Mars.
In the rift valley near The Gates of Hell, the sky was covered with depressing gray haze.
According to the weather forecast, there would soon be a sandstorm sweeping through this area.
In this harsh and dangerous weather, even the criminals hiding in the desert wilderness would choose to stay at home and wait for the weather to improve before coming out.
However, at this moment, outside the mine with the sign of the Hiddell Mining Company, a desert-colored rover was parked rather abnormally.
Two men in spacesuits stood near the entrance of the cave, holding professional equipment in their hands as if they were investigating something.
"Oxygen cylinders, compacted tire marks, and scratch marks … The travel time is estimated to be within a month." Through the custom function of the reality enhancement system, the scene from a month ago was restored. The slightly younger man squatting on the ground stood up and looked at the person behind him. "They should have entered from here … Captain Liu, what do you think?"
Frowning, the man who seemed to have a slightly higher status said after thinking for a moment.
"My opinion is basically the same as yours. The only doubt is that they seem to be amateurs."
The slightly younger man shrugged and spoke.
"Quite amateurish … Otherwise, they wouldn't have left this kind of thing at the scene."
He spread out his right hand.
As the gravel gradually fell, a silver-white metal strip about the size of a chewing gum lay on his palm.
The man looked at the letters with some scratches on the surface. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
"… Mammoth Mining Company?"
Does a mammoth dig a hole?
However, this was obviously not the point.
As a valuable clue, he had a hunch that he could dig out something unusual from this "Mammoth Mining Company".
He put away the metal bar and was about to explore the mine. However, at this moment, a voice came from the communication channel and stopped him.
"Wait a minute."
The man standing at the entrance of the cave turned his head.
"What's wrong?"
Captain Liu glanced at the sky and spoke in a deep voice.
"The physical evidence is almost collected. Let's call it a day."
A trace of confusion appeared on the man's face. He asked inexplicably.
"But … We are already here, are you sure you don't want to go in and take a look?"
"It's precisely because we're already here that we should be more cautious."
Looking at the bottomless mine, Captain Liu, who was standing next to the rover, narrowed his eyes slightly and continued.
"The instructions given to us were to report the progress of the mission in real time, and to report every detail, no matter how big or small. Obviously, they have their own views on the outcome of this matter."
"If that's the case, we just need to do what we have to do."
"As for whether to continue the investigation, leave it to them to decide."
…
Earth.
In the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city group, in the conference room of the Pan-Asian Cooperation headquarters, a round table was placed in the center of the room. There were only two people sitting at the conference table. One of them was the secretary general, Wu Shuhua, and the other was the current chairman, Li Guangya.
As the world's largest regional alliance and economic association, the main function of the Secretary-General of the Pan-Asian Cooperation was to coordinate the relationship between member states and represent the Pan-Asian Cooperation to participate in world political activities. As for the function of the chairman, it was more inclined to deal with the internal affairs of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
"How's the situation at the United Nations? Are there any new developments? "
"Three meetings, none of them are good news."
Sitting across the conference table, Wu Shuhua, the secretary general of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, looked a little tired. She pressed her index finger between her eyebrows and continued.
"55% of the representatives support our proposal on the space elevator, but there are still 45% who oppose it. This includes even our allies and even within our alliance."
"What are their demands?"
"The environment, safety risks, costs and benefits, and the distribution of benefits … In short, these are all old issues that have never been settled."
About five years ago, the "New Route" plan proposed by the Pan-Asian Cooperation pushed the wave of the Great Space Navigation Era to the peak.
According to the voting results of the representatives of the member states within the Pan-Asian Cooperation, the Pan-Asian Cooperation would build a "new space industry" production system from the Earth-Moon system to the Kuiper Belt in the solar system within a hundred years, as well as a route established around this production system, with a view to spreading the fire of civilization to more distant places.
In order to achieve this strategic goal, the Pan-Asian Cooperation not only formulated a colonization and development plan for "Europa" and "Titan", but it also sent a powerful First Fleet to clean up the space pirates on the asteroid belt.
As a crucial part of this plan, the proposal to build a space elevator on the equator was naturally submitted by the representatives of the Pan-Asian Cooperation to the conference hall of the United Nations for discussion by the regional alliances.
However, it was almost foreseeable.
This proposal, which could almost be described as "shocking", encountered considerable resistance from the moment it was proposed.
The resistance came not only from other regional alliances, but also from civil environmental organizations, and even from voices within the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
After all, opening a hole in the ozone layer and inserting a tube into the geosynchronous orbit was not something that could be easily decided. If this project was successful, it would naturally be excellent, and all of mankind would benefit from it.
However, if this project failed, the entire world would have to pay for the consequences of this reckless behavior …
Although the Pan-Asian Cooperation had also thought of bypassing other regional alliances and building this space elevator alone, although the Pan-Asian Cooperation owned land on the equator, they were all on the Pacific Rim seismic belt, accompanied by strong monsoon activity.
Not to mention a series of troubles such as diplomatic risks and national defense risks that might be brought about.
