Three Body 1: Earth's Past

Chapter 10 Red Shore One
After an unknown amount of time, Ye Wenjie heard a heavy roar.The sounds came from all directions, and in her dim consciousness it seemed that some gigantic machinery was drilling or sawing through the great block of ice she was in.The world was still dark, but the roar became more and more real, and she was finally able to determine that the source of the sound was neither heaven nor hell.Realizing that her eyes were still closed, she tried to open her heavy eyelids—first she saw a lamp, embedded deep in the ceiling, behind a layer of barbed wire that seemed to be used to prevent impact, emitting a dim light. Light, the ceiling seems to be metal.

She heard a male voice calling her name softly.

"You have a high fever," said the man.

"Where is this?" Ye Wenjie asked feebly, feeling that the voice was not made by herself.

"on the airplane."

Ye Wenjie felt weak for a while, and fell asleep again, the roaring sound accompanied her all the time.After a short time, she woke up again. The numbness disappeared, and painful sensations appeared: the joints of the head and limbs were very painful, the exhaled breath from the mouth was hot, and her throat was also sore. Swallowing a saliva felt like swallowing The next coal.

Ye Wenjie turned her head and saw two people wearing the same military coats as Representative Cheng. The difference was that they were wearing military cotton caps with red five stars. The open coats revealed the red collar badges on the military uniforms. wearing glasses.Ye Wenjie found that she was also covered with a military overcoat, which was dry and warm.

She struggled to stand up, but succeeded.She saw the porthole on the other side, outside the window was the slowly moving sea of ​​clouds, which was dazzled by the sun; she quickly looked back, and saw that the narrow engine room was full of army-green iron boxes, and from the other porthole The shadow of the rotor above can be seen.She figured she might be on a helicopter.

"Let's lie down," said the soldier wearing glasses, helping her to lie down again and covering her with the overcoat.

"Ye Wenjie, did you write this paper?" Another soldier held out an open English magazine in front of her, and she saw that the title of the article was "Possible Energy Interfaces in the Solar Radiation Layer and Others" Reflective Properties," he showed her the cover of the magazine, a 1966 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

"Definitely, does it need to be confirmed?" The soldier wearing glasses took the magazine, and then introduced, "This is the political commissar Lei Zhicheng of the Red Bank base. I am Yang Weining, the chief engineer of the base. I am still close to landing For a while, you rest."

Are you Yang Weining?Ye Wenjie didn't say anything, just looked at him in surprise, and found that his expression was very calm, obviously he didn't want others to know that they knew each other.Yang Weining used to be a graduate student of Ye Zhetai, and Ye Wenjie was just a freshman when he graduated.Ye Wenjie still clearly remembers the first time Yang Weining came to his home. At that time, he had just been admitted to graduate school and was discussing the direction of the project with his supervisor.Yang Weining said that he wants to engage in subjects that tend to be experimental and applied, as far away from basic theory as possible.Ye Wenjie remembered that her father said at the time: I have no objection, but we are majoring in theoretical physics after all. What is the reason for your request?Yang Weining replied: I want to devote myself to the times and make some practical contributions.My father said: Theory is the basis of application. Isn’t the discovery of natural laws the greatest contribution to the times?Yang Weining hesitated for a while, and finally told the truth: It is easy to make mistakes in thinking when doing theoretical research.This silenced my father.

Yang Weining is a very talented person with a solid foundation in mathematics and quick thinking. However, during his short graduate career, he had a close relationship with his supervisor, and they kept a respectful distance from each other.At that time, Ye Wenjie and Yang Weining met frequently, perhaps because of her father's influence, Ye Wenjie didn't pay much attention to him. As for whether he paid attention to herself, Ye Wenjie didn't know.Later, Yang Weining graduated smoothly, and soon lost contact with his tutor.

After Ye Wenjie closed her eyes weakly again, the two soldiers left her and went behind a row of boxes to talk in low voices.The cabin is very narrow, Ye Wenjie still heard their words through the roar of the engine——

"I still don't think it's safe." This was Lei Zhicheng's voice.

Yang Weining asked back: "Then can you give me the people I need through normal channels?"

"Hey, I also put in a lot of effort. You can't find this kind of profession in the army. If you look for it locally, there are more problems. You know the level of secrecy of this project. You have to join the army first. The bigger problem is the secrecy regulations. The required isolation work cycle at the base. What if the family members accompany the army for such a long time? No one wants to be in the base. The two suitable candidates found would rather stay in the May [-]th Cadre School than come. Of course they can be forced But the nature of this kind of work, if you don’t feel at ease, you can’t do anything.”

