Chapter 463 Extra 7 Above the Stars

Toronto Hamilton International Airport.

Tang Qiu dragged his luggage and passed through customs smoothly.

The little red ball is held in the hand, and the contents inside have been copied out. It is now just an ordinary toy.

In the past three months, more things seemed to have happened than in her entire life. Looking back at the customs window, she felt dazed.

Although she submitted a report of leave of absence to the school, Tang Qiu knew in her heart that in order to avoid trouble, from the moment she stepped on the plane, unless something major happened, she would probably never return to Canada in her life.

Did that guy Musk catch up with that literary girl?

What is He Ran doing? I hit him on the head before and he didn’t apologize. Isn’t he angry?

Vidyan…

The Barbie-like shadow appeared before my eyes again.

What kind of family could raise a girl like Vidyan? Her temperament was unique among all the people she had ever met.

Tang Qiu was dragging his luggage with a lot on his mind, and only when he could no longer move forward did he remember to raise his head.

The flow of people suddenly became dense, and many people stopped and looked up at the big screen in the airport, where a host in professional suits was broadcasting the news.

“This is Channel 6 News, citing reports from AFP and other media outlets that US-Soviet relations may see a major turning point today.”

“After winning the election, President George Bush decided to fulfill his campaign promise – to end the Cold War once and for all.”

“On November 11, the US and Soviet delegations held large-scale political consultations in the neutral region of Cuba. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the German annexation, the peninsula issue, and the reduction of their respective strategic nuclear arsenals.”

“On November 11, President George Bush made an official visit to Moscow and held a six-hour closed-door conversation with Secretary Gorbachev in the Kremlin. Both sides expressed optimism about the positive signals they sent during the meeting.”

“On November 11, Soviet foreign affairs spokesman Shevardnadze officially announced that the United States and the Soviet Union would conduct a series of exchanges, including jointly launching the human genome mapping project, establishing a true world joint sports event, and establishing an agreement on the European Energy Cooperation Organization.”

“Earlier this month, the Soviet Space Agency and NASA jointly announced that the United States and the Soviet Union will take an important step in the field of space cooperation. The Soviet Union will invite six citizens from different countries to board the Salyut 6 space station for space exchanges. NASA will be responsible for the training of all members.”

“This was the first official space cooperation between the Soviet Union and the United States since the Apollo-Soyuz test program in 1975, and it was also NASA’s first attempt to restart civilian space travel after the Challenger space shuttle disaster.”

“Five civilian members of this exchange program will be accepted from all over the world, and the sixth person has been confirmed. The British royal heir, Victoria Vivienne Mary Alexandra Windsor, who has never appeared in the public eye, that is, Princess Vivienne, who just turned 18, will represent the United Kingdom on Salyut 7. She will witness this world cooperation throughout and become a witness to the end of the Cold War.”

The camera on the screen was pointed at the podium. Tang Qiu’s roommate, who had just celebrated his 18th birthday, was wearing a space training suit and waving and smiling at the public. Hundreds of cameras below were constantly shooting film with the help of flashlights.

Miss Tang’s mouth shape turned into an “O”.
–
Johnson Space Center, Houston.

There was a conversation coming from the center director’s office.
“Nothing can go wrong. I need to be absolutely sure!”

“The Soviets have been in trouble in the past two years. If Mikoyan hadn’t saved them a good fortune before his death, they might have collapsed before our eyes.”

“We need to demonstrate America’s aerospace strength. Only in this way can the Soviet Union make more concessions in the next round of talks, and we can ask Congress for more budget.”

“Therefore, I will never allow the word [unsuitable] to appear in the report, Jason, do you understand what I mean?!”

bump!
The door was closed, and a staff member wearing a NASA logo walked out, then returned to his office and threw a thick stack of materials in front of his colleagues.

