The thruster ignition procedure is ready.
Nana tapped the confirmation button on the control panel, and a string of code appeared on the screen. She didn't speak, only nodded slightly. Chen Hao leaned against the console, holding half a flattened cookie in his hand, staring at the countdown on the main screen.
"Three long and two short," he said. "Don't turn this into a Morse code exam question."
“No,” Nana said. “I’ve already set up the automatic sequence, with each pulse interval accurate to the millisecond.”
Susan sat in the passenger seat, her eyes scanning the energy curve. "Voltage is stable, ignition load is within safe limits. We can begin."
Chen Hao picked up the walkie-talkie: "Karl, we're about to send a signal, how's it going on your end?"
"The screws have just been tightened," Karl's voice came from the outer compartment. "The base is back in place, and the protective panels are snapped back in. Be careful when you fire, don't shake me off."
"Don't worry." Chen Hao pressed the send button. "It's not like this is the first time we've done something stupid."
The main thruster emitted three jets, each lasting two seconds, followed by two short ignitions. The infrared beam immediately picked up on the regular flashing, like a flashlight signaling in the dark.
After the first signal was given, no one spoke.
Before the second round began, Susan suddenly looked up: "Wait a minute, did the receiver respond just now?"
“There’s no record,” Nana said, looking at the log. “But we can’t be sure they didn’t receive it.”
"Then let's have another one." Chen Hao took a bite of his biscuit. "Anyway, we don't have anything else to do."
After the second round of signal transmission was completed, silence remained.
Just as the third round started, Nana suddenly raised her hand: "Wait."
She pulled up the spectrum and zoomed in on a certain corner. "There's a faint echo here, with a frequency shift of 0.3 Hz, like it's being reflected back."
"Reflection?" Susan leaned closer to examine it. "What would reflect our signals? The space station? Satellite debris?"
“Neither,” Nana shook her head. “The signal path points towards the main receiving array of the ground control tower. And… it has an encryption header.”
Chen Hao nearly choked on his biscuit: "You mean, they received it and even replied?"
“It might be an automatic responder,” she said. “Older ground systems would send an acknowledgment packet after recognizing the registration number, regardless of whether the recipient could receive it.”
"So, do we consider ourselves to have connected now?" Susan asked.
“No.” Nana had already started adjusting the receiving parameters. “We need to receive that packet, then use the old protocol to handshake once before we can establish a two-way link.”
"Which year's key should we use?" Chen Hao asked.
“The 2073 version,” she said. “The one you used when you filed for Hong Kong registration back then.”
Susan pulled out her terminal and opened an encrypted folder. "I remember backing up part of it, but not all of it."
“That’s enough.” Nana took the data cable and plugged it into the interface. “I can use the knowledge base to fill in the missing fields, as long as the first eight digits are correct.”
The screen flickered a few times, and a new window popped up: [Authentication agreement loading - Version V3.1 (disabled)].
"This thing should have been scrapped a long time ago," Chen Hao muttered.
“But it works.” Nana pressed confirm. “Now we just have to see if they still recognize the signature.”
The system begins sending a second request.
During the thirty seconds of waiting, the control room was so quiet that you could hear the fans running.
Suddenly, the main screen flickered.
A line of white text slowly appeared:
[CX-702, identity verified, flight route approved, clearance to land in A-9 landing zone, clearance code Lx-8842]
Chen Hao suddenly stood up and scattered cookie crumbs all over the keyboard.
"It really worked?"
“It’s true.” Susan stared at the verification code comparison result. “It matches the home port database; it’s not an analog signal.”
Nana loosened her grip, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Communication link rebuilt, commands can now be sent and received normally."
"I'm about to cry." Chen Hao grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Karl! Did you hear that? We can go home!"
“I heard you.” Karl’s voice was a little muffled. “But I suggest you don’t celebrate yet. I’m standing on the radome right now, and there’s a vacuum three thousand kilometers below.”
"Then hurry up and come down," Chen Hao laughed. "I'll treat you to ten steaks as soon as I land."
"I need to sleep for three days."
Nana had already switched to the landing pre-check interface, and the items were automatically checked one by one. "Navigation calibration, power distribution, attitude control... all meet the standards."
“So,” Susan stretched, “we can really lower our prices?”
"As long as no new problems arise," Nana said.
The alarm went off as soon as he finished speaking.
It's not a red light, it's a yellow light.
