Time passed very quickly when I resumed training, and two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past two weeks, Wang Ping'an and Angeli have undergone training in subjects such as space walking, troubleshooting, and cabin combat.
Wang Ping'an scored A in all subjects, as if he had never left space.
Angeli is also A, but everyone seems to think this is because she is partnered with Wang Ping'an, so she gets the advantage.
Angeli was not happy about this: "Why do I have to participate in all trainings with you? I can get the first prize even if I participate by myself!"
Wang Ping'an: "Because we are partners."
When they said this, they had just finished a day's training and were moving along the central pipeline of the spacecraft.
Suddenly a female sergeant caught up with them and whispered in Angele's ear: "Lieutenant Wang likes the universe more than women, so don't put too much emotion into it."
Wang Ping'an: "She's right!"
The sergeant pulled the handle next to the passage to an emergency stop, then pushed the handle and floated away, back to his best friends.
Angele: "If you play the guitar a few more times, the female crew members on the ship will form a fan group for you."
"I don't play music to attract them."
“‘Only courage and music go together’ right?”
Wang Ping'an nodded: "Yes. Although your life is very fulfilling now, you don't feel lonely at all. But this is because there are so many people on the ship. There are a total of 400 people in the four recovery teams training every day, and they also compete with each other. This can make people lonely.
Damn it.
"But when you board a spacecraft flying to Mars, you will only have yourself and the void outside the window for dozens of weeks. There will be a delay of several minutes in communication, and the bandwidth will be limited. You will even be bored to the point of complimenting the computer."
"Praise to the computer?" Angeli looked suspicious, "How to praise it?"
"It's very simple. Let the computer recite famous speeches, such as Winston Churchill's 'We will fight them in the sky' and 'We will never surrender' speeches. You let the computer read it, and then laugh next to it."
Angele's mouth opened into an O shape.
Wang Pingan shrugged, indicating that the topic was over.
But Angeli refused: "Wait a minute! I will recite Churchill's speech. You can praise it once and I will see it!"
Wang Pingan was embarrassed instead. He had indeed done this kind of thing, but it was all done out of boredom. It had no meaning other than making people feel bored and empty, and it was not funny.
Just when he was in trouble, an alarm sounded in the corridor.
While Angeli was still confused, Wang Ping'an identified the type of alarm: "It's on fire. It's either an emergency drill or it was hit by a meteorite."
There happened to be an emergency damage control toolbox nearby. Wang Ping'an directly grabbed the handle on the wall and corrected the direction and floated over. He skillfully opened the toolbox and took out the oxygen mask and supporting cylinder inside and pushed it to Angeli who was still far away.
Angeli caught the mask and put it on, then caught the contact rope thrown by Wang Ping'an.
Because damage to the outer hull of a battleship may cause a severe loss of pressure and even suck people directly out of space, it is very important to secure yourself.
After Wang Ping'an armed himself, he took out the radio from the emergency damage control box - wired communications within the ship may fail due to fire or other reasons, so radios should be used in emergencies.
After adjusting to the emergency channel, Wang Ping'an pressed the call button: "Lieutenant Wang Ping'an and Second Lieutenant Angeli are okay. We are in the middle of the L11 channel. There is no visual damage, no loss of pressure, and no open flames around. It's over."
"Received, waiting in place, just a small fire, the damage control center is completed."
"Received, completed."
Wang Ping'an curled his lips: "We were not allowed to take action. It seems that it was not training. The ship was really penetrated by a meteorite and caught fire."
Angele: "Is this common?"
"It's very common in the Earth's circle, and there's a lot of garbage in orbit. The ship's anti-meteorite system protects the spacecraft at different levels. The anti-meteorite system can intercept meteorites in places like engines and reactors. Other parts can only be defended comparatively.
Large meteorite.
"Fist-sized rocks cannot be detected unless they happen to appear in the radar scanning area."
Angele: "Can't the outer shell stop a meteorite the size of a fist?"
"That's a good question. In theory, it can be blocked, but there are a lot of fragile equipment outside the outer shell of the spacecraft. It's normal for it to be hit and cause a fire."