“It’s a mess. The bureaucrats have given me a lot of trouble in order to get funding from Congress. These ordinary people who have not received any training do not meet the basic standards for going into space. Two of them even have to lose weight as their first priority.”

“Jason, have the personnel been confirmed? Aren’t we going to recruit people from all over the world?” His colleagues looked at him strangely.

“Come on, this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this kind of political slogan.” The man named Jason picked up his cup, poured instant coffee into it, and threw six sugar cubes into it. Then he continued.

“Only two of them were selected from the public, and the other three had some kind of Wall Street connection behind them. Those guys thought that being on Salyut 2 was a good gimmick.”

“Damn it! I hate these capitalists! They are always breaking the rules of the game!”

“But they also gave enough money, about 30% of the extra funding, half of which will become staff benefits.”

“Fuck! I love this!”

The man took his colleague’s coffee and drank it all, and raised the cup, “Cheers to the lovely Franklin.”

“How is Her Highness? Washington is very concerned about her condition. After all, it would be bad for a large mascot to faint in space.”

“See for yourself. She’s the one I’m least worried about.” The man threw over another medical examination report.

puff! !

The man sprayed out the instant coffee, making the table in front of him a mess.

“Are you sure you got the right one? With that kind of physique, you could even sign up for the Navy SEALs.”

“I’m sure. The medical examination center and here have confirmed repeatedly that these are the parameters of that prince.” The other party shrugged and wiped the stain in front of his eyes with a tissue.

“Her explosive power, concentration, vision, endurance…all are top-notch. If you continue to eat so many sugary foods, it shouldn’t take her more than half a minute to kill you head-on.”

“Not only that, his highness is the only one with a pilot’s license, and he has more than 400 hours of airborne training.”

“Speaking of which, it seems that His Majesty is also known as the Ace of Aerial Combat. Does the British royal family have any special talent in this area?”

“Who knows, maybe it’s something else. Aren’t we supposedly decoding the human genome?” a colleague said half-jokingly.
–
A year later, flowers filled the makeshift platform at the Houston Rockets Launch Center.

The team led by Vidian stood in front of the camera and saluted the people frequently.

Teachers, professional managers, truck drivers, office clerks, athletes…

Mexico, Sweden, Türkiye, the United States, Egypt…

These “civilian astronauts” cover five different professions from five different countries. In order to win votes, the United States even specially put forward a black team member.

Led by two professional astronauts from NASA, they will board an upgraded Apollo spacecraft to dock with the Soviet Union’s second-generation space station Salyut 14 in orbit. For this work, the Soviet Union and the United States even exchanged aerospace data and modified the design of the docking hatch according to the design of the Soyuz TMA-M.

“This is a small step for us in space travel, but a giant step for human civilization towards reconciliation and unity.” Vidyan ended her speech with this, accepting applause from the crowd as the heir to the royal family.

Now that she has reached adulthood, she will officially enter the political arena and become active in front of the people of the entire Commonwealth countries.

At the launch center, the Saturn 1B, a large rocket specially built to operate space vehicles, stands tall, with hundreds of cameras pointed at it. This “journey of the century” will be broadcast live to the whole world.

Inside the aircraft, Zell McDonald, the federal pilot in charge of this flight, looked at the silent girl in the space suit beside him and whispered
“Your Highness, your short hair is still full of charm. I believe that the one billion people watching the live broadcast will be conquered by you.”

“Thank you! I feel good.” Vidian, who had cut her hair short in order to take off, subconsciously touched her neck. The white bullet that had once been used as a talisman had been taken off and handed over to her mother.

“OK! Houston, everything is fine here, we are waiting for takeoff.”

Half an hour later, the Saturn 1B rocket took off.

“Okay! The rocket has completed separation and entered orbit successfully!”

“Slow down, slow down, no problem, Apollo successfully docked with Salyut 7!”

“Yes!!!” Warm applause broke out in the control room.

At the same time, the same applause rang out in the Kremlin, Buckingham Palace, Capitol Hill, and major auditoriums around the world.

