“… The communication module was physically dismantled. Those hijackers seemed to have no intention of having a conversation. The dismantlement was thorough, even the backup communication system was removed, and the remote control modules and autopilot systems… Damn it!”
Crouched in front of the console was a short man with glasses.
His name was Fan Sheng, and he was an engineer at an aerospace company in Pan Asia.
About a week ago, he went to Tiangong City to attend an academic seminar. He did not expect to encounter such a mess on the way home.
But thank god he was here; otherwise, with the robot that Xiao Ai sent ruined in the previous battle, Lu Zhou really didn’t know what to do.
Seeing that Fan Sheng was sweating profusely, Lu Zhou frowned and asked, “Can you fix it?”
“It’s impossible to fix it. Judging by the violent removal method, they never thought about reinstalling it later.” A wry smile appeared on Fan Sheng’s face. He raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, “But fortunately, their understanding of this transport ship is poor. I changed the settings of the maintenance system and switched to developer mode. Although the channel is narrower, the audio call should be usable.”
Lu Zhou immediately asked, “Can it be used now?”
“Yes… I received an unfamiliar communication request here. It should be the Pan-Asian Fleet who noticed the anomaly on our side.”
Lu Zhou: “Connect them immediately!”
Fan Sheng quickly nodded, then tapped on the holographic panel.
“Ok… Done!”
The picture on the holographic panel changed. A call window was quickly presented in front of Lu Zhou and Fan Sheng.
The video was blank, and the person standing at the other end of the video couldn’t be seen, but they could clearly hear their voice.
“… This is the Pan-Asian First Fleet. Flight N-177, can you hear me?”
“If you can, we just want to talk. No matter what you’re asking for, we just want a conversation…”
Lu Zhou took a deep breath and said, “This is flight N-177… I am a passenger on the flight. We have regained control of the flight from the hijackers.”
The other end of the call was silent for a while. They seemed to be surprised by the news.
Lu Zhou waited quietly for two seconds. There was a response from the other end of the communication channel.
Navigator: “Can you slow down?”
“Yes… We have turned off the main engine, but the automatic navigation module has been removed by the hijackers, and the two captains have also been killed by the hijackers.” Lu Zhou had a headache looking at the channel data displayed on the navigator. He said, “You better send someone over to help us… The hijackers can board this transport ship, surely you guys have a way too?”
This time there was a longer silence in the communication channel.
Navigator: “Flight N-177, when you hear this news, I hope you can stay calm…”
Hearing the heavy tone, Lu Zhou vaguely had a guess, and his mood began to tank.
Fan Sheng was next to him. He was silent for a while, then said, “Tell me.”
Navigator: “You missed the last deceleration window 37 minutes ago.”
Lu Zhou: “That means we can’t come back anymore?”
Navigator: “Yes…”
Lu Zhou didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at Fan Sheng next to him.
“Is that true?”
Fan Sheng’s face was pale. His lips trembled as he nodded.
“… That might be true. But surely there is another way! What about your landing spacecraft? At least give us some supplies…”
“The Dolphin 230 transport ship has 12 pairs of K-15 ion thruster engines. In terms of acceleration, even if the patrol ship of the Pan-Asian First Fleet leaves from the nearest spaceport now, it won’t catch up within 72 hours. The rescue window is only 11 hours. Once you pass by the Earth-Moon system, it will take two weeks at the earliest for our aircraft carrier to complete docking with you.”
Lu Zhou looked at Fan Sheng and continued to ask, “Is that true?”
Fan Sheng was pale as he nodded.
“At the beginning of the design, the dolphin-type civil transport ship was designed to facilitate passengers to travel between the Earth-Moon system and the Mars system quickly. Therefore, 12 pairs of main engines were installed on the tail… The military transport ship of China that is carrying ammunition and endurance supplies may not be able to catch up.
“Those space pirates have been preparing to ambush us since a week ago…”
In the headquarters of the Pan-Asia First Fleet, Yang Wu stepped forward and patted the navigator on the shoulder while looking at the blank video call window.
