48 Hours a Day

The Great Basin Desert, the largest desert in North America.

It covers more than half a million square kilometres, including much of Nevada, more than half of Utah, and a fraction of Idaho, Oregon, California and Wyoming.

When it comes to this desert, the vast majority of people think of Las Vegas first.

In 1888, it was just a small town, and by 1905, because of the discovery of gold mines, there was a huge influx of gold diggers, but like other gold diggers, as the gold mines were emptied out after a brief buzz, Las Vegas quickly recovered from the previous depression. The real rise was in the Great Depression of the United States, when the state Legislature passed a bill to legalize gambling, turning this desert-based city into the casino of today's nightclubs, hotels and casinos.

Unfortunately, Zhang Heng did not travel to Las Vegas this time.

The plane landed at District 51 Air Force Base, a new base built more than a decade ago, on a dry riverbed in Nevada, just 130 kilometres from Las Vegas, where the lights are red and white.

The United States has denied its existence for decades since its inception, but at the same time, in an effort to prevent curiosity from approaching, the Air Force has bought 9,000 acres of surrounding land and established it as an airspace zone and a restricted armed zone.

Sector 51 was originally used for the development of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, and other “black” projects began at the base after the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was developed, but the United States did not recognize the existence of Sector 51 until 2013.

This is also a mysterious colour of Area 51, where many believe the so-called "green house” (where an alien's frozen body is stored, where successive United States Presidents will visit, and where Dandan has vowed to see a small gray creature with a huge head moving nearby) is also present.

However, Zhang Hengsan obviously did not have such eyes and blessings. It was not a strangely shaped alien who greeted them. He was just a person in charge of the air base. After shaking hands with Zhang Hengsheng and others, he said that the simulation environment had been built and that he could be trained at any time.

The captain rarely showed a humane side, considering that the sun had gone down, and eventually put the training time in the early morning.

After dinner, the three of them were given the opportunity to move freely, albeit freely, where they could go was actually limited, and basically they had eyes on them wherever they went.

The person in charge of the reception also expressed special apologies and reiterated that the move was not directed against them, but simply because of the implementation of the most basic security precautions.

Zhang Heng and others understand this, but it is impossible to do anything in the base, at least until tomorrow morning they will be safe.

This result is not unacceptable. For the three of them, it may also be the last time they slept peacefully. Having eaten, Jia Lai took a deep look at Zhang Heng, nodded at the latter and left a sentence “See you tomorrow.” I wasn't in the mood for a walk under full surveillance and headed back to my room.

When Jalai left, Bruno hurried up and followed Fatty outside his room, but he watched as the door closed in front of him and almost hit his nose.

Bruno's divinity was a little awkward, and Fatty had made it clear that he did not trust him, that he was not discussing plans for tomorrow with him, that he seemed to be just going to use him as a tool, but it had to be said that his judgment was also accurate.

Bruno wanted to know in advance what Jalai's plan was to see if there was anything in it that could be used. It would be better to kill both of them together. Now that he had eaten a closed-door spoon, he had to go back to his place of residence.

So Zhang Heng was the only person left in the dining room. Zhang Hengmei ate the last spoonful of beans in front of him. At this time, the sky outside the window also darkened. The wind rolled up yellow sand, and the bloody red sunset fell under the sand dunes. Even in the midst of the existential threat, it was difficult to ignore the spectacular scene in front of him.

“Magnificent desolation, isn't it?” A strange voice channel.

“I'm sorry?” Zhang Heng turned around and saw a middle-aged man dressed as an engineer. He looked like a researcher from District 51. When he got behind him, he laughed and didn't continue the conversation, but asked, "You're NASA astronauts, I hear you're about to go on the moon. ”

“David.” Zhang Heng introduced himself, putting down the knife and fork in his hand and reaching out, "we are members of Apollo XI, but technically we are only candidates. ”

“Einstein.” The middle-aged man shook his hand, the latter raised his eyebrows, and Zhang Heng had never seen Einstein's photograph when he was younger, but the middle-aged man said that Zhang Heng Fang did indeed find some similarity between the two eyebrows.

But then the latter let go of his hand and laughed, “Just kidding, you know the nature of our work, we signed a confidentiality agreement before we got here, we can't divulge our real names to outsiders, how about that, Mr. David, are you happy with us? ”

“You guys look great. ”

“You too, 60 years ago, nobody thought that humans could fly in the sky with big iron birds, and 10 years ago, nobody would believe that humans could leave Earth and go to outer space, and even today, the vast majority of humans still don't think that humans can step on another object. ”

Einstanton, “But it all happened, with mathematical formulas, those mechanical principles, repeated constant experiments… Humanity did what seemed impossible over and over again, isn't that a miracle in modern society? I don't want to disrespect the man who led the Israelis to build their nation, but let me say —— technology is the greatest force in the world. ”

Typical technologist speech, though in a way difficult to disprove.

“I'm sorry to disturb your meal, but I just heard that NASA astronauts were here, so I couldn't help but come and take a look, you know," The middle-aged shrugged, "and nobody usually came to this place, anyway, nice to meet you, Mr. David. ”

“Nice to meet you too, Mr. Einstein. ”

“Well, don't delay your rest time. I wish you well in advance in your training and successful boarding of Apollo 11. I will listen to your lunar broadcast. ”

The middle-aged man ended this brief conversation with a mug in his hand and turned around to the door, when the sun sank completely below the horizon.

But when he walked to the door, he stopped again and said, “Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to say, I have a little gift for you as a first meeting gift, put it in your room and hope you like it. ”