"So that's the only way to do it."

"But this is too unconventional."

"This project is against the rules. If something goes wrong, I will be responsible."

"My Mr. Yang, can you take responsibility for this? You are deeply immersed in technology. 'Red Shore' is different from other key national defense projects. Its complexity is beyond technology."

"You are telling the truth."

When it landed in the evening, Ye Wenjie declined the support from Yang Weining and Lei Zhicheng, and walked out of the plane with difficulty. A strong wind almost knocked her down, and the wind blew on the still rotating rotor, making a sharp whistling sound.The forest breath in the wind is very familiar to Wenjie, she knows this wind, and this wind knows her, this is the wind of Greater Khingan Mountains.

She soon heard another sound, a deep and thick humming sound, thick and powerful, which seemed to constitute the background of the whole world. This was the sound of the parabolic antenna not far away in the wind. Only when she was close to her could she really feel it To the hugeness of this Skynet.Ye Wenjie's life took a big turn in this month and came back again - she is now on Radar Peak.

Ye Wenjie couldn't help turning her head to look in the direction of her Construction Corps company, only to see a misty forest sea in the twilight.

The helicopter was obviously not designed to pick her up. A few soldiers came over and unloaded the army green cargo boxes from the cabin. They walked past her without looking at her.She, Lei Zhicheng, Yang Weining and the others continued to walk forward. Ye Wenjie found that the peak of Radar Peak is so broad, and there is a small group of white buildings under the antenna. Compared with the antenna, they are like several exquisite pieces. Building Blocks.They were walking towards the gate of the base, where two sentries stood guard, when they stopped.

Lei Zhicheng turned to Ye Wenjie and said solemnly: "Ye Wenjie, the evidence for your counter-revolutionary crime is solid, and the trial you will face is well deserved; now, you have an opportunity to make meritorious service and atone for your crime. You can accept it or refuse it." He pointed towards the antenna. Pointing, "This is a national defense scientific research base, and the ongoing research projects in it require your professional knowledge. More specifically, please ask Chief Engineer Yang to introduce it to you. You have to think carefully." After finishing speaking, he nodded to Yang Weining. Nodding, he followed the soldiers carrying supplies into the base.

Yang Weining waited for the others to walk away, then motioned to Ye Wenjie, and led her away, apparently afraid that the sentries would hear the conversation below.At this time, he no longer concealed his acquaintance with her: "Ye Wenjie, I can tell you clearly that this is not an opportunity. I have learned from the military control committee of the court that although Cheng Lihua insisted on a heavy sentence, given your circumstances, The sentence is at most ten years, and considering the possible commutation, it is about six or seven years. And here—” He tilted his head towards the base, “It’s a top-secret research project. As you, walk into This door, maybe..." He paused for a long time, as if he wanted to accentuate his tone with the roar of the antenna in the wind, "I won't be able to get out for the rest of my life."

"I'll go in." Ye Wenjie said softly.

Yang Weining was surprised by her quick answer. "You don't have to make such a hasty decision. You can go back to the plane first. It will take off in three hours. If you refuse, I will take you back."

"I won't go back, let's go in." Ye Wenjie's voice was still very soft, but there was a kind of firmness in it.Now, apart from another world that does not know whether it exists after death, the place she most wants to go to is such an isolated peak. Here, she has a sense of security that she has not seen for a long time.

"Let's be more cautious, you think about what this means."

"I could stay here forever."

Yang Weining bowed his head and fell silent. He looked into the distance, as if forcing Ye Wenjie to think about it. Ye Wenjie also remained silent, wrapping his military overcoat tightly in the wind and looking into the distance, where the Greater Khingan Mountains had disappeared into the thick night.It is impossible to have a lot of time in the severe cold, Yang Weining made up his mind to start towards the gate, and walked very fast, as if to throw Ye Wenjie away, but Ye Wenjie followed him closely and walked into the gate of the Red Bank base.Two sentries closed the two heavy iron doors after they passed.

After walking for a while, Yang Weining stopped, pointed to the antenna and said to Wen Jie: "This is a large-scale weapons research project. If it succeeds, its significance may be greater than that of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs."

