Chapter 94 - 91 Conjunction_1

"This is Unity shuttle, received please reply, This is Unity shuttle, received please reply..."

Since the six astronauts hailed from four different countries, English was the only language they could use for communication.

Fortunately, as astronauts, everyone’s English was up to par, with only Lin Ju on the ground needing translation assistance to understand. He had sworn at the launch center that one day, when the time comes to go into space, one must know how to speak Chinese.

As Li Sheng started to call, inside the return capsule of TMA-17M, Oleg had already been waiting for the radio signal, and he heard Li Sheng’s first call.

The thought that Unity might be just a few thousand kilometers behind him made Oleg’s heart surge with excitement.

Onboard Unity, all three heard a deep Russian voice: "Davarish! KI ta Davarish!"

That was followed by a Chinese greeting and English with a thick accent: "Hello! it’s Soyuz TMA-17M!"

Deng Lei suddenly felt dazed, the call of "Davarish" took him back 24 years, to that winter night. Since then, Russia had seldom used "Davarish" when addressing Chinese People, and now it seemed like a revival of the bittersweet memories from the years of love and hate with the Russian bear.

Zhang Zhiguang and Li Sheng, being older, were even more moved, with both sides unconsciously exchanging "Davarish" back and forth, not leaving any chance for the Americans Lindgren and Keimei Arii to interject.

Even in Baikonur, many older people started reminiscing about Davarish, with some white-haired ones recalling the days when they went to support industrial construction...

Had Unity not been chasing TMA-17M at a speed exceeding 28,000 kilometers per hour, the scene might have turned into a meeting to promote class friendship.

NACA, Russia, and China’s National Space Administration all had rich experience in space docking and had precisely formulated the rendezvous procedures.

Unity’s smart computer, exchanging data with satellites, was making minor adjustments to its course, projected to catch up to the Alliance Spaceship in 110 seconds.

At this time, 5 hours and 19 minutes after the launch of Alliance TMA-17M mission, the crew of Unity received orders just 223 minutes prior, setting a world record.

Zhang Zhiguang remembered that he was just finishing warming up, chewing on a snake fruit, when he was suddenly called for an emergency assembly.

Such emergency assemblies were familiar to military personnel, but it was just a drill to them; who would have thought it meant going into space, and even conducting a spacewalk?

It had been 7 years and 11 months since his last journey into space and spacewalk.

At Qiongzhou Launch Control Center, Lin Ju was watching the simulated animation on the big screen; Unity and Alliance TMA-17M were now close at hand, the second-stage rocket had long detached, and Unity had begun to decelerate.

Oleg was staring intently out the porthole, hoping to spot a small white dot in the darkness.

But due to structural damage to the spaceship center and several explosions, Alliance TMA-17M was actually rotating on its axis, only providing glimpses of Earth now and then.

Over the radio, he had already been informed that Unity was only a few dozen kilometers away, conducting the final deceleration.

At another porthole, Keimei Arii and Lindgren were squeezed in front of it when they suddenly spotted a flickering light; it was Unity, decelerating.

"It’s a spaceship! It’s a spaceship!"

Deng Lei took over command of Unity; the radar’s marker position coincided with the collective tracking dots from various countries—they were only a little over a thousand meters from Alliance TMA-17M. Due to the lighting direction, however, they could still see only darkness.

In the back seat, Zhang Zhiguang had already grabbed the life support backpack, his eyes fixed on the front porthole.

"Target, 500 meters!"

"200 meters!"

The distance closed, and the Alliance TMA-17M (damaged), composed of dark green and white, finally came into view. Deng Lei flashed a signal light, and then the RCS began to spray nitrogen to slow down and approach the spacecraft.

In Oleg’s view, when the re-entry capsule rotated towards the Earth side, the white upper part of Unity and the blue portholes appeared in the light.

"я вас вижу, I see you, Китайский товарищ! (I see you, I see you, Chinese comrades!)"

Lindgren and Keimei Arii suddenly got moving in the cramped re-entry capsule, eagerly watching the porthole as the ever-growing Unity came into view.

"She’s truly beautiful."

Lindgren issued his most sincere compliments, gazing motionless at Unity.

Li Sheng reported the observed state of the tumbling Alliance TMA-17M to the ground:

"Command center, the Alliance spaceship currently only has the re-entry capsule and orbital module attached, visually unseparated, rolling at 11 degrees. My craft has closed to just over 10 meters, requesting to use the robotic arm to correct the target spacecraft’s attitude, then proceed with rescue!"

During a video conference call, the space agencies from three countries and New Yuan Aeronautics confirmed Unity’s status and remaining fuel, and authorized the operation.

At this moment, Zhang Zhiguang finally unbuckled his seatbelt, and Li Sheng also got out of his seat, carefully helping him to put on the life support backpack. Lastly, he pulled and locked the metal ring buckle on Zhang Zhiguang’s visor to seal it.

Zhang Zhiguang pressed the button on his left arm to activate the space suit’s external mode, and the life support backpack immediately began to work, initiating an independent circulation.

"02, check the spacesuit status."

"01, my status is good, indicators normal, ready for spacewalk!"

Li Sheng nodded, then sat down on the second row of seats, and along with Deng Lei, pulled down his face shield.

In the rear of the crew cabin, the interlock began to pressurize until the pressure balanced with the crew cabin, then the electric hatch slid open, revealing a nearly two-meter-tall square exit. Zhang Zhiguang ducked and easily passed through it.

Afterward, the inner hatch door closed, spacesuit status was reconfirmed, and the airlock was depressurized.

Inside the airlock, Zhang Zhiguang watched the pressure readings on the cabin wall drop to zero. The indicator light on the outer hatch turned from red to green, and he gently pressed the button.

As a vacuum had been created, the outer hatch opened smoothly outward. Zhang Zhiguang first gently floated half his body out. His left arm touched an area next to the upper hatch, a round cover opened, revealing the end of four safety tethers.

After crossing the ropes over one another, Zhang Zhiguang fastened the carabiner to his waist, gave it a tug to ensure there were no issues, and cautiously sat on the hatch.

Less than ten meters from him, the irregularly tumbling Alliance TMA-17M spaceship was there, its RCS still periodically venting.

Looking to the left, the vast Pacific Ocean lay beneath his feet, and Zhang Zhiguang spotted Hawaii at a glance.

Back in the crew cabin, Deng Lei flipped a switch above his head and pushed on a guard to prevent accidental activation. The Unity’s cargo bay doors on the back slowly opened.

Because it was a passenger model, Unity’s cargo bay was a horizontal rectangle, not vertical, and it was only large enough to barely fit a car, which greatly reduced its carrying capacity. However, that was not a concern for this mission.

The folded mechanical arm extended in sync. Sitting on the space shuttle, Zhang Zhiguang gently pushed on the small joystick on his left arm, and the claws began to move slowly toward the Alliance spaceship.

"03, come closer, bring it within five meters. The claws’ length is too limited."

Receiving the instruction, Deng Lei first activated the automatic obstacle avoidance system, lowering the trigger value to 2 meters, and then carefully moved to the right front, closing the distance at a speed of 0.1 m/s.