21 is a race against time

(Tribute to Mr. Lim)

Since February 5th, the Earth side has temporarily lifted the communication control of the Minerva, allowing space station members and relatives on Earth to send greetings, but the communication medium can only be the transmission of recorded videos, of course, the content must be reviewed layer by layer, and the "Toda Meizi Incident" will never be allowed to happen again.

Miller requires that station crew members use a designated PDA to record video to prevent someone from modifying the transmission file or hiding leaked information. Most of them recorded videos to send to their relatives and friends, and happily handed them to the correspondent, who also sent each message quite responsibly. In the same way, everyone also received a greeting video recorded by the earth family, and many people watched it with PDA after finishing work, listening to the voices of their families, and enjoying the comfort and warmth from their distant earth hometown.

For a moment, there was a peaceful atmosphere on the Minerva space station.

Ryan Booker laughs as he watches his sister perform the most popular dance on the planet for him, and is amused by her witty and hilarious movements; Sirka Vertanen also received a video from her children, two blonde little guys conveying blessings to their mother with their immature voices, and Sirka in front of the screen couldn't help but sob; Two voice-activated N-particle humans, Mike Carmack and Lucien Brown, are finally able to share videos from their families in the midst of their busy schedules, adding a lot of warmth to the tedious laboratory.

In the commander's room, Miller Batalov also watched a video from his son, his fingertips touching the PDA screen from time to time, the corners of his mouth unconsciously raised, and the wrinkles on his forehead gathered with the raising of his eyebrows. “…… до свидания,папа.” For a moment, the corners of Miller's eyes moistened.

Gao Jie also received a video from her husband and son, who sent her wishes for the upcoming Lunar New Year and advised her not to get obsessed with work and pay attention to rest. "Sure enough, I still can't hide it from you......" Gao Jie reluctantly closed the PDA after watching the video for the twenty-third time. When I closed my eyes, I recalled the voices and smiles of my son and husband, and the feeling of happiness fell into my heart. "I don't know what happened to Wang Chen? He doesn't have a family......" Gao Jie thought to herself, she knew that Wang Chen was an orphan and grew up with the help of a charitable foundation, would anyone send him a video? "Maybe he still has classmates, friends or something......" Gao Jie didn't think about it, she was afraid that Toda Meiko's face would quietly come to her mind......

At the same time, Chinese people on the earth are preparing to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new, and people around the world are also praying for a better life in the festive atmosphere, and only a few places are in an extremely tense situation.

The United Nations Space Command is one of them. They have already received proposals from several think tanks, and decision-makers will have to pick one of the many options as a plan to counter the invasion of the Nt fleet or continue human civilization in the future, and the "Star Project" is naturally one of the candidates, and it is also a high-profile plan. There are only a few days left until 15 February, and there will be debates and debates of opinion and verbal bickering between the resistance and fugitives...... And the final result, we can probably already guess.

Even in the 22nd century, in the face of the imminent end of the world, we can only helplessly say -

The world is still that world, and we are still familiar with it.

But—again, it's the same sentence: human beings have infinite possibilities.

……

On 17 February, Minerva received important information from Earth: the results of the final selection of the United Nations Space Command. Seeing the result, Miller slowly lowered his head, as if a mountain-like burden had weighed on him.

A few minutes later, Miller told Gao Jie about the results, and the latter learned that there was no noticeable change in his expression, as if everything was expected. Miller patted Gao Jie on the shoulder and said, "Good boy, let's make history with you!" ”

After Miller left, Gao Jie read in detail the important message sent by the United Nations Space Command:

Final resolution of the 244th meeting of the United Nations Space Command. ……

The decision-making meeting approved the "Stars Project" as the primary implementation plan for the self-help of the earth's civilization, which will be implemented from February 20, 2100 AD. ……

The "Human Escape Project" was merged into the "Star Project", and its resources were merged into it at the same time. ……

The "Earth Active Defense Program" will continue as usual, and progress will be reported on a 48-hour basis. ……

The Minerva space station will continue to monitor wormholes, decipher and develop N particle control commands, transmit N star technology and other tasks, and adjust the work content at any time according to the situation and orders of the earth, so as to prepare for the subsequent "Stellar Project". ……

The latter page is a list of equipment related to the "Stars Project" and the estimated completion time:

Relevant genetic engineering: less than 24 months

Small space station (tentatively named "Watchmen" - Watchmen) and its accessory modules: less than 24 months

Intelligent nanobot technology: within 12 months

Launch rockets and launch vehicles: within 12 months

Bioinformatics scanning and remote sensing technology: within 12 months

Topographic and geological information scanning technology: within 12 months

Relevant optical radiation technology: within 12 months

……

The numerous list of projects made Gao Jie a little tired, and Gao Jie couldn't help but be a little surprised to see that his plan involved so much equipment and technology. There is also a page at the back of which is the preparation of the work in terms of personnel selection and training. "It seems that they are still selfish, and they should send their own people to ......," Gao Jie speculated.

