Chapter 447 - 438 Widow_1

"Such murky ice."

The lunar rover stopped on a small hill, a location previously marked by the robot, where Fang Lin scraped off a thin layer of moon soil to uncover a block of ice the size of half a human body.

It was not at all pure, with so many impurities mixed in that it appeared more like an opaque grayish-white.

Fang Lin took out the geological hammer he carried with him, knocked off a corner, and examined it closely in his hand, the sunlight was now very weak, they were about to enter the lunar night, and it was almost time to return.

Zhang Zhiguang shoveled vigorously a few times before burying a radio signal beacon in the ground.

According to the robot’s rough survey, there should be plenty of shallow ice here, which would likely be useful in the future.

This was already the third beacon they had buried, which was about enough for the use of the Dawn mission.

"01, 01, you should be returning soon."

Ding Jihua’s voice came through the radio, he had finished his survey and returned to the vicinity of the lander, preparing to relinquish control of 14 as he had some work to do before resting.

"Understood, we’ll return in three minutes."

Beneath the lander, 14 regained control of its own body.

[Commander, I still have plenty of battery left, and I request to use the Lu No. 2 Lunar Rover, I want to bring back some samples from Dawn 2]

"Ah, I just forgot to have Ding do that, remember to select according to the list;

be safe, and make it quick."

[Confirming order, thank you for your concern.]

hopped onto the lunar rover with a cool pose and shot off as soon as it hit the throttle, no one was more familiar with driving on the lunar surface.

Dawn 2 was only about 900 meters away but the terrain was closer to that of a high impact crater, so it required a bit of a detour to get there.

The Moon rover still had half of its electric power left and was still full of vigor, soon reaching the highest point of the terrain.

"... beep beep beep-beep——beep... beep beep..."

14’s radio channel covered all communication bands, where it heard a very abrupt and regular radio wave.

The signal was very weak, occasionally cutting out, but that might be due to the distance, as it could only receive it because it was standing at a high point.

stopped the lunar rover, patiently listening to the information in the radio waves on the spot.

The radio transmission was quite simple, and after around ten seconds, it pieced together the intended message from the intermittent signals:

"beep beep beep, beep——beep——beep——, beep beep beep"

Three short, three long, three short, the standard Morse code format for the international distress signal S.O.S.

It took 14, 0.01 seconds to think, and then it took the initiative to broadcast its own voice through the radio:

[Encountered unregistered radio signal, emitting source suspected of issuing an S.O.S distress call, encoding method is Morse code;

Position unclear, signal source unclear, meets AAAAA-class execution standard, frequency band recorded, request for instructions;

Repeat, discovered...]

The robot’s voice startled everyone, first among the astronauts and then at the ground control center.

Immediately after, the ground began receiving the data packets 14 sent back, as well as the shared current view, which was the response written into its A.I.: report to the parents immediately.

Lin Ju, who had been impatiently waiting for Artemis II and was about to go back to sleep, suddenly perked up and immediately issued instructions to the base, operating 14 to gather more information.

Even Zhang Zhiguang, who was on his way back to the lander with some samples, widened his eyes and eagerly inquired 14 through the radio, only to find out that the signal was too weak to obtain effective information, and the signal seemed to be fading as well.

"Mission Control, can you confirm if the signal is coming from the ground or space?"

"Wait a moment, 01, you should now immediately return to the landing module and wait for further instructions. We’ve just received the data and are urgently verifying it."

"Zhang, could it be them!"

Fang Lin was somewhat excited. The radio distress signal recorded by 14 had a chance of coming from aliens, but it appeared more likely to be from the "Blue Moon."

Zhang Zhiguang knew that the ground control was certainly still discussing, but if the signal had been transmitted from the lunar surface, then they might soon have work to do!

After rapidly thinking it through in his mind for a moment, he made a decision:

"Let’s head back first, recharge the spacesuits and the Moon rover, and rest up. We have to be prepared!

14? Immediately proceed to the highest point near you, gather more information, and report back in a timely manner!"

[Command confirmed, I am heading to B04 highland.]

...

Ground Control Center.

The control center for Unit 14, like those for the Explorer and Jade Rabbit, had remote monitoring rooms located in both Capital and New Yuan bases, but now part of the data had been transferred to the Qiongzhou launch command center.

Academician She was still present here, immediately organizing an assessment of the radio signals received by 14.

First was the source of the signal: aliens were ruled out, as were glitches with unmanned lunar probes. So, it could only have originated from a spacecraft controlled by NACA.

They excluded satellites and space stations orbiting Earth, as well as spaceships, since signals from above should not be affected by the terrain near the landing point.

Eventually, they could almost confirm it was the "Blue Moon."

Upon closer examination of the received signal’s fluctuations, they were 70% sure the source was stationary.

"We are now 80% certain that the Blue Moon has landed, and it is they who are sending out a distress signal from the lunar surface."

Academician She’s expression was unprecedentedly serious—this was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous situation.

Lin Ju also nodded. Having been involved in the space industry for so long, he was now an expert, at least understanding the basic components and safety measures.

"There are at least two to three sets of communication facilities on the lander. Even if they malfunction, the space suits also have high-power communication devices. Trained astronauts would definitely be able to use them to communicate with space, and those communications are guaranteed to be protected, either through calls or network transmissions.

And that’s not counting other portable communication devices and TV broadcasting transmitters, right?

Forcing astronauts to resort to the most basic Morse code to send a distress signal means that so many redundant measures have failed; it’s unimaginable how astronauts could survive in such conditions.

Sir She, I’m afraid we must immediately start searching with all our efforts. The two astronauts might already be in a very dangerous state."

...

"Please rest assured, we only encountered a minor issue, and they will be safe and sound shortly, I assure you."

Inside the Presidential Palace, the tearful families and widows of the four astronauts looked at John, whose scalp tingled under their gaze.

Jeremy’s mother, a black woman weighing over 200 pounds with a waist almost too wide to fit through the door, was the most visibly distraught of all, turning the place into a veritable slaughterhouse of grief.

"...my dear baby, he’s been such an obedient child since he was little, I..."

The tearful black mother suddenly hugged John tightly, her overpowering scent causing him to instinctively hold his breath and struggle with all his might to break free.

In the end, it took four Secret Service agents rushing forward to reluctantly pry the mother off as she wiped her tears.

"Mrs. Janney, please don’t panic. We simply lost contact, and it has not been confirmed yet. NACA is doing everything possible, and we will surely bring your child back."