Chapter 123 Misfortunes never come alone
Andrew's voice reached the ears of two teammates over the radio.
Bruno and Joey's breaths suffocated slightly, and a trace of panic flashed in their eyes.
"Andrew? What's going on?!"
There was a bit of vibrato in Bruno's voice.
Andrew stood up slowly and shook his head with a bitter look on his face.
"A Martian rock destroyed the air circulation equipment."
"What I saw alone was a gap more than ten centimeters long..."
"It's probably because we didn't pay attention when deploying the Mars module, or maybe there was something wrong with NASA's design in this regard."
Silence fell over the radio channel.
Bruno on the side trembled slightly and suddenly raised his head to look at Andrew in front of him.
Through the glass mask, Andrew clearly saw Bruno's pale face and bloodless, slightly trembling lips.
The next moment, Bruno reached out and grabbed Andrew's arm, growling with horror on his face.
"Didn't NASA equip us with two air circulation device accessories?!"
"Why don't we put the damage..."
Andrew shook his head and directly interrupted Bruno's question.
"As much as I would like to say it can be replaced, the reality is... the gap is in the base component of the air circulation equipment, and there is no way to fix it unless we remove the entire thing and replace it."
"NASA should not have considered the problems we encountered. It is equipped with some important detachable parts. We did not replace the basic parts that cannot be disassembled."
As he spoke, a trace of bitterness appeared on Andrew's face.
While carefully restoring the various parts to their original state, he sighed and said, "Get ready to contact NASA."
"Everyone, our journey to Mars may end here."
…
Earth.
3:15 a.m. U.S. time.
Houston Ground Command Center.
"Pathfinders call Houston, Pathfinders call Houston."
The quiet command center suddenly heard a sound with a strong sound of electricity.
"We're...in some trouble."
"..."
Hearing the message coming from the radio, Professor Chris, who was originally drowsy, suddenly trembled.
His lips parted slightly, and a look of disbelief flashed in his eyes.
Without any time to think about it, he directly grabbed the phone beside him and dialed Director Moulton's number.
…
More than two hours later.
Inside the White House conference room.
Albert sat on the main seat of the conference table with a gloomy expression, stretched out his hand and rubbed his tired face.
"So, our Pathfinder plan is going to be interrupted?"
Director Moulton nodded gloomily: "That's right."
"The Mars capsule after the air circulation equipment is damaged is no longer suitable for habitation."
"In order to ensure the safety of the three astronauts, I have ordered them to enter the return capsule."
As he said that, Moulton raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "If everything is normal, they should have taken off by now."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a rapid knock on the door.
Albert frowned slightly and turned to look at the conference room door.
"What's going on?"
"Is there anyone interrupting such an important meeting?"
Moulton's eyes moved slightly. He stood up from his chair and whispered: "Your Excellency, perhaps there is good news from the ground command center in Houston."
Albert was silent for a moment, nodded solemnly, and squeezed out a slightly dull response from his throat: "Let him come in."
After receiving permission, Moulton quickly turned around and left his seat, opening the door to the conference room with a faint smile on his lips.
"Mo... Director Moulton, something happened to the return capsule!"
…
Mars.
After receiving the order to return, the three astronauts brought some important supplies and entered the return capsule one by one.
After fastening his seat belt, a faint flash of excitement flashed across Bruno's face.
"To be honest, I even want to thank that Rouchzi air circulation device." Bruno rubbed his hands gently and whispered, "If it weren't for it, we would have stayed on this damn Mars for more than a month!"
Andrew looked at his teammates with a strange expression.
"What? Don't you think so?" Bruno obviously noticed Andrew's gaze.
Andrew coughed slightly, his expression getting weirder: "That's what I said...but there's one thing you may have forgotten."
"There is audio and video equipment in this return capsule."
Bruno: "..."
"Ahem!" Bruno coughed hard twice and changed the subject with a smile, "Captain, should we get ready to set off?"
The corner of Andrew's mouth twitched and he checked it with a look of helplessness.
After confirming that there were no mistakes, he took a deep breath and reached out to turn a few buttons on the console.
"Watch out, I'm on fire!"
Hearing Andrew's reminder, the two teammates immediately stopped smiling a little and got ready to take off with solemn expressions.
"3!"
"2!"
"1! Ignite!"
A vibration came from the soles of my feet.
Just as everyone was preparing to withstand the coming force, the vibration suddenly disappeared.
There was silence in the return cabin.
"Captain... Captain?" Joey's voice sounded on the radio, "Are you sure you have started the engine?"
Andrew was stunned, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Didn't he press it just now?
He should have pressed it, right?
But why is there no movement?
Andrew's small eyes revealed a big doubt.
"I...I press it again?"
As he said, Andrew reached out to press the engine start button in front of him again.
A few seconds later.
"..."
Looking at the strange looks of his two teammates, a trace of cold sweat suddenly appeared on Andrew's forehead.
"I pressed it! I really pressed it!"
As he said, Andrew pressed the start button hard several times.
No reaction at all.
Looking at Andrew's actions, the faces of the two teammates suddenly changed.
"Andrew? Are you kidding?" Bruno swallowed slightly, "Did you get the steps wrong?"
Bruno's questioning made Andrew's face flush instantly.
He didn't say anything, but just repeated the operation just now.
"Oh my God..."
Joey's pupils dilated a little, and he muttered to himself: "We can't be so unlucky..."
...
"Shit!!!"
Andrew, wearing a bulky space suit, sat down on the dusty ground on Mars.
Through the glass mask, you can see that at this moment, his facial expression is extremely distorted.
"Damn NASA, how can it be so unreliable?!"
Bruno and Joey stood aside in silence, staring blankly at the slightly worn return capsule in front of them, which had been attacked by the wind and sand of Mars for more than a month.
