As for Sullivan's verbal insinuations, he was almost completely seated, and the true meaning behind each sentence was heard.

In other words, Sullivan was waiting for his position.

How to deal with the crisis caused by NX17 has caused widespread controversy among staff groups and think tanks, mainly because it is not clear what the opponent's purpose is.

The former Soyuz launch 'Steki-DM' was basically semi-public, but the NX17 has been running secretly for a year, and must have done countless tests, achieving an overwhelming advantage over Aramco in this field.

The reason why there are still hidden is nothing more than two possibilities: the laser satellite is on the wrong route, or it is ready to make a big one.

In this case, if you take the initiative to say that you are already aware, it is tantamount to a huge stimulus, and it may cause unforeseen consequences, but it is not a problem to ignore it.

The think tank believes that the best way is to hint at the other side without alarming others, and then quietly negotiate and ask the other side to slow down the construction of a laser satellite defense network.

After learning about NX17, the assembled Aramco experts were amazed at the rapid development of Huaguo's laser technology, but also firmly stated that the interception ability of a small number of laser satellites is limited, and a large number of networks are needed to really destroy the deterrence balance.

What is certain is that the cost of doing so is extremely high, and even Aramco finds it unbearable after estimating, but considering the huge benefits after completion, there are enough reasons to invest.

So the purpose of the negotiations is to take advantage of this and make some concessions to ease the other side's incentive to continue developing laser satellites, so as to buy time for Aramco to urgently develop similar products and try to narrow the gap before the other side's patience wears out.

The scope of "concessions" is set very large by think tanks and staff groups, after all, it is impossible to achieve the goal with a little petty profit, and it is necessary to really cut the meat.

However, Sullivan still tried to make enough gestures to avoid paying too much loss.

He had been observing Xu Rang for a few days in a row, and today he finally saw some inexplicable expressions on the other party's face, and finally he didn't pretend to be stupid like before, which is a good sign.

After the discussion ended, the five parties dispersed, but Xu Rang and Sullivan's assistant quietly met and exchanged something.

A few hours later, Annapolis, still water park villa area.

Two Cadillac SUVs drove into the villa area, and several people got out of it, all of them bowing their heads and walking quickly into the communication place that had been prepared.

Xu Rang was the only one in the entire team who knew what to talk about, and the rest of the entourage did not participate in the meeting.

The villa area has long been completely evacuated and is the perfect place to meet secretly.

As soon as he entered, he saw Sullivan, and unlike the false etiquette of the day, this time Sullivan took the initiative to stand up and shake his hand.

Sullivan is nearly 1.9 meters tall, and he had to bow slightly in order to shake hands with Xu Rang, who is a little more than 1.7 meters, which seems to imply something to the latter.

There were only Sullivan and the translator in the living room, and Xu Rang naturally sat on the single sofa, smiling and taking the tea handed by the other party's translator.

Sullivan stared at his act of tasting tea, and said bluntly when Xu Rang praised the taste of the tea:

"Mr. Xu, we are shocked by your attempt to spread the flames of war into space."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't know who's going to arm space, but the X37B has been circling for years."

Xu Rang naturally didn't know about some mistakes in the intelligence of the two sides, but he simply used the second company of denial.

"These are two different things!"

Sullivan was slightly annoyed:

"We all know that this unprecedented peace comes from a fragile balance, and you are trying to break that balance, and the consequences of an imbalance are a catastrophe for all of humanity!"

"We are not breaking the balance and destroying peace, we are preserving peace more forcefully!"

Xu Rang was not to be outdone:

"The balance built on the nuclear bomb is the sword of Damocles, and one day it will fall, all we have done is a defensive measure, to sheath this sword, so that humanity can completely get out of the shadow of nuclear war!"

Xu Rang could understand English directly, but Sullivan needed to translate it, and he frowned after listening to it.

It was indeed a sheath for the sword, but only four of the five swords, and the last sword, though narrower, could still easily stab everyone.

Could it be that after the completion of the space-based laser anti-missile system, everyone can honestly melt the sword and cast the plow? Foolish!

But in the pressing situation, Sullivan could only pinch his nose and admit this hypocritical statement.

After taking a few deep breaths, he finally threw out the first concession condition:

"Aramco is also committed to world peace and the reduction of nuclear weapons, and for the peaceful use of atomic energy, we plan to retire 1,500 nuclear bombs from active service by 2025 and use them for peaceful purposes."

After saying that, he paused and went on to add:

"In addition to dismantling nuclear raw materials for power generation, they can also be sold to space companies at a reasonable price for the development of extraterrestrial resources."

Xu Rang offered a lot of praise without changing his face, and then looked at him silently.

Nuclear disarmament is certainly a good thing, but it does not lead to clear benefits.

"In addition to this ......" As if some great sacrifice had been made, Sullivan's urn squeezed out another sentence angrily:

"Out of encouragement for the development of the international space industry, we support in principle the abolition of the Wolf Clause."

At this point, he paused to observe Xu Rang's reaction, and the latter finally had a somewhat interested look on his face.

……

Livingston, Louisiana.

Bari Bashri walked into the LIGO monitoring center with a cane and was treated with respect from the staff.

More than two years ago, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his GW150914 along with Reyner Weiss and Kip Thorne.

They were 82, 86 and 78 years old, and they devoted themselves to gravitational waves at a young age and led the research and construction of LIGO.

There should have been a band of physicist Ronalt Dravor, but it is very sad that he died half a year before the discovery of gravitational waves.

Since the first discovery of gravitational waves, LIGO has continued to receive various gravitational wave signals, making the impossible what Einstein said possible, and also unveiling more about it for mankind.

However, the three Nobel laureates have long since faded out of front-line monitoring, and Barry is here today mainly because of some minor problems at LIGO:

Three days earlier, in the morning, there had been an error report at the Livingston Observatory, and neither the other Hanford Observatory nor the Virgin Observatory had detected any GW180509 recorded by the Livingston Observatory's computer.

All three observatories have been upgraded and their sensitivity is basically the same, so it can be judged that GW180509 is a false alarm.

This caught Barry's attention, and he suspected that there was some problem with the foundation, which could cause a lot of trouble if not resolved.

(End of chapter)