“Let me communicate with them.”
The navigator glanced at the military advisor and stepped out of his seat.
Yang Wu sat in front of the console in place of the navigator. He stared at the blank holographic video window and spoke in a serious and calm voice.
“This is Yang Wu from the Pan-Asian First Fleet, military operations consultant.
“I am sorry to inform you of this news, but the possibility of your safe return is very slim. At the soonest, it will take two weeks for our rescuers to arrive. Therefore, we need you to take some necessary self-rescue measures.
“If you can control this flight, I hope you can turn on the left steering engine, change the current course, and avoid the direct collision with the Tianzhou space station.”
Lu Zhou: “How many degrees left?”
Yang Wu: “If you are unsure, keep the left steering engine running at full power for more than 720 seconds.”
720 seconds…
Turning left at full power for 720 seconds, this was tantamount to avoiding Earth directly and head toward the deep dark space.
Lu Zhou: “Do you mean to give us up?”
Yang Wu said in a serious tone, “We have never given up on you. This is just for the safety of the Tianzhou spacecraft and the tens of thousands of residents on the space station. We hope you can keep a safe distance from them. We will do our best to rescue you, but I also hope that you will consider the greater good.”
“What is your name?”
“Yang Wu.”
“Yang Wu.” Lu Zhou stared at the blank holographic window and said, “There are more than 200 passengers on board, most of them part of Pan-Asia, others from all over the world. I agree with your opinion that the greater good is important, but we are far from that stage. As long as I am here and I am still alive, I will not allow them to die for no reason.”
Yang Wu: “Can you drive a transport ship? What do you want to do?”
Lu Zhou chuckled.
“The principles are actually the same. The only difference is that the operation is more cumbersome now. The essence of spaceflight is a mathematical problem, and as long as it is a mathematical problem, there is a solution.”
Yang Wu squinted his eyes. He stared at the holographic screen and spoke in a deep voice.
“Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am, I just need your side to cooperate with me.”
The communication call ended.
Flight N-177 seemed to have made up its mind to gamble on the fate of itself and the Tianzhou ship. It proceeded along the established route.
The Pan-Asian First Fleet command Room was roped in nervous tension.
Everyone stared at the flashing green dot on the radar.
“The route has not changed. Flight N-177 is heading to Tianzhou!”
“A collision is expected in 11 hours!”
“Aim at them, we can’t let the tens of thousands of residents on the Tianzhou be at risk!”
“They have no chance of surviving…”
“It’s not impossible.” The aerospace technology consultant, who had not spoken, suddenly said, “Although the probability is probably less than 1%…”
The commander looked at him immediately and said, “Why?”
“Slingshot effect.” The aerospace technology consultant continued while looking at the commander, “Although according to the current course, their remaining fuel is insufficient to slow down, if the slingshot effect can be used, it may not be impossible.”
The military adviser frowned and asked, “Slingshot effect? I remember that. Isn’t it used to accelerate unmanned space probe?”
“It isn’t only for acceleration. When the planet moves to the right on the horizontal plane, if the spacecraft flies over the planet from the left side of the planet at the right angle, it will receive a rightward impulse from the planet. In theory, if they fly over the Earth in orbit, as long as they intersect at the right angle, they can use the slingshot effect to extend the rescue window.”
Commander: “How long can it be extended?”
“I don’t know, shouldn’t you ask the computer about this kind of thing?”
The commander immediately looked at the staff and ordered, “Start the AI battlefield analysis system, I need to know the success rate of the plan and the possible risks.”
The progress bar on the holographic screen flickered.
Soon, the evaluation results appeared in front of everyone.
This result shocked everyone.
“The success rate is 2%… The probability of collision with the Tianzhou space station while flying by the geosynchronous orbit is 75%… Sh*t, this is assuming that there are experienced pilots on flight N-177!”
“It’s too difficult! Too many variables are difficult to control! The slingshot effect cannot accurately control the running speed and direction. Even an experienced pilot wouldn’t do this!”
