Ahem......"

Call Base...... Coordinates: 15°S, 128.1°W...... Support is needed. ”

No response.

The only thing that could be heard from the communication channel was the anxious murmur of electricity.

There was darkness all around him, and the flashing [Signal Loss] icon on the computer on his right arm reminded him that he had completely disconnected from the base.

Moreover, the depth here is at least twenty meters or more.

It is also surrounded by hematite that accelerates the attenuation of electromagnetic wave signals......

"Damn ......"

A hint of despair flashed in his eyes, but the short-flashed negative emotions were soon replaced by a strong desire to survive.

There are still many people on earth waiting for him to return.

He can't explain it here......

Recalling the survival knowledge he learned during training on the Gurbantunggut Desert, Fan Tong gritted his teeth and struggled to get up from the ground, and after taking a deep breath, he entered the administrator's password on the wrist computer, and turned off the positioning system and communication module that were meaningless except for increasing energy consumption.

This is the underground of Mars at an unknown depth of many meters......

Here, the only thing he can rely on is himself.

Thinking that he was afraid that he would have to miss tonight's hot pot, Fan Tong swallowed his saliva, gritted his teeth and took out a marker of special paint from the toolbox behind him, and found a place to get acquainted on the wall of this cave, leaving a mark of his whereabouts and some last words.

"Hopefully, these last words will never be used."

Since he lost contact with him, the base should have discovered the problem, and the rescue team should have set off if nothing else.

However, he didn't dare to expect too much from the base's rescue capabilities.

After all, as far as those simple engineering equipment were concerned, he really couldn't think of anything that could help him climb up from an unknown number of meters underground.

He was still young.

I don't want to be "martyred" for science yet.

Praying for his fate in his heart, Fan Tong then took off the folding multi-purpose shovel and held it in his right hand, and at the same time turned on the independently powered flashlight on his helmet, and began to grope his way forward in a cavern of rubble.

Although the way forward may not be the way out, at least it is better than staying here and waiting to die.

Thinking of the crack that opened and closed like a timer switch, he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency in his heart.

There is no guarantee that where he is now, tomorrow will not be buried in sand or something else.

As for why he's here......

It all started a few hours ago.

……

Mars research station.

The morning, which was supposed to be relatively quiet, was broken by an unexpected piece of news.

"Autonomy?" After listening to the captain's explanation, Dr. Sun Wenzhe, who was sitting at the end of the conference room, frowned and asked, "In other words, can we decide whether to take action or not in the future?" ”

"That's right," nodded, looking at the other four teammates sitting here, Liang Youcheng continued, "This is a decision made by the command center in order for us to make more flexible decisions, if you find any special clues during the exploration outside the cabin, you can report directly to my side without waiting for the command center's instructions." ”

Whispers rang out in the conference room.

From a researcher's point of view, this is certainly a good thing, at least it means that they don't have to communicate with the ground command center with a delay of nearly ten minutes, and they can work more flexibly on their own research topics.

However, the risks are also hard to ignore.

Facing the conference room that was full of discussions, Captain Liang Youcheng coughed lightly, and then looked at Dr. Fan Tong, the only planetary geologist in this scientific research station.

After a pause, he spoke.

"In addition, the priority of the '128 anomaly' project has been raised to A-level."

"The ground command center has set up a new work log codenamed '128' on our database, if you have any new discoveries, you don't need to report to me, just use your personal terminal to update the findings in a separate work log."

"Separate work logs?"

With a hint of surprise on his face, Fan Tong calmed down and asked seriously, "May I ask, does this mean that when researching this project, the object of my direct responsibility was changed from the scientific research base to——"

"That's right," Liang Youcheng nodded, and said concisely, "From now on, your research is directly responsible for Academician Lu." ”

Academician Lu?!

Hearing this unexpected name, Fan Tong immediately had a surprised expression on his face, and subconsciously opened his mouth.

The three colleagues sitting next to him also showed surprised expressions on their faces, and after coming back to their senses, they immediately cast envious glances at him.

For an ordinary scientific researcher, being able to work under Academician Lu means not only a recognition of academic ability, but also a resource that is unimaginable to ordinary people!

It's no exaggeration to say that the feeling is like winning the jackpot of the lottery -

No, it's more exciting than the jackpot!

Happiness came too suddenly, and it took a while to come back to your senses.

However, although the excitement in his heart was true, Fan Tong's heart was also full of doubts. Although Professor Luk's research scope is wide-ranging, he has never heard of him doing research in geology.

Even if that fault structure does reveal a lot of valuable clues, it won't attract the attention of that big guy, right?

Compared to the manned launch program itself, this is just a trivial matter.

Academician Lu...... Did he study geology as well? ”

Captain Liang Youcheng shook his head.

"I don't know the specific situation, whether he has studied it or not, you can only communicate with him yourself. However, I think these trivial problems can be ignored, since Academician Lu attaches so much importance to the fault structure, I think he must have found some unusual clues. ”

Unusual clues?

If that's the case.

It is really necessary for me to find a time to communicate with Academician Lu......

