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could be possible reserves of liquid hydrogen; China.
    Russia, the Russian crew knew, was very limited on liquid hydrogen, the purest quality needed for launch. They had refused any of the cold fusion systems, and if they were producing liquid hydrogen, they would be doing it the slow old-fashioned way. There was no way Russia had any interest in producing hydrogen as a fuel, only gasoline.
    “Remember, China was the most modern producer of all electronics in the first one and a half decades of this century,” stated Dr. Smidt at a Design Meeting a few days after the first jog. “I believe that China is the only possibility to find enough fuel for this flight in such a short time.” With Dr. Smidt, Ryan and his crew did some history updating on China.
    Within a week, and with help from the other friendly countries, the crew found out that the old ruler of China, the man who had run the country, the leader Ryan and Astermine had repeatedly bombed, had died less than a year earlier. That ruler certainly did not like Ryan, or Astermine and any negotiations would have been fruitless as Lunar could tell them.
    The new Premier: Jong Lee Sim was a younger man, only 49, and he had been handed down the country from his father to run. Jong Lee Sim was reputed to be more interested in returning China to its former powerhouse of production than his father. His father had refused to deal with the West, or even Russia for decades, and had led the country down a path of financial ruin.
    The crew in Nevada reckoned that Ryan might have a chance to open a door of negotiations with the United States, but the problem was how to get into the country.
    Several ideas were discussed by the crew in Nevada, Washington and with the Canadian government in Ottawa and Toronto.
    There weren’t any country Ambassadors in Washington. There hadn’t been for 25 years, and China wasn’t just on the other end of the phone. International telephones hadn’t been used for decades either, but were on their way back.
    After a few weeks of looking for a way to communicate with Beijing, nobody, including Australia or Israel could offer any ideas.
    It was Jonesy, as usual, who had offered the best idea right at the beginning—“just fly into Beijing and land in Tiananmen Square”.
    “So, Mr. Jones, you are happy to risk flying into China unannounced?” Ryan asked Jonesy. The conference room was busy with the chief scientists, and several of the astronauts, and on a conference call with The Pentagon, the Defense Ministries in Toronto and Canberra, and with Martin Brusk who was back in Israel.
    “I don’t see why it would be such a problem?’ replied Jonesy.
    “Well, I believe that Astermine’s destruction of major parts of China since 2017 could be a problem,” replied Ryan. “To date, Astermine has destroyed at least 10,000 Chinese cube satellites, every one they managed to launch. Astermine has laser-blasted their government offices in Beijing, their military launch sites, airfields, aircraft and just about everything else that moved in that country. The U.S., if you remember destroyed everything we didn’t. Mr. Jones I don’t believe they like us Americans very much.”
    “Ms. Collins in Toronto did state that the new Premier is interested in returning China to something of its former glory. Commander Richmond, they are certainly not going to achieve that by themselves, and without us,” Jonesy replied.
    “I don’t believe that any of the countries on this call can aid, or give you any more information than what we know, and have already passed over to you, Commander Richmond,” stated Mary Collins over the open conference call. “But, I’m going to side with your astronaut. Maybe this is the right time to approach Beijing and offer our assistance. Also, it is the only country left which can give you enough liquid hydrogen for your Mars mission. I believe that Lunar hasn’t told you about her embarrassing visit to Beijing a few years ago,