There were only three ideal construction sites. One was on the African continent, the other was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and the vast open seas of the Pacific Ocean.
Moreover, from a practical point of view, a 36,000 kilometer highway hanging directly from the geosynchronous orbit was not a project that could be completed by a regional alliance alone.
Even if it was the strongest in the world.
Looking at the tired expression on Secretary-General Wu's face, Li Guangya smiled faintly and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Then let's talk about something happy. I just received a call from the Security Bureau. Our agents deployed in Tiangong City found signs of rover activity at a mine entrance left by the Hiddell Mining Company next to the Gates of Hell mountain range. According to the scene restoration analysis, an archaeological excavation team went there about two weeks to a month ago, and it was probably the team led by Professor Leonard. "
Wu Shuhua raised her eyebrows and said, "So, Professor Lu is probably real?"
"The possibility is fifty-fifty, like Schrödinger's cat."
Putting down the teacup in his hand, the expression on Chairman Li Guangya's face did not change much. He continued in a relaxed tone, "If we continue to move forward along this clue, we may find a Martian dormant capsule that has been buried for billions of years but is still working normally. Maybe we will expose a big lie. Speaking of which, I am also very curious. A dormant capsule that has been working for billions of years, or Professor Lu, who suddenly resurrected on the spot after being dead for a century, which do you think is more likely? "
Wu Shuhua frowned slightly.
"I don't understand why this is worth discussing … Compared with whether a person who has been dead for a hundred years is still alive, I am more concerned about whether the space elevator proposal can be passed smoothly. The development of Europa and Titan requires us to open up a corridor from the ground to outer space, and if we can't do it, we may still be arguing with our compatriots on Mars for some trivial matters in the next century, let alone moving to more distant worlds. "
Whether Academician Lu was still alive or not, that was a thing of the last century.
She admitted that he had made many outstanding achievements in that era, but now it was the 22nd century, a hundred years had passed from the era he was familiar with.
Time was always more ruthless than anything.
Just like those old people who were sent to the future in the name of "reinforcing the future", but couldn't find a position they were qualified for in this era and couldn't solve any future problems, she did not think that an academic leader from the 21st century could bring any practical benefits to Pan-Asian Cooperation other than "symbolic significance".
Otherwise, this "stupid plan" wouldn't have been stopped in the 1970s.
To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that he saved that flight, she wouldn't even be interested in seeing him. After all, her current work was enough of a headache.
As for things like wealth and property …
Compared to the size of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, that was nothing.
Li Guangya looked at Secretary-General Wu and smiled faintly.
"These two things are actually not contradictory, it just depends on how you look at this problem."
"What do you mean?"
"People need confidence. Whether our plan can be passed does not depend on the space elevator itself. The key is whether people can trust us, that it is safe, reliable, and can bring us a bright future."
At this point, Li Guangya paused for a moment before continuing.
"In that case, we just need to give them what they want."
Wu Shuhua was slightly taken aback.
"You mean …"
Li Guangya nodded lightly.
"We need a mascot, and he happens to be more suitable."
"There are obvious loopholes in your plan." Wu Shuhua questioned, "What if he opposes us? Even if he is real, he came from a hundred years ago. Even if we are walking on the same path, it is difficult to guarantee that our ideas are exactly the same. Similar things have happened before, and it almost destroyed the results we have achieved in half a century! "
Li Guangya said straightforwardly, "When that time comes, we can just continue to dig. The ruins are there anyway, and we can continue to dig at any time. If we can make him real, we can also make him fake. "
"A stowaway from Mars successfully deceived everyone. This will be the biggest joke of the century."
Chairman Li Guangya smiled faintly and said, "If this joke can help our cause, I am willing to accompany him to tell it. It doesn't matter anyway."
Wu Shuhua was silent for a while, and her shoulders relaxed a little.
"Since you said so, I have nothing to refute. It's just that in my opinion, I still tend to adopt a conservative strategy. Instead of letting this kind of uncontrollable factor become a time bomb, it is better not to consider it from the beginning. "
"A conservative strategy? Haha, this is the most interesting thing I have heard today. Think about it. Is there a more radical strategy than a space elevator? " Li Guangya smiled and continued in a relaxed tone, "In fact, you don't have to have such a big prejudice against the dormant. I took modern history as an elective in college, especially the part about him. I have the most in-depth research."
"A person who can raise a torch in the dark must have a heart for the light. Regardless of whether his ideas are exactly the same as ours, at least I believe that our starting point is the same – the hope that the people living on this land can have a brighter future and a brighter future. "
"I believe that this journey may be full of twists and turns, but he will definitely make the right choice."
Wu Shuhua didn't say anything else. She just sighed.
"I don't want to argue with you about whether to reuse dormant people, and I'm too lazy to intervene in the work of the household registration department … If you think it's useful, then you can handle it yourself."
Chairman Li Guangya looked at the holographic image disappearing across the conference table. He nodded slightly.
"Okay, leave it to me."
That was what he had planned to do.
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