In the auditorium of Queen’s College, Musk’s mouth was wide open, and he was in an inexplicable state. He didn’t even notice his new girlfriend pushing him.

After five minutes, the big boy’s lips moved slightly. “Cool~~~ bro, our angel really flew to heaven this time. I want to get one of these things later.”

The well-mannered girlfriend at the side quickly twisted Musk’s arm and turned to apologize to He Ran, “He, don’t mind, Elon just made a slip of the tongue.”

“It doesn’t matter, we have known each other for a long time and I understand him.” He Ran shook his head and did not take the possible ambiguity in Musk’s words to heart. He just looked at his sister with a serious face on the screen and felt a little lost for a moment.

The distance between the two people seems to be getting farther and farther.

It’s not just the distance in the sky.

When his father was young, it was probably by chance that he had his younger sister, Vivian, with the royal family who were visiting Cape Town at the time.

Before they became adults, the two of them would probably see each other for no more than two weeks a year. In fact, this time they spent more time together in Canada.

Now that Vidian has officially entered the public eye, it might be difficult for me to meet him again.

“Ah!!!” A scream brought He Ran back to his senses.

“What happened?!”

“I’m dazzled. Did that astronaut attack someone else?”

“What’s going on? What’s going on? Is it a show effect?”

People were talking about it, and He Ran suddenly looked up at the screen. The picture on it was delayed and stuck, and it was a mess, as if some people were fighting.

click!
The broadcast signal was interrupted.

When~~~
A gilded cup fell from her hand. The small hall in Windsor Castle was eerily silent. The Queen, who was watching the live broadcast, covered her mouth with trembling hands.

On Capitol Hill, President George Bush’s face looked more serious than ever, and the entourage around him moved like ants.

Shevardnadze, who was holding a press conference in the Kremlin, walked off the stage without saying a word, leaving the reporters behind.

Berlin, BJ, Paris, Tokyo, Havana, Johannesburg, Mexico City… almost all government leaders are watching the development of the situation.

The Houston Launch Center called out over and over again, and the communicator almost broke his throat.

Finally, under everyone’s gaze, a woman’s slightly panting voice was heard from the microphone.

“Houston, this is Salyut 7, we are in trouble.”
–
“Santos and Samor suddenly attacked when they were shaking hands with Soviet astronauts, stabbed several people, and smashed some equipment. We just controlled them.” Vidian called Houston breathlessly.

NASA officials felt a sinking feeling in their hearts. Both men were brought in by Wall Street through bribery. If this were to be exposed, it would be a huge scandal.

“How are you?” the commander asked, grabbing the microphone.

“Not so good. The navigator and a Soviet astronaut were injured in the attack. I gave them simple treatment, but the conditions in space…”

“Your Highness, please stay calm. We will immediately guide you to complete the following procedures. Please wait for follow-up orders.” After putting down the phone, the commander picked up the red intercom next to him.

“Help me take over the White House, quickly!”

In less than half an hour, Washington and Moscow had an emergency communication. Both sides exercised utmost restraint in the face of this situation and made a unified decision – all activities below the space station were canceled and the personnel had to return to the ground first.

“Salyut 7, this is Houston, please return immediately.”

“Roger that, Houston, but the navigator is not doing well and is in a semi-comatose state.”

“Give the communication to the Soviet astronaut. I will tell him how to operate it. Washington and Moscow have already authorized it.”

“Okay, the communication will be switched to Moscow immediately. Please be prepared.”

Faced with the emergency, Vidian showed calmness beyond her age. When the navigator lost consciousness, she almost became the commander on the scene. While communicating with the Soviet astronauts skillfully in Russian, she began to prepare for the return of the Apollo spacecraft according to the training manual.

At Windsor Castle, Thatcher leaned over to Elizabeth’s ear and whispered, “Congratulations, Your Majesty! Your daughter is outstanding enough to make all British people proud.”

