Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

Chapter 698 Prologue. Chapter Zero. Fire ⅩⅤ

September 13, 2085

"Dolly!"

The sky was a bit dim, and the wind and sand were strong. The afterglow of the setting sun reflected the land in front of me, which was full of yellow sand. The crisscrossing mountains had undulated terrain. The entire land seemed to have been roasted. A little man wearing a thin space suit The girl sat on the edge of a cliff, quietly watching the sunset in the distance.

Next to her is an intelligent guidance robot with tracks. The little girl looks to be in her early 20s. She rests her hand on her chin and looks a little serious, but there is bitterness between her brows.

"Dolly, you should have a talk with your parents."

The tank-like robot next to it was dark gray, with a square raised head on the surface of Changxing's mobile body. Dori ignored the robot's greetings. Tomorrow was her 20th birthday after all, and she missed her days on earth. Yes, it has been 9 years since I came here.

This is Mars, there is nothing, only boring study and work every day. Dolly can't stand it anymore. She really wants to go back to your aqua blue planet in her memory. When she was 10 years old, Dolly was so excited Along with his parents, he participated in the Pioneer Program.

It was a plan that humans had planned to start a long time ago, but due to the instability of the world situation, the plan was not started until the beginning of 2076. Dolly and her parents, who were researchers, boarded spacecraft No. 3094. It took more than a year to reach Mars.

A total of 100,000 people came to this plan, and a total of 100 spacecraft carrying various supplies and processing and production machinery were launched towards Mars. However, only 79 spacecraft finally arrived at Mars, and 15 of the 21 were During the voyage, they encountered collisions with space floating objects. Six ships had problems when they arrived and crashed during landing.

The past nine years have been extremely difficult. For Dolly, on the one hand, she needs to learn all kinds of knowledge, and on the other hand, she needs to perform almost the same work every day. The most important work is to take care of the crop fields.

The main food here is potatoes, corn and wheat flour. It was okay at first. Dolly felt fresh about everything every day, but now, Dolly is tired of everything. Like Dolly, many people are the same. .

But now there is good news. The Pioneer 3 base has found oil, which means that they may be able to obtain enough fuel by extracting oil and then return to Earth.

It’s just that this idea is very difficult. The mining of many metal deposits is extremely difficult and requires a very long mining and excavation process. In many cases, it can only rely on manpower. Dolly no longer wants to dig anymore. Such days are really painful. This is true for most human beings who come here with the vision of building a better life.

I don’t know when, longing for a beautiful life on Mars turned into resentment. Dolly is one of them. She misses the taste of fried chicken burgers, the taste of soda, and the fact that she used to go to the cinema to watch movies with her parents. .

Everything that happened nine years ago kept popping up in her mind. At that time, Dolly was extremely excited when she heard that her parents were selected. The classmates in the school also held a unique farewell party for Dolly. After more than a year, During the journey, in addition to board and card games, the entertainment activities for people on the spacecraft also include some computer games, small sports fields, etc.

The journey is not boring, because everyone is looking forward to building a beautiful human home after arriving on Mars.

When they first arrived, everyone was happy and worked hard every day, doing serious detection and exploration. However, in the third year of such days, Dolly felt extremely tired. She couldn't leave today. A little further away, far away from the Pioneer Base No. 9 where they were, more than ten kilometers away.

In the past nine years, Dolly has been in the spaceship for almost most of the time, and everything she did during the voyage is very similar. Now there are 1,031 people in their spaceship, and they have also established some farmland outside, and there is no need for food for the time being. Worry.

The only thing you need to worry about is sandstorms, which are very nasty things. Every time a sandstorm strikes, some facilities will always be destroyed. The extract to repair the facilities needs to be refined and then manufactured at a mining station more than 30 kilometers away. Finally, Then transport it back to Pioneer Base No. 9.

Dolly glanced at the time and saw that it was almost 7 o'clock, but the sun would not set until after 8 o'clock, because a day on Mars is nearly an hour longer than on Earth.

There was another severe sandstorm a few days ago, and Dolly was asked by her parents to go to the ore mining station with other peers to get repair materials. Dolly was not in a good mood today, and she even had conflicts with some of her friends. Finally When her parents came to persuade her, Dolly had another quarrel with her parents. She also said that she wanted to return to Earth and no longer wanted to stay on Mars. The moment she said this, most people fell silent.

