In reality, Jiang Ling hadn't done much; she merely added fuel to the already erratic trajectory. The Crescent had already leaked too much fuel after striking the mine. Even if all the remaining fuel were used to maintain its orbital altitude, the best it could do was raise its perigee to the top of the Earth's atmosphere. After that, the powerless craft would be left to its fate in this unstable orbit.
Jiang Ling instinctively hated leaving her fate to fate, so she chose to face gravity head-on. After her unauthorized operation, the spacecraft would re-enter the atmosphere four hours later. If the angle was right, they would be able to experience firsthand what it felt like to be a ballistic missile.
The problem now was that the captain didn't believe the spacecraft could withstand the turbulence caused by atmospheric friction during reentry. He repeatedly calculated various data using the onboard computer on the terminal panel and finally came to a despairing answer. "Look at what you've done!?" he muttered to himself. "According to my original plan, there was a full 40% survival rate!"
"Actually, you don't need to be too scared. If you follow my method, at least you won't starve. And you probably don't know yet, right? The group has treated you as dead from a long time ago. All they want to recover is the spacecraft itself! I've also considered your plan. Taking into account the group's obstruction, your success rate is less than 1%. You might as well take a gamble with me. The most important thing is that I won't abandon you! You know, I can just walk away!" Jiang Ling shouted to the two of them from a distance.
"Of course you can leave my 'Crescent'!" The captain snorted coldly, emphasizing the word "my". Then, without bothering to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he found two sets of cabin spacesuits from the service module at the rear of the crew module. After putting them on himself, he helped the flight attendant put on this bulky "last protection".
Seeing that they had accepted reality, Jiang Ling said in a more gentle tone, "I suggest you have some dinner first, and preferably take a nap. I'll call you when it's time."
"And then?" the captain said unhappily. "You're going to dismantle all the recyclable materials on the spacecraft while we're not looking? Don't worry, your little tricks won't fool me. I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"Please help yourself."
Jiang Ling and the others stared at each other at both ends of the crew cabin for a long time, until the last person on the spacecraft came in from the side hatch, breaking the awkward situation.
"Captain Gu, I think I've fixed the stuck escape pod, and someone has helped us de-interfere with the electromagnetic pulse. We can get two more people into circular orbit, but we need... Eh? Can anyone tell me what just happened here?"
"Excuse me, who are you?" Jiang Ling asked.
"Ah! I'm an anonymous volunteer, and now I'm working as a repairman on the ship." The man in the old exoskeleton replied.
"So you are a passenger on this train?"
"Yes, don't look at my young age, I do have a job, and it's repairing Bird-class spacecraft!"
After all, young people are easier to fool. Jiang Ling felt that she had found a breakthrough, so she mentioned the other passengers on the list again.
"Did you ask them? They left in the escape capsule at the beginning of the accident. They left in a hurry. Many people didn't even take their personal luggage, including the other crew members. We could have all evacuated, but in the end there was a problem with the escape capsule. I took a look and it was just a very common malfunction." The volunteer repairman maintained a clear stupidity.
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