The navigation system indicates a track offset of 0.07 degrees, which is within the acceptable range but requires manual correction.
"Who touched the rudder?" Chen Hao looked at the control panel.
“Nobody’s here.” Susan quickly pulled up the trajectory record. “It must have been due to asymmetrical thrust when the thrusters ignited, causing a slight drift.”
"No problem." Chen Hao sat back in the driver's seat. "I can just give it a pull."
Just as he was about to take action, another notification popped up:
[Environmental System Warning: Oxygen Circulation Valve Pressure Abnormal]
"Again?" Susan switched to the life support page. "The valve shows a poor seal, but no leak can be detected."
"Was the vibration too strong just now?" Chen Hao asked.
“Possibly,” she said. “I’ll try restarting the module remotely.”
Nana was running two diagnostic programs simultaneously, one handling navigation corrections and the other monitoring environmental data. Her fingers moved rapidly between different windows, almost without pause.
"Valve reset successful," Susan said. "Pressure has returned to normal, and the system is no longer alarming."
"Great." Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "Looks like things will really go smoothly this time."
"Don't speak." Susan suddenly raised her hand.
She stared at a particular line of data without moving.
"What's wrong?"
“The carbon dioxide concentration is rising slowly,” she said. “Although it’s still below the safe level, the trend is wrong. It has increased by 0.03% in the past ten minutes.”
"Could it be that the filter efficiency has decreased?" Chen Hao asked.
“Logically, it shouldn’t be like that.” Susan checked the filter status. “It still has 62% of its lifespan left, so there shouldn’t be any performance degradation.”
Nana paused other tasks and accessed the deep logs. "Let me check the airflow path."
A few seconds later, she stopped.
“We’ve found a problem,” she said. “A section of the pipeline in Zone B has an abnormally low temperature, causing water vapor to condense and potentially blocking part of the passage.”
"Where?" Chen Hao asked.
"Near the side wall of the living quarters," she said, "the drainage outlets need to be manually checked to ensure they are clear."
“I’ll go take a look.” Susan got up to grab her toolbox. “And while I’m at it, I’ll go through the sensor wiring.”
“Go ahead,” Chen Hao nodded. “Don’t stay too long. I still need you to keep an eye on the landing process.”
Susan had just reached the door when the walkie-talkie rang.
"This is Karl," he said, his voice slightly breathless. "I've returned to the inner cabin and am preparing to remove my spacesuit."
"Well done," Chen Hao said. "Is the outside repaired?"
“The physical structure is fine,” Carl said. “But I recommend recalibrating the accuracy during the next communication test, since the parts are severely aged.”
"Once we land, have the maintenance team replace everything," Chen Hao said. "You come in now, we're about to enter the final orbit."
"clear."
Susan walked slowly along the corridor toward the living area. As she turned a corner in a metal corridor, she heard a faint ticking sound overhead.
She stopped.
Look up at the ventilation grille.
A drop of water lingered on the edge, reluctant to fall.
She reached out and touched the outer frame of the grille, her fingertips damp.
"It's condensed as expected," she muttered to herself.
As she took out a wrench to disassemble the panel, Nana's voice came through the earpiece: "Susan, the carbon dioxide concentration continues to rise, currently at 0.05%, approaching the warning threshold."
“I know,” she said. “I was in section B and found the grille damp. I suspect condensation is clogging the vents.”
"Please clean up as soon as possible."
"Disassembling it now." She forcefully unscrewed the first screw.
At that moment, a soft sound came from the vent, as if the airflow had been suddenly cut off.
She paused for a moment.
When I tried to tighten the second screw, I found that the wrench slipped.
Looking down, I saw that the metal surface was covered with a thin layer of frost.
She exhaled, and the white mist instantly condensed into tiny water droplets that adhered to her mask.
"Strange...the temperature shouldn't be this low."
She reached out and touched the pipe joint; the moment her fingertips touched the metal, she felt a chilling cold.
"Nana!" she cried, "The temperature here is at least minus twenty degrees Celsius; it can't be normal condensation!"
"Received." Nana's voice was calm. "I'm checking the temperature control system log and found an abnormal startup record for the refrigeration unit."
"when?"
“Just five minutes ago,” she said. “The source of the command… was the internal control system.”
Susan stared at the circle of white frost slowly spreading.
She slowly took a step back.
The wrench in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp clanging sound.
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