Dolly's words seem to speak the minds of most people, but it is obviously impossible now. Every space ship has machinery to make high-energy fuel, but it is not easy to find the raw materials to make such high-energy fuel. , of which oil is a must.

Most of the pioneer bases can only rely on signal-emitting robots driven by electrical energy to communicate. On this land of nearly 100 square kilometers of solid rock formations, there are 79 pioneer bases built around spaceships.

"Dolly, go back. I've observed that there may be a small-scale sandstorm nearby. It's better to go back."

The guidance robot next to her urged urgently, and Dolly laughed disapprovingly, then shook her head.

"I'm not going back."

Dori is still full of anger. Her parents taught her a lesson in front of many people. Her parents are one of the managers of this base, so they are extremely strict about food rations and all aspects of rationing every day. , Dolly can no longer stand this kind of life.

"I'm not a robot."

Dori glanced at the guidance robot next to her and sighed. Then Dori raised her arm. The crystal screen above showed the remaining amount of oxygen, as well as the temperature in the spacesuit, including the outside temperature, wind speed, etc.

Dolly once heard a doctor who taught her say that according to the current progress, it would be impossible for them to return to Earth in this life. The gap between ideal and reality is too big.

What worries everyone the most is that the space station that communicates with the earth sent back a message that it had lost contact with the earth nine years ago.

This is a point where many people feel panicked. Some people feel that they have been abandoned. As the first batch of pioneers to land on Mars, once an environment conducive to the stable survival of humans can be established, the second and third batches of people will follow. come over.

Because there are countless resources on Mars, and the production has been roughly concluded during the exploration of the Mars surface in the past few decades, humans only need to establish their own survival base, and then rely on science and technology to change the atmosphere of Mars. If it reaches the standards of the Earth, then Mars may become the second Earth.

Dolly no longer believes in such a beautiful idea over the years. Maybe she will be able to see it one day when she dies of old age.

Didi didi

It was detected that the wind had begun to strengthen, and the nearby monitoring station No. 8 issued an early warning.

As soon as Dolly heard the voice guiding the robot, she immediately stood up, turned around and ran away. The sandstorm was no joke. Once blown away, there was no way she could survive.

The guidance robot kept making sounds, guiding Dori to run on the dry and hard land. Gradually Dori saw Pioneer Base No. 9 in the distance.

An oval metal spacecraft is surrounded by many translucent glass covers. Those are the crop fields outside the spacecraft, and some are experimental fields. The sunshine here is very abundant.

The reason why we chose this area where there are always sandstorms is because there is a huge lake nearby. The water reserve is enough for everyone to live. If we leave the water, everyone will not be able to survive, so they can only endure the scorching sun. The scorching heat and the invasion of wind and sand make it impossible to leave this wasteland, which is why many people find it increasingly unbearable.

Once a sandstorm strikes, you need to be vigilant at all times. Metal objects at high speed in the wind can easily penetrate the outer shell of the crop field, and the hull is often damaged.

Dolly ran softly. Running here is not too strenuous, because the gravity on Mars is much smaller than that on Earth. She only needs to run lightly to move quickly, so Dolly can reach a place more than ten kilometers away from the base. place.

Didi didi

The siren suddenly sounded, and Dolly quickened her pace. She was stunned as soon as she looked back, because there was already a large gray area behind her, and it was approaching at high speed.

"Based on the current speed, it is impossible to escape from the sandstorm and find a bunker!"

Dolly felt a chill in her heart. She looked around, and a chill ran down her spine. If she encountered a sandstorm outside, she would very likely die.

"There is a bunker 198 meters to the northeast. Please go to the bunker. There are 108 seconds left before the sandstorm arrives!"

Dolly ran over quickly and soon saw a large raised rock. She quickly ran to the north of the rock, then squatted on the ground close to the rock, and the guidance robot followed.

There was a rumbling sound, and Dolly felt fear for a moment. There was only wind and sand all around, and she could not see anything. She closed her eyes and felt that the situation was very bad. Such sandstorms were Dolly's daily life. It takes three days and two days to go through.

