216: Chapter 216 Calabash Brothers Save Grandpa

Washington, the Pentagon, 7:00 AM sharp.

John Wilson saw a helicopter circling in the sky as soon as he got out of his car. This was a rare sight at the Pentagon these days; since the 9/11 attacks, the airspace around major administrative centers in the United States had been designated as no-fly zones, except for the vehicles of top-level officials.

John Wilson paused to watch for a moment, wondering which boss had come for an inspection.

He walked into his office, and before he even had time to brew a cup of coffee, the phone on his desk began to ring loudly.

"John, come to my office for a moment."

The voice of the CIA chief, Rodriguez, came through the receiver, followed by a dial tone.

John hung up the phone and hurried toward the Director's office. Getting a call at this hour gave John the intuition that it wasn't anything good.

Entering the Director's office, John Wilson was surprised to find that his boss, Rodriguez, was not alone.

NASA Administrator Tom Brown was also there, along with someone who truly gave Wilson a start: Secretary Williams, his boss's boss.

John Wilson politely greeted the high-ranking officials, and Rodriguez motioned for him to sit down.

"John, you should know why we called you here."

"I do, Director. Has there been some breakthrough regarding China's activities on the moon?"

John Wilson answered directly after a brief pause; he couldn't imagine anything more important than that right now.

"Yes, but it's bad news."

"Oh? Director, are they building a base there?"

"We don't know," Rodriguez said, looking toward NASA Administrator Brown. John Wilson, a bit confused by the situation, followed the Director's gaze to Tom Brown.

"We didn't capture anything."

"What do you mean? They aren't there?"

"No, no. To be precise, two of our satellites have lost contact."

Tom Brown looked a bit dejected because he couldn't figure out the situation either. Under normal circumstances, the probability of two satellites failing simultaneously was infinitely close to zero. If it wasn't a mechanical failure, then the problem was massive.

"What about before contact was lost? Did they really capture nothing?" John Wilson asked, unwilling to give up.

"Nothing at all. All the data and images were normal. Orbital altitude, satellite attitude, solar panel power status—everything was normal. But then they just inexplicably lost contact."

"We tried shutting them down and restarting. We calculated the closest window to Earth based on their previous lunar orbital speed and position, and attempted to connect several times in a row. All failed. Only then were we forced to confirm that something had happened to those two satellites."

"In this situation, it can basically be determined that the satellites were severely damaged by some kind of external force. This force could have come from space, or it could be man-made."

"In space, for example, a super-strong ion storm from the sun could destroy satellites in orbit. But the strange thing is, we checked with our counterparts at the European Space Agency, and their lunar satellites are all functioning normally. That just doesn't add up."

"So, we reported to the White House last night."

"The President ordered me to come and assess the situation. I need an answer from all of you," the highest-ranking boss in the office spoke up.

"Where were the satellites when contact was lost?" John Wilson asked.

"The problems occurred ten minutes after their orbital maneuver. By then, they had already moved to the far side of the moon."

Upon hearing this, John Wilson immediately thought of that Chinese fleet. He looked at Rodriguez, who nodded, signaling that there was no need to hide anything.

"Gentlemen, if it is indeed man-made, then I suspect it has everything to do with that Chinese space fleet."

"What did you say? Are you suggesting they used force to destroy our satellites? How dare they? This is a blatant provocation!"

Williams' emotions flared instantly. He stood up, waving his arms and shouting as he paced angrily.

"But we have no evidence. Mere speculation isn't very convincing," the NASA Administrator raised an awkward point.

Williams quieted down immediately. Anger was one thing, but the situation hadn't reached a critical boiling point yet.

"Fine. Let's assume the satellites were shot down by them, and we have no evidence. What do we do next?"

"Brown, can we get assistance from the space agencies of Europe or Japan? Don't they both have reconnaissance satellites at the moon?" Rodriguez said, looking at his old friend.

"That's difficult to coordinate. Although we've established a complete cooperation framework through the International Space Station, that's limited to the ISS. When it comes to lunar satellites..."

"They might not share their satellite data with us unless the government steps in to pressure them. Even then, if they do share the data, it's not certain they'll have anything we're interested in."

"After all, this involves our relations with our allies, especially during such a fragile time. I'm worried the cost might outweigh the gain. What do you think, Mr. Secretary?"

Tom Brown tossed the ball back to Williams. Williams listened and thought for a while, reflecting on what the Administrator had just said.

After a long pause, Williams looked up.

"Administrator Brown is right. In this sensitive period, we should try to win over our allies rather than coerce them. After all, the current situation is very unfavorable for us, gentlemen!"

"However, Brown, you can use the excuse of our lost satellites to ask them to take a look at the far side of the moon. Wasn't that your goal when you adjusted the orbits of those two satellites anyway? This way, we might get two sets of answers. As for sharing their satellite data, let's not mention that for now."

Williams decided to settle for the next best thing. A lack of evidence didn't mean they could just let it go; he couldn't bring himself to return to the White House with such a result.

The two high-ranking officials who had arrived so suddenly left in a hurry—one to report the meeting's outcome to the big boss, the other to rush back to NASA headquarters.

He needed to confirm which countries owned the remaining satellites in lunar orbit. Setting aside Russia and China, who were consistently uncooperative, there was no need to check; the only ones they could work with were the European Space Agency and Japan.

These few nations and agencies represented the countries with the strongest space exploration capabilities on Earth.

After returning, Tom Brown immediately convened a high-level internal meeting at NASA, then set up a live video link with the heads of the European Space Agency.

He briefed them on the lost satellites in lunar orbit and sincerely requested the European Space Agency's help. Mr. Brown's attitude was earnest and full of emotion.

But he also concealed certain things—for instance, the fact that China's aerospace carrier fleet was likely operating there right now. As for the speculation that the two satellites might have been shot down, he kept his mouth shut entirely.

The executives of the European Space Agency cut the video feed, discussed it privately for a moment, and then replied to Brown. They could assist in investigating, provided that some technical calculations were performed first.

After all, satellite fuel was limited. The prerequisite for an orbital maneuver was ensuring the satellite could continue its mission. If the calculations checked out, they were willing to help.

Brown finally breathed a sigh of relief. He thought the matter was resolved, but he had no idea that their actions perfectly matched a meme used by Chinese netizens...