Following the adjournment of the meeting, the day's work continued as usual.

Although the priority of the "128" project has been raised to an A level, and he is now directly responsible for Academician Lu himself, the work that should be completed still has to be completed normally.

After driving the rover to the water source to make sure that the drilling equipment was still working properly, Fan Tong continued to take samples of several deposits marked on the map.

With that done, today's work is over.

Considering that the meteorological information predicted by Xu Fu that there would be a sandstorm passing through this area in the afternoon, Fan Tong did not waste time and started the rover to return to the base.

Unfortunately, however, the sandstorm arrived five hours earlier than expected.

When he had just set off less than two kilometers, the overwhelming red sand had completely obscured the view from the car window, and the visibility was less than two meters.

Fortunately, this regional dust storm will not last long.

For the sake of safety, Fan Tong did not rush to the sandstorm, but drove the rover to the side of the mountain range less than a kilometer away from him, and found a leeward place to stop along the terrain contour line on the map.

The scraping sound outside the window had finally subsided a little.

It's a good temporary haven relative to the wilderness.

Speaking of which, this mountain range seems to be called the Gates of Hell?

Judging by the raunchy outline, it really looks like the entrance to hell.

Thinking so, Fan Tong, who turned off the engine, prepared to wait quietly for this "light rain" to pass. Just as he was thinking about whether to do something to pass the boring time, he suddenly caught a glimpse of an unusual shadow from behind the heavy red sand.

At this glance, his eyes could not be taken away, and the whole person sat up straight from the seat he had reclined.

"? How did it end up here? ”

He whispered a word, and a hint of disbelief was written in his eyes.

It was a fracture about ten meters long, and it was imprinted there like a scar.

"How is this possible......"

When he came here with Sun Wenzhe yesterday, he drove more than ten kilometers around the edge of this mountain range, and he clearly passed through this area during the process!

If there was such an obvious earthquake crack here, he would definitely not have missed it!

Don't......

Like the fractured structure that suddenly disappeared, this thing has only recently grown?

Not daring to hesitate, Fan Tong immediately turned on the on-board communication system and reported the situation here to the base.

Call Base...... The coordinates are 15° south latitude and 128.1° west longitude, and the lost fault structure reappears...... Repeat, coordinates 15°S, 128.1°W......"

No response.

"Day! Is it because of the sandstorm? ”

After scolding a foul mouth, Fan Tong hung up the communication system, pushed the car door and jumped down, and walked to the side of the broken mouth with staggering steps.

The density of the atmosphere on Mars is very low, and even if there are more than a dozen sandstorms, the lethality is far less exaggerated than depicted in the Martian movie.

However, this does not mean that the sandstorm is not dangerous at all, first of all, the impact on the field of view is one aspect, and secondly, the sand of Mars is similar in composition to hematite, and even higher than the iron content of some iron-rich ores on Earth.

For radio, it is simply a dimensionality reduction strike.

Walking to the side of the fractured structure, Fan Tong glanced down.

The laser ranging shows a depth of about 20 meters......

Because of the sandstorm, even if there is a flashlight, the visibility at the bottom is still not high, and if you want to know what is going on below, you can only go down to take a look.

Preferably, collect a few more rock samples and go back for lithological analysis.

However, thinking of this, a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Or......

Or are you talking about waiting until the sandstorm is over?

But if the crack just disappeared......

Thinking of the independent decision-making power mentioned by Captain Liang Youcheng before, Fan Tong finally gritted his teeth and made a decision after some ideological struggle.

If you just go down and take a look, you shouldn't have any problems.

In a minute at most, you will withdraw yourself.

Thinking of this, he no longer hesitated, and after setting up the automatic sending program on the rover, he got out of the car and came to the trunk and removed the safety rope hanging on it.

As he had done countless times, he fastened the buckle to his waist and made his way to the fractured structure, which was as hideous as a scar.

Thinking that the secret behind this was about to be revealed, Fan Tong's heart couldn't help but feel a little excited.

"Come on, let me see what secrets are hidden down here......"

Muttering in a low voice, he took a deep breath and carefully descended the edge of the rock face.

Everything went smoothly at first.

Following the safety rope, he slowly descended to the bottom of the fractured structure.

However, the moment the soles of his boots touched the bottom, the touch of stepping on the dead leaves quickly came from the soles of his feet.

As if at the touch of a switch, the silty ground collapsed downward.

Looking at the endless abyss, Fan Tong's heart instinctively gave birth to a trace of nervousness.

Or......

Let's forget it today.

However, just as he was about to retreat and climb up the safety rope, the originally solid rock wall suddenly seemed to have touched some mechanism, and it trembled like an earthquake, and closed in the middle at a speed visible to the naked eye......

-

(Some children don't worry about this too forced, that unreasonable, if life is in order like a textbook, everyone's college entrance examination is 750.) As an aside, if I write that the switch of the spacecraft was broken, and a group of people almost couldn't come back when they went up to the sky, but the astronauts found a pen that they didn't throw away, and luckily connected the switch, would they have to splash a basin of dog blood on me? Well, this is the story of Apollo 11. ）