At present, the people at the Pioneer Base can't find any good solution. Being unable to leave the water source is a big problem.

Every week, Dolly goes to the lake in the center of the base community to collect water, which is enough for 1,000 people. Dolly has also been there countless times.

The sound of the wind and sand was very loud. Dolly just wanted to go home and have a good night's rest. She might feel better tomorrow.

However, the wind and sand seemed to show no sign of stopping at this time, and Dolly heard a violent roar outside.

"what happened?"

Dolly muttered, ten minutes had passed, and the power of the wind and sand did not decrease, but became stronger and stronger. Dolly became anxious and felt rumbling sounds coming from her back.

Suddenly, Dolly saw a black shadow passing over her head, and then started to move quickly. It lasted for nearly half an hour, and the wind and sand finally stopped.

"It's over. With such a big sandstorm, it will take who knows how many days to clean up the sand."

Dolly complained. At this time, Dolly saw that the ground in front of her was in a mess. Some rocks bigger than herself could be seen everywhere. Dolly swallowed a gulp and returned to the back of the protruding rock. She found that the surface of the rock had been A lot of places were cut away, Dolly looked at it with fear, and she immediately followed the guidance robot and continued towards the base.

"Lost coordinates! Continue searching for the signal source."

Dolly looked at everything in front of her in horror. She didn't know why this sandstorm lasted for so long. This was something Dolly had never experienced before. Generally, sandstorms would end in more than ten minutes at most, but this sandstorm lasted for a long time. For half an hour.

Then Dolly immediately planned to open the front cover of the guide robot and check the signal receiver, but when Dolly's hand just touched it, the guide robot immediately sounded an alarm.

"The flow velocity in the air changes, and a sandstorm is coming."

Dolly looked at the place behind her in horror. The sun was almost invisible, and there was a large gray thing in the distance.

"Take cover."

Dolly knew very well that this place could no longer stay. The next sandstorm was very likely to destroy this bunker. Some hard metal ores carried in the wind could easily destroy this kind of rock that has been eroded by wind and sand all year round. .

Dolly ran eagerly. The guide robot was still looking for cover. Dolly looked around anxiously. Soon Dolly saw a horizontal ditch. She ran over and found a slope going down. She immediately Sliding down the sand, he found a raised rock on the slope, opened the work bag on the back of the space suit, took out the fixed cable, and fixed himself to the rock.

Dolly directly tied the guide robot with a rope and quickly pressed it into the sand.

The strong wind instantly blew over Dolly's head, and the sand was pouring down like a heavy rain. Dolly felt that her body was being pulled continuously by the crazy flowing sand.

After 17 minutes, the sandstorm ended. Dolly looked at everything in front of her with lingering fear, as well as the stones rolling down around her. She was lucky and was not hit by some big stones rolling down. She was lying on the ground. The underside of the raised rock.

Dolly immediately pulled out the guidance robot, and the robot began to conduct signal measurement. At this time, an aircraft slowly came over in the distance. Dolly immediately stood up, took out the signal bomb, and soon followed A red signal flare was launched into the sky, and the distant aircraft slowly landed nearby. Dolly ran and jumped over.

"dad!"

Arriving next to this long, small four-person aircraft, Dolly lowered her head in embarrassment, like a child who had done something wrong. There were three people on it, her father Rodan, and technical maintenance technician Joyner, who were trying to pack her Teacher Dr. David.

"Dolly, I'm sorry, Dad said something a little harsh this morning."

Dolly walked over and hugged her father. Joyner laughed and patted Dolly on the shoulder.

"What you said is correct, Dori. It's just a fact that many of us have not spoken out. We are all exhausted because we don't know when a base suitable for human survival will be established."

David smiled kindly and shook his head.

"If you can produce enough fuel, you still have a chance to go back."

Soon the four people were riding a small aircraft towards the Pioneer 9 base in the distance, which was partially covered by sand.

A large number of people have started cleaning the sand with automatic shovels. After Dolly returned, many people greeted Dolly, and Dolly also worked hard.

Dolly's father, Rodan, and the other two people returned to the spacecraft, and soon returned to the spacecraft control room. At this time, the room director and some other managers were there, and everyone looked solemn.

