It's reasonable for me to have a two-way foil for a second-level civilization, right?

Seeing the weird expressions of the two teammates, a trace of cold sweat suddenly broke out on Andrew's forehead.

"I pressed it! I really pressed it!"

With that said, Andrew pressed the start button vigorously a few times.

There was no response at all.

Seeing Andrew's actions, the expressions of the two teammates suddenly changed.

"Andrew? Are you kidding?" Bruno swallowed slightly, "Did you make a mistake?"

Bruno's doubt made Andrew's face flush instantly.

He didn't speak, just repeated the operation just now.

"Oh, God……"

Joey's pupils dilated a little, and he muttered to himself, "We won't be so unlucky..."

……

"Shit!!!"

Wearing a bulky space suit, Andrew sat down on the dusty ground of Mars.

It can be seen through the glass mask that at this moment, his facial expression is extremely distorted.

"Damn NASA, how can it be so unreliable?!"

Bruno and Joey stood aside silently, staring blankly at the slightly dilapidated return capsule in front of them, which had withstood the Martian wind and sand for more than a month.

Chapter 124 Abandon Rescue?

Earth.

White House meeting room.

Moulton stood there in a daze, apparently still not recovering from the "shocking" news just now.

"Is there something wrong with the reentry capsule?"

With a distorted expression, he grabbed the collar of the staff member in front of him and shouted sharply, "What the hell happened?!"

Facing the hideous Morton, the staff faltered and explained.

"Mo... Chief Moulton, from what Houston said, it seems that the hydraulic system of the engine exceeded the preset limit when it was ignited, and the main control computer of the Mars module automatically cut off the engine according to the preset program. .”

Moulton's expression suffocated suddenly.

This……

Even if he doesn't know anything about the Mars return module, he knows that this thing is not so easy to solve.

"Can it be solved?" Moulton took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

The staff was silent for a moment, then slowly shook their heads.

"sorry sir."

"Houston said that there is basically no possibility of remote repair."

As if afraid that Moulton would not believe it, the staff added again: "This is what Professor Chris said."

Moulton stared blankly at the staff in front of him.

a long time.

He opened his hands lightly, turned around and returned to his seat in a daze.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became more and more dull.

After dozens of seconds of silence, Albert, who was sitting on the main seat, coughed lightly, breaking the dead silence of the conference room.

"Everyone, we need to change the topic of discussion now."

"United States, do you want to carry out a rescue mission for the three astronauts?"

The moment the voice fell, everyone present breathed a little faster.

Everyone participating in the meeting looked at each other eagerly, hoping that someone would take the lead in saying a word.

Albert, who hadn't received a response for a long time, frowned slightly, and directly called Moulton's name.

"Moulton, as the director of NASA, these three astronauts are your subordinates. Tell me, should we save them?"

Moulton's pupils shrank slightly.

This is not a good question to answer.

Rescue means a lot of material and manpower.

No matter which one it is, the United States today is somewhat difficult to afford.

not help?

That's three lives!

Not to mention the long-term impact, the most basic thing is, will NASA astronauts dare to perform missions in the future?

A trace of confusion flashed in Moulton's eyes: "Your Excellency."

He lowered his head slowly, and said in a low voice, "I think the United States needs to implement a rescue operation."

"They are the heroes of the United States, we can't chill their hearts!"

"Since the founding of the United States, we have never given up on our own people!"

The voice fell, and the conference room fell into silence again.

"Da da da……"

Albert's slightly thick fingers tapped the conference table in front of him lightly.

Morton raised his head subconsciously and glanced at Albert's face.

Seeing Albert's frown, Moulton's heart trembled!

broken.

as predicted.

The next second, Albert sighed deeply, with a look of helplessness on his face: "Moulton, I know what you mean."

"However, it will take at least a year for us to rebuild a spacecraft that can go to Mars to implement a rescue plan."

"Those three astronauts can't sustain us to rescue, so..."

"Your Excellency!" Moulton interrupted Albert directly, "We can ask Xia Guo for help!"

"Currently, Xuannv No. 1000 of Xia Kingdom is [-] meters away from them, as long as we..."

There was a hint of anger in Albert's eyes.

He snapped, "Moulton!"

"Mi Country, will never ask Xia Country for help!"

"Unless I step down, otherwise, this matter will not be discussed!"

……

The meeting broke up.

The final result, of course, is to abandon the rescue plan.

In other words, those three astronauts became real abandoned children.

As for domestic public opinion, Albert has issued an order to block all channels for the dissemination of this news.

Moulton walked on the way to the office, a look of unbearableness flashed in his eyes.

He still remembered what Andrew said when he came to NASA for training.

"Andrew, why did you join the Pathfinder Project? Is it because of money?"

"That's right, sir, you may not know the lives of us people." Andrew's bitter expression was deeply engraved in his heart when he said this, "This reward of 50 US dollars can make my children and my wife happy." Get a safe and stable living environment.”

"Then have you ever thought that you won't be able to come back?"

"..." Andrew was silent for a while, and the smile on his face became more bitter, "If you can't come back, you can't come back, it's just... sir, can the pension be more?"

Not only Andrew, but even Bruno and Joey expressed similar meanings.

Scenes flashed in Moulton's mind.

He gritted his back molars hard, and a look of madness flashed in his eyes!

……

Houston Ground Command Center.

A burst of mobile phone ringing woke up Professor Chris.

He didn't get a full night's sleep because of the Pathfinder incident.

He rubbed his slightly swollen eyes and took out his cell phone from his pocket.

Morton?

Seeing the name displayed on the screen of the mobile phone, Professor Chris's spirit suddenly lifted.

He quickly pressed the answer button: "Director, the rescue plan..."

On the other end of the phone came Moulton's gritted teeth: "Professor, they gave up!"

Professor Chris suffocated suddenly, subconsciously asked: "Give up? Give up what?"

"President, you have abandoned the rescue plan!" Moulton said word by word, "and we are forbidden to ask Xia Guo for help!"

The moment he heard Moulton's words, Chris felt dizzy.

He sat back on his chair and muttered to himself.

"How...how could this be..."

"This, this is murder!"

Professor Chris' sharp voice reached Moulton's ears through the mobile phone: "I want to expose it to the media!"

"...Professor, the president has ordered the blockade of all information dissemination channels, do you know what this means?"

Chris paled.

He stretched out his hand to cover his eyes, and said with a little choking: "But, but they are still waiting for me to give them a plan..."

"I'm sorry, I can't, I can't tell them the news..."

A line of hot tears slowly slid down his cheeks.

There was silence in the microphone, except for a little rustling background noise.

"professor."

Moulton took a deep breath, "I need your help."

"I have a plan..."

Chapter 125 I, Lu Yongchang, Must Help

Mars.

Because of a problem with the air circulation equipment in the Mars module, the three astronauts had to stay in the return module.

Fortunately, the materials for the two-month interstellar journey were stored in the return cabin.

In addition to the narrow position, there are no other disadvantages.

"Call Pathfinder, Pathfinder received please answer!"

The voice of Professor Chris suddenly came from the radio in the return cabin.

Andrew, who had lowered his head and kept silent, suddenly shone a little light in his eyes when he heard the call!

He grabbed the radio and responded excitedly: "Pathfinder received! Pathfinder received!"

Then came another long wait.

Just as the three astronauts were waiting, the radio equipment rang again.