Chapter 473 Space Vision

"Dean He, please take a look at this."

The controller switched the large screen to the view from the Kunlun's porthole. The azure planet filled the entire screen, clouds were swirling, and the typhoon vortex over the Pacific Ocean was clearly visible, with white cloud walls surrounding the black eye of the storm, like an eye gazing into space.

He Yuzhu's teacup hovered in mid-air, not yet brought to his lips. He stared at the blue sphere—the dark green of the continental edge, the yellowish-brown of the desert, the deep blue of the ocean, and the thin orange halo around the edge of the atmosphere. He slowly placed the teacup back on the table, the bottom tapping softly against the steel plate.

Old Sun peeked out from the communications station, glanced at the screen, and then ducked back inside.

Tan Wei's voice came through the quantum communication, as steady as reading a textbook. "Control center, the Kunlun is passing through the South Pacific. The view through the porthole is stable, and the lighting angle is good."

He Yuzhu didn't reply. He braced his hands on the edge of the control panel, his fingers slowly tightening.

The image on the screen began to move. The outline of South America emerged from the edge of the earth, and the snow-capped peaks of the Andes Mountains gleamed white in the sunlight, like a row of teeth.

"Huairu," he whispered. His voice was so soft that only Lin Jianguo beside him heard it. Lin Jianguo glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Winter of 1971. On the northeastern border, in the snow. He pointed to the Big Dipper and said to Qin Huairu, "I'll take you to see the starry sky someday." At that time, he was clutching a remnant tracking map in his hand, the paper brittle from the cold, crumbling at the slightest touch. Qin Huairu said, "You don't look at the stars, you look at the map." She took off her scarf and wrapped it around his frozen hands.

Eleven years have passed.

He was in the underground control center in Jiuquan, looking back at Earth from space. It wasn't the starry sky he had imagined. It was closer than the starry sky, and even more speechless than the starry sky.

"Dean He?" Tan Wei called out again.

He Yuzhu picked up the microphone and paused for a moment. "Yes."

"Do you have any message for the ground?"

He Yuzhu opened his mouth. He wanted to say, "Tell Qin Huairu not to wait for me for dinner tonight," and "Tell Nianhua to finish her homework before drawing." But it felt like something was blocking his throat, and he couldn't let out any air.

A pause of two or three seconds.

"Have Zhao Mingyuan take a few more photos and transmit them back to Earth."

Tan Wei didn't press further. "Understood."

He Yuzhu put the microphone back on the stand, his fingers lingering on the stand for a moment before he let go.

Lin Jianguo walked up from the back row, holding a data sheet. "Dean He, a debris cloud has been discovered ahead of the Kunlun spacecraft's orbit. It is 15 kilometers away, with a relative speed of 320 meters per second. There are 21 pieces of debris, ranging in size from 3 centimeters to half a meter."

He Yuzhu turned to look at the control console. "Collision probability?"

The controller's fingers traversed the keyboard. "0.12%. The existing trajectory does not require avoidance."

He Yuzhu picked up the microphone. His finger hovered over the call button, but he didn't press it immediately. He glanced at the data sheet in Lin Jianguo's hand. 1.2 per thousand. Only one in a thousand launches might result in a collision, but if it did, it was 100%.

He pressed the intercom button. "Kunlun, the ground assessment indicates a collision probability of 1.2 per thousand. No maneuvering is required. Can you see any debris with the naked eye?"

Tan Wei's voice came back after two seconds, tinged with uncertainty. "Control center, wait a minute... I see it. Flashes of light outside the starboard window. Lots of them."

"Approximately how far is the nearest one?"

Tan Wei didn't answer. Zhao Mingyuan took over. "The closest one is about 500 meters away. You can see it tumbling, and there are fragments of solar panels on its surface. It might be a decommissioned satellite. Dean He, it's tumbling very slowly, but at a very fast speed."

He Yuzhu put down the microphone and turned to Lin Jianguo. "Record the orbital parameters of the debris cloud. Report it to the International Space Debris Monitoring Center."