Just as the alarm ended, two more short bells rang.
"The fire is over." Wang Pingan said and Angeli put away the masks and other things together, and finally wrote his and Angeli's names, as well as the time of use of the box, on the electronic registration book in the damage control tool box.
Angele: "The process is very familiar."
"Because these procedures can save lives." Wang Ping'an said seriously, "I don't want to kill others because of my negligence. Let's go to the canteen to eat."
**
Another day has passed since the fire. At this time, the spacecraft is about to leave the range of the earth's gravity well. According to routine, the entire ship will gather together to hold a ceremony.
Just like in the Age of Discovery, when ships crossed the equator, a ceremony was held. This is a unique tradition of astronauts in this era.
This represents farewell to Mother Earth.
The day before the ceremony, as usual, all members of the recovery training team took a day off to sort out housekeeping.
Wang Ping'an finished his work early, sat at his desk and started to read the news about the earth.
At this time, the communication delay with the earth is already very long, and if you go further to the earth, it will be a real "another world".
At this time, Wang Ping'an would especially cherish watching the news on Earth, even though he had never cared about it when he was on Earth.
At this time, Angeli was combing her hair and humming "The Green Grass by the House".
Wang Pingan raised his head and looked at the girl's profile.
"Green Grass by the House" sung by a female voice has a more lyrical meaning, especially the phrase "green, green grass". Angele deliberately made her voice very high-pitched, creating a coloratura-like effect.
Wang Ping'an: "Okay, it's a good adaptation."
"I'm French," Angele said proudly.
Wang Ping'an: "Isn't it right? Italians are good at opera, right? 'Ah my brother the sun' is like this."
"Before the 19th century, all European art originated in France."
Wang Ping'an rapped for a while and then asked: "You mean this?"
"There were no black people in France in the 19th century."
"Isn't it right? You have a great writer who is not black?"
"I mean... there weren't as many black people as there are now."
The meaningless chat went on like this, filled with the leisurely atmosphere that should be found on vacation.
Just then, the alarm sounded.
However, this time it was not an alarm indicating that there was a situation inside the ship, but a compact, short sound. This was a proximity alarm.
Wang Ping'an muttered: "What are you doing? Did you find the red horned triple speed approaching?"
He picked up the phone, and before he could speak, the ship-wide broadcast began: "The civilian ship with registration number gp87935 was found on the forward track and has entered the collision course. All crews are in Category 2 status. All crews are in Category 2 status."
Wang Ping'an and Angeli looked at each other and took action immediately.
In the second type of situation, trainees like them have to report to the working machinery deck.
Parked on the working machinery deck are 200 brand-new "mobile cabins for external engineering", commonly known as iron buckets, which are an upgraded model of the ball that Wang Ping'an drove in middle school.
These two hundred mobile cabins were produced by factories in low-Earth orbit and delivered to the Space Force fortress of Sun-Earth L2. They could be used as teaching aids for astronauts to resume training on the way.
But when encountering a situation, these mobile cabins can also be dispatched for rescue.
Wang Pingan was about to go out when he suddenly stopped and looked at the ceiling.
Angele bumped into him again.
"What are you doing?"
Wang Ping'an: "Don't you feel it? The spacecraft's engine stopped spraying and we stopped accelerating."
Angele: "Can you feel the acceleration change of thirteen milligals?"
"Of course. We are still in the earth's gravity well. Stopping acceleration will cause slight changes in the orbit, possibly to stagger the ship in front. This is wrong. Generally, ships of the Space Force have priority to use the orbit. Civilian ships should avoid it."
As soon as he finished speaking, both of them felt the slight vibration of accelerating to the side at the same time.
"The attitude control engine has started." Wang Pingan muttered, "This is indeed adjusting the orbit. Something is wrong."
Angele pushed him: "What's wrong, we have to get to the working machinery deck in five minutes! This is the most important thing!"
**
A total of 400 pilots from the four training units on the spacecraft are now neatly arranged in four square formations on the working machinery deck.