“I firmly believe it.” The queen nodded slightly, but she could not hide the anxiety on her face. She subconsciously squeezed the silver bullet in her palm.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the alarm sounded again in the Houston command hall.

“Salyut 7 is in an abnormal posture and is starting to drop in altitude. The reason is unknown!”

“The decline is still continuing and will become irreversible in 14 hours!”

“What does Moscow say?”

“We are still in contact, and the other party is also urgently looking for the cause.”

“Shit! Make the Russians hurry up! It’s too late!”

At this moment, Vidyan’s voice rang out from the microphone on the table, “This is Salyut 7. Apollo is ready and can be evacuated at any time.”

…………

The command hall fell silent.

If the astronauts evacuate at this time, Salyut 7 will be 100% irreparable and the only outcome waiting for it is to fall to the earth.

After consulting the White House, the commander picked up the phone again and said, “Your Highness, there is a problem here…”

Fifteen minutes later, aerospace experts reported to President George Bush at the White House.

“Mr. President, the situation has become clear. Due to the recent increase in solar activity, the orbit of Salyut 7 has been in a state of compression and decay. The conflict that just happened seems to have triggered a device that accelerated the decay of Salyut 7, speeding up the process that originally took more than a year to 14 hours.” “Damn it! What do you mean by a device?! I need an accurate answer!”

“I’m sorry, sir. Even Moscow can’t explain the specific reasons, and there’s no time to investigate in detail. But it’s an inevitable fact that Salyut 7 will fall into the atmosphere within a dozen hours.”

“Damn it! Why at this moment?” George Bush slammed his fist into his palm.

He gambled his political life for this century-long partnership. If he could end the Cold War himself, he would become a great president like Washington, but now everything is over.

The sudden attack by the astronauts who were supposed to be cooperating and communicating caused the Salyut 7 to crash prematurely. This looked like a carefully planned conspiracy no matter how you looked at it.

“Immediately calculate the falling trajectory of Salyut 7 and see where it might land?” The president took a deep breath and ordered. Since the outcome could not be changed, what needed to be done now was to reduce the losses.

“Moscow has received news that according to the results given by their experts, there is a 75% probability that the crash site is near Buenos Aires, Argentina.”

hiss~~
Densely populated areas! This is almost the worst possible outcome.

“Pass the message to Salyut 7 and let the astronauts make their own choice.” This was the only arrangement he could make in the end.

Salyut 7, living quarters.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the situation. We must make a choice now,” Soviet astronaut Vladimir Titov explained to the crowd in front of him.

“If we leave like this, Salyut 7 will most likely fall into a densely populated area, which would be a huge disaster.”

“I am the only professional astronaut who is still awake and working. My plan is that you will take the injured back to Earth on the Apollo.”

“What about you?” someone asked.

“I will stay here and try my best to operate Salyut 7 and make it fall into the sea as much as possible.” Titov looked at the blue earth in front of him and made his own decision.

The meritorious astronaut decided to defend his honor with his life.

But now a new problem has arisen
“I, none of us can operate Apollo…” A Swedish woman who was a teacher on the space station raised her hand weakly.

“No?!” Titov looked around with his eyes wide open.

At this time, even the smartest Vidian shook her head.

The disadvantages of quickly training astronauts were revealed. These symbolic civilians only received the most basic training in a limited time, and no one taught them how to operate the Apollo.

This thing is not a kart. There are instructions on when to adjust the track to cut into the atmosphere, when to re-ignite the engine, and how to break through the black barrier area. During the process, communication with the ground will be completely ineffective for a period of time, so even if you want guidance, you can’t do it.

Now that the NASA navigator is in a coma, letting inexperienced rookies operate the Apollo is almost the same as committing suicide.

After a moment of silence, Vidyan stepped forward and said, “Mr. Titov, I admire your spirit of sacrifice, but now it seems that you need to go with us. Only your professional skills can lead us back home. The people here also need you.”

