The wind swirled blades of grass to her feet. Susan looked down, then brushed her hair aside. She sat on a metal plate next to the spaceship's landing gear, leaning against the hull, her eyes half-closed.
"Are you really leaving now?" she asked.
Chen Hao was bending down to check the locking latches of the gangway when he heard the sound. He straightened up and brushed the dust off his palms. "If we don't leave now, are we going to wait until dark? It's the middle of nowhere, and there might be wild dogs at night."
"This place looks pretty clean," she said. "There isn't even a trash can, so where would you find stray dogs?"
“Stray dogs don’t like trash cans,” Chen Hao said. “They specifically choose to live in the wreckage of high-tech equipment.”
Carl poked his head out of the hatch, holding a data cable. "The left thruster connector was a bit loose, I just tightened it. If you really want to take off immediately, you'll have Nana do a full system self-check first."
“I’ve done it.” Nana’s voice came from inside the ship. She stood in front of the control panel, her finger sliding across the screen. The screen flashed a few times and displayed a series of coordinates. “Navigation system activated. Target city set as the Eastern District Joint Administrative Center of the Capital Region. Estimated journey time: two hours and seventeen minutes.”
"Sounds like a bus timetable." Chen Hao walked into the driver's seat and plopped down in it. The chair made a dull thud, as if it were being suffocated by the weight.
He reached out and touched the control lever, then pulled his hand back and turned to the passenger seat. "Susan, want to get in?"
"Are you sure you can fly steadily?" She didn't move. "When we landed just now, the tires were almost sparking."
“That’s style,” Chen Hao said. “We need to make a strong impression when we land, otherwise people will think we’re here as refugees.”
“We always were,” Karl said, entering the cabin and closing the door behind him. With a click, the sealing latch closed.
Nana stared at the screen, then suddenly frowned. It wasn't a real frown; robots don't have the ability to move their muscles to express emotions, but she tilted her head slightly, and the data stream in her pupils paused for a moment.
“Location signal interrupted,” she said. “We are attempting to reconnect.”
Chen Hao leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "It's fine, let it connect. It's not like we can't find our way."
“The problem is,” Nana said, pulling up the diagnostic interface, “that the signal is intermittent. In the past three minutes, the coordinates have changed twelve times, the last time showing that we are on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean.”
"It's quite cool there," Chen Hao said. "I suggest we change our route and go on vacation."
“This isn’t a program error.” Nana tapped her fingers rapidly. “It’s more likely an external interference source. It could be a strong magnetic field nearby, or the communication tower is emitting a shielded wave.”
Carl leaned closer for a look. "Could it be the military's monitoring system? We just got back and landed in an uninhabited area; they might think we're illegally trespassing."
“Then we should run even more.” Chen Hao slapped the armrest. “The more like a fugitive we are, the more justified we should be in running.”
Susan finally stood up and slowly walked up the gangway. She leaned against the doorframe and glanced at the sky outside the window. "Don't you guys think there are...too many clouds today?"
"Will too many clouds affect navigation?" Chen Hao asked.
“It won’t affect it,” Nana replied. “But ionospheric disturbances can interfere with low-orbit signal transmission. If the density of charged particles in the atmosphere is abnormal, it may cause shortwave communication attenuation.”
"In other words," Chen Hao concluded, "even God is trying to trip us up."
"To be precise, it's a combination of natural phenomena and man-made signal interference," Nana corrected.
“She’s right.” Carl squatted down in front of the control box in the rear cabin and opened the cover. “I just checked the power module. The output voltage is normal, but the feedback current of the GPS receiver is unstable. Either the antenna is damp, or someone is deliberately suppressing the civilian frequency band.”
"Who would specifically target us?" Susan sat in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. "A beat-up spaceship and four survivors crawling out of the ground, is it worth using military-grade interference?"
“Maybe it’s not targeting us,” Nana said. “It’s probably just a standard defense mechanism. After the cataclysm, all unregistered aircraft will be automatically added to the watch list.”
"So we have to register first?" Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "Then we'll be locked in an isolation zone, have our blood drawn, be questioned, write reports, and not be able to get out for three months?"
"That's the procedure," Nana nodded.
"Then I won't follow the procedures." Chen Hao grabbed the control stick. "Manual navigation is fine too. At worst, I can just look for the sun to find my way, just like ancient sailors."
“You can’t even tell east from west,” Susan said.
“I can read maps.” Chen Hao pulled out an old tablet. “I picked it up at station B-13 last time. It still works. It has the national highway network and major city markers on it.”
“The map was last updated ten years ago,” Nana glanced at it. “The terrain may have changed since then.”
“Ten years is enough to build a new city.” Karl walked over from behind and stood behind Chen Hao. “But at least we can see the general direction. Let’s fly to a place where we can see the buildings first, and then decide how to proceed.”
"Then it's settled." Chen Hao pressed the start button. The engine roared to life, the cabin lights illuminated, and the instrument panel lit up one by one.