Just an hour ago, they received an information briefing from the space station. There were only a few text descriptions, but the content shocked everyone and found it difficult to believe.

There was a problem with the Earth's plan to land on the Hope asteroid, and it suffered a violent impact. Nowadays, life on the Earth is almost extinct. This is an information briefing from Asgard, the space station country, and the accompanying signal identification code.

"Do you think this is true?"

The 60-year-old room chief asked, but everyone was silent and no one answered. Now all the people in the Pioneer base should have received such news.

No one knows the specific situation, but considering that no news or contact has been received from the earth for 9 years, it is certain that this news can at least be believed, but no one is willing to accept such a thing, Pioneer Most people in the base want to return to Earth.

Many problems that have occurred in the base in recent years, even bloody incidents, were caused in this environment where there is only non-stop work and sandstorms all day long. Many people can no longer bear it and want to return to Earth.

Some people have even said that the fuel of all spacecrafts can be combined to provide at least enough fuel for 30 spacecrafts to return to Earth. This question is always raised in every room director meeting.

But no one agreed to this approach, because everyone wanted to go back. It is almost impossible to find a place that is not frequently hit by sandstorms and has water sources. Although there is a large amount of solid water at the poles of Mars, The temperature over there is too low, making it impossible for them to establish a base.

The temperature here can reach minus 20 degrees at most at night, but the poles of Mars are different and may reach minus 100 degrees. This is not a temperature that humans can survive.

At this time, everyone's expressions were grim. Everyone knew that the next room director meeting should start soon. Although oil has been discovered, it will take at least 5 years to build a machine that can mine it. You must also find some corresponding metal deposits.

"I can not stand it any more."

At this time, an observer stood up, pressed his forehead in distress, and said with a sad expression.

"I still have a wife and children on earth. I originally wanted to exchange 10 years of work for future stability, but it's been 9 years now, which is different from what I promised at the beginning."

"Calm down Bob!"

Rodin looked at the emotional observer and walked over to comfort him. At this time, the observer huddled against the metal wall and began to sob silently. Most of the people who joined the Mars project had signed ten-year or even ten-year contracts with energy companies. For those with permanent contracts, most people will leave Mars and return to Earth when the second batch of employees arrives.

If you can get a house, you will have a lot of money, including medical insurance for your future life after the age of 50.

Many people think that as long as they work hard for 10 years and return to the earth, the earth will have been transformed, because they hope that the asteroid project will make the earth better.

The despair quickly spread throughout the control room. No one said anything. Rodan just sat quietly on the chair. He recalled what his daughter had said in the morning and said most of the things that were suppressed in his heart. When it comes out, this is what everyone is suppressing in their hearts.

Life on Mars is not as beautiful as everyone built during the journey. Now everyone is exhausted from surviving. For 9 years, everyone has almost done the same thing every day, but it is impossible not to do it. , because failure to do so means death.

Water supply, metal refining and manufacturing at mining stations, sand cleaning, crop field maintenance, as well as repair of internal facilities and robots, many tasks are very heavy and boring.

Some people have begun to think about the significance of coming here. The energy company just hopes that they can find more efficient and stable new energy sources on Mars, as well as some rarer energy sources, and then send transport ships over and allow them to adapt and transform humans into a large-scale planet. environment to survive, but according to the current progress, this is simply not possible.

Although there are water sources in some places and are far away from the wind and sand, it is impossible to establish a base in those places. The terrain in those places is too regional, and the structure of the rock formations is unstable after investigation.

Nowadays, just cultivating planting soil makes everyone feel physically and mentally exhausted. In addition, there are only so many things to eat, and the things they see are always just the same earthy yellow color. This makes more and more people feel tired. It was difficult for many people to accept it, and many people had the idea of ​​returning to the region.

"Don't announce this news yet. Once it is announced, some people may not be able to bear it, especially those who still have relatives on earth!"

The room director spoke, and Rodan hummed. After the brief meeting, everyone left the control room and returned to the outside, holding tools and joining in the work of cleaning the sand.

"Dad, I'm sorry."

At this time Dolly came over and said, Rodin smiled and shook his head.

"It's okay, there are still many days to come, and you will grow up too!"

Dolly looked at her father in confusion and noticed the sadness and bitterness in his eyes, but she didn't ask any more questions.