The stars, but they become the gray wind

When Kuznetsov heard this, he seemed to suddenly feel that the atmosphere became tense. The other party seemed to be warning him on this issue.

Parker, who was following behind Kuznetsov, was thinking about another thing. He and his partner had obtained answers in their casual conversation that scientists on Earth might not be able to get in their entire lives. In his childhood and youth, he had heard stories about extraterrestrial life exploration programs. All those scientific research projects that searched for extraterrestrial life often did not produce any results related to extraterrestrial life in the end, but the other party casually revealed the true picture of the universe in which humans live - a universe that is quite empty for different civilizations. Although there is a chance to meet other people, just like those sparsely populated areas on Earth, it often takes a long time and luck to find a traveler walking in the same uninhabited wilderness.

"You say humans are lucky? There's a civilization not far from us?"

"Yes, there is one, but it will take at least several hundred years before you can observe large-scale changes in the brightness and thermal radiation of their star."

"Stars? Do you mean they are building Dyson spheres?" Kuznetsov immediately thought of the idea proposed by Freeman Dyson, a very famous scientist in the last century.

"To be more precise, it should be the Dyson Cloud. It takes time for them to dismantle those planets. After the star changes, it propagates at the speed of light to your location. It also takes time for you to observe this change."

"Could you please tell me where they are?"

"I can't tell you their exact location right now, but I can give you an approximate distance: they're within 50 light-years of the solar system."

Chapter 188 Is progress never free? (6000 words)

50 light-years! Kuznetsov couldn't believe that there were other intelligent alien life forms so close to Earth. Even at this distance, it was still an insurmountable chasm for human aerospace technology. However, less than 50 light-years meant that humans could observe traces of their activities within their lifetime, and even potentially communicate with them.

"Of course... there is a prerequisite, which is that their Dyson Cloud Project can be successfully completed. The construction of a stellar-level celestial project is no simple task."

"If too many things go wrong during this process, it is very likely to lead to failure."

"Having a controllable star is one of the foundations for civilization to move towards the interstellar space."

"But... it is also a key test of whether a civilization can pass the filter of Type II civilization." For Xuan Zhang Wu Ke, who has lived from the end of the Old Glass Eel Calendar to the present day, the scene of the Glass Eels in the Old Calendar Era failing in their stellar celestial engineering and the entire civilization due to their overly bloated social system, and heading towards collapse is still vivid in his mind. A civilization that originally roamed the starry sky almost perished under the ice of Tangyuan Star. If it were not for that person's help, they would have returned to the stars again and surpassed the peak of the old era.

The construction of celestial engineering is a highly complex technical process. If successful, the computing power of the artificial intelligence responsible for controlling and participating in this process and the productivity of the civilization will increase exponentially, thus having the foundation to become a true interstellar civilization. If this process is the same as that of the old glass eel, due to the bloated social system, it will lead to frequent errors in the entire project, which will almost lead to the destruction of the entire civilization.

"Being a multi-planet species is one filter for a civilization, and becoming a true Type II civilization is another, Mr. Kuznetsov."

“It’s clear that humanity may be about to face one of those filters now.”

"If they can't even take the first step towards the stars, then perhaps there's no point in us helping them."

A message from Happy Valley on Mars made Eli's mood, which had just relaxed because the asteroid mission was coming to an end, tense up again.

"This video surveillance camera has a production and shipping serial number, indicating that this component was shipped to the Phoenix's cargo hold with a previous shipment, officially scanned and entered, and there's no record of it ever leaving the Phoenix. Then, the warehouse manager found the box it came in. When he opened it, he discovered the contents had been swapped."

"The last batch of goods arrived a month ago. At that time, we only had time to scan the external labels of the goods, but did not have time to check whether the goods were consistent with the content printed on the labels."

"I ordered a thorough inventory check and discovered a large number of items were stolen, all communications and various electronic devices. I compiled a list and sent it to you."

"We could be in big trouble. It's not just theft; this is a much bigger problem. What are they going to do with all this equipment?"

.........

"We've reviewed the entire list of stolen devices. They're all extremely sophisticated communications equipment, and they wouldn't fetch much on the black market."

"If it's not for the money, why steal?"

"The only purpose of these devices is to monitor and communicate with the spacecraft... The only spacecraft carrying valuable cargo still near Mars is..."

"Ranger...Fuck!"

"Given the recent acts of sabotage and disastrous consequences at the Happy Valley base, we must pay close attention to this, as it is very likely a precursor to a premeditated terrorist attack."

"Do you think someone wants to sabotage this asteroid mission?" Eli thought of the terrorist explosion that occurred at the Johnson Space Center when the Mars mission was entering its final stage. In the subsequent investigation, investigators found that there had been signs of this terrorist attack, but for various reasons, these signs were ignored. The situation Eli is facing now is almost the same as it was back then.

