Die on Mars

Tang Yue waited in agony for more than 20 minutes. As soon as the old cat left, there was no news or life or death. He tried repeatedly to contact the old cat, but never received a response. There was only annoying noise in the earphones.

"Old cat? Can old cat hear me?"

"Old cat...Old cat!"

"Old cat, can you fucking hear me? Give me a reply!"

But Tang Yue didn't dare to go out to find the old cat. The old cat's safety rope was in his hands. If an accident happened, the only one who could bring the old cat back was Tang Yue. If he left Kunlun Station rashly, then he would And the old cat will hang in the sandstorm.

"Old cat, old cat? Please answer when you receive it!"

"What are you shouting for...are you crying? You screamed so unpleasantly, but I didn't die."

Someone suddenly spoke in the earphones. Tang Yue raised his head in surprise. He put a paw into the airlock door and grabbed the metal door edge. The old cat climbed in with difficulty and grinned at Tang Yue.

Tang Yue rushed forward, dragged the old cat into the airlock, and closed the outer hatch.

The wind and sand were blocked by the hatch. The air pressure in the airlock gradually increased and became warm again. The old cat leaned against the bulkhead and rested for a while.

"The supplies have been delivered, and the life of the little girl in the sky has been extended for at least two months...but the wind and sand outside are so strong that I can't even open my eyes."

Tang Yue sat down on the ground exhausted and gave a thumbs up.

"Let's continue." Old Mao got up and opened the hatch of the Kunlun Station hall. "No one knows when this damn sandstorm will subside. There are still four boxes that need to be delivered. What is to be delivered next? Reserve parts. Right? Can’t waste time.”

"Is it cold outside?" Tang Yue followed.

The old cat turned to look at him, "Fortunately, it's minus sixty-eight degrees Celsius, but because the sandstorm has cut off the sunlight, the temperature continues to drop. I think the temperature may drop to minus one hundred degrees tonight."

"Put this on." Tang Yue took off an in-cabin spacesuit from the wall and handed it to Lao Mao.

"I'm a robot."

"I know you are a robot." Tang Yue said, "You can keep warm by wearing it, but you can't bear it even if it's over 68 degrees below zero."

The old cat was startled, and obediently put on the cabin suit. The cabin spacesuit was much lighter than the Mingguang Armor, and it did not have a life support system. For humans, it was not used for extravehicular operations, but the old cat It is a robot and does not require a complex life support system. The function of the cabin suit is only to prevent wind and heat preservation.

Tang Yue put the glass mask on the old cat, "How is it?"

The old cat moved his neck from side to side. "It's the first time I'm wearing a spacesuit. It feels a little strange, like I'm wearing a tortoise shell... The mask isn't big enough and it's touching my beard."

"Whenever you put on the Mingguang Armor, you will know what a real tortoise shell is." Tang Yue patted the old cat's mask, and one person and one cat looked at each other through two layers of glass.

They checked the safety rope on their body one last time and confirmed that there was no problem with the lock.

"Good Luck!"

The old cat carried the supply box on his back, pushed open the outer hatch of the airlock again, and staggered into the dark storm.

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More than half an hour later.

The old cat crawled into the airlock, covered in mud and sand, and looked miserable.

Tang Yue dragged it back and took off the old cat's mask, "Are you okay?"

"It's okay." The old cat nodded, opened his eyes, and leaned against the wall of the hall. "It's just that the wind and sand are too strong, and the temperature continues to drop-"

It lowered its head and glanced at the thermometer on the wrist of the spacesuit. "Here, it's minus seventy-two degrees Celsius. Without this suit, I might not be able to come back."

Tang Yue grabbed the old cat's paw hard, and the old cat shook his hand hard and smiled.

"Is it still possible?"

"No problem, let's continue."

The old cat carried the box and left Kunlun Station for the third time. Tang Yue held the safety rope and stayed in the airlock. He wanted to go out to help, but the old cat did not allow him to leave Kunlun Station. Humans and robots have innate differences in some aspects. huge gap.

As a robot, the old cat does not need to breathe, drink or eat. It can accurately determine the direction under extremely bad weather conditions, which is incomparable to humans. It's easy to lose your way.

The distance between the Eagle spacecraft and Kunlun Station is more than 100 meters, and it takes Laomao more than half an hour to go back and forth, which is dozens of times longer than normal.

The third delivery of supplies took the old cat more than forty minutes. Just when Tang Yue was so anxious that he was covered in sweat, the old cat crawled in.

It used the last bit of strength in its body to roll into the airlock door, then turned over and lay on the floor of the airlock, closed its eyes, and remained motionless.

The old cat was even more embarrassed than last time. In addition to being covered in mud and sand, the gloves of the space suit were also missing for some reason. The cat's two claws were cold and stiff from the cold.

"Old cat? Old cat!" Tang Yue helped him up, "Wake up!"

The old cat opened his eyes, shivered, and bared his teeth, "It's cold...it's really cold."

Tang Yue glanced at the thermometer on the wrist of Lao Mao's space suit. The number had dropped to minus seventy-six degrees Celsius. This temperature had broken the record Tang Yue had experienced so far. Lao Mao's gloves were missing, and inside the space suit, Almost complete loss of pressure will undoubtedly greatly reduce the thermal insulation effect.

"Where are the gloves? Where are your gloves, old cat?"

"Gloves? Well...the gloves were frozen and too slippery to hold on to the ladder." The old cat said tremblingly, "So I took off the gloves, hehe."

The fourth time it took the old cat nearly an hour to transport supplies.

It took longer and slower each time, and this time it didn't even have the strength to climb into the airlock. Instead, it fell in front of the airlock door and knocked on the door with all its strength. Finally, Tang Yue dragged it in.

Every time the old cat came back, he was more embarrassed than the last time. This time, not only were the gloves gone, but the spacesuit itself was damaged. A shocking crack ran across the old cat's mask. The inside of the mask was filled with turbid ice crystals. I don't know. It was water vapor or some other liquid mixed with dark sand that condensed on the glass. The cat's face was also covered with ice particles. Tang Yue took off its mask and accidentally broke the cat's whiskers.

"Unlucky, I accidentally fell off the gangway." The old cat said, "I didn't catch it properly... Also, remember to pay for my beard."

"You can't go again." Tang Yue shook his head, "It's me who will go out this time."

"Stop talking nonsense." The old cat's face was very calm. Of course, this may be because his frozen face has not recovered yet. "You can't hold it back physically. The environment outside is no longer suitable for the survival of any living thing. It's minus 80 degrees Celsius." , a sandstorm of more than 40 meters, if there is something wrong with the Mingguang Armor on your body, you will freeze into popsicles in a few seconds... Compared with here, Mount Everest and South Pole are childish."

“It’s still possible to just take one trip!”

The old cat has already made four trips, and Tang Yue cannot let the old cat take this risk again.

"Do you have any objections to my going this time?" The old cat's eyes squinted.

"have!"

"Just hold it in." Old Mao stood up and took off another set of cabin clothes from the wall, "There is still one last trip left... There is some anti-radiation agent in this last batch, and it must be sent up. I'll go back quickly, pack up all the supplies, and prepare for liftoff tomorrow."

The old cat took off the new mask and put it on himself. He stood in the hall in silence for a long time.

"I can come back if I go, but you may have to hang out outside... No need to argue. If you were Lao Wang, I would let you go. A rookie should behave like a rookie. If you hang up before me, Then I don’t want to lose face?”