Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Chen Yunhai stood in front of the dean’s office and took a deep breath. He straightened his collar and gently knocked on the door.
After hearing “come in”, he pushed open the door and walked in.
“Sir, did you ask for me?”
“Yeah, I did.” Lu Zhou smiled at Chen Yunhai and stood up. He gestured toward the sofa and said, “Don’t be so polite, come, sit down.”
Chen Yunhai sat on the sofa and thanked the assistant who just poured him a cup of tea. He began to look at the stack of draft papers sitting on the coffee table.
He saw some complex calculations and symbols drawn on the draft papers, and beside the draft papers were proof processes.
Chen Yunhai had no idea what he was looking at. Lu Zhou walked over with a cup of coffee and sat down across from him.
“Just some personal hobbies.” Lu Zhou placed the stack of draft papers aside and took out a freshly printed document. He placed it on the coffee table and said, “Two hours ago, we decrypted the signal sent from Mars to Earth. I’m sure you’ll be interested.”
Chen Yunhai suddenly became serious, and he quickly picked up the document.
The moment he saw the three letters, he was stunned.
“SOS…?”
Lu Zhou nodded.
“Yes, with what is happening on Mars right now, I think there’s nothing wrong with our decryption. I think New Virginia is in a bit of trouble.”
Lu Zhou paused for a second. He then continued, “But this could turn into an opportunity for us.”
Ideas flashed through Chen Yunhai’s mind, but he still shook his head.
“I know what you mean, but this might be difficult to execute… The White House would rather let the colonists die than to cooperate with us.”
2If America decided to let China take over the rescue mission, not only would it damage America’s prestige and pride, but it would also bring risks such as technology thievery.
Even though this wasn’t politically correct, aerospace itself was a risky industry. The death of a few astronauts wasn’t significant enough for the White House to put down their ego.
Looking at the big picture, if the Americans couldn’t begin a rescue mission, it would be better for the three astronauts to die than for China to intervene on this matter.
At most, the Americans would prepare a special funeral for the colonists.
Perhaps Space-X’s stock price would take a hard hit after this. But this wouldn’t be the end of the Ares program. The Ares program researchers would learn from their mistakes and try again…
“I know.” Lu Zhou put down his coffee mug and nodded. He said, “Theoretically, that is true. NASA wouldn’t spend billions just to save three astronauts… Not to mention the rescue mission might go wrong. It might be in the interest of the United States to announce the ‘accidental’ death of the three astronauts.”
“That’s right.” Chen Yunhai nodded and said, “Therefore, it might be hard for us to capitalize on this opportunity.”
“Not necessarily.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “What if we told the Americans that we can save the astronauts?”
Chen Yunhai looked interested, and he said, “So what you’re saying is…”
“That’s right, leak the news from our side.” Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Then they will have to conduct a rescue mission. If they don’t…
“Then it’s no longer an accident, it’s murder!”
United States.
NASA headquarters.
At the Ares program ground command center, staff members were working hard at their respective jobs.
Director Carson stood inside the command center as he reported to the president on the current situation.
“We are now certain that the sandstorm on Mars is a global event, and our estimation is that the sandstorm will last for at least five months. Our colonists are facing—”
The president interrupted Director Carson and said angrily, “I don’t care what type of sandstorm it is. I just want to know one thing, what is your plan?”
Director Carson went silent for a while. He then said, “Sir… I don’t want to say this, but the chances are slim. Even if we launch the BFR rocket now and go to Mars using an unconventional orbit, it would take at least three months to reach Mars.”
President: “Can our colonists survive for three months?”
Director Carson paused for a second and spoke.
“It’s fifty-fifty… It depends on their survival skills.”
“We can’t let them know what the situation is like yet,” the president said. “Tell them that we are trying our best to rescue them and that they don’t have to worry!”
“But our rocket…”
Director Carson looked at the president’s gloomy face, and he suddenly knew what the President was implying.
“… I understand.”
Compared to bringing the astronauts back alive, asking them to keep this a secret was more important. They had to make the astronauts believe that NASA was doing their best to rescue them.
If the astronauts knew that they had no chance of survival, they could use the telecommunication equipment on Mars to spread the news across Earth…
That would be a disaster for NASA.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the corridor of the command center.
The White House secretary appeared behind them.
“Sir?”
The president turned over and looked at the tall man. He frowned and asked, “What now?”
The secretary gulped and replied, “The news was leaked.”
The president replied, “What news?”
“News regarding the New Virginia colonists…” The secretary took out a newspaper from his bag and carefully said to the president, “Look at it yourself.”
The newspaper was from the Everyone Daily Foreign Edition.
The president took the newspaper and squinted his eyes as he read.
The moment he laid his eyes on the newspaper, his heart sank.
A giant headline was right at the top of the newspaper.
[Mars encounters a rare global sandstorm, “New Virginia” colonists are in danger!]
WTF?