Dead on Mars

Indeed, the camera and radio allowed them to communicate by video, but a video call was ultimately behind a layer of glass. Having a pane of glass in between them made it seem as though Kunlun Station and the space station were in two different worlds.

However, if he could see Mai Dong on the space station without any obstacles, locking their gazes despite four hundred kilometers in between them, it would make it seem as if the duo had returned to the same Universe.

…

Mai Dong carefully put the screwdriver and conducting wire into the pouch, heaved a sigh of relief and said, “B3075 removed.”

“Next up is C1002. Mai Dong, do an observation first and decide what’s the most energy-conserving method. Don’t be in a rush,” Tang Yue advised. “Do it in a way that conveniences you.”

Mai Dong held the pair of tweezers in her hand as she got Tomcat to slightly adjust the robotic arm’s positioning.

“Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I see it. However, the screw is a little stuck…” Mai Dong clenched her teeth and held her breath, hoping that she could wrench it off, but she failed. “I might have to twist it around first, or I won’t be able to exert my strength. So I’ll be switching to pliers. Pliers… Here they are.”

“Slowly. Slowly.”

“The gap is too narrow. I can’t insert the pliers. I’ll need to expand the hole a little. Strange… Is this rust? No, it’s just coating that peeled off.”

Tang Yue and Tomcat sat in Kunlun Station staring at the monitor. Mai Dong’s breathing undulated over the comms, and clearly, she was exhausting a significant amount of her strength. After a short time, Mai Dong had to rest.

“It’s exhausting. I never knew that repairing the space station was actually this draining.” Mai Dong panted as she rested again. “It’s truly amazing that the Commander and the rest were able to continue working for six hours like this.”

“How can you compare with Old Wang?” Tang Yue shook his head. “Old Wang and Thomp are men with ripped with muscles. They often brawl in the bathroom, draining even more energy than this; yet, they remained brimming with energy.”

“Why would they be brawling in the bathroom?”

Tang Yue thought for a moment.

“It was often because of a bar of soap.”

After about half an hour of struggling, Mai Dong finally removed the C1002 conducting wire. With that, the EVA mission was a success. Mai Dong was also completely exhausted. After returning to the space station, she poured out nearly a liter of sweat from the EVA suit. She was drenched.

When she returned to the core module, she didn’t say anything or even wear any noise-canceling earplugs as she fell asleep hugging a pillow and Ah Q. The sunlight slowly receded away from them.

In Kunlun Station, Tang Yue and Tomcat were discussing the next step. The line that demarcated between day and night slowly moved across the Martian surface.

The United Space Station once again flew to the back of Mars.

Mars was still revolving around the sun at 24 km/s.

The Solar System was still revolving around the Milky Way’s core at 250 km/s.

The Universe was expanding silently.