Lin Jianguo was taken aback. "Dean He, the International Space Debris Monitoring Center hasn't been established yet."

He Yuzhu looked at him, his gaze fixed on him. "Then let's set one up. You take the lead, contact space agencies around the world, and share debris data. Regardless of political relations, if debris hits any of our spacecraft, it's a disaster. Tell the Soviets, tell the Americans, debris doesn't recognize any national flag."

Lin Jianguo wrote it down in his notebook. He pressed down hard with the pen, causing the paper to dent. "The curvature drive can be tested now." After saying that, he immediately frowned, knowing that his statement was inappropriate.

He Yuzhu didn't respond. He glanced at the clock on the wall—3:40 PM. Then he spoke. "You forgot about the coil crack?"

"I haven't forgotten."

"Wait for the return flight. We'll test again after repairs." He Yuzhu picked up the microphone and switched to the all-cabin channel. "Kunlun, the debris you just saw will increase in the future. You are the first Chinese to see debris in space. This isn't an honor, but a reminder."

There was a few seconds of silence in the channel.

Zhao Mingyuan's voice came through, a few decibels lower than usual. "Understood."

He Yuzhu put down the microphone. Old Sun walked over and lowered his voice. "Director He, people from the sea have arrived. They're waiting at the Beijing Hotel. Is the project approval meeting for the second spacecraft tonight?"

He Yuzhu glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 4:10 PM. "Go over at seven. Let them eat first."

Old Sun nodded and went to the side to make a phone call.

He Yuzhu pulled up photos of the Antarctic base from his system space and looked at them for a while. Lights beneath the ice, underground training grounds. He closed the interface and picked up his military overcoat from the back of his chair. His sleeve knocked over a teacup on the table, spilling tea all over the surface. He ignored it and put the overcoat on.

Ma Yuejin stood up from the corner. "Dean He, where are you going?"

"Beijing Hotel. Are you coming with me?"

Ma Yuejin took the pen cap off his mouth, stuffed it into his pocket, and dusted off his trousers. "Go."

The two walked out of the control center. The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on, and He Yuzhu walked ahead, his pace slow. Reaching the parking lot, he opened the door of the old Jeep and got in. Ma Yuejin got into the passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt several times before finally managing to fasten it.

The car started and drove out of the base.

The road across the Gobi Desert was long, stretching straight to Jiuquan. The setting sun was low, its rays shining directly onto the windshield, causing He Yuzhu to squint. Ma Yuejin flipped down the sun visor, then flipped his own side down as well.

"Dean He, can the issue of these fragments really be turned into an international collaboration?"

"We have to do it, whether we like it or not. The fragmented people don't recognize the national flag or any ideology."

Ma Yuejin rummaged through the storage box and pulled out a bag of biscuits, broke it in half, and handed it to He Yuzhu. He took it with one hand, took a bite, chewed for a long time, and swallowed.

"Director He!" someone called from the roadside.

He Yuzhu slammed on the brakes. The old jeep left two long ruts on the sandy road. Yang Xiaobing stood on the shoulder, clutching a telegram, panting. He ran over and opened the car door.

"Director He, this was sent by Zhou Zhiyuan. A set of photos was taken early this morning at the underground training ground of the Antarctic base. Someone wearing an exoskeleton was running under the ice, and they were going so fast that the camera almost couldn't keep up."

He Yuzhu took the telegram. In the photograph, under the light deep within the ice, was a blurry human silhouette, its limbs disproportionately long, longer than normal. He looked at it for a few seconds, then folded the telegram and put it in his pocket.

"Keep an eye on it for now. We'll discuss it again when the Kunlun returns."

Yang Xiaobing nodded and stepped back to the side of the road.

He Yuzhu released the brake, and the old jeep continued driving forward. In the rearview mirror, Yang Xiaobing stood on the Gobi Desert, his figure growing smaller and smaller.

Ma Yuejin stuffed the remaining half of the biscuit into his mouth and asked, his words muffled, "Dean He, how much faster are those things in Antarctica than we are?"