Chapter 427 Eco-pod Challenge
"The relay in lunar orbit is nowhere to be seen yet. The ground-based module needs to hold out for the next ninety days."
He Yuzhu slammed the list on the table. The pages bounced up and then fell back down, revealing lines of black text: Lin Jianguo, Sun Xiuying, Liu Yongqiang, Wang Tiezhu. Lin Jianguo stood in front of the table, his hands hanging at his sides, his eyes fixed on the list, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Dean He, please tell me frankly, are you worried we won't be able to hold on?"
He Yuzhu leaned back in his chair, pointing at Lin Jianguo's name. "You designed this system; you know it best. Let me ask you, with a 94% oxygen regeneration rate, what accounts for the remaining 6%? Stored compressed oxygen. How many days will that compressed oxygen last?"
Lin Jianguo swallowed hard. "One hundred and twenty days."
"The water recycling rate is 98.3%, so where do you replenish the remaining 1% and 7% loss each day?"
"The algae are recovered from evaporation and condensation in the algae cultivation tank. The design parameters indicate a 100% reuse rate."
He Yuzhu stood up and walked very close to Lin Jianguo. "Design parameters are just design parameters. Once you're in there, the system will give you a taste of your own medicine. Which pipe is blocked, which pump is broken, which seal is leaking—you'll have to fix it all yourself. The ground staff will only monitor, not interfere. Can you manage all that by yourself?"
Lin Jianguo was silent for two seconds. He looked into He Yuzhu's eyes, his lips moved, and his voice was very low. "We have to fix it, even if it can't be fixed. I don't want to die in there."
He Yuzhu took a half step back and put his hands in his pockets. "That's right. Only those who are afraid of death can live. Once inside, you must report three times a day, morning, noon, and night, without fail. If I don't hear your voice once, I'll have someone knock on the window outside the cabin. Three knocks, no response, then I'll open the door. Opening the door means failure, and ninety days of work for nothing."
Lin Jianguo clenched his fist along the seam of his trousers. "Understood."
He Yuzhu turned and walked to the window, her back to him. "Is there anything else you want to say?"
Lin Jianguo's voice came from behind, slightly hoarse. "If I can't handle it, don't force yourself. It's better to lose face than to lose your life."
He Yuzhu didn't turn around. He heard Lin Jianguo turn around, his footsteps heading towards the door, the motion-activated lights turning on in the corridor, the footsteps fading into the distance and finally disappearing. He stood alone in the office for a long time, the second hand of the wall clock ticking once, then once more. He walked back to his desk, folded the list, and stuffed it into his pocket—actually transferring it to the system space.
At 7:30 the next morning, a dozen or so people crowded in front of the airlock of the eco-cabin. The corridor was narrow; some people stood against the wall, while others squatted on the floor smoking, the smoke appearing as a thin mist under the fluorescent lights. Lin Jianguo was the first to arrive, wearing a light blue work uniform and black cloth shoes, clutching a book titled "Spacecraft Orbital Dynamics" in his hand, spine down, thumb wedged on the open page. He stood at the airlock entrance, occasionally glancing up at the circular observation window above the door; on the other side of the glass, the green light of the algae cultivation tank flickered.
Sun Xiuying stood beside him, her hair tied in a ponytail, a stethoscope hanging around her neck, the metal stethoscope tip warmed by her own body heat in her hand. She didn't speak, her eyes fixed on the sealing strip at the bottom of the airlock, examining it again and again.
Liu Yongqiang squatted on the ground, unzipping and zipping up his toolbox, taking out each tool, turning it around in his hand, and then putting it back. His lips were moving, and he was muttering something, but his voice was too soft to hear.
Wang Tiezhu stood ramrod straight, his hands pressed against his trouser seams, his military boots gleaming under the fluorescent lights. He didn't look at his tools, nor at the hatch; his gaze was fixed on the window at the end of the corridor. Outside, it was still dark, a hazy gray.
He Yuzhu walked over from the other end of the corridor. His footsteps were light, but everyone heard him and stood up straight. He stood in front of the airlock and glanced at the four people.
"This is the last time I'll ask. It's not too late for anyone to quit now."
Nobody moved.
"Lin Jianguo".
No refund.
"Sun Xiuying".
No refund.
"Liu Yongqiang".
No refund.
"Wang Tiezhu".
Wang Tiezhu didn't speak. He took a step forward, stood in front of He Yuzhu, and saluted. "Dean He, I have a favor to ask of you."
"explain."
"If I die in there, don't tell my mother. Just say I went on a business trip, went to a place too far away, and couldn't come back."
The corridor fell silent. The person who had been squatting on the floor smoking put out their cigarette, extinguishing the embers on the concrete. Sun Xiuying looked down at her stethoscope, her thumb rubbing the head of the stethoscope back and forth. Liu Yongqiang zipped up his tool bag, then unzipped it again, the sound particularly loud in the quiet.
