic signal that the antenna broadcast onto the Martian surface.

A vacuum didn’t allow the transmission of voice, but electromagnetic waves didn’t need a medium. They were able to carry the information to pass through the void and reach distant spots.

Mai Dong pressed down on her earpiece.

“This is United Space Station. Kunlun Station, please answer if you copy.”

“This is Kunlun Station. I copy you five-on-five.”

“Tang Yue, the satellite image recognition has reached Number 7,750. We have already scoured an area of 1,550,000 square meters to no avail. Do we continue the search?” Mai Dong asked. “I can’t find Mr. Cat or contact the Chelomey.”

“There’s no way you can contact the Chelomey. That’s because it needs to be shut down while transporting it over. Therefore, Tomcat had switched it off from the very beginning. It wouldn’t be able to receive any commands.”

Tang Yue sighed.

“That cat must have eloped with the Mars Wanderer. Who knows, it might have had a litter of kittens by now… However, we still need to find it. If that cat doesn’t return, I’ll have to get used to living alone.”

Today was the sixth sol since Tomcat’s disappearance.

To be honest, it was possible for Tang Yue to live on alone. He had food, water, and power. He even had two containers of tomatoes. In time to come, when Zhang Wuji, Yang Dingtian, and the other Seven Heroes of Wudang ¹ matured, Tang Yue’s scurvy would be treated, and he would be able to live for at least a year.

Tang Yue and Mai Dong wished to find Tomcat, even if they couldn’t do a thing after succeeding. They were still bent on seeing the cat, dead or alive.

“Tang Yue, how are the tomatoes?” Mai Dong asked. “Are you providing them with enough warmth and light?”

“They seem to be growing well.” Tang Yue shut down the sanitation system, opened the airlock’s latch, and stepped into the Hab. “Do you want to take a look? You are the agriculture expert. Why don’t you give some advice and guidance?”

Tang Yue took off the Radiant Armor and rubbed his hands in glee. It was as though he was about to look at his son in swaddling clothes.

“Be quick. The temperatures outside are too low. They won’t be able to last long.”

He raised the plastic sheet, took out the water trough, and with an insulation blanket wrapped around it, carried it to the camera.

Mai Dong leaned over and she saw the five green sprouts emerging from the brownish soil. It wasn’t easy to determine their growth through the screen, but from the lush green colors, the sprouts appeared to be filled with vitality.

“Let me introduce you to them. This big one that grew the fastest is the eldest brother. His name is Zhang Wuji… Look at its leaf.”

Tang Yue pointed out each one of them to Mai Dong.

“This is Song Yuanqiao. This slightly whiter one is Yu Lianzhou. By the side is Yu Daiyan, and finally, this one is Zhang Songxi… There’s also Zhang Cuishan and Yin Liting, but they are in the other trough.”

Mai Dong slowly nodded.

She originally imagined that Tang Yue would be better at names than she was.

From the looks of it, he also sucked at it.

“How long will these little rascals take to grow?”

“If you can guarantee the warmth and light, they will bear fruit within two months,” Mai Dong replied. “The tomato species you have is an excellent breed. It’s the same as the one I have planted on the space station.”

Tang Yue hugged the water trough and spun around, raising the sprouts high. It was as if he could already see the lush green leaves and bright red fruits.

Tang Yue had never imagined that he would be this excited over planting tomatoes. For the first time, he understood the feelings of the farmers when it was time for the harvest.

“Zhang Wuji appears a little slanted. You can help to correct it a little.” Mai Dong pointed at the water trough. “It’s to prevent the roots from developing improperly in the future.”

“OK.”

Tang Yue reached out his finger and gently nudged Zhang Wuji.

With a slight tremble and a cracking sound, Zhang Wuji’s most striking and delightful green leaf snapped and fell to the soil.

Tang Yue and Mai Dong were astonished.

“What happened?” Mai Dong asked. “Did you use too much strength?”

Tang Yue’s expression turned heavy as he gestured for the girl to keep silent.

He immediately moved the water trough back to the greenhouse, anxiously checking on Zhang Wuji’s condition. He kneeled on the ground, using his finger to gently prod the young tomato sprout.

It didn’t feel right to the touch.

Tang Yue exerted a bit more strength and pinched the stem. He soon realized that the tomato sprout was hard and brittle. It didn’t feel normal.

Tang Yue held his breath as he tried to use his finger to peel off the sprout’s outer layer.

When he did that, his heart sank… The mouth was rough, and he could even see tiny ice particles. The water in its body had frozen, and although the sprout looked green and luxuriant, it wasn’t because of its brimming vitality, but because it had frozen at its prime, literally.

It was just like a fruit placed in the freezer.

Tang Yue hurriedly checked the other sprouts in the water troughs. All of them were like Zhang Wuji—none of them survived.

It was to be expected. The sprouts were just centimeters away from each other. If one froze to death, it was likely that the others would share a similar fate.

Tang Yue dug them out of the soil and placed them in his palm. Zhang Wuji, Yang Dingtian, and the Seven Heroes of Wudang had cold corpses. They were long dead, and perhaps had frozen to death several hours ago or even the previous night.

The ultra-low temperatures could freeze the moisture in them in short spans of time. The burgeoning ice crystals would damage all cell structures, so the plants couldn’t be any deader!

Tang Yue lowered the water trough in panic as he looked at the other water trough, wondering if Yin Liting and Zhang Cuishan were still alive.

“Tang Yue? Tang Yue… How is it?”

Mai Dong saw the man suddenly collapse onto the ground as though he had lost all his strength.

Tang Yue held all the dead sprouts in his hand, his eyes glazed over. He didn’t understand what had gone wrong; he had prepared a complete set of heat preservation measures. He didn’t know how these tiny lives had frozen to death. How did it happen? How?

“Tang Yue?”

Tang Yue turned his head and didn’t say a word. He gave her a faint smile, making her heart contract sharply.

There was a complicated look in Tang Yue’s eyes, seemingly filled with sorrow and helplessness. It also seemed as though all his hopes had been dashed to pieces.

That gaze seemed to say: Look, lass… I’ve really tried my best this time.