Chapter Forty-Nine: The Dutch Boy

“I heard Jack Lawson will also be involved in the investigation concerning the Dutch Boy?” Wang Jing asked casually as he walked with Ute toward the lounge.

“Yes, he’s the chief engineer for Dutch Boy. No one could be more qualified to lead the investigation,” Ute replied with a nod.

“How is Dutch Boy holding up now?” Wang Jing inquired.

At the mention of this, Ute halted, gazing at Wang Jing with sorrow in his eyes. “They told me not to reveal the real situation to you, but honestly, I see no point in hiding it. You’ll find out eventually anyway.”

He paused, composed himself, and then continued as they walked. “Dutch Boy is not in good shape. Just this past week, we lost a colleague. He was passing through an outer corridor when the protective door panel suddenly opened. We never even found his body.”

“I’m truly sorry for your loss, but don’t you think there’s something odd about this?” Wang Jing asked gravely. “You see, Dutch Boy was built to the highest standards. The odds of a door panel opening by accident are about as likely as the world ending in the next second. Haven’t you considered this might be the work of the virus?”

“We have, but our abilities are limited. We found nothing, which is why we invited Jack Lawson to help us look into the faults.”

With that, Ute stopped in front of a door. “Let me introduce you to our team.”

He stepped forward, and the doors slid open automatically, revealing four people seated around a table.

“Looks like you’re Asian. I thought you’d be American,” came the voice of Duncan Taylor as Wang Jing entered.

“Don’t worry, your American will be here soon. I’m just here to inspect Dutch Boy and observe how you solve problems—feel free to ignore me entirely, it’ll make it easier for me to take notes.”

Ute cleared his throat and interjected, “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves?”

The first to speak was the woman on the right, reclining in her chair. “Adisa, structural engineer.”

Next was the man who had spoken earlier. “Duncan Taylor, systems and operating systems analyst. Loyal British citizen.”

Then, the second person on the left, leaning on his hand. “Hernandez, mechanical tech.”

The last, after a nudge from Ute, begrudgingly turned to introduce himself. “Doucette, satellite communications and security.”

All eyes turned to Wang Jing, who introduced himself with equal candor. “My name is Wang Jing, from China. As I mentioned, I’m here to observe your work process.”

Just then, the room’s PA system announced, “Ute Fassbinder, Dr. Jack Lawson’s ship is about to land!”

“Excuse me, everyone, I’ll go meet Jack Lawson. You carry on,” Ute said as he left the room.

“Did he just say he’s going to meet Jack Lawson?” Kent asked, a little excited.

“That’s right. Why, do you all want to go greet him?” Wang Jing replied.

“Of course! He’s a legend!” Hernandez, suddenly energized, stood up to head for the landing pad.

The others followed suit, and as the last to leave, Adisa glanced back at Wang Jing, puzzled. “Aren’t you coming?”

“No, I’ll wait for you all in the control hall,” Wang Jing said, then made his way out, while Adisa shrugged and hurried after the others.

Wang Jing hadn’t waited long in the control hall when Jack Lawson and the others arrived.

Seeing Wang Jing standing quietly at the back, Jack Lawson looked a bit surprised.

He approached the large screen at the front and asked, “What model was the satellite that malfunctioned over Afghanistan?”

“My favorite model. I call it the Rockstar,” Duncan answered as he pulled up the satellite’s details.

“Ah, the SR-22, which uses sound waves to slow molecular motion and lower temperature.”

“But this time, it caused a freeze. Show me the satellite’s work logs,” Jack Lawson requested.

“There are no work logs. We already checked the satellite’s hard drive, but all the logs were lost due to the malfunction,” Duncan replied.

Jack Lawson had expected this answer. He sighed and said, “Then check the logs for all Rockstar satellites. See if any others have corrupted logs.”

But there were over a thousand of these satellites. Micky, the blonde woman in charge of data retrieval, stared wide-eyed at the number on the screen.

“Precisely 1,270. We’ll have to scan them one by one,” Jack Lawson emphasized.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Ada Wang drove her Mercedes to the White House gates. She pulled a small sphere from her pocket and hurled it in the direction of the building.

In midair, the sphere transformed into a tiny bee, which slipped through the White House’s ventilation ducts and made its way into the internal servers, morphing into a USB stick as it plugged itself in.

Outside, Ada Wang monitored the data on her tablet. When she saw that the Vice President would attend a ballgame tomorrow, she immediately began to devise her plan.

After altering the security data for that day, Ada Wang turned to Jazz. “How fast can you run?”

“As fast as you want, darling!” Jazz teased.

“Is that so? Well, let’s hope you don’t fizzle out when the time comes.” With that, Ada Wang slammed her foot on the accelerator. The tires screamed against the pavement, and with a plume of white smoke, she sped off.

Inside the Dutch Boy space station, Wang Jing found Jack Lawson and said, “The traitor is Duncan. He has access to initiate the station’s self-destruct protocol. You need to be careful.”

“I’ll confront him right away!” Jack Lawson was about to rush out, but Wang Jing stopped him. “You have no evidence yet. Nobody will believe just your word.”

“So what should I do?” Jack Lawson frowned.

Wang Jing pulled up a photo on his tablet. “This is one of the door panels that opened accidentally. Each panel contains a hard drive—the data should still be there.”

“Excellent, I’ll go retrieve it now!”

“Wait, there’s no need to rush. We still have time,” Wang Jing said, restraining the impatient Jack Lawson.

“How can I not be in a hurry? A second’s delay could mean another city gets attacked.”

“The situation isn’t that dire yet. What we need now is evidence. Without proof, we can’t indict the Vice President,” Wang Jing said sternly.

“All right, all right. What should I do next?”

“Just go about your usual work. I’ll handle the hard drive.”

“In your knowledge of the future, do I get into trouble?” Jack Lawson suddenly asked.

“More or less. When you go out to retrieve the panel, your jetpack gets locked and you nearly become space debris.”

“Damn it. I should’ve decked him when I had the chance,” Jack Lawson muttered furiously.

“Enough talk—go do your job. And when you’re checking the Hong Kong satellite, be careful. Don’t let it turn you into mincemeat.”