Lieutenant Colonel Xue, the chief instructor, spoke to everyone: "You may have felt that the spacecraft changed its orbit to stagger the gp87935 spacecraft."
An image of a civilian ship appeared on the holographic projection screen.
Everyone said "oh".
The civilian ship was rolling erratically, and an accident must have occurred.
"As you can see, gp87935 has lost its attitude control capability. The report we have received from the dispatch bureau currently says that this is an unmanned cargo ship, an unmanned ship of Zall Space Mining, and is preparing to enter the asteroid mining industry.
.”
Someone among the astronauts asked: "Can't we use AI to handle emergencies? At least AI can only handle 80% of the situations we encountered."
Lieutenant Colonel Xue: "Obviously Zhuoer Mining thinks it can. Now the ship may have been hit by a meteorite, and the AI failed to handle the meteorite correctly. Zhuoer Mining has authorized us to scrap the ship.
"It seems they thought it would be more cost-effective to use the ship's insurance to buy a new ship rather than salvage and repair the old one.
"So with the approval of the Space Navigation Administration Committee, our ship will sail in the parallel orbit of gp87935 at the same speed for a period of time, and you will carry out the disposal of gp87935."
Wang Ping'an immediately shouted: "This spacecraft is rolling so hard, it's difficult for us to get on it."
The lieutenant colonel did not mind Wang Ping'an's interruption, but continued: "Yes, so we will first use our ship's propelled launcher to accurately detonate the reactor of gp87935. All you have to deal with are the remaining fragments, all kinds of fragments
.A great rehabilitative activity, isn’t it?”
After saying this, the lieutenant colonel laughed, as if he thought his words were humorous.
But none of the astronauts smiled.
The lieutenant colonel coughed in embarrassment, and then said seriously: "Next, we will send the first group of eight iron barrel orbiting spacecraft to conduct surveying and mapping, and provide information for us to formulate a detonation plan. The one who just interrupted, Wang Ping'an, right?
, you and your partner fly Unit 1."
**
The cockpit of the Iron Bucket is very narrow, and the two pilots have to sit side by side wearing bulky space suits.
Without a space suit, Wang Ping'an would probably feel quite happy to be next to a beauty like Angeli in such a small space.
However, no matter how beautiful a girl is, she will turn into a big and fat girl when she gets into a space suit.
If two fat men are squeezed together, they will lose all benefits.
Moreover, the equipment on the spacesuit was bumped from time to time, making a pounding sound.
Angele: "How about I do it? I drive this but it's S, I mean, A."
Wang Ping'an: "It sounds like I'm not the commander. Remember, in our combination, I am the commander and generally responsible for the pilot's duties, and you are the extravehicular operator."
"At this time, you use your position to oppress others. I have never seen you respect the distribution of duties in the army." Angeli complained.
Wang Pingzhan didn't hear it. He closed the airtight door and opened the air circulation system in the cabin to let air fill the cockpit.
Then he got on the radio: "This is the Lone Ranger, ready to go."
Radio call signs are also a habit inherited from the pre-aerospace era, and astronauts can choose them themselves.
Angele: "The Lone Ranger? It's not from Top Gun, is it?"
"That's right, why don't your radio account number be called Dull Goose? It just corresponds to the one in the movie. If you don't have a call sign yourself, they will call you all kinds of weird things, such as the one who drives No. 2
Radio call for the toilet because he once blocked the toilet in his room for three days in a row."
"Three days?"
"Yes, once a day."
As soon as he finished speaking, the tower responded: "Lone Ranger, the entire route is clear and you can set off."
Wang Ping'an grabbed the two operating levers on the left and right, controlled the main engine with the foot pedal, and sprayed lightly.
The iron bucket moved smoothly.
Wang Ping'an: "Rick Carter, Skeleton One, let's go!"
Angeli looked at Wang Pingan with the eyes of a child: "This seems to be the content of an ancient children's cartoon?"
"Humph, adults won't understand the beauty of cartoons!"
Wang Ping'an said as he drove the iron bucket and left the departure deck.