“Your Highness, for the sake of a few of you, are you going to let the earth face a disaster?” Titov thought Vidian said this in order to survive.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Vidyan shook her head slightly and made a decision that surprised everyone.
“You take everyone away, and I’ll stay.” The blonde princess said calmly.

? ? ? ! ! ! ! !
Everyone looked at the young princess in surprise. They didn’t understand why she, who was of the most noble status, would make such a choice.

“I understand Russian and have read the operating manual of Salyut 7. Before the communication is cut off, I will follow the ground command and try my best to push the falling trajectory of Salyut 7 away from the Argentine area.”

“But you obviously don’t know how to operate the Apollo, how could you…” Moved by her noble behavior, Titov subconsciously called the 18-year-old girl “you”.

“That’s different. After all, destroying the orbit is much easier than entering it.” Vidian smiled calmly.

“Believe me, I had the best math grades in school, and this method is the best solution.”

“Okay, you can contact the ground now. Please tell me the necessary operations as soon as possible. We have limited time.”

The news was quickly transmitted back to the ground, and for a time the top leaders of the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union were all shocked.

George Bush stood at the window for a long time without saying a word.

“Do you know what His Royal Highness means?” the president asked Secretary of State Shultz.

“Yes, Mr. President.” Schultz nodded slightly.

“Argentina was the country that had the coldest reaction to the space station activities because they had just lost a local war with Britain a few years ago, and we sent a British princess up there.”

“If Salyut 7 crashes into Argentina after the princess boards the space station, causing casualties, all hostility will be directed at Britain, and the two sides will almost certainly become mortal enemies.”

“But it would be different if the princess took the initiative to become a martyr.”

“No one will blame the captain who held on to the sinking ship until the last moment. Even if she did not succeed, Britain would have a third saint after the Windsor sisters. From now on, any leader of a country will have to take off his hat to salute whenever he walks past Buckingham Palace.”

“That’s right.” President Bush put his hands on his desk. “Now it all depends on what London chooses.”

Half an hour later, news came back from London.

The message was simple: Her Majesty the Queen respects her daughter’s choice.

A few minutes later, broadcasts around the world began to resume, and Vivian’s lovely image appeared on the big screen again.

She took a deep breath.

“This is Salyut Seven, Victoria Vidiane Mary Alexandra Windsor speaking to you.”

“We came to the space 200 kilometers away with the best wishes to convey to everyone the will of all mankind for reconciliation.”

“But now there is a little accident. The space station is falling towards the land of South America…”

“As the legitimate heir to the royal family, I swear by the rights granted to me by my mother that I will stay here until the last moment to protect our people from any unexpected harm.”

“Whatever happens next, let God decide. Please do not direct your hatred towards other people, because that goes against the original intention of reconciliation for all mankind…”

“I’m sorry, but I probably don’t have much time left. I would like to selfishly spend the rest of my time with my family.”
–
Silence. Almost the whole world fell into silence. People sat in front of the TV without saying a word. There was also the faint sound of women sobbing.

People were powerless to stop the tragedy that was about to happen, and it seemed that the whole world was plunged into sorrow.

Boom! ! ! !

The door of the auditorium was kicked open and He Ran rushed out.

“He! Wait! Where are you going?!” Musk chased out from behind.

“Go to the space center, I want to talk to Vidian!”

“It’s too late to be 500 kilometers away from here! Unless you can fly!”

“I don’t care! I…” He Ran said frantically, but suddenly found that he was really helpless.

“Damn it! Why is this happening!” He punched the ground, making a dull thud.

When he was at a loss, there was suddenly a strong airflow from behind him, which made his hair start to dance.

He Ran looked up at the sky and a huge shadow enveloped him – it turned out to be a two-seat Harrier fighter!
The huge noise attracted people’s attention, and students looked out from the teaching building.

