Mai Dong felt like she was going to die.
She had forced herself to sleep six times in the past ten hours, and this was the seventh time she was woken up by hunger. In the past two days, Mai Dong had only eaten two sandwiches, three hardtack biscuits, and two glasses of water. These things were only enough for an adult for lunch, but Mai Dong had to divide them into six portions.
She had eaten her last piece of compressed biscuit six hours ago.
Mai Dong searched through all the cabins in the Joint Space Station, opened every cabinet, and took a bite of everything that looked edible. She was a girl from Guangzhou, but the supplies in the Joint Space Station were so scarce that even Cantonese people could starve to death.
The girl curled up in her sleeping bag, staring straight at the cabin wall above her head. Her face was pale, and she was as weak as a reed.
Mai Dong's bedroom was a small cubicle, and the space was not much bigger than the bathroom. The sleeping bag was tied vertically to the cabin wall with nylon straps, and the door of the cubicle could be closed with a curtain.
The Joint Space Station was filled with roaring noises all the time, as if there was a construction site next door. Mai Dong could not isolate herself from the noise even with earplugs. She could only tie Styrofoam around her bedroom tightly, and then stuff her head into the sleeping bag.
Mai Dong tried to close her eyes, but after a while, she opened them again.
She really could not sleep.
She was too hungry.
Mai Dong had never felt so close to death before. She stared at the ropes and stickers on the cabin wall, as if she had already seen her end. If there were no accidents, she would die silently and alone, slowly turning into ashes and bones in a corner that no one could touch.
It was a hopeless depression, as if she was locked in a cage and sunk into deep water, where no one in the universe could hear her cry for help.
A small Shiba Inu plush toy floated into the girl's vision. Mai Dong pulled out her hand and grabbed the toy.
She pinched the despicable dog's head and rubbed it here and there, laughing silently.
"If only you were a real puppy …"
Mai Dong said softly.
"Then I can eat you."
Mai Dong knew that the sun had risen again as the dazzling sunlight shone through the gap between the curtains of the bedroom and moved on the dark lining of the cabin.
In fact, the Joint Space Station did not have a day or night cycle. The space station's orbit cycle was one hour and twenty minutes, which meant that it would take less than an hour and a half to circle Mars. The people in the station could see the sun rise and set once. In a twenty-four hour day on Earth, the Joint Space Station could see the sun rise and set sixteen times.
Therefore, Mai Dong's sleep depended on timing. She set an alarm clock for herself and went to sleep at the designated time. When the alarm went off, she would wake up to work … In fact, Mai Dong did not have much work to do. Her main occupation was a botanist. In a small experiment module in the space station, she planted potatoes, tomatoes, and lettuce. She was using this to study the growth of edible plants in microgravity.
Mai Dong crawled out of her sleeping bag and gently pushed against the cabin wall. She floated out of the bedroom and passed through the layers of cabin doors as if she was passing through a tunnel.
The Joint Space Station was clearly a claustrophobic place, but Mai Dong still felt empty when she was alone.
Mai Dong's routine was to check on the seeds in the petri dishes in the experiment module after waking up. Then, she would walk around the various functional modules to check on the functions of the various modules in the space station.
The Joint Space Station was similar to the ISS on Earth. It was a modular truss structure. The largest part of the space station was a 150-meter-long metal truss. All the modules and solar panels were attached to this frame.
The Joint Space Station had a total of seven main modules. Mai Dong would wander around these functional modules to ensure that there were no problems.
These modules had different functions. They carried all kinds of sophisticated scientific equipment, but they had all been shut down. Mai Dong could not use the magnetic spectrometer or the X-ray analyzer alone. All the power-hungry gadgets had been turned off to reduce energy consumption.
After walking around the entire Joint Space Station, Mai Dong finally returned to the core module and attempted to contact Kunlun Station.
During the period when she lost contact with Kunlun Station, Mai Dong was truly frightened. She would call for Tang Yue every once in a while, even forgetting to look for food.
Mai Dong looked at the time. It was 3: 16 in the morning on August 16, 2052 A.D. according to the Earth calendar.
Today was the day of the Eagle's launch.
The girl was curled up in the core module as she floated and slowly rotated. She was surrounded by a dense array of instruments and buttons. The Crystal core module was the only module that was still functional at this time. This was because the space station's computer system was here, as well as the communications system.
Through the porthole, Mai Dong could see the magnificent surface of Mars. This huge brownish-red planet almost filled her entire field of vision. The slightly curved horizon split the universe in half. One side was the pitch-black night sky, and the other side was brownish-yellow land. The sun was gradually rising, illuminating the thin layer of atmosphere on Mars's surface like a resplendent diamond ring.
"This is the Joint Space Station. Calling Kunlun Station for the 460th time, Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat … Please answer if you copy …"
There was no response from the communications channel. From the looks of it, the sandstorm had not abated.
In the communication a few hours ago, Old Cat had told her that the Kunlun Station below had encountered a sandstorm. The harsh weather had interfered with communications, and they were working hard to resolve it. At the same time, he had comforted her by saying that the Eagle was ready to launch at any time. He had also asked her to rest assured and wait for resupply.
She did not know if they had resolved it.
Mai Dong rested her chin on her knees. Her short black hair slowly fluttered in the weightlessness, and all kinds of small things floated around her.
"This is the Joint Space Station. Calling Kunlun Station for the 460th time, Mr. Tang Yue, Mr. Cat … Please answer if you copy …"
"This is the Joint Space Station. Calling Kunlun Station for the 460th time …"
Mai Dong called out again and again. The Joint Space Station was like a small radio station on an isolated island. It was surrounded by the endless and uninhabited ocean, but it still diligently sent out messages, hoping that someone would receive these radio waves.
Just thinking about it made her feel lonely.
This was probably the last radio station in the universe. Mai Dong thought that if the resupply plan failed, then she would set the Joint Space Station's radio system to the maximum power. After she died, she would let it broadcast Takashi Ishihara's piano piece "Summer" to the entire universe.
This was her favorite piece.
She did not know how many more years the Joint Space Station would remain in orbit. As long as it was still in orbit, then she would let it continue to play, and let this warm and cheerful piece become the background music of Mars and the entire universe.
If Mr. Tang Yue and Mr. Cat on Mars turned on the radio, they might be able to receive this music from space. Maybe it would make their lives less boring.
That was great.
Mai Dong smiled.