The Apollo spacecraft completed its docking with the Soyuz space station. Zhang Fan transferred from the spacecraft to the space station, walked through the space station's compartments, and arrived at the docking module of the space station with the Firebird Mars probe.
Katerina originally wanted to come along, but Zhang Fan was worried about leaving Yui alone in the "Bird's Nest". Yui had been trapped in a space station alone before, so she was now very afraid of being alone in one place.
However, the Apollo spacecraft's crew compartment only had two seats, making it impossible for all three to go together. Therefore, Zhang Fan had no choice but to come alone.
Zhang Fan took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then began to turn the hatch of the docking module.
Click-click—hiss—
After passing through the docking compartment, Zhang Fan officially entered the interior of the "Firebird".
Everything felt familiar.
The only difference was that the air inside the pressure chamber was filled with a lot of debris, making it look like a room that hadn't been cleaned in a long time.
Zhang Fan took out a testing device to check the situation inside the cabin. Apart from the place being a bit messy, all the indicators were normal and there was enough oxygen to breathe.
Is anyone there?
"Zhang Fan, an unofficial astronaut on the 'Firebird' Mars probe, is requesting a call during the 203rd Mars mission."
Please respond upon receipt.
Is anyone there?
Inside the "Firebird," all was quiet; there was no response.
Zhang Fan walked directly towards the main control room of the "Firebird," which is also the command cockpit.
Along the way, Zhang Fan saw many symbols drawn on the bulkhead. He couldn't say what the symbols meant, but they just made him feel very uncomfortable.
Reaching the cockpit door, Zhang Fan finally realized that the strange symbols must represent some kind of religious ritual, because he saw a cross and Jesus painted in the same style on the door.
The figure in the painting, nailed to a cross, is bleeding profusely. His blinded eyes are oozing thick, black blood, and two dark, railroad-rail-like marks are left on his face and body.
Zhang Fan felt a chill run down his spine.
He finally understood why he had felt so uncomfortable looking at those symbols all along the way. The symbols and patterns looked like a terrifying and abnormal religious ritual.
The cockpit door was not closed, or rather, it could not be closed. It was obvious that it had been vandalized. The door handle and other parts had come off, and the door was severely deformed, making it impossible to close.
Zhang Fan walked directly into the cockpit. The screens inside were still lit, but various debris was floating everywhere in the air.
Zhang Fan sat in the central pilot's seat and began to check the "Firebird's" flight log.
The flight logs have been deleted.
Zhang Fan was speechless. Why did everyone like deleting their logs so much? Did they have so many ulterior motives?
The most crucial logs from the first month after the start of the "New Era" were gone, leaving only the logs from the last six months. However, these were all flight records automatically saved by "Firebird," and contained no information related to the astronauts.
Unable to find any useful information in the cockpit, Zhang Fan continued to the next compartment.
Behind the command cockpit was the rest area, and Zhang Fan was startled when he first walked in.
If the previous cabins were simply covered with strange religious symbols, this rest cabin is more like an altar.
A bright yellow flag was hanging on one of the bulkheads of the rest cabin.
In the center of the flag is a black sun with an eye drawn in the middle.
Blood was flowing from his eyes.
Upon closer inspection, Zhang Fan discovered that the flag was actually woven from hair of different colors, and the blood flowing from the black eye, upon closer examination, was indeed human blood.
The center of the rest cabin was even more terrifying. On the conference table, which was two meters long and a little over one meter wide, there was a pattern resembling a magic circle, with a circle of candles placed on it.
The candles had burned out, leaving behind pools of tears.
But why are there candles on the "Firebird"?
In Zhang Fan's memory, the "Firebird" should not have had this thing, and besides, the "Firebird" would not need candles for lighting.
Using candles for lighting on an interplanetary probe? Are you kidding me?
Zhang Fan carefully observed the "altar." The magic circle was carved into the tabletop with a sharp object. Although the tabletop had obviously been cleaned and wiped, the smell of blood could still be smelled when you got close.
Zhang Fan didn't like it here and quickly went to the next cabin.
As the most advanced interplanetary probe on Earth, the Firebird Mars probe has 30 compartments arranged in a longitudinal and tertiary configuration. At the front of the central axis are the docking module, pressure chamber, command and control module, rest and service module, galley and washroom module, multi-functional storage module, and universal docking module.
The boundary is defined by the universal docking module.
The rear of the centerline houses a multi-purpose logistics bay, a maintenance bay, and an electromechanical energy bay that provides power, propulsion, attitude control, communication, and electrical supply for the Firebird.
The electromechanical power compartment is the core compartment at the rear of the "Firebird," and it also houses a robotic arm, a mobile base system, and a specialized dexterous robotic hand. The "Firebird's" ramming frame structure and main solar array are also connected to the electromechanical power compartment.
If the command cockpit is the brain of the Firebird, then the electromechanical power compartment is the heart that provides the Firebird with its lifeblood.
Behind the electromechanical energy compartment is the centrifuge conditioning compartment, and most importantly, the propulsion engine.
The three horizontal sections contain life support pods, medical pods, and hibernation pods. The hibernation pods contain 10 medical pods for hibernation. There are 6 research pods for scientific experiments and 2 living pods, each of which can accommodate up to 8 people at the same time.
There is also an automated transfer vehicle and node module on the side, with the "Firebird" landing device on it.
Each compartment connected to the central axis is connected by a pressure chamber as a transitional link.
After passing through the universal docking cabin, Zhang Fan found that the environment here was completely different from before.
Gone are those strange symbols and inexplicable altars; the "Firebird" remains exactly as it was.
The only unusual thing was that the electromechanical power compartment looked like it had been vandalized, but fortunately the important components were not damaged.
Moreover, judging from the surrounding environment...
It appears that a fight once took place here.
Zhang Fan continued walking through the electromechanical energy compartment until he reached the propulsion engine room; there was no further path beyond that.
It's strange, we haven't met a single person along the way.
Where did those 10 astronauts go?
Zhang Fan began to inspect the remaining transverse compartments one by one. The life support compartment was empty, the medical compartment was empty, and the scientific research compartment was empty. But what was worrying was that the medical supplies, research materials, and experimental equipment in these three compartments had all been used up.
What kind of scientific research experiment requires all the materials to be used up?
Zhang Fan was filled with surprise as he opened the nearby hibernation pod. The pod was also empty, but there were ten medical hibernation pods…
One is missing.
That would be in the remaining two living quarters.
Zhang Fan took a deep breath, opened the first living quarters (which were empty), passed through the pressure chamber, and turned the hatch of the second living quarters…
It won't turn.
The living quarters were locked from the inside.
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