Cough … "
"Calling the base … Coordinates 15 ° south latitude, 128.1 ° west longitude … Need support."
There was no response.
There was only the anxious static noise coming from the communication channel.
He was surrounded by darkness. The [Signal Lost] icon on the wrist-mounted computer on his right arm reminded him that he had completely disconnected from the base.
The depth here was at least 20 meters.
There was also hematite that could accelerate the attenuation of electromagnetic waves …
"Damn it …"
A trace of despair flashed in his eyes, but the fleeting negative emotion was quickly replaced by a strong desire to survive.
There were still many people on Earth waiting for him to go back.
He couldn't die here …
Fan Tong recalled the survival knowledge he learned during training in the Dourbantunggut Desert. He gritted his teeth and struggled to get up from the ground. After taking a deep breath, he entered the manager password on the wrist-mounted computer and turned off the positioning system and communication module, which were meaningless except for increasing energy consumption.
He didn't know how many meters deep he was on Mars …
Here, he could only rely on himself.
Thinking that he might have to miss the hot pot tonight, Fan Tong swallowed his saliva, gritted his teeth, took out a special marker from the toolbox behind him, found a familiar spot on the wall of the cave, and left his whereabouts and some last words.
"I hope I never have to use these last words."
From the time he lost contact until now, the base should have discovered the problem. The rescue team should have already set off.
However, he didn't dare to expect too much from the base's rescue ability.
After all, he really couldn't think of anything that could help him climb up from an unknown depth in the ground with only simple engineering equipment.
He was still young.
He didn't want to "die" for science.
Fan Tong then took off the folding multifunctional shovel and held it in his right hand. At the same time, he turned on the independently powered flashlight on his helmet and began to feel his way forward in the rubble cave.
Although there might not be a way out, at least it was better than staying here and waiting for death.
He thought of the crack that opened and closed like a timer switch. He couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency in his heart.
No one could guarantee that his current location wouldn't be buried by sand or something else tomorrow.
As for why he was here …
Everything started a few hours ago.
…
Mars scientific research station.
The originally quiet morning was broken by an unexpected piece of news.
"Autonomous decision-making power?" After listening to the captain's explanation, Dr. Sun Wenzhe, who was sitting at the end of the conference room, frowned and asked, "In other words, we can decide whether to take action or not in the future?"
"Here's the thing." Liang Youcheng nodded and looked at the other four teammates sitting here. He continued, "This is a decision made by the command center for us to make more flexible decisions. If you find any special clues during the exploration, you don't have to wait for the command center's instructions. You can report directly to me."
There were whispers in the conference room.
From the perspective of a researcher, this was, of course, a good thing. At least it meant that they didn't have to deal with the nearly ten-minute delay in communicating with the ground command center. They could more flexibly carry out their own research projects.
However, the risks involved were also hard to ignore.
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations Liang Youcheng coughed lightly and looked at Dr. Fan Tong, the only planetary geologist at this scientific research station.
After a pause, he said.
"In addition, the priority of the '128 outliers' project has been raised to A-level.
"The ground command center has set up a new work log with the code '128' on our database. If you have any new discoveries, you don't have to report them to me. Just use your personal terminal to update your findings in a separate work log."
"A separate work log?"
A surprised expression appeared on Fan Tong's face. After calming down, he asked seriously, "Can I ask if this means that when researching this project, my direct responsibility has changed from the scientific research base to —"
"Yes." Liang Youcheng nodded and said concisely, "From now on, your research will be directly responsible to Academician Lu."
Academician Lu?!
Hearing this unexpected name, Fan Tong's face immediately showed a surprised expression. He subconsciously opened his mouth.
The three colleagues sitting next to him also showed a surprised expression on their faces. After they recovered from the shock, they immediately cast him an envious look.
For an ordinary scientific researcher, being able to work under Academician Lu meant not only recognition of their academic abilities, but it also meant that they would receive unimaginable resources!
It was no exaggeration to say that this feeling was like winning the lottery jackpot …
No, it was more exciting than winning the lottery!
The happiness came too suddenly, and it took a while for Fan Tong to come back to his senses.
However, although the excitement in his heart was real, Fan Tong's heart was also full of doubts. Although Professor Lu's research covered a wide range of areas, he had never heard of him researching geology.
Even if the fracture structure did reveal a lot of valuable clues, it shouldn't have attracted the attention of Lu Zhou, right?
Compared to the Mars landing project itself, this was a trivial matter.
"Academician Lu … Does he also study geology?"
Liang Youcheng shook his head.
"I don't know the specific situation. Whether he has studied it or not, you can only communicate with him yourself. But I think these details can be ignored. Since Academician Lu attaches so much importance to the fracture structure, he should have found some unusual clues. "
Unusual clues?
If that's the case …
I really need to find some time to communicate with Academician Lu …
After the meeting, the day's work continued as usual.
Although the priority of the "128" project was raised to level A, and he was now directly responsible for Academician Lu, he still had to complete the work normally.