Nana continued to stare at the navigation screen. The data stream interrupted again, the coordinates became garbled, and after a few seconds it resumed, but then jumped to 70 degrees North latitude.
"The signal is still unstable," she said.
“Try switching channels,” Carl suggested. “Use a spare frequency band to bypass the backbone network.”
Nana operated the system a few times. "Switched to civilian emergency channel. Currently receiving signals from three base stations, but the strength is below the threshold, making triangulation impossible."
“In other words,” Chen Hao grinned, “we are flying blind now.”
“Not entirely.” Nana pulled up a topographic map. “Infrared scanning still works. I can determine the distribution of roads and vegetation based on surface temperature differences to help correct the course.”
“It sounds like night vision goggles,” Susan said.
"The principles are similar," Nana nodded.
"Let's take off then." Chen Hao pulled the throttle valve. "Anyway, we don't have anything else to do. We can't just stay here growing vegetables and living a leisurely life."
The engine thrust gradually increased, and the spacecraft began to vibrate slightly. The grass under the landing gear was flattened by the airflow, and dust began to rise.
Suddenly, the control panel emitted a short alarm.
"Warning: Navigation system synchronization failed," Nana read out the message. "Autoflight mode is unavailable."
“I know.” Chen Hao released the autopilot button. “I’ll do it myself.”
“But the altimeter and attitude sensor data are delayed by 0.8 seconds,” Nana added. “This means that what you see is less than a second slower than what is actually happening.”
“That’s enough.” Chen Hao stared ahead. “I’m not going to do aerial acrobatics.”
The spaceship slowly lifted off the ground, hovering at a height of about ten meters. The distant city silhouettes were faintly visible beneath the clouds.
“Due east.” Carl looked at the tablet. “Flying along this old railway line should allow us to avoid the restricted area.”
"Alright." Chen Hao pushed the control stick, and the spaceship tilted forward and began to accelerate.
Just then, the navigation screen flashed and the coordinates were reset to zero.
“The signal is lost,” Nana said.
"Continue." Chen Hao didn't turn around.
"Five attempts failed. System message: External signal blocking level is C, authorization key required to unlock."
“No key.” Carl frowned. “Our identity verification hasn’t been uploaded yet, so we can’t possibly have the necessary permissions.”
"Then we'll have to rely on visual flight." Chen Hao gripped the control stick tightly. "Anyway, there are no mountains ahead."
“There are high-voltage power line towers,” Nana suddenly said.
"What?"
"At three o'clock, 800 meters away, at the same altitude as now."
Chen Hao turned his head and saw a row of iron towers standing at the end of the field, the power lines gleaming in the sunlight.
He quickly adjusted his course to avoid the obstacle.
“This is troublesome.” Carl sat down. “Without stable navigation, we can’t fly far. If we accidentally enter a no-fly zone, we’ll be shot down.”
“No one will shoot us down,” Chen Hao said. “We’re heroes. The news of the ‘missing spaceship returning’ must have been broadcast on TV.”
"That is, someone has to know we're back," Susan reminded us.
There was a moment of silence inside the cabin.
Nana tried restarting the navigation module again. The screen flickered a few times, and a message appeared: "[Location service is limited, please contact the management center]".
"Restrictions?" Chen Hao sneered. "We just came back alive from outer space, and we can't even go home?"
“Perhaps it’s not targeting any individual,” Nana said. “In the last three years, there have been seven illegal aircraft crashes worldwide, all on the edge of uninhabited areas. Governments may have increased surveillance.”
"So we have to sneak in?" Susan asked.
“No.” Chen Hao stared ahead. “We’re going to fly over there openly and honestly, so they can see clearly—this isn’t an invasion, it’s going home.”
After he finished speaking, he pushed the throttle valve all the way down.
The engines roared louder, and the spaceship accelerated forward. The landscape rushed past, with villages, rivers, and abandoned factories flashing by.
Nana continued to debug the system. Every ten seconds or so, the screen would flash, and the coordinates would jump.
“I’ve found a way,” she said. “We can use star charts to deduce our current location. It’s slow, but it’s not affected by ground signals.”
"You can see the stars?" Chen Hao laughed.
“I will access astronomical databases,” Nana said calmly. “As long as at least three known stars are visible, I can calculate latitude and longitude.”
"How can we see it during the day?" Susan asked.
"Capture refracted light from the upper atmosphere using an ultraviolet imager."
"I don't understand." Chen Hao waved his hand. "You do your thing, I'll drive mine."
The spaceship continued flying eastward. The city drew closer, and the outlines of its skyscrapers became clearly visible.
Suddenly, Nana looked up.
“A new signal source has been detected,” she said. “It’s coming from the direction of the city, with a unique frequency and an unknown encryption method.”
"Who is it?" Carl asked.
“I don’t know.” Nana stared at the data stream, “but it just scanned our flight path.”
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