He Yuzhu looked into Wang Tiezhu's eyes. Those eyes were clear and bright, without flinching.
"You won't die. But I'll remember what you said."
Wang Tiezhu lowered his hand, stepped back, and stood up straight again.
He Yuzhu glanced at his watch. 7:50. "Enter the cabin in ten minutes. Before entering, everyone should use the toilet one more time. The toilets inside the cabin cannot be used for the first three days; they can only be used after the water circulation system has stabilized."
The four of them lined up and walked towards the restroom at the other end of the corridor. Lin Jianguo was at the back. After taking a few steps, he turned back to look at He Yuzhu, opened his mouth slightly, then closed it again, turned around and continued walking.
It was exactly eight o'clock. Four people stood in a row outside the airlock. He Yuzhu stood opposite them, holding a walkie-talkie.
"Entry order: Lin Jianguo, Sun Xiuying, Liu Yongqiang, Wang Tiezhu. Once inside, proceed directly to your respective posts and do not wander around. Lin Jianguo is responsible for closing the airlock."
Lin Jianguo was the first to crawl in. The cabin was small, only fifteen square meters, and four adults were crammed in, barely able to turn around. He walked to the control panel, his fingers resting on it, but he didn't press any buttons. Sun Xiuying came in, standing in the corner, her back against the support of the algae cultivation tank. The metal frame pressed against her lower back, making her shiver. Liu Yongqiang came in, squatted down to examine the wheat seedlings, reached out and touched the leaves, then withdrew his finger. Wang Tiezhu was the last to enter, standing inside the airlock, turning to face the outside.
He Yuzhu raised the walkie-talkie. "Internal communication test. Lin Jianguo."
"clear."
"Sun Xiuying".
"clear."
"Liu Yongqiang".
"clear."
"Wang Tiezhu".
"clear."
He Yuzhu put down the walkie-talkie and waved into the cabin. Lin Jianguo also waved.
The airlock began to close. The hydraulic system pushed the heavy metal door, and the rubber sealing strip pressed against the edge of the door, making a creaking sound. The gap in the door narrowed, from ten centimeters to five centimeters, and then to one centimeter.
When they were just ten centimeters apart, Liu Yongqiang suddenly took a step forward, his shoulder nearly hitting the doorframe. Lin Jianguo grabbed his arm, his fingers digging into his upper arm.
"Hold on tight."
Liu Yongqiang's lips trembled twice, and he slowly retreated.
The airlock clicked shut. On the other side of the observation window, four faces were pressed against the glass, their eyes fixed intently on the outside.
He Yuzhu stood in front of the observation window, looking at the four faces. Lin Jianguo's lips twitched, as if he wanted to laugh but didn't. Sun Xiuying put a stethoscope in her ear and placed the probe against Liu Yongqiang's chest, probably checking his heartbeat. Wang Tiezhu stood at the very back, holding onto the support of the algae culture tank, his eyes not looking out the window, but at the ventilation opening above his head.
He Yuzhu picked up the walkie-talkie. "Lin Jianguo, the ninety-day countdown begins now."
Lin Jianguo's voice came through the walkie-talkie, very low. "Begin."
He Yuzhu put the walkie-talkie back in his pocket. He glanced at his watch. 8:03.
He turned and walked down the corridor. The motion-activated lights came on, and his footsteps echoed in the empty underground space. Halfway there, he stopped and glanced back. On the other side of the observation window, the four faces were still there, like four photographs pasted onto the glass.
He didn't linger, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor. The elevator doors closed.
He leaned against the elevator wall and closed his eyes. Wang Tiezhu's words echoed in his mind—"Don't tell my mother." He had seen the boy's mother before; thin, dark-skinned, with cracked hands, she farmed in rural Hebei. Her son had fought on the border and was now holed up in an iron tank fifteen meters underground, where he hadn't seen the sun for ninety days.
The elevator doors opened. He walked to his office, pushed open the door, and sat down. The non-destructive testing report for the superconducting ring was still open on the same page as that morning. He picked up a pen and wrote a line in the blank space of the report: "8:03 AM, the ecological chamber is sealed. Four people are in the chamber, in stable condition."
After finishing the report, I closed it and stuffed it into the drawer. Outside the window, sunlight shone on the snowdrifts; half of the dirty snow had melted, revealing the gray cement floor underneath.
His gaze shifted from the window to the list on the corner of the table—Lin Jianguo, Sun Xiuying, Liu Yongqiang, Wang Tiezhu. Four names, four signatures, four red handprints. He picked up the list, folded it, and put it into his system space. Then he opened the next document and continued working.
The second hand of the wall clock jumps once, then jumps again.
8:11.
The hatch closed for eight minutes.
There are 89 days, 23 hours, and 52 minutes left.