There is also a very important point: judging from the list, almost all of these preparations will be carried out on Earth, if all the work can be completed in 24 months, that is, two years, then the time will also enter 2102, and the Minerva space station in the orbit from Earth to Jupiter will also sail for at least 13 months, which means that the "Stellar Project" will really enter the implementation stage, which will also be a matter of 2103.

However, according to the information of the consciousness of the N stars, the second half of 2104 is the time when the Nt fleet arrives in the solar system. At most, the time that can be used to develop N-particle instructions is just over a year.

After Gao Jie came to the above conclusion, she also saw the clue: the decision-makers of the earth are like her, they are gambling against time, while she is gambling on the fate of her family, and the decision-makers are betting on human civilization.

And on the Minerva space station, she can hardly do anything before the arrival of 2104 - after all, although she is the designer of the "Star Project", she has no authority to carry out the equipment during the preparation of the equipment, not to mention that it is impossible for her to return to Earth from the space station to do manufacturing and research and development work, which she is not good at.

"I just have to keep waiting." Gao Jie couldn't help but sigh.

An hour later, Commander Miller informed all 24 members of the station radio about the important information from the Earth side, and also sent it to everyone's PDA, and also explained that all the current work continues as usual, waiting for the next order from the Earth side - "waiting" will be one of the main tasks of the Minerva space station in the next three years.

Once again, Gao Jie took the initiative to visit and thank the elite members who contributed to her plan, and she was also congratulated and encouraged by everyone, and of course, thanks.

As for the others, they took the initiative to find Gao Jie to express their gratitude and congratulations, and cheer her on. Among them are Ryan and Silka, who were estranged from Gao Jie some time ago, especially Ryan, who said that he would fully support and assist in the implementation of the "Star Project". As for Silka, she will continue to be busy developing N-particle control instructions, and the pressure will continue to increase. "I'm going to do my part, too." Silka is optimistic that although the current development of the directive is still unexpected, she is confident in her work.

What role can faith play? Gao Jie didn't know, and she didn't bother to think about it, because she still had an important thing to do.

……

Finally, it was time to come face to face with the person who was most opposed to her plan - Gao Jie rang the doorbell of Wang Chen's cabin.

"Please come in, I'm waiting for you to come." When the hatch opened, there was an indifferent voice and a solemn expression, "I still want to congratulate you on the approval of your 'Star Project'." Ryan should have told you, and I'll give you my full support after that......"

"It doesn't have to be this way." Gao Jie interrupted Wang Chen's words, "You can blame me, I won't care." ”

"Your plan ......"

"It's not a plan, it's Mei Toda." Hearing this, Wang Chen lowered his head, tears fell, his shoulders and arms trembled, followed by the sound of sobbing......

Gao Jie stepped forward and hugged him gently, letting his tears soak on his shoulders, and then gently comforted, like a mother coaxing her child, which made people feel calm and comfortable.

After a long time, Wang Chen raised his head: "Thank you...... I'm much better......"

"If you really cherish her, you must cherish yourself even more, don't leave regrets, don't put too much burden on yourself, and I don't think she wants to see you torture yourself by using her departure." Gao Jie stroked his forehead and sincerely comforted him.

"Hmm...... Well! I will. Wang Chen nodded and said.

……

After Gao Jie made sure that Wang Chen had opened the heart knot, he got up and prepared to leave, while Wang Chen opened the PDA and started playing a song. Gao Jie heard that this was a Japanese song, probably related to Toda Meizi, but she didn't know much about music, so she didn't pay much attention to it. After saying goodbye to each other, Gao Jie walked out of Wang Chen's cabin, his melodious and gentle singing voice gradually weakened, and the translation headphones faithfully translated the lyrics into Chinese——

……

from an unfamiliar country,

Across the ocean,

A gentle breeze blows in my ears.

Whoever it is,

Please come and tell me,

What is that confusion that lives in my heart?

……

The lyrics behind me couldn't be heard clearly, but Gao Jie vaguely felt the sparkling sea from the singing, as if he was in the middle of the quiet sea. Just like the people who are on the Minerva at this moment, it carries the magnificent chapter of human exploration of space, but also bears the helpless emptiness and dead silence of the universe.

"If you have a chance, ask for the name of this song." Gao Jie thought to himself and walked towards his cabin. What she didn't know was that the song "Wind Nocturne" played by Wang Chen was the music played in Toda's cabin when she committed suicide.

At this moment, he recalled the bits and pieces he experienced with her, and tears fell like rain.