017 Captive Space Station

Bai Zhongqi was putting on his most resolute masculine front, comforting his frightened and traumatized junior student, when the world was undergoing a quiet transformation. Chaos and panic staged themselves across the globe, with political leaders making frequent phone calls and meetings, as various strategies were being brewed and prepared for implementation.

And as the chief culprits causing all this disruption, the Iridium Star people were equally busy at work.

In the International Space Station, which had been operational for over a decade, six astronauts from five different countries were also affected by the events unfolding on Earth. The astronauts had access to various social media networks and could see everything happening. After the airspace battle over San Francisco, the United States' NSA had wanted to intervene and disrupt the spread on social media, but they ultimately failed. On one hand, there were too many witnesses, and the scale of the spread was too vast to cover up; on the other hand, the power of capital was also evident behind this incident. Clearly, halting the major social media platforms was not something the capitalists would allow; the impact on several IT giants would be significant, potentially even causing a collective slump in the tech sector and thereby dealing a severe blow to the entire stock market. So, capital would never allow the American government agencies to mess things up.

The work on the space station was busy, especially as the space station was at the end of its life cycle with no follow-up plans for another. Budget cuts from various countries also made experiments and other work on the space station even more challenging.

The airspace battle over San Francisco directly led to the astronauts on the space station halting their work and standing by. Now, they were gathered together, whereas usually they would be busily engaged in their separate tasks.

Luther, an American astronaut on his first space mission, who had not been on the space station for very long, felt the initial excitement wearing off, leaving him with nothing but restlessness. The outbreak of the San Francisco incident made Luther even more anxious. He said to Dmitry, the Russian astronaut, "Dmitry, doesn't Russia have any evacuation plans for the space station yet? Staying in space now is super dangerous. Those aliens could be hiding anywhere."

Dmitry, in his forties and a veteran of many space missions, was very calm. Having spent a good amount of time in space, he had developed a recklessness about life and death. Holding a small glass of distilled whisky, he took a sip with satisfaction. This whisky was not part of the standard provisions of the space station but actually an experimental tool used to test the processes of brewing and material aging in the station. After the incident, Dmitry and another Russian astronaut, Mikhail, had raided this stash and turned it into their pastime. No one could regulate them now, and even the other astronauts were planning to get a share.

Dmitry said, "Even if a spaceship were launched to execute an evacuation plan, the Russian Federation and the United States would squabble over it, debating over who would pay for it, the timelines, what rocket to use... By the time these issues are really resolved, who knows when that would be."

Luther was utterly despondent, "Are we just supposed to drift in space, always at risk of being destroyed by aliens?"

Drinking his whisky, Dmitry nonchalantly replied, "Us? We're just six astronauts who aren't much use; if we're abandoned, then so be it. The guys down on the ground probably have more important things to worry about right now."

The astronaut from Japan, speaking seriously, said, "I also tend to think that there won't be any evacuation plans. Pessimistically, if the aliens really intend to destroy Earth, whether we retreat to the surface or stay in space, there won't be much difference."

Luther turned pale, trembling hands and vacant eyes, "But I have my wife and children..."

Dmitry had little respect for this frightened American. After finishing his drink, he said, "Which one of us doesn't have a family? Since it's our turn, there's nothing to complain about. We might as well enjoy ourselves. Even if bad luck strikes, there's nothing to regret."

After his words, a silence descended on the cabin. In the entire space station, only the sounds of various instruments operating could be heard. The decibel level was not high, but as background noise, it was persistent. Sometimes, astronauts were grateful for such sounds; sound does not travel in a vacuum, and no one could endure the fear that total silence in space would bring.

Outside the cabin was the pitch-black universe and a clear, sparkling planet. No matter how big or filthy people felt the planet was from the surface, the view from space remained stunningly beautiful. The astronauts did not know what changes their fates would bring, nor could they do anything about the upcoming changes.

Just then, the entire space station shuddered. None of the astronauts were destabilized by the shake since they were in a microgravity environment in space, tethered to equipment by straps.

Dmitry snapped to alert, "What's going on?"

Luther had already scrambled to the window, "My God!"