Fan Tong drove the rover to the water source and confirmed that the drilling equipment was still working normally. He then continued to go to several deposits marked on the map to conduct sampling investigations.
After doing these things, today's work was over.
Considering the meteorological information predicted by Xu Fu, there would be a sandstorm passing through this area in the afternoon, Fan Tong didn't waste any time. He started the rover and began to return to the base.
However, unfortunately, the time of the sandstorm's arrival was five hours earlier than expected.
When he had only set off for less than two kilometers, the overwhelming red sand had completely obscured the view outside the window. The visibility was less than two meters.
But fortunately, this regional sandstorm would not last for long.
For safety reasons, Fan Tong did not rush through the sandstorm. Instead, he drove the rover to the side of the mountain range less than a kilometer away from him. He found a leeward place to stop along the terrain contour line on the map.
The raging scratching sound outside the window finally weakened a little.
Compared to the wilderness, this was a good temporary shelter.
Speaking of which, this mountain seemed to be called The Gates of Hell?
Judging from the slovenly outline, it really looked like the entrance to hell.
Fan Tong, who had turned off the engine, was ready to quietly wait for this "rain" to pass. Just when he was thinking about whether to do something to kill the boring time, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an unusual shadow behind the heavy red sand.
With this glance, he couldn't shift his eyes away, and he sat up straight on the chair that he had just laid down.
"F * ck? Why is it here? "
He muttered softly in his mouth. There was a trace of disbelief written in his eyes.
It was a fracture that was about ten meters long, and it looked like a scar from a knife.
"How is this possible …"
When he came here with Sun Wenzhe yesterday, they drove around the edge of this mountain range for more than ten kilometers. They clearly passed through this area!
If there was such an obvious earthquake crack here, he would never have missed it!
Could it be …
Just like the broken structure that suddenly disappeared, did this thing grow out recently?
Without hesitation, Fan Tong immediately turned on the car communication system and reported the situation here to the base.
"Calling the base … Coordinates 15 ° south latitude, 128.1 ° west longitude, the disappeared fracture structure has reappeared … Repeat, coordinates 15 ° south latitude, 128.1 ° west longitude …"
There was no response.
"F * ck! Is it because of the sandstorm? "
After cursing, Fan Tong hung up the communication system, pushed open the door, jumped out, and staggered to the side of the crack.
The atmospheric density on Mars was very low. Even if there were sandstorms with a magnitude of more than ten, the lethality was far less than depicted in the Mars Rescue movie.
However, this did not mean that the sandstorm was not dangerous at all. First of all, it affected one's vision. Second, the sand on Mars was similar to hematite in composition, and it even had a higher iron content than some of the iron ores on Earth.
For the radio, this was simply a dimensional reduction.
Fan Tong walked to the side of the fracture structure and glanced down.
The laser ranging showed that the depth was about 20 meters …
Because of the sandstorm, even with a flashlight, the visibility at the bottom was still not high. If he wanted to know what was going on below, he could only go down and see.
It was best to collect a few more rock samples and go back to do lithology analysis.
However, a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes.
Should I …
Or should I wait until the sandstorm is over?
But if this crack were to disappear just like that …
Thinking of the independent decision-making power that Captain Liang Youcheng mentioned before, Fan Tong finally gritted his teeth and made a decision after some mental struggle.
There shouldn't be any problem if I just go down and take a look.
I'll come back in a minute at most.
He no longer hesitated. After setting up the automatic message sending program on the rover, he got off and went to the trunk. He removed the safety rope hanging on it.
Just like he had practiced countless times, he fastened the lock to his waist and then came to the side of the hideous broken structure that looked like a scar.
Fan Tong couldn't help but feel a little excited when he thought that he was about to uncover the secret behind this.
"Come on, let me see what secrets are hidden below …"
He muttered in a low voice. He took a deep breath and carefully descended along the edge of the rock wall.
Everything went smoothly at first.
Along the safety rope, he slowly descended to the bottom of the broken structure.
However, the moment the soles of his boots touched the bottom, the feeling of stepping on dead leaves quickly came from the soles of his feet.
As if a switch had been triggered, the silty ground collapsed with a loud rumble.
Looking at the bottomless abyss, Fan Tong's heart instinctively gave birth to a trace of nervousness.
Should I …
Forget about it today.
However, just as he was about to retreat and climb up along the safety rope, the originally sturdy rock wall suddenly seemed to have been triggered. It shook like an earthquake, and at the same time, it closed in the middle at a speed visible to the naked eye...
(Some children shouldn't struggle with this all day long. If life was as orderly as a textbook, everyone would get a 750 in the college entrance examination. Aside from the topic, if I wrote that the spacecraft's switch was broken and a group of people almost couldn't come back, but the astronaut found a pen that was not thrown away and was lucky enough to connect the switch, wouldn't I be splashed with a pot of dog blood? Well, this is the story of Apollo 11.)
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