“This is nonsense!”
“They are crazy!”
The commander had a blank expression. His fists were tightly clenched, as if he was hesitant.
Yang Wu glanced at him in silence and asked, “Is it worth it?”
Putting tens of thousands of people at risk for 200.
Is this really worth it?
…
To be honest, Lu Zhou didn’t spend much time considering whether it was worth it or not.
As a scholar, he only thought about one problem right now, which was the optimal solution.
The problem was filled with precise parameters, and no matter which parameter was adjusted, a little careless mistake might lead to extremely serious accidents.
They would fly by the geosynchronous orbit in 11 hours and have a high probability of colliding with the Tianzhou space station.
To be honest, the window period was short, not to mention the complicated manual navigation.
His calculations must be accurate. He had no room for even a small error.
If he wanted to survive, he must make use of every working fluid reserve, ignite the side engine at the critical moment, and use the slingshot effect to complete the final deceleration.
The engineer named Fan Sheng suddenly spoke in despair.
“I bet we are targeted.”
“Targeted?”
“Right now we are like a missile, crashing straight into the Tianzhou.” Fan Sheng said bitterly, “It must be like this in their eyes. Orbital defense weapons will definitely be used. If I were them, I certainly will not allow this to happen.”
“I don’t rule out this possibility, but I believe it will not happen.” Lu Zhou was silent for a while. He reached out his hand and patted Fan Sheng’s shoulder. “Go to the cabin and rest for a while, I want to be alone.”
Fan Sheng: “Can you tell me, what are you going to do?”
Lu Zhou: “Slingshot effect.”
Fan Sheng opened his mouth. After a while, he spoke.
“That is insane…”
After leaving the cockpit, Fan Sheng returned to the cabin. He tried to look upbeat as he walked back to his seat in silence and sat down.
Professor Leonard sighed and looked sadly at the starry sky outside the windows. He said, “Are we dead? Can you give me something?”
Fan Sheng: “Not for certain, but it’s not much better.”
The eleven-hour wait was long.
The whole world was drawn to the flight that was out of control.
The orbital residents who could not evacuate in time walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, praying for the spacecraft that was approaching, as well as for their own destiny.
A dark figure was seen getting closer and closer, blocking their sight of the moon.
Then, a miracle happened.
The huge spacecraft did not collide with the space station. In the end, it passed by the Tianzhou space station.
Sitting in the cockpit, Lu Zhou slowly breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed in the driver’s seat.
Inside the cabin, Professor Leonard stared nervously at the towering fortress outside the window.
He could clearly see the residents in the space station windows who were looking at them.
This was probably the greatest moment in human history.
At least one of them!
A man from 100 years ago saved a flight out of control and everyone on the flight.
Even at the last moment, people still did not give up hope and chose to believe in each other.
“Back in my days, we usually plan for the worst, even though I am not a pessimist…”
Yang Wu took off the hat from the top of his head and put it in his arms. He looked at the commander and said solemnly, “It is your courage that saved the two hundred passengers.”
“We were also planning for the worst…” The commander took a deep breath of the cold air. His tight shoulders finally relaxed as he said, “There were so many people who believed in us.
“I didn’t want to let them down.”
This disaster made the Pan-Asian people more united.
Even so, he didn’t want anything like this to happen again.
On flight N-177.
Cheers and applause sounded again.
The spacecraft flying by the geosynchronous was slowly sailing from the back of the earth toward the sun.
The sunlight lit up the blue horizon, and the blue planet looked beautiful under the morning shine.
A child stood in front of the windows as he stared at the shocking scene outside the window like it was a dream.
He didn’t know that he had just experienced the most dangerous moment in his life.
All he knew was that he, who was born and raised on Mars, saw the most spectacular sunrise in his life just now.
He turned his head excitedly and looked at his mother.
“Mommy, is that Earth?”
The childish voice was full of curiosity.
The mother sitting next to him smiled slightly and said softly, “Yeah…
“That’s where mommy was born…”
