Chapter 297: A Battle of Geniuses

This novel is translated and hosted only on Bca Translation

March 27, 2024, 10:43 PM

East Coast, USA, 230 Kilometers Above Sea Level

In the thin atmosphere, a pearl-white space shuttle streaked across the US coastline toward the Atlantic Ocean. Its front thrusters emitted gas continuously, decelerating its speed. Wei Cheng, focused and determined, piloted the spacecraft without navigation, signal, guidance, radar, or positioning systems.

He was confident.

From the moment this spacecraft, which he affectionately named “Little White,” rolled off the factory line, he had been its first and only pilot.

“Since its true name and model are classified, let’s call it Little White!” Wei Cheng had joked when he first saw the spacecraft, and the name stuck.

Wei Cheng was a top astronaut from X Country, having completed over a dozen space missions. Except for spacewalks, he had undertaken every type of space mission and was highly decorated. His exceptional piloting skills earned him the honor of being selected to pilot X Country’s first space shuttle—a unique honor and an unparalleled responsibility.

For countless days and nights, he had shared the cramped cockpit with Little White.

“Hang in there, Little White,” Wei Cheng muttered through gritted teeth, his gaze fixed on the dark expanse of space and the Earth’s colorful, cloud-streaked surface below.

As a professional astronaut and pilot, Wei Cheng had trained for all sorts of extreme situations, like bad weather, signal loss, no navigation, and visual-only flying.

During the early days of flight training, many of his peers complained about the extreme conditions. While adverse weather or signal loss seemed plausible, training for scenarios where all communication and navigation systems failed, leaving only their eyes to guide them, seemed absurd and unnecessary.

Back then, their instructor had told them something that Wei Cheng now repeated to Gao Yang before this mission:

“Admittedly, 99% of what we train for may seem redundant, just like much of what you learn in textbooks appears useless in real life. The country never needs you to calculate gravitational forces or prepare oxygen with a Bunsen burner, nor memorize classical literature for battle.

“Life is unpredictable. Who knows what the future holds? Ninety-nine percent of insurance policies are never claimed, 99% of precautions are unnecessary, 99% of medical checkups are false alarms, and 99% of household medicines expire unused.

“Still, why do we do these things? Because we need to be prepared for that 1%.

“You recruits, only 1% of you will become pilots, and of those pilots, only 1% will become astronauts. Most astronauts will never get the chance to go to space. Only 1% will.

“1%! 1%! 1%! If you’re not better than others, how can you become that 1%?”

The instructor pointed at them, and now, as Wei Cheng flew through space, he knew he had become one of those 1% after another.

“I’m the chosen one,” Wei Cheng thought, gripping the control stick tightly. “I’m the only one!”

In the vastness of space, at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere, the space shuttle, piloted by Wei Cheng, soared toward the sunrise, toward the other side of the Earth, toward an extraterrestrial visitor from another universe.

...

Lin Xian, Yellow Finch, Gao Yang, and Chu An Qing stood in a circle, focused and ready.

“Liu Feng’s time-space particle tracker is functioning perfectly,” Yellow Finch said, turning to Gao Yang. “We still have a lock on the particles and even have directional navigation. This won’t affect our original capture plan.”

“In an hour, we’ll encounter the time-space particles at the edge of the Atlantic,” she continued. “Their speed is a steady 0.97 Mach, which is ideal for us. The space shuttle will engage its engines and fly parallel to the particles at the same speed.”

Gao Yang gave a thumbs up, signaling his readiness.

“Lin Xian,” Yellow Finch continued, turning to him and Chu An Qing, “stand behind Gao Yang and assist him. An Qing, stay in the passenger compartment to relay messages between the equipment and the cockpit. If anything happens on either side, report immediately.”

Lin Xian and Chu An Qing nodded in agreement.

Since the incident that knocked out all network communication, the space shuttle had been flying steadily under Wei Cheng’s expert control, which helped ease everyone’s nerves.

Lin Xian moved to Gao Yang’s station, eyeing the complex controls. His worries weren’t about Wei Cheng’s piloting skills but about Kevin Walker.

Without the pressure from VV, Kevin had become a menace, hijacking the US X-37B space shuttle with ease. Would he interfere?

Surely, he would.

Yellow Finch knew this yet had allowed VV’s death, making it a guarantee for non-return. Where did her confidence come from? Did she have another plan?