What he saw was definitely not God, but a small Iridium Star unmanned engineering vehicle. Such unmanned vehicles, carried in vast numbers by the Ruyi City colonial ship, were the backbone of the United Empire's colonial orbital construction. The multi-purpose unmanned vehicle was capable of mining, material preparation, and construction among various tasks, directly building various facilities for the Iridium Star's colonial fleet in planetary orbits.

Of course, sometimes it was tasked with demolition work like it was doing now.

To the unmanned engineering vehicle, the International Space Station was an illegal structure in its orbit that needed to be forcibly cleared. The engineering vehicle, with its long mechanical arm, attached itself to the International Space Station and started its engines, dragging this structure, which seemed huge to humans, to another location.

Dmitry also saw the space vehicle, which looked like a lobster, and understood that it was definitely not something from Earth, but he was quite open-minded about it and even grinned, revealing two rows of teeth, laughing, "Lucky us, we might just be the first Earthlings to come face to face with aliens."

Bai Zhongqi was somewhat excited about this, saying, "Perhaps, the aliens will inform us of their intentions and send us back to Earth for negotiations."

Luther's eyes also brightened, "If that's really the case, then that would be great."

It wasn't long before several astronauts heard an alarm sound.

"Columbus module hatch forcibly opened, Columbus module hatch forcibly opened."

Dmitry said, "Something's coming in."

At this point, even if the astronauts wanted to resist, they had no weapons. Not to mention that humans had not yet had any real combat experience in a microgravity environment, and to prevent equipment damage leading to danger, there were no weapons on the space station.

The six men arrived at the Columbus module section, feeling very apprehensive about the alien life forms they were about to see. They didn't know if they would encounter ET-like aliens or something from Alien or Predator.

The hatch opened, and out came several soldiers clad in streamlined, sci-fi silver Individual Armors. These soldiers were literally walking out, not floating as the astronauts would have done. This meant that the soldiers, in the microgravity of the spacecraft, actually had gravity?!

These aliens had hands and feet and walked upright, indistinguishable from humans. When the leading alien lifted its helmet visor, which was not very thick, to reveal its face, the astronauts were stunned.

It was the face of an Asian youth, a face not uncommon on Earth. From height to appearance, this silver-armored alien looked just like an East Asian from Earth.

The alien with the Asian appearance spoke up, "You have officially become prisoners of the United Empire's Iridium Star Universe Army. Cooperate and you will be treated humanely by the Universe Army."

The Japanese astronaut, Bai Zhongqi, had encountered some Chinese in his younger days. Although not fluent in everyday conversation, he recognized that the alien had definitely spoken Mandarin Chinese.

"Chinese?"

The alien officer couldn't be bothered to explain. He pressed something on his arm, and the same phrase he had just said was automatically translated into English, Russian, French, and several other languages, repeating it once more. Now, the rest of the astronauts understood as well.

Luther was most surprised, "These guys are Chinese?"

Dmitry shook his head, "Impossible, how could the Chinese have such technology?"

Bai Zhongqi bowed to the alien officer as a sign of respect, then asked in his poor Chinese, "Sir, thank you for your kindness towards us. I take the liberty to ask, why do you speak the Chinese language of Earth, and what are your intentions with us?"

The alien officer glanced at him and said, "I can't answer either of those questions. You don't have anything to fear for your lives for now, the Universe Army is simply conducting routine clearance of non-friendly targets from the planet's orbit."

Dmitry and the others joined in, hoping to pry more information from the alien officer who looked and spoke like a Chinese person. However, their questions annoyed the officer. He waved his hand, and his soldiers placed a metal bracelet on each of the astronauts' wrists. Then, the officer pressed his forearm panel again and all six astronauts immediately felt an electric shock course through their bodies.

The alien officer said in no uncertain terms, "Be mindful of your status and behavior. You are prisoners, not guests of the Empire. If anyone makes noise again, I won't hesitate to escalate the level of your biological electroshock."

The shock was definitely unpleasant. Although it lasted only a second, it left the astronauts with enough fear not to cause further trouble. They obediently lined up and were escorted by the Iridium Star soldiers to the Insight reconnaissance ship.

In fact, the officer hadn't told the whole truth. These six astronauts were the first Earthlings captured by the people of the Iridium Star, who also had significant knowledge and experience. They were to be interrogated to obtain valuable intelligence for the Iridium Star.