When passing by the largest building in the base, Yang Weining went straight and pushed open the door. Ye Wenjie saw the words "launch main control room" at the door. Stepping into the door, a hot air with the smell of engine oil rushed towards her face. In the spacious hall, various instruments and equipment are densely placed, the signal lights and the luminous graphics on the oscilloscope flash together, and more than a dozen operators in military uniforms sit in front of the rows of instruments that almost bury them. It's like squatting in a deep trench.The operation passwords come and go one after another, appearing tense and chaotic. "It's warmer here, just wait for a while, I'll come when I arrange your accommodation." Yang Weining said to Ye Wenjie, and pointed to a chair at a table next to the door for her to sit on.Ye Wenjie saw that there was already a person sitting in front of that table, that was a guard with a pistol.

"I'll wait outside." Ye Wenjie stopped and said.

Yang Weining smiled kindly, "You will be a staff member of the base from now on, except for a few places, you can go anywhere." After he finished speaking, he had a disturbed expression on his face, obviously aware of the other meaning of these words: You can never leave here again.

"I'd better go outside." Ye Wenjie insisted.

"Then... okay." Yang Weining looked at the guard who didn't pay attention to them, seemed to understand Ye Wenjie, and led her out of the main control room, "Go to this sheltered place, I'll be back in a few minutes, mainly to find someone Light the fire in that room, the condition of the base is not very good now, there is no heating." After speaking, he walked quickly.

Ye Wenjie stood by the door of the main control room, and a huge antenna stood behind her, occupying half of the night sky.Here, she could clearly hear the voices coming from inside.Suddenly, the chaotic operation password sound disappeared, and there was silence in the main control room, only the occasional beeps from the equipment could be vaguely heard, and then an overwhelming male voice appeared:

"The Second Artillery Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the 147th conventional launch of the Hongan Project, the authorization is confirmed, and the countdown is 30 seconds!"

"Target category: A20197; Coordinate serial number: BN25F; Location check is complete, [-] seconds countdown!"

"Launch document number: 22; Attachment: None; Continuation: None; The document is finally verified, and the countdown is 20 seconds!"

"Energy Unit Report: Normal!"

"Code unit report: OK!"

"Amplifier unit report: normal!"

"Interference monitoring report: within the scope of permission!"

"The program is irreversible, 15 seconds countdown!"

Everything was quiet again, and ten seconds later, with the sound of an alarm bell, a red light on the antenna flashed sharply.

"Launch started! All units pay attention to monitoring!"

Ye Wenjie felt a slight itching on her face, and she knew that a huge electric field had appeared.She looked up and looked in the direction where the antenna was pointing, and saw a thin cloud in the night sky emitting a faint blue light. The light was very weak. At first she thought it was her hallucination, but when the cloud drifted away from the airspace , the faint light of the cloud disappears, and another cloud that drifts in also emits light.In the main control room, the voice of passwords rang again, and she could only vaguely hear a few of them:

"The power amplifier unit is faulty, and the No. 3 magnetron tube is burned!"

"The redundant unit is in normal operation!"

"Breakpoint 1, the resume is normal!"

……

Ye Wenjie heard another "hula-la" sound, and dimly saw black shadows appearing from the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, circling up into the night sky. She did not expect that there were so many birds in the forest in severe winter. startled.Then she witnessed a terrifying scene: a flock of birds flew into the range pointed by the antenna, and with the faintly glowing clouds as the background, she clearly saw the flocks of birds falling from the sky.

This process lasted about 15 minutes. The red light on the antenna went out, and the itching sensation on Ye Wenjie's skin disappeared. In the main control room, the chaotic voice of passwords remained, even after the loud male voice sounded. .

"The 147th launch of the Red Coast project is completed, the launch system is shut down, and Red Coast is in the monitoring state. Please monitor the department to take over the control of the system and upload the breakpoint data."

"All unit groups are asked to fill in the launch log carefully, and the team leaders go to the conference room to participate in the regular launch meeting, and it's over."

Everything is silent, only the reverberation of the antenna in the wind remains.Ye Wenjie watched the birds in the night sky fall back into the forest.She looked up at the antenna again and felt it was like a huge hand opening to the sky, possessing an otherworldly power.She looked at the night sky facing the "palm", but did not see the target BN20197F that had been hit by it. Behind the sparse clouds, there was only the cold starry sky in 1969.

(End of this chapter)