The female colleague who greeted Amelia couldn't answer her question either. "Perhaps... some of the international friends we've taken in before?"
After widespread food shortages occurred in Europe, many refugees flocked eastward. Fortunately, the plateaus and mountains acted as natural barriers, preventing most of them from entering the country, thus maintaining basic security.
Only a select few exceptional individuals were able to gain entry into the country during the early stages of the famine, but in the last decade or so, the country has stopped accepting even refugees.
These large numbers of unorganized refugees have turned both Eurasia and Asia into a mess, except for their own countries.
In places like plains suitable for cultivation or with underground water sources, refugees gather in groups, forming various factions that fight amongst themselves.
The origins of these strange doctors were unclear, and Amelia didn't take it to heart. After all, it was someone else's family matter, and she was just an outsider here.
The two continued driving through the city, where workers repairing power grids and water pipes were a common sight, and abandoned buildings were being renovated.
Several hours later, they turned back to the space base.
On the way back, Amelia leaned against the car window, her notebook in hand, jotting down what she had just seen and heard:
"This was a surprising journey for me. Compared to our country, the population here is much larger, which leads to a severe food shortage. Most of the people I met here showed signs of malnutrition."
Even Director Zhou was the same, which made me feel very guilty. We enjoy very good treatment at NASA bases, while most of our civilians struggle to make ends meet. Many more people who are not included in the statistics are expelled as useless waste, in order to achieve a disguised form of destruction. These people may be several times the number of the statistical population.
Plan A has been lagging behind, and my initial confidence has turned into worry. Dad's calculations seem to have encountered unprecedented difficulties. And if Plan B is implemented, we will become deserters, and we will be unable to save anyone..."
Amelia paused at this point.
After staring at it for a while, I crossed out the entire last paragraph until I was sure I couldn't make out a single word.
She started writing again at the bottom of the notebook.
"Despite the difficult situation, reconstruction work has already begun here. I really don't know where their resources came from, but they did provide food and doctors to guide the people in rebuilding and transforming the city."
Secondary schools and primary schools were the first to reopen.
I saw, witnessed by the children, that a simple sign had been hung up in the old neighborhood that had been converted into a school. The people here nailed a silver sheet of iron to a rectangular wooden frame, wrote the school's name in ink, and then hung it on the gate, and the school could start enrolling students again.
I heard that this kind of enrollment is free. Although I don't know if there are enough teachers, at least the children can receive an education.
In addition, I also saw that hospitals and various factories are restarting or undergoing renovations, but the progress is not as fast.
The city's residents were deeply involved in these projects. Through this labor, they obtained the food they needed—a high-protein food made from earthworms, complementing corn. The city's goal was that no one would starve to death for the next month, which was far better than what was happening in New York at the moment...
Amelia was engrossed in her small notebook, and even after returning to the base, she was still thinking about the scene she had just witnessed.
Until Jody rushed over to see her and brought her some news:
" Dr. Brand, I just got back from Zhou's office. He told us some good news that's like Armstrong's miracle!"
Amelia was also curious, but she sensed something was wrong with Jody: " Jody, calm down. What happened?"
"Rocket!!!"
Jody stamped her foot. "Zhou told me they're launching the next rocket in two days, and soon they'll be pushing it from the assembly plant to the launch pad!"
Amelia's mouth dropped open. "They're launching a second time so soon?"
Although this is only the second rocket launch here, the frequency is far too fast, making one wonder if there is a third rocket in the pipeline.
"I want to tell Dad this news!"
With that, Amelia turned to get the satellite phone.
But Jody stopped her. "We can wait until the rocket launches before telling the professor the news, so we can tell him more."
They certainly weren't authorized to approach the rocket's vertical assembly plant or launch pad, but once the rocket, over 100 meters tall, was launched, the entire base could see it clearly, and they would definitely be able to see it then.
The two men and the delegation waited patiently for two hours before the tall, robust rocket was slowly pushed out along its trajectory.
Zhou Kun paced alongside him as always, but compared to last time, he was much more relaxed and not worried about the rocket launch at all.
Standing far away by the window, Jody determined through his binoculars alone that the rocket's model was problematic.
"This rocket model is unlike anything we've seen before. Like the transport planes we see at airports, it's likely either brand new or based on previous technology reserves."
Amelia was standing nearby with a satellite phone. After the two of them confirmed, the call was made to Professor Brand on the other side of the world.
"Hey?"
Although it was already late at night, Professor Brand answered the phone immediately.
"Professor, we received some rather astonishing news two hours ago..." Jody recounted the details of the second rocket launch, including the fact that the rocket he saw was a completely new model.
Professor Brand's tone lightened slightly upon hearing this. "So, they might still possess considerable spacefaring capabilities, and could even build new rockets?"
"Yes, and judging from the current situation, the first launch most likely failed; otherwise, it's hard to explain why they would suddenly launch a second one..."
Jody made his speculations by the window, while Amelia picked up her binoculars and looked at the rockets moving slower than a person in the distance.
Suddenly her eyes fixed on the upper middle part of the arrow.
She saw a familiar sign here.
Below the national flag is a unique pattern of interconnected elements.
She seems to be...
I saw this pattern outside the office that day!