Blue Star, October 1996 AD. More than a month had passed since that solitary, unknown battle on Mars.
The cosmic river of stars remained as it ever was, glittering brilliantly in the distance, serene and silent close at hand.
The red planet that symbolized war and death floated quietly, surrounded by the boundless blue-black void, as tranquil as a painting.
Amid this illusion that all things stood still...
A tiny pink craft with flat, straight wings drifted quietly and slowly through the deep blue-black abyss.
In truth, the craft itself was not particularly small, nor was its speed sluggish under source energy propulsion. It was merely that the backdrop of space in which it moved was far too vast and boundless.
Had someone been able to zoom in and see clearly, they would have found the written script of Blue Star's human civilization painted across the wings of this small craft... It was the exploration craft Finding Peg-066.
066 was its production number. To date, the Azure Research Base had built a total of 203 exploration craft in the same series, every single one coated in pink.
By now, these small source energy craft had all entered outer space one after another... and among them, forty-seven had lost contact in the vastness of the cosmos due to various known and unknown causes—either damaged or lost without a trace.
Fortunately, they were unmanned... There was no need to send spacecraft pilots out to brave the hazards of space.
Faced with the crisis of extinction, humanity's conventional, non-source energy science had also been advancing at an astonishing rate. The elites of mankind were doing everything in their power through their individual genius and toil to rescue their species' future and destiny.
The Finding Peg series of exploration craft was the first major breakthrough born from the merger of conventional human science and source energy science.
To be precise, it was also humanity's first batch of entirely self-manufactured source energy craft (previous human source energy airships, no matter how extensively modified they appeared, were fundamentally produced by retrofitting Great Spike craft).
Although these fully human-built source energy craft still lagged considerably behind Great Spike vessels in propulsion, impact force, and endurance, it was nonetheless a monumental, milestone leap forward, opening infinite possibilities for the future of human source energy science.
In the face of such an exhilarating scientific achievement, the Azure Council had specially resolved to solicit names from across the globe... and this was the name ultimately chosen together by all humankind.
It was also its sole mission at this stage.
Just as the Rejectors' announcer had said in that final transmission: "Survive, Peg. We will come looking for you. We will."
Humanity had not broken faith with its warrior.
Even though nearly eleven months had elapsed and everything looked increasingly grim and remote... humanity and Azure had still not given up, nor had they ever surrendered hope; they had never abandoned the search for their heroic warrior, Pink Pegmont.
From the end of last year until now, production of the Finding Peg series had continued without pause.
Tonight, craft numbers 204, 205, and 206 were scheduled to pass final inspection and prepare for launch. All of them would head toward Mars... for the number of exploration craft lost in that direction had grown alarmingly high.
***
In the Martian sector.
Against the boundless blue-black canvas, 066 continued its drifting flight, gliding slowly and solitarily toward the rim of the red planet...
It seemed in no hurry whatsoever, simply because it was merely a machine.
Aside from bearing a designation that Huaxian researchers viewed as "bound to bring very good luck," 066 was practically indistinguishable from the other exploration craft.
In fact, craft with earlier serial numbers than 066 had previously reached and traversed the area surrounding Mars. However, the specific trajectory traversed by each craft was different, and consequently, so were their signal detection ranges.
"Hey, hey, can anyone hear me? This is Pegmont. I'm on Mars—probably. Those Great Spikes that fled from Antarctica built a tractor field here..."
Its programmed routines caused 066 to immediately decelerate and halt the moment it captured this transmission, preventing it from drifting out of reception range.
Neither the voice nor the name stirred any emotion within it... because it was merely a machine.
"I love you, Pegmont. Please wait."
"This is Rejectors. We're glad you haven't given up; we haven't given up either. Please wait."
"I am not a living person. Living people are coming soon. Please wait."
It was not a sophisticated program, nor was it particularly formal or rigorous, but that was genuinely how it had been set up. Those were the only three lines it could say, delivered in a mechanical, impassive voice.
Communications (quantum communications)—signal capture, reception, and transmission—were the Finding Peg craft's only core functions besides flying.
...
In accordance with its programming, the moment 066 replied with its first "I love you," it had already forwarded the captured transmission.
The transmission was subsequently received by the Rejectors' Space Station No. 014, in the dedicated Waiting for Peg Module 004, relayed to Rejectors Headquarters Base, and relayed once more...
To the Azure Board of Elders and the Council Presidium.
"Hey, hey, can anyone hear me? This is Pegmont. I'm on Mars—probably. Those Great Spikes that fled from Antarctica built a tractor field here..."
Inside the cavernous council hall, everyone sat in dead silence, heads tilted up, until the high-mounted loudspeakers finished playing the recorded distress call from Mars.
"Whoop!" Instantly, applause erupted, and the hall burst into cheers and jubilation.
Naturally, some did not rise to their feet; apart from mechanically clapping, they did not even utter a sound, for their attention was entirely riveted on the latter half of the transmission.
"The Great Spikes built a tractor field on Mars? If they keep building it..."
"Stop it."
"Did Major General Pegmont (posthumously honored... promoted after his journey into space) stop it?"
"Is it still in time?"
These anxious murmurs were temporarily drowned out by the euphoric tidal wave.
On the dais, Speaker Kemore had also shot to his feet, pumping his fists in jubilation, knocking his chair over in the process. The old man didn't bother righting it. Forcing himself to regain composure, he stepped forward, leaned in, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves like a middle schooler stepping onto a podium for the very first time. Then he spoke into the microphone:
"If possible, please connect me directly to Major General Pegmont."
"...Apologies, Speaker. We cannot fulfill your request at this time," the Rejectors answered flatly.
A bit hasty. Feeling a flicker of embarrassment, Speaker Kemore chose not to press for reasons in front of the assembly. Instead, he said directly, "Understood. Then, if there is time later, please convey our joy and respect on my behalf... my own, and the highest respects of the Azure Council."
From start to finish, the Speaker did not publicly probe into the matter of the Great Spike tractor field on Mars. It was not that he had failed to notice it; rather, as Speaker, at this exact juncture, nothing warranted his attention and concern more than the hope that Pegmont was alive.
As for the Martian tractor field, the generals of the Rejectors, Azure Command, and General Staff would look into it and analyze it. Only when they produced their findings and contingency plans would Kemore need to start weighing the next steps.
That might well prove urgent, soon finding its way onto the agenda to become yet another grim trial for Azure, and indeed for all humankind.
Chapter 884