The last part of a journey was always the most difficult.
After more than ten hours of flying, the direct flight from Beijing to America finally landed on the Los Angeles International Airport runway.
The airport had been preparing for this arrival since last night.
China and United States flags were displayed along the airport VIP runway.
Local state legislators, representatives of citizen groups, and White House and NASA officials from Washington stood around the airstair. With media cameras pointed at them, they welcomed their astronaut’s return.
“Welcome home, my hero.” The vice president shook Johnson’s hand and said, “You must have gone through a lot.”
“Thanks,” Johnson said to the vice president. He spoke in an exhausted voice, “Where is my wife?”
“She is here, your kids are here as well.”
The vice president moved to the side.
A beautiful blond-haired child ran into Johnson’s arms.
“Daddy!”
“Oh, my pumpkin… Did you miss Daddy?” Johnson said as he rubbed his daughter’s head. A smile appeared on his tired face.
His daughter’s angel-like smile made all of his fatigue disappear.
His wife walked toward him with tears in her eyes. His two other sons were there as well. He gave all of them a hug.
Julia spoke with her husband’s arms wrapped around her.
“You finally came back.”
Johnson’s nose was buried in his wife’s hair. He took a deep breath before speaking with a trembling voice.
“I’m sorry…”
Not far away, the reporters’ cameras captured this touching moment, displaying it on national television.
However, for Johnson, this didn’t matter.
What mattered was that his suffering was finally worth it.
Because he was finally home…
After Johnson let go of his wife, he shook hands with everyone who came to welcome him home.
Even though the Ares program failed, no one blamed the hero who risked his life for the Ares program.
Being able to return from tens of millions of kilometers away was a remarkable thing in itself.
As Johnson sat in the VIP car near the runway, he leaned back in his seat and began to relax. He was waiting for his family to join him, but instead, Director Carson and the vice president got in the car.
The car door closed.
Johnson looked at the vice president sitting across from him and asked, “You plan on sending me and my family back to Arizona in this car?”
“Not quite, we will arrange a hotel in Los Angeles for you first. You will fly home a week after that,” the vice president said. He looked at Director Carson. He then said, “I’m sorry to interrupt your reunion with your family, but Director Carson and I… want to talk about some things with you.”
“Regarding the Moon Palace and Starlight… and everything else you saw.” Carson forced a smile and said, “You know, the things that you couldn’t say using the Chinese communication channels.”
Johnson said, “I don’t think the Chinese would have cared. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let me come back.”
Director Carson and the vice president looked at each other. They then looked at Johnson.
“Maybe you need some rest? If you do, we can talk about this tomorrow…”
“No need.” Johnson shook his head and said, “Let’s talk about this now, it won’t take long. I don’t want to waste tomorrow discussing this issue.”
“Ok, thanks for your cooperation.” Director Carson gave him an encouraging look and said, “Then… Let’s start with Starlight.”
Johnson nodded and said, “No problem, I can only tell you what I saw… Also, I hope you won’t be too surprised.”
He closed his eyes and began to tap into his memory. With NASA Director Carson and the vice president sitting across from him, he began to speak about his journey back to Earth.
“The Chinese spacecraft is large, and it had two wings and a blue flame at the back of the spacecraft… I think not fire, it might be plasma? When I looked at the spacecraft in my return capsule, it felt like the return capsule was a tiny sailboat sailing next to the giant ship. They easily took in the rescue capsule and provided us with food and water… They even gave us private bathrooms.
“Our Starlight’s cabins were probably intended to be used as storage, but the facilities were quite complete. The most shocking thing was their attitude toward electricity. It felt like there was an unlimited amount of energy on Starlight. No one told us how much electricity or water we could use. Other than restricting us to our rooms during certain hours of the day, there was much more freedom on Starlight. It was almost like a cruise ship.
“The Moon Palace was even more surprising.”
Johnson’s face lit up as he continued, “It’s like a fortress… A castle floating in the sky. The solar panels and heat sinks were like a garden. Any spacecraft seemed tiny compared to the Moon Palace.”
The Moon Palace was obviously more surprising for Johnson.
Over the next ten minutes or so, he described his life on the Moon Palace.
The two people sitting across from him stayed completely silent.
After Johnson finished talking, the inside of the car went silent for a while.
The vice president took a deep breath and took out his glasses. He wiped his glasses with a cloth and spoke with a trembling voice.
“Jesus… That’s incredible.”
If our astronaut is telling the truth…
Then China’s aerospace technology is unimaginably strong!
Johnson had a smirk on his face as he replied sarcastically, “It is indeed incredible…”
He looked outside the car window. When he saw a dome-shaped building nearby, he squinted and asked out of curiosity, “What is that?”
It had been five years since he last visited Los Angeles.
He didn’t remember seeing this strange looking building near the airport.
“That? That is our National Ignition Facility, the Californian ‘artificial sun’.” The vice president smiled and looked at Director Carson as he said, “It’s ok, my friend, there’s no need to be frustrated. Even though the Ares program failed, the federal government’s determination for the space race remains the same.”
“Californian sun… Is that right?” Johnson smiled and said, “By the time we finish building it, they would have built a nuclear fusion device on the moon.”
Even though Johnson didn’t specify who he meant by “they”, it was obvious what he meant.
The vice president was stunned, and he replied, “They are not allowed to conduct nuclear activities on the Moon.”
“Maybe…” Johnson said casually, “But if they do, who is going to stop them? Director Carson? The president? The Congressional Budget Office?”
I don’t think anyone…
Can stop the Chinese…
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