"We have to think that the risks are too great to ignore."

"We are about to change the fate of billions of people on the planet, but there are always a few anti-government activists who want to destroy it all? Why?"

"Whoever is behind this, we must catch them before they sabotage the asteroid mission."

"I won't let anyone die again while I'm in office!"

"I suggest activating the CIA and KGB agents we have planted at our Mars base to collaborate in gathering more intelligence."

…………

"So, the KGB and the CIA, two sworn enemies, are now working together?"

Danielle sat in the office chair in the conference room, looking at the files of the two people in front of her.

"In short, we all know how important the Goldilocks asteroid is to our two countries, so we must get to the bottom of this matter. This matter involves human lives."

"In the meantime, I will order another search of the base."

.........

"The search party is turning the entire base upside down, searching for the missing communications equipment. I assume you're aware of this."

"No, how could I know?"

"There's something wrong with you lately. You used to hate Dave Ayesha to the core, but now you two are as close as best buddies, whispering in the corner all day long."

"Why didn't you tell me? What happened?"

"Nothing, really."

"Don't lie to me!"

Facing his daughter, Ed suddenly felt that none of his actions could be concealed.

.........

"I always thought I would die on a space exploration mission, like Gordon and Kuznetsov. I didn't want to go home, to live in a nursing home, and watch my body inevitably age day by day, becoming increasingly weak but unable to do anything. Then, in this overly comfortable and dull life, I would gradually forget who I am."

"At least here, on Mars, I can do something meaningful, something meaningful for humanity, achieve something for myself, and build a place where my grandson, and even his children and future generations can have a better life."

"Why... didn't you tell me the truth before?"

"I was afraid you'd think...that I was crazy."

"I can't, you know."

"I'm sorry, kid. I...should have been with you and Alex."

"I shouldn't have lied to you...ever."

…………

While Ed is accompanying his daughter, trying to make up for the lack of your companionship during her growth, in the underground floor of the Mars base, Miles, a hapless black market businessman who has just entered the business, is being interrogated by CIA and KGB agents.

"I don't know who took these things. Think about it, I sell underwear, mouthwash, and skin care products—things that make life on Mars a little more comfortable. Who would want these communication devices? They're completely useless and won't fetch a good price!"

"Unless you want to sabotage the Ranger and the asteroid mission."

"Dave Ayesha stopped the strike, and many people are still upset about it. Maybe that's why they're looking to you for revenge, or even resorting to more extreme actions."

"But think about it carefully. Why would I do something so self-destructive? Destroy the business I worked so hard to build? Just ask anyone and you'll understand."

"Do you want us to ask the terrorists who support you?"

"Hey, man, I swear, I had nothing to do with this and I don't know anything about it."

At this time, the two people who pressed him on the chair finally lost their patience, and one of them punched him hard in the face.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Miles, who was suddenly beaten, was about to stand up and argue with the other party, but was pressed directly on the chair by the two men and punched and kicked in the face and chest.

"Damn it, what are you two doing?!"

"Shit! You two are going to break my arm! Damn it! You two are bastards!"

zero five wine

"We've read your memories and know that the event that had the greatest impact on your life was your two years on Mars. On Mars, you and your astronaut rivals, who were originally from a foreign land, put aside previous differences and conflicts caused by nationality and ethnicity, helped each other, and ultimately successfully survived on Mars. So... I want to ask you a question: Do the so-called nations and ethnicities that humans on Earth uphold have any meaning in the universe?"

"I have no idea?"

"No... I think you should be well aware that what helped you and your crew survive on Mars wasn't some fictional narrative or concept from Earth, but rather your humanity's commitment to helping each other in times of crisis, regardless of identity or origin."

"Humanity cannot bring its conflicts into space, otherwise it will only lead to the endless repetition of past tragedies in the future."

"There are fictional narratives and concepts based on nation and ethnicity that only become obstacles. There should never be a distinction between you and me among human beings. It is precisely because you treat others as different that you are trapped in an endless cycle of war and massacre."

"Think carefully about what I said, Mr. Kuznetsov. How many disastrous consequences have human hostility and distrust caused?"

"You must stop. Without the courage to abandon the past, how can you build a utopia in the future?"

…………

At the Mars base, workers' dissatisfaction is accumulating again. The security team is still searching for lost equipment and has imposed martial law on the entire Mars base.

"You must return to your dormitories immediately. A curfew is in effect. All non-essential personnel are only allowed to stay in the dormitories until the asteroid mission is completed."

"How ridiculous! You bastards!" Several workers protested on the spot.

"Take them away!" The workers' reaction was immediately met with harsh measures by the security team, who pulled out batons and stun guns to threaten the protesting workers.

"Don't fucking touch me, you bastard!" Under the intimidation of batons and non-lethal Tasers, the Martian workers who were forced back to the dormitory had no choice but to surrender temporarily.