GP87935, which was turning irregularly in space, appeared in the field of vision. But it looked very small at this time.
After all, the distance between the two ships is three kilometers.
This distance is insignificant on the space scale and can be seen as almost touching each other. But from the perspective of an individual human being, it is very large.
"Lone Ranger, begin to enter the detour route gp87935. Complete."
"The toilet follows you, Lone Ranger. Over."
When she heard the radio call sign "Toilet", Angele almost stopped.
Wang Ping'an saw this and said directly on the radio: "Toilet, my partner thinks your call sign is very personal."
"Damn it, Lone Ranger, you didn't scream first!"
Because it was a small talk, neither of them used the "finished" that is inevitable in standard communication formats as the final concluding sentence of the call.
"Quiet! Focus on your work!" This is Lieutenant Colonel Xue's roar. He didn't say "finished" either.
Wang Pingan shut up.
But at this time, the communication from the toilet came again: "Disaster, Lone Ranger, what is your partner's name? You can also give her a call sign."
Angeli looked confused, wondering why anyone besides Wang Ping'an dared to ignore the authority of their superiors.
Wang Pingan pointed to the display on the LCD screen and said: "This is laser communication. It is basically point-to-point between our two machines."
Toilet: "The Lone Ranger?"
Wang Ping'an: "I decided to call her Goose."
"Hey, are you two going to find a museum to steal the F14?"
Angele was so angry that she knelt on Wang Pingan's knee, but Wang Pingan was wearing a space suit that was so thick that she couldn't feel it.
While chatting, the eight-machine team approached the rolling gp87935.
Wang Ping'an activated the scanner and began to orbit the spacecraft.
"I saw the damage!" Angeli said loudly, "It's behind the main reactor."
Wang Ping'an was speechless: "This is a hit to the hydrogen pipeline of the tritium reflection engine. The explosion of the engine disrupted the flight attitude of the spacecraft."
At this time, the second gap was scanned. This gap was very small and difficult to detect with the naked eye without scanning - at least at this distance.
After comparing the design drawings of gp87935, the computer suggested that the meteorite may have damaged one of the spacecraft's main computers.
Wang Ping'an: "This spacecraft has two AI systems. As a result, the main system stopped and the backup system did not start. This shouldn't be the case."
At this moment, he suddenly froze, turned his head and looked at gp87935 through the porthole attentively.
Angele: "What's wrong?"
"I saw a flash of light." Wang Ping'an muttered.
Angele: "Where's the sparkle?"
Wang Ping'an ignored her and shouted directly on the radio: "This is the Lone Ranger. Has anyone seen a flash on gp87935? Over."
"There is no toilet. Finished."
"The Scarlet Witch is not. over."
"The God of Wealth is not finished."
…
None of the team saw the flash.
Angele: "Did you see it wrong? Or maybe a certain part reflects sunlight?"
Wang Ping'an: "No, the direction of the sun's rays is wrong and it won't be reflected to my side anyway. That's a flash of light."
Angele: "What flash? Is it a distress signal sent by the AI on the spacecraft to us?"
Wang Ping'an: "I don't know, but I did see a flash..."
At this moment, the tumbling gp87935 flashed again. This time Wang Pingan saw clearly that it was a flash of light coming from the porthole of the airtight maintenance hatch on the left side of the spacecraft.
Wang Ping'an: "The Lone Ranger reported that the A1 maintenance port port on the left side of gp87935 flashed. Completed"
"Toilet confirmation, I saw the flash, but I didn't see where it came from. Finished."
"Lone Ranger, is it possible that the flash was caused by floating objects in the airlock? Over." The mothership asked.
Wang Pingan was about to answer when he suddenly stopped.
Because he saw flashes of light starting to appear continuously.
"The Lone Ranger reports that flashes of light appear continuously, possibly Morse code. Over."
By this time he had finished reading the Morse code.
So he continued to report without waiting for the mothership to respond: "The content of the Morse code is, 'We are stowaways and are trapped in the maintenance channel.' Over."