Click! The cabin opened, and a familiar oriental face appeared.

“Dad?!” “Uncle?!” The two boys looked at the big guy in front of them in surprise.

“He Ran, come up! We’ll talk about other things on the way!” He Chi threw down a flight jacket and helmet, and motioned for him to come up.

He Ran climbed onto the plane using both his hands and feet.

“Dad, where are we going?”

“Need I say more? Go save your sister!”

The Harrier fighter roared into the air!

At the same time, signals of unidentified intruders are constantly flashing on the North American air defense network!

“Can anyone tell me where this guy came from?!” the commander of the Joint Air Defense Command yelled angrily.

“It was said to have taken off from inside a submarine on the coastline! It barely gave my air defense system time to react.”

“Send out the F-18 Hornets! Intercept it!”

“Yes, sir, we are already in contact, just now…”

The lights in the command room suddenly flickered, and then all communications were interrupted.

“What is that?! Electronic interference?!”

“I don’t know, the interference is so strong that we can’t receive anything!”

At this moment, the signal on the big screen went out and a simple English sentence popped up on it:
“Be quiet and don’t make trouble!”

The Harrier fighter flew at high speed and was picked up by the Red October submarine in the Atlantic Ocean. After a second refueling, it continued to move northward until the vegetation on the land became less and less, and even snowy areas appeared.

“Is this Greenland?!” He Ran asked as he looked at the surrounding scenery.

“Yes, you are good at geography.” He Chi answered in the front while driving a fighter jet.

“Why are we here?”

“Go find your sister. We need to get a bigger plane.”

The fog in the distance gradually dissipated, and a towering “big guy” was rising from the ground.

A swan-like space shuttle was waiting there quietly, with the word “White Knight” written in English on its body.

A few minutes later, the Soviet Union and the United States almost simultaneously observed a large space device rising into the sky in North America.

The white knight turned into light and soared into the sky! ——
Salyut 7, Titov saluted and got into the connecting cabin. He was in a bad mood at the moment. Leaving a little girl here would damage his honor.

Apollo slowly separated from Salyut 7, began to change its orbit towards the Earth, and soon became a small dot.

The space station fell silent, with only the sound of Vidian pressing various buttons after communicating with the ground command.

As time passed, the earth began to enlarge in my eyes.

The blonde sniffed and wiped her face with her hand.

“I’m sorry, mother and father, I lied. I was actually a little scared.” Vidian murmured.

This is not simply a fear of the pain of death, but an unwillingness to face eternal loneliness.

Click! Vidyan turned off the communicator, tears streaming down her face, turning into small dewdrops floating in the air.

“Someone help me…”

“Mother……”

“Father……”

I don’t know if God heard her call, but it seemed that light appeared before her eyes.

Vidian rubbed her eyes hard and found that it was not an illusion. A white space shuttle was heading towards this side at the end of the blue earth.

“Salute Seven, Salyut Seven, can you hear me?!” A familiar voice came from the intercom.

“Dad, is that you?” Vidian responded in a crying voice.

“Of course it’s me, and your brother is here too.” He Chi looked at the space station in front of him and smiled.

“I’m proud of you, baby!”

An hour later, Salyut 7 fell into the atmosphere and after experiencing high heat and friction, it broke into more than a dozen fragments of different sizes. Like a beautiful meteor, it brushed past the South American plate and fell into the Pacific Ocean.

Upon hearing the news, many countries in South America took the initiative to lower their flags to half-mast to express condolences. Citizens in Buenos Aires, the original scheduled landing point of the space station, placed flowers and candles on the roadside. People used this method to express their highest respect.

In the dust and fog of dawn, the blue and white Argentine flag was raised in front of the presidential palace and then slowly lowered, and sad military music played.

The first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds.

Suddenly, people saw a pure white figure flying in the sky with the sunlight, and finally merged into the white clouds.

The whole book is finished!
(End of this chapter)