“Wait! What’s that?” Liu Feng suddenly shouted from the cockpit, breaking the tension.

He quickly added, “Although we can’t rendezvous at 100 kilometers, we can do it at 60 or 50 kilometers! Our space shuttle has wings, making it more maneuverable in the atmosphere. Capturing the particles will be easier, though we’ll lose some time.”

“Commander Huang!” Wei Cheng called. “Your orders!”

Yellow Finch nodded. “Do as Lin Xian says!”

BOOM!!!!

Defying the falling stars, Little White’s engines roared to life. A rocket-like plume shot from the rear, pushing the crew back into their seats as the space shuttle dove toward Earth’s atmosphere. It was a race—a space shuttle against thousands of Starlink satellites.

“Altitude dropping! 180 kilometers... 150 kilometers... 120 kilometers... 100 kilometers... breaking the Kármán line! 90 kilometers! 80 kilometers! We’re still descending!” Wei Cheng, piloting the space shuttle, called out the updates on their altitude.

Chu An Qing and Lin Xian, strapped in tightly, watched through the windows.

“Wow...” Chu An Qing was speechless.

“This... this is a real meteor shower...” Lin Xian said, awestruck.

Outside, a sky full of blue meteors, as dense as rain, unfolded before them. This was the largest meteor shower in human history, impossible to surpass. The billions spent on the Starlink project by the world’s richest man had turned into a beautiful, dangerous display in the sky. It was the most romantic and dangerous meteor shower ever.

Liu Feng, in the cockpit, looked up with emotion.

“Qi Qi...” he choked up. She had said she’d become a star, watching over him, waiting for his Universal Constant to be recognized. Liu Feng clenched his fist, determined. “I will make it.”

By now, the space shuttle had circled half the Earth, moving from daylight to the dark side. On the ground, people watched the unprecedented celestial event, the sky filled with meteors, fireworks, blue trails, and light. In Earth’s 4.5 billion years, no night had been as beautiful and awe-inspiring.

“Crisis averted!” Wei Cheng laughed joyfully, as if clearing a game level. “We did it! We actually did it! We—” Suddenly, his smile froze, his pupils contracted, and his eyebrows twitched. “What is that?!”

Everyone looked up. A massive fireball, trailing a rocket-like tail, was hurtling toward them with deadly accuracy. Speedy! Direct! Impossible to dodge at this distance!

“It’s the US space shuttle!” Wei Cheng yelled. “X-37B!”

He knew it well. X Country astronauts envied it. They dreamed of it countless times! X Country’s Little White was designed to rival the US X-37B! But why was this space shuttle here? With their radar and scanners down, they saw it only when it entered their visual range.

The X-37B rushed at them, engines blazing. No navigation but precise targeting! At this distance and speed, it was impossible to dodge! The massive fireball was about to collide!

Wei Cheng yanked the stick to turn! But the burning space shuttle followed like a descending demon!

Boom!!!

Another flash of light shot up from below! Straight as an arrow! As fast as light! The number of Mach rings showed this unknown object was nearing escape velocity!

“A rocket?” Lin Xian watched the fast-moving shadow. It was a rocket! Even a fleeting glance showed the letters on its side—SpaceX

“It’s Elon Musk’s space rocket!” Wei Cheng shouted. “Why is it here?! And its target is—”

Boom!!!

Boom!!!

This novel is translated and hosted only on Bca Translation

A blinding explosion erupted just kilometers ahead! Red light, black smoke, scattered debris! Elon Musk’s rocket hit the incoming fireball, the US X-37B space shuttle! The violent collision blew away nearby clouds! Wei Cheng, gripping the stick, flew past the explosion’s edge and scattered debris.

All was calm again. The fireball, the descending X-37B, the intercepting rocket... all left behind. Wei Cheng slumped in his seat, exhausted. The radio was silent, filled only with heavy breathing... no one had recovered from the thrilling space chase.

Lin Xian looked back through the window. The fire was gone. Black smoke was dissipating. Debris from the exploded space shuttle and rocket was nowhere to be seen. The sky was as serene as before. As if nothing had happened.

Lin Xian recalled Elon Musk’s words at the scientific charity gala when he pointed to the sky: “Mr. Lin Xian,” Elon Musk smiled, raising his finger to the sky. “We’ll meet up there.”

Suddenly, Liu Feng’s eyes widened. He pointed to the dark space above.

“Lin Xian! Look, time-space particles!!”

This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation