Chapter 820 Who Else Can Stop Them?

The last leg of a journey is always the hardest.

After more than ten hours of flying, the direct flight from Beijing to the west coast of North America finally landed slowly on the runway of Los Angeles International Airport.

As early as a day ago, this large international airport had been arranged in advance.

The road from the entrance of the VIP channel to the runway of the airport is filled with the national flags of China and the United States.

Local state legislators, representatives of civic groups, as well as White House and NASA officials from Washington, stood in a dark row beside the gangway, and under the lens of media reporters, greeted the returning astronauts from tens of millions of kilometers away. member.

"Welcome home, our warriors..." Stepping forward with open arms, the vice president greeted Johnson who stepped down the gangway. The vice president hugged the weather-beaten astronaut and said to him in a heavy voice, "In the past six months, you have suffered."

"Thank you..." Letting go of the vice president, Johnson asked in a tired voice, "Where is my wife?"

"Here she is, and your children."

As he said that, the vice president took half a step aside.

The little guy with beautiful blond hair ran up on his calves and threw himself into Johnson's arms.

"dad!"

"Hey, my little guy... Miss Dad?" Johnson rubbed his little daughter's head and squatted on the ground, finally showing a smile on his tired face.

That angelic smile made him feel healed of the tiredness all over his body in an instant.

Seeing his tearful wife and his two sons walking towards him, he stood up while squatting on the ground, and gave his sons and this great woman a hug respectively.

Lying in her husband's arms, Julian swallowed and murmured.

"……You are finally back."

Burying his nose in his wife's hair, Johnson took a deep breath and said in a slightly trembling voice.

"Sorry for making you worry..."

Not far away, the cameras in the hands of the reporters recorded this touching scene and moved it to the TV screen, touching more American families.

But for Johnson, none of that matters.

The important thing is that the hardships along the way were not in vain.

He finally came home...

After letting go of his wife, Johnson shook hands and hugged everyone who came to greet him.

Although the Ares plan failed, no one would blame a hero who challenged the forbidden zone of life.

To be able to return safely from tens of millions of kilometers away is quite a remarkable thing in itself.

Since he is the one being saved.

After getting into the limousine waiting outside the VIP passage, Johnson leaned back on the armchair and relaxed a little, but while he was waiting for his wife and children, it was not his own who walked into the car next. family, but Director Carson and the Vice President.

The door was closed, and the car started slowly.

Raising his eyelids and taking a slight glance at the vice president sitting opposite him, Johnson asked.

"You're going to drive me and my family back to Arizona?"

"Of course not, we will place you in a hotel in Los Angeles first, and the flight to take you home will be a week later." The vice president put his hands together with a smile, and then looked at Carson sitting next to him The director glanced, "I'm sorry to disturb your reunion with your family, but our Mr. Carson...he wants to talk to you about something."

"About the Moon Palace and the Xiaguang...and everything you saw," Carson forced a smile on his face, and added, "You know, some things are inconvenient to talk about on the Huaguo communication channel. "

Johnson smiled and said, "Actually, there's no need... I don't think the Chinese people might care, otherwise they wouldn't let me come back, would they?"

Director Carson and the Vice President exchanged glances, looked at Johnson and opened his mouth, tentatively asking.

"Perhaps you need to rest now? If so, we can also talk about this topic tomorrow..."

"No need," Johnson shook his head. "Let's talk now. It won't take much time. I don't want to waste a whole day discussing this issue tomorrow."

"OK, thank you for your cooperation," Chief Carson clapped his hands and gave him an encouraging look, "Then let's...let's start with the Xiaguang."

Johnson nodded: "No problem, but I can only tell you what I saw... And, I hope you won't be too surprised next time."

After closing his eyes and remembering for a moment, Johnson slowly told the Vice President and NASA Director Carson, who were sitting across from him, what he had seen and heard on the way from Mars orbit to returning to Earth.

"The spaceship of the Huaguo people is very big, with blue fire spraying out behind the two pairs of open wings... Maybe it's not fire, xenon plasma? Probably this. When we sat in the return capsule and looked out, we felt It was like a lifeboat sailing next to a giant ship. They recovered us without much effort, and then provided us with fresh water and food...even cleaning the bathroom for personal hygiene."

"The cabin of the Xiaguang is probably modified from the cargo hold, but the facilities on it are quite complete. The most shocking thing is not this, but their attitude towards energy. The energy on the Xiaguang is almost unlimited, at least no one Reminding us how much electricity or water we can only use in a day. Except for returning to the room at the specified time, they hardly limit our freedom...Compared to the harsh environment on the BFS spacecraft, being on the Xiaguang is like It's like traveling."

"The most surprising thing is not these, but the Moon Palace." When talking about the Moon Palace, Johnson's slightly tired pupils unconsciously showed a shocking look, "It's like a fortress... …a fortress floating in the sky. The open solar panels and cooling fins are like farmland. Standing in front of it, any spacecraft is just as small as a speck of dust floating in the universe...”

Compared with the Xiaguang, the shock brought by the Moon Palace to Johnson is obviously much greater.

In the remaining ten minutes, his narration basically focused on the life of the Moon Palace.

Until he uttered the last word, the two sitting across from him and listening intently did not speak again.

The atmosphere of silence lasted for a long time in the car.

Sitting next to the silent Director Carson, the Vice President took a deep breath, took off his glasses with trembling fingers, took out a cloth to wipe them, and muttered to himself in a low voice.

"God...unbelievable."

If everything the astronaut said was not exaggerated...

The aerospace technology of the Chinese people has been so strong that he can hardly imagine it!

Hearing this sentence, Johnson twitched the corner of his mouth slightly, and said with a self-deprecating smile.

"It's unbelievable..."

His eyes drifted out of the car window in boredom, looking at the passing scenery along the way and the dome-shaped building standing not far from the suburban road, Johnson narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked in a curious voice .

"what is that?"

The last time I came to Los Angeles was five years ago.

He didn't remember anything so weird on the road to the airport.

"You mean that? That's our national ignition device, California's 'artificial sun'," the vice president smiled, his tone recovered a little, and he looked at Director Carson who was sitting silently beside him and said, "Okay Now, my buddy, there is no need to be so depressed. Although the Ares project has suffered setbacks, the determination of the federal government and the United States to space will not change."

"California's little sun...is it?" Johnson smiled, with a pessimistic tone, "Maybe when we build it, they have already moved the nuclear fusion device to the moon."

Although he didn't say who they are, the contextual direction is already obvious.

After hearing this sentence, the vice president sitting opposite him was a little stunned and retorted subconsciously.

"There's no way they could have conducted a nuclear test on the moon."

"Maybe," Johnson casually replied, not interested in arguing about the topic, "but if they did, who could stop them? Our Director Carson, or Mr. President? Or Congressional Budget Committee?"

I'm afraid no matter which one it is...

It can't be done.