Chapter 3 Rescue Mission
The "Headwind" was fast. It carried us to the nearest lunar space station.
After docking at the space station, instructors and technicians conducted a major inspection of the "Headwind" to ensure that the hull was stable and normal.
While they were inspecting the Headwind, I flew with my instructor's comrades in a small transport ship.
This was the first time I had actually boarded a small ship, and I had been training in a simulated cabin when I was training on the ground. The simulated warehouse is very realistic, almost the same as it is now, but it always feels like something is missing.
There are two seats on the small ship, one main pilot and one co-pilot. The co-pilot is completely negligible. Because the co-pilot doesn't have to do anything, just sit and watch the scenery.
Personally, I don't think it's difficult to drive a small transport ship. Because this small ship generally does not need manual control, the hull is equipped with a balancer, visual obstacle avoidance, acoustic obstacle avoidance, infrared obstacle avoidance, etc., and then relies on extremely accurate inertial guidance, with the main ship as a reference point, for short-distance flight.
Because of the ease of operation of the small ship, our two pilots were very leisurely. If we could, I think we could even make a pot of tea and have a good conversation in this not very spacious control room.
After a few laps around the Headswind, we returned to the Headswind. Back on the "Headwind", we couldn't help but be scolded by the instructor, after which the instructor lectured us a few words and told us the next itinerary.
The next location we headed to was the Martian space station. During this time, Headwind's speed will increase to 0.0001 times the speed of light. It sounds slow, but it's actually very fast.
Let me describe it this way, after turning on 0.0001 times the speed of light, the hull of the "Headwind" needs to turn on a special protective device to resist the pressure caused by high-speed flight. At the same time, we also need to enter a dedicated hyperbaric chamber, and if we stay in a normal cabin, our body will be squeezed on the bulkhead and turned into a mess of meat sauce.
The Martian space station is about 60 million kilometers away from the lunar space station. At 0.0001 times the speed of light, it would take us only fifty hours to get there.
Fifty hours is a long time, especially since we are hiding in a hyperbaric chamber, all around us are enclosed, and we can't feel the outside world at all. The hyperbaric chamber is also a simulated gravity environment, and I feel that it is no different from living on Earth, everyone drinks water, eats, and sleeps normally. I feel like I've been sleeping a lot for the past two days, basically sleeping all the time.
Two days later, we finally arrived at the Martian space station. The Martian space station is equipped with large communication stations that can be connected to Earth satellites. At this time, our mobile phones come in handy. The Martian space station has been designed to provide us with a small communication network.
Before using the mobile phone, the instructor told us a lot, which probably means that this communication network is a privilege for us, but he hopes that we can cherish this right and not try to transmit some leaks.
We all agreed, in fact, we all know that the information sent and received through the Mars space station will be screened, and we have no secrets to speak of.
After a day's rest, we received our first transport assignment. A shipment of fuel and special minerals from Mars will be transported to a new space station located 14.23 million kilometers from the Martian space station. This new mineral excavated on Mars is an amazing material, with high density and extreme stability, which is very suitable for making some important parts.
The mission was completed smoothly. The task was completed, and I received a good amount of income in my bank card. After connecting to the internet, I transferred all the money back home. At the same time, I also talked a lot with my family on the phone, just some very ordinary content, but these ordinary contents made me feel the concern of my parents.
On the Headwind, I had almost no concept of time. Therefore, such time passes long and quickly.
In the blink of an eye, I've been in space for three months. During these three months, I went from being a small ship pilot to a full-fledged small ship pilot.
I can control small ships proficiently, and I can control all kinds of instruments and meters on small ships. I am mainly responsible for the loading and unloading of the small cargo of the "Headwind", which is only busy when receiving and delivering the goods. The rest of the time, I'm more relaxed.
On this day, we received a new shipping assignment.
This time the shipping distance is a bit long, about five days. At 0.0001 times the speed of light, we still stay in the high-pressure chamber of the "Headwind" every day. Compared with the beginning, our entertainment life is very rich now, playing cards, chatting, singing and dancing, everything.
With the support of abundant entertainment activities, we had a great time during the five days. When Headwind arrived at its destination, I started to get busy.
I piloted a small transport ship back and forth between the "Headwind" and the space station, and I constantly transported the cargo on the "Headwind".
After an unloading session, I was about to return to the "Headwind", but I noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with the small ship piloted by my colleague, and I saw that the small ship was flying and the hull suddenly stopped. I could see that the small ship was spewing fuel, but its hull couldn't move a bit.
Our communication network is shared. It didn't take long for me to receive a message from the small ship. According to him, the small ship seems to have a problem with the power system and is now completely unable to move.
Because I was relatively close to him, I was sent by the instructor to rescue the small ship. After receiving the order, I drove over with the small ship and threw a rescue steel lock at the small ship, trying to rely on the pull of my small ship to tow his small ship back to the "Headwind".
However, things turned out a little differently than I had imagined. I drove the small ship to the maximum speed, but found that it didn't work. The small ship seemed to be sucked into something, and it was sucking tightly. Just as I was about to report the situation, I suddenly felt an extremely strong feeling of dizziness.
I shook my head, trying to clear myself up. At this time, I seemed to hear a message from the Headwind, their voices were flustered, and my groggy feeling was getting stronger and stronger, and I couldn't hear what they were saying at all.
After a while, I felt my body flash forward, my head hit the dashboard, and after a moment of pain, my eyes went black and I lost consciousness completely.