Dead on Mars

“Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, look… the sun has risen.” Mai Dong had the bulky EVA suit pulled up halfway when she looked up. Golden rays of sunlight poured in through the module’s windows, landing on the girl’s pale cheeks.

From Mai Dong’s angle, the sunlight drew out a dark, humongous arc—the ends of Mars. The pitch-black shadow had hints of red as its thin atmosphere emitted a white luster. The sun’s diamond ring effect disappeared rapidly before its rays shone onto the solar panels that were in the shadows.

The United Space Station’s large array of solar panels were slowly spinning like a series of sharp blades that sliced the sunlight into particles.

Mai Dong squinted her eyes as the light and shadows brushed past her face, outlining her tiny, mellow nose.

“To us, the sun has been above us all this time,” Tang Yue said.

“I envy you guys.” Mai Dong put on her helmet, fastened the buckles, and said, “Be it on Earth or on Mars, the world revolves around the sun. It’s the center of the world and filled with brightness… But on the space station, you can see that… the Universe is too black and too deep. Even with the sun being a light-emitting star, it is unable to illuminate the Universe.

“At times, I believe that humans might not be prepared for long-distance travel.” Mai Dong checked the communications system as numbers reflected on her visor. “Humans often try to find something to rely on. In the past, it’s home, Earth, the sun. But once you enter deep space, humans become wanderers without any support spiritually. I believe in the years to come if humans begin interstellar travel, those souls that vanish in the Universe be able to find their way home.”

“That’s why there’s Gagarin, Armstrong, Old Wang, Thomp, and us,” Tang Yue said. “Lu Xun once said, ‘For actually the earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made.’”

“Besides, there won’t be years to come,” Tomcat interrupted. “There won’t be people taking the roads you pave.”

Mai Dong passed through the passage and left the Crystal module, entering the Hub APAS module. Previously, the exit nearest to the arm had been the Dawn module, but it was completely damaged. Mai Dong could just use the Hope experiment module which had an airlock to enable the extravehicular activities of an astronaut.

“The EVA system is normal. The EVA suit is okay. All sections on the space station are normal.” Tomcat controlled everything as all the computer screens in front of it lit up.

Tang Yue quickly read the draft in his hand as he looked at the time. He needed to ensure that nothing went wrong during the mission.

“MSSRMS system connected. Canadarm70 robotic arm is on standby,” Tomcat said, as it entered the control interface of the arm. Controlling the arm in the space station was different from doing it from Kunlun Station. The space station allowed an analog control by using a control stick to control its actions, but Kunlun Station only allowed keyboard and mouse input. Using a mouse to control a robotic arm with twelve degrees of freedom was something no one could do except Tomcat.

The folded arm slowly extended. This complicated and expensive arm was one of the most intricate tools on the space station. It had once saved Mai Dong’s life.

“Mai Dong, do an equipment check. Have you brought everything?” Tang Yue reminded.

“Yes.”

Mai Dong was inside the airlock awaiting the depressurization.

With a beep, the indicator light changed from red to green as Mai Dong took a deep breath. She opened the airlock hatch that led outside.

At the instant she exited, she felt a little dizzy. This wasn’t the first time Mai Dong had headed out, but every time she left the space station, it felt as if she was stepping into the abyss.

“The time is now fifteen minutes past nine in the morning. Five minutes after we started the mission,” Tang Yue stood by the side as he communicated with Mai Dong through the earpiece as he stared at the time.”Mai Dong, are you okay?”

“Rest easy.” The girl’s voice was very staid.

“I’m sending Miss Mai Dong over,” Tomcat said with a deep voice. The live video from the camera was projected onto the screen as Tomcat specially used a screen to monitor the arm’s operational conditions.

The main camera was installed above Mai Dong’s head, allowing Tomcat to see whatever Mai Dong could see.

The airlock was about thirty meters away from the S1 solar panels. The arm moved at a speed of half a meter per second, but in Mai Dong’s eyes, the gigantic solar panels were slowly approaching her.

Mai Dong pulled down her light-filtering visor as the sunlight was a little blinding.

“Another five meters… Three meters… One meter, OK! Secured!”

“Mai Dong?”

“OK! I can see the sensor already…” Mai Dong raised her hand to push up the light-filtering visor midway. She hid in the shadows of the solar panels to prevent the sunlight from directly hitting her.

The S1 battery bank had a total of two solar panels. They were installed on a revolving mechanism, making it one of the main sources of power for the United Space Station. A solar panel’s length reached forty meters and its main body was made out of monocrystalline silicon. The surface was layered with a protective film, making the blue solar panels look dark brown.

The battery bank’s actuator was installed on the frame which was a huge and very complicated mechanical structure. As for the light sensor, it was an inconspicuous trivial piece of equipment. It was a protruded hemisphere which was only a protective layer of plastic. Embedded inside was a chip that sat flush with the space station. It was the sensor’s main body.

It looked like a surveillance camera, except the light sensor’s mission wasn’t to take images but to determine the direction of the sunlight.

A battery bank had two sensors that backed each other up. If one was damaged, there was another, but this time, the damage was on the overall control circuit, which was why there was a need for manual repairs.

“Locate the spot!” Tang Yue indicated. “Do you still remember the steps? Locate the spot, then open the outer shell. Once done, this extravehicular mission will be a success!”

“Locate the spot… locate the spot…” Mai Dong nodded as she exhaled, forming a vapor that condensed on the visor.

The outer shell of the actuator was covered with a few layers of a firm polymer film. They were for heat insulation, so to remove the outer shell, Mai Dong needed to first cut open this material.

Mai Dong took out a tiny electric dremel from her tool bag.

Tang Yue and Tomcat remained in Kunlun Station as the arm’s four cameras turned towards Mai Dong. The man and cat looked at the white swollen figure clumsily working from different angles. Mai Dong only had her legs secured to the arm while her body was slowly moving around in zero gravity. The tools had slipped away from her hands several times.

“Calm down, calm down… Mai Dong.” Tang Yue held his hand onto the desk as he pressed onto Tomcat’s shoulder. “There’s still plenty of time.”

“There’s a total of four layers to the outer cloth,” Mai Dong replied. “I’ve cut through the first layer, creating an opening that’s forty centimeters wide. Next, I’ll prepare to cut open the second layer.”

“Do you need to take a break?”

“No.” Mai Dong exhaled. “I’m not tired yet.”

“Don’t force it,” Tomcat said. “Miss Mai Dong, fatigue will reduce your efficiency.”

“I feel like a doctor, operating on a giant.” Mai Dong turned her head to look at the massive space station behind her. “When I was young, I had thought of being a doctor… If I had become a doctor, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Removing the second heat insulation material took about ten minutes, and she met with a little trouble cutting through the third layer. A metal wire had hindered her progress which was a little unexpected. No one knew that such a wire would appear. Tomcat had suggested that she return to the space station to switch tools to snap it off.

When half of the allocated mission time was up, Mai Dong had finally cut through all the plastic membrane.

“I see the outer shell!”

“Do you see the maintenance lid?” Tang Yue asked. “The four Penta screws?”

“Yes… That’s right.” Mai Dong looked up and smiled at the camera. “You are right.”

“Next step, remove the screws and dismantle the outer shell! You have fifty minutes.”