…………

In the cubicle on the underground floor of the Happy Valley base, Miles, whose face was covered in blood and wounds, had not expected that the two people in front of him would have such despicable means. After he insisted that he knew nothing about the stolen equipment, the two KGB and CIA agents in front of him saw that they could not torture him, so they directly took out a tablet computer, which showed all the identity information of their relatives, including home address, phone number, ID number, medical records, and even photos that were obviously taken from an angle that the other party could not see.

"We know everything about your little business, and we don't want to see your family, including your daughters, go to jail because of the money you made from that little business."

"Hey! Don't touch my daughter!" When Miles mentioned his daughter, he seemed to be suddenly touched in a sore spot and became emotional.

"You bastard! Get here! You bastard!"

"Don't touch my family!" Miles was so excited that he fell to the ground with the chair.

"As long as you tell us what we want to know, I will keep them safe. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what will happen to them on Earth."

Under the physical torture and the mental pressure of threats to his family's lives, Miles had to tell the truth.

"They're... on the fourth floor underground. That's all I know. Please, don't touch my family."

"You are here after all?" The purple-haired girl holding ice cream in both hands looked at herself sitting on the bench with a hood on, and handed one of the ice creams to her.

"Why do you suddenly have the time to come and see me? My future self?" The girl took the ice cream handed to her by her future self and carefully felt the cold ice cream melting in her mouth.

"I mainly want to see how you feel about traveling on Earth these past few months."

"It's not so bad. I looked around and found out... in some aspects, this world still has a lot of problems."

"The Middle East remains a chaotic mess, with large-scale wars and endless refugee problems. Quite a number of Third World countries are still suffering. Although countries maintain cooperation on the surface, they are still fighting openly and secretly. Whether in the East or the West, there are a lot of problems."

"So... do you want to kick them?" The purple-haired girl from the future suddenly asked, and the purple-haired girl wearing a hood responded by looking at her future self with a bit of disbelief.

"Humans are a species that sometimes won't cry until they see the coffin. Without some tough measures, they can't let go of the short-sightedness that has been ingrained in millennia of social inertia."

"It is indeed necessary to kick them in the face at the right time to remind them to make progress."

"Humanity must change its millennia-old social development model and inertia. Humanity's own conflicts and wars must not be carried into space."

"Next, humanity's progress must be fully accelerated. Only when there is no way back will they truly move towards the future of humanity on Earth, and even in the solar system, rather than splitting into a multitude of countries and nations, burning themselves out in internal conflict, or even carrying their own endless conflicts into space, with the disastrous consequences of this.

The security team raided the fourth underground floor, but because of Dai Fu Ayesa's secret tip-off, Ed took the workers involved in the operation and hid in a cabin in North Korea a few minutes in advance. The security team only seized a bunch of equipment on the scene that had not been turned off and deleted in time.

"Is this another chain of command?"

"They created their own system for commanding operations."

Daniel looked at the images on the computer screens in the room on the fourth floor underground that had not been turned off in time. As an astronaut with mature relevant experience and knowledge, she immediately realized that this was another communication and command link system independent of the Mars base command center.

A map of the asteroid's route was also seen on one of the computer screens. In this map of the asteroid's new orbit, the asteroid did not fly towards the Earth, but instead orbited Mars in an elliptical orbit. A large number of paper documents and communication equipment were found on the scene, indicating what these people intended to do: to extend and modify the Ranger's ignition deceleration time in order to get the asteroid into Mars orbit.

.........

"Is this even possible?"

"Physically speaking, how can an asteroid be stolen?"

In the office of the director of the space agency, Eli felt that his three views had been refreshed. He never dreamed that this group of people actually planned to steal an asteroid.

"Well, technically, it's feasible. If they can control the firing time of the Ranger's flight control computer, they can indeed slow the asteroid down enough to park in Mars orbit."

"Well, at least we have good news for now. We have regained control of the asteroid tug's frequency detector and resumed the plan to push the asteroid to Earth."

.........

"Perhaps we can think of another solution? Send multiple commands until the discriminator is overloaded after receiving too many erroneous commands?"

"No, we don't even know the new key for that thing. The entire spacecraft is controlled by the flight control computer. Without the Ghost Command Center, we are completely helpless."

Inside the North Korean cabin, everyone was filled with frustration. At this moment, Ed saw a familiar-looking device in the cabinet in the corner that was plugged in and running.

"Is that a high-gain S-band transmitter?"

"You're saying that we can use this transmitter's private channel to contact our people on the Ranger?"

"But don't we have any control over the discriminator?"

"We can bypass it and manually disconnect the flight control computer from the engines. They installed an emergency override switch on the Ranger when they installed the new propulsion system. If Sam can activate the override switch and plug in the transceiver, we can control the ignition timing."