There was no response no matter how he called, and the radio remained silent. Ou Zhanpeng was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, his heart as if a swarm of mice were scurrying and scratching.
Calm down, I must be calm!
He kept reminding himself, but his restless emotions could not be quieted.
He had to find a way to contact Ship One. If all else failed, he would put on his suit and fly over!
Ou Zhanpeng made up his mind resolutely.
Spacewalking was no joke; even the slightest mistake could lead to death in the void.
If they were near Earth, they might still wait for rescue. But in the void where no human had ever set foot, they could only wait for death.
However, Ou Zhanpeng could no longer afford to worry about that. If Ship One encountered problems, the entire expedition plan would be greatly affected. This risk had to be taken!
As the thought of adventure still swirled in his mind, he suddenly slapped his forehead. He found his powered exoskeleton and put it on, then activated his personal radio and continued to call out, "Expedition One, this is Ou Zhanpeng. Please respond, please respond!"
On Ship One, Ou Zhanpeng's voice echoed through the empty bridge.
The reason for this situation was simple: the communication equipment on the Barracuda came from Ship Two and was considered external communication. It required a response from the bridge to communicate normally.
Ou Zhanpeng's powered exoskeleton, however, came from Ship One. The personal radio had built-in communication passwords, allowing direct access to Ship One's communication system.
This was the difference between internal and external, a fundamental distinction!
The call from the powered exoskeleton still received no response, and Ou Zhanpeng was on the verge of collapse. "Bridge, is anyone there? Is anyone there..."
The radio remained eerily quiet, and Ou Zhanpeng's burning heart gradually turned cold.
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
He refused to believe this outcome but knew very well what had happened on Ship One.
Was it truly irreversible?
Just then, a hurried voice suddenly came from the radio: "This is Expedition One. Who is calling Ship One!"
The voice on the other end was dry and hoarse, making it impossible to tell who it was.
Ou Zhanpeng was instantly revived: "Bridge, this is Ou Zhanpeng. Who are you!" Damn it, finally some activity. This was really going to drive a person crazy.
"Ou Zhanpeng?" the voice on the other end sounded very surprised. "This is Gu Haibo."
Upon hearing a familiar voice, Ou Zhanpeng immediately pressed for an explanation: "Old Gu, what's going on? Why haven't you been responding? I thought something had happened to you!"
"Can you blame me? I just went to the restroom. Who knew you'd show up at such a time?" Gu Haibo cried out indignantly.
"No, are you the only one on the bridge? Where is everyone else?" Ou Zhanpeng asked in surprise.
According to military regulations, the bridge could never be left unattended. It was impossible for someone to go to the restroom and cause the entire bridge to become paralyzed.
Gu Haibo sighed. "Aren't the provisions running low? To save provisions, everyone is asleep, and I'm the only one on duty. If you had come a few hours later, it would have been someone else's turn... Hey, wait a minute, where are you?"
After talking for so long, he finally realized that there was almost no delay in their communication. This meant that Ou Zhanpeng was not far from Ship One.
But Ship Two was at least two months behind in its voyage. There should have been some slight lag, right?
"You're only noticing now!" Ou Zhanpeng couldn't help but laugh. "I'm in the spaceship, and I've brought you ten tons of provisions. Water, food, oxygen – I have everything you need!"
Gu Haibo was so excited upon hearing this that he could barely speak coherently: "That's great, that's great! Where are you?"
"Just behind Ship One. I'll catch up to you in at most one more day!" Ou Zhanpeng said.
If the distance hadn't closed, how could they communicate via personal radio? Kai Shu Ge
"One day?" Gu Haibo was astonished. He quickly activated the radar and immediately detected a friendly ship behind Ship One. "Slow down. You're going too fast, and we can't dock. I'll wake up the others in a moment. Finally, we don't have to worry about provisions anymore..."
He spoke enthusiastically, his hand already reaching for the control panel, intending to abort the hibernation of the others.
However, Ou Zhanpeng on the other side was stunned and quickly interrupted, "Wait a minute, I can't slow down!"
"What did you say?" Gu Haibo was stunned. "How is that possible?"
"This spaceship was temporarily built by Ship Two. The original plan was to dock with Ship One when we reached Jupiter, and there would be ways to slow down then. So, from the beginning, we never considered how to slow down."
Gu Haibo began to understand. They hadn't even planned to catch up to Ship One?
He asked unyieldingly, "Is there absolutely no way?"
"No!" Ou Zhanpeng replied without hesitation. "This ship is too rudimentary."
With that, both of them fell silent.
They were so close, yet they could only watch each other pass by. What kind of situation was this?
Gu Haibo desperately wanted to complain: Why didn't you just stay quiet and fly past unnoticed? But you had to give hope first, only to extinguish it with your own hands. Do you know how much my lower back is aching?
Ou Zhanpeng thought for a moment and asked, "What do you need most? I'll try to figure out a way to send some over!"
"Just forget it," Gu Haibo said, very disappointed, but not despairing. "I don't lack anything, but I also don't have any excess. We'll definitely last until Jupiter. Since we can't dock, don't try anything rash. We'll talk about it when we reach Jupiter... Losing supplies is a small matter, but damaging the spaceship would be troublesome."
Ou Zhanpeng felt a mix of disappointment and relief, unable to articulate his feelings: "It's good that you don't lack anything. Honestly, I can't think of any way to get the supplies to you. I only have a dozen square meters here, with no extra space at all. If I really have to send something, I'd have to push the boxes over by hand... Tell me if you can catch them, and I'll send them!"
"Just forget it," Gu Haibo rolled his eyes repeatedly. "It's only a few more days anyway. We'll talk about it when we reach Jupiter... And honestly, our remaining supplies are indeed not much. Be careful, don't let any aliens target you, or it won't just be me going hungry."
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Ou Zhanpeng said.
After that, the two of them talked about past events since their separation, chatting for over an hour before ending the communication.
Looking at the time, Ou Zhanpeng couldn't believe it. He had actually chatted with a fellow man for so long. It was completely mind-boggling!
The next morning, the Barracuda and Expedition One passed each other, with the closest straight-line distance being only a little over a hundred kilometers.
Their brief reunion ended, and they separated. But looking ahead, the red giant star was right in front of them!