Chapter 27 Section five

In 2241, the Earth received a message from Rama through the satellite tracking system, which immediately caused panic among the people.The GIA, government committees and security forces are all trying to decipher the contents of the message, and Nicol's footage is immediately classified as "top secret."A large number of well-qualified intelligence personnel were sent to Novosibirsk to analyze the signal from deep space and formulate corresponding countermeasures. The research starts from history and extensively collects both positive and negative data. One of them says that the Rama 2 spacecraft was destroyed by nuclear weapons in April 2200, and Nicole de Jardin, the hypothetical person in this video Died long before the science boat "Newton" left Rama.She died in a nuclear explosion, and the speaker in the video is by no means her.

If the speaker who appeared in the televised video was a simulated Madame de Jardin, it had been produced with such skill that no terrestrial robot could match it.The preliminary conclusion after the analysis is that the earth is once again facing a threat from a highly developed civilization, and this civilization exhibits the same high-tech level as that displayed by the first two Rama spacecraft. All senior intelligence officers agreed on the threat implied by this message: If another Rama spacecraft did enter the solar system, then humans on Earth obviously couldn't ignore it.It is also very likely that the whole incident was a well-planned scam, but before there is no clear evidence, the government committee still needs to make a clear plan to deal with it.

A multinational plan to establish a habitable station on Mars by the mid-23rd century has been approved. During the 1920s and 1930s, six expeditions to Mars rekindled the passion to evolve the red planet into a human habitation.Some dangerous and controversial scientific experiments are being conducted in existing unmanned laboratories on Mars.The easiest way to answer the demands made by Nicole de Jardin in the video is to go to mankind and announce that a larger space habitation station will be established on Mars, which will not arouse people's panic and suspicion; If it is investigated that this is just a hoax, it is only necessary to reduce the construction scale of this Mars habitation station to the original planned scale.

An Indian intelligence officer named Ravi Srinivasan carefully studied the data of the International Space Agency after 2200 and found that Rama 2 was not destroyed by the nuclear reactor. "If this is true, then the video is credible. The speaker is de Jardin himself," he said. "But she should be 77 years old now." Another intelligence agent retorted. “This video does not show when it was made,” argued Mr. Srinivasan. “Comparing Mrs. de Jardin’s original photo and her appearance in the video shows that she has completely changed, and her face has aged at least ten years. If the speaker on the tape is really a fake, I have to say it's all brilliant, it's flawless."

According to Mr Srinivasan, the plan developed by NASA is timely: If the video is real, the plan developed will be feasible.So it doesn't matter whether he is right or not.All senior intelligence officers believe that the spread of this video should be limited as much as possible, and the fewer people know about it, the better. In the 40 years since the beginning of the 23rd century, many major changes have taken place on the planet Earth. After the "Period of Troubles," the Council of Governments became an independent body that manipulated the world, at least controlling politics on Earth.After 2200, however, there were signs that the unshakable authority of government councils was beginning to be shaken.

It is against this political backdrop that Earth received Nicol's footage.Although the rule of the government committee on the earth has been shaken, it still controls 70% of the population and 90% of the material wealth on the earth.There is no doubt that the government committee and its International Space Agency should be responsible for responding to this video.After the security certification of the International Intelligence Agency, in 2242 the government committee announced to the public the plan to establish the Lowell residence station on Mars, and recruited some people to participate in the implementation of the plan.The time for the earth to launch the spacecraft to Mars is planned to be in the late summer and early autumn of 2242.

Four blond and blue-eyed Swedes walked out of the room, leaving only Kenji and Nai.They stared at the observation window - the earth was 3,500 kilometers away from them. "I don't understand why we're in geosynchronous orbit, where the Earth looks like it's hanging in space," Nye told her husband. Kenji smiled: "Actually, we are all moving, and very fast. Because our orbital period is the same as the earth's rotation period, the earth seems to be in the same stationary picture as us." "On the Martian Lowell residence, the Earth will be a completely different look," Nye said, moving away from the window. "The Earth will be more majestic, more dynamic and expressive when seen there."

While they were talking, another person entered the room.He whines about the weightlessness and introduces himself to Nai and Kenji: Max Puckett, a farmer from Arkansas.He said: "I only think about Mars exploration, never this damn weightlessness. It's all so new to me. What happened to those poor hens? They may never lay eggs." Go to the observation window. "My home is down on that lovely planet, it's noon, my brother is probably opening a beer, and his wife is making him a sandwich." After a short pause, he turned to Kenji and Nai, and asked, "What are you two doing on Mars?"

"I am a historian at the Mars Residential Station." Kenji replied, "My wife Nai is a teacher of English and French." Max said: "If only you were a farming couple from Vietnam or Laos, I would love to learn their rice techniques." Max took out a cigarette in his mouth, looked around the observation room and said, "I didn't see the smoking sign, I think if I light this cigarette, all the alarms will go off." He put the cigar behind his ear and asked Xian Ji: "Your English isn't as bad as the Japanese I met in Little Rock. Are you someone special?"

"No," Kenji replied, "I told you, I'm just a historian." Kenji was about to tell Max that he had lived in America for six years when the door opened and an old gentleman in a gray suit and dark tie walked in. "I'm sorry," he said to Max, "did I go to the wrong place? Is this a smoking room?" "No, no." Max replied, "This is the observation room. It is well-equipped, how could it be a smoking room? Most of the smoking rooms are small rooms with no windows next to the toilet. This is what the reporter from the International Space Agency told me... ..."

The old gentleman looked at Max and said, "My name is Porter Mishkin." "Nice to meet you," Max said, holding out his hand, "I'm Max. This is the Watanabe couple, Japanese." Kenji corrected: "My name is Kenji Watanabe. This is my wife Nai, she is from Thailand." "Mr. Max," said Potter Mishkin solemnly, "my name is Potter, not Peter. I have to speak English for five years, which is terrible. I have a heavy Russian accent." "OK, Potter." Max smiled. "What are you doing here? Don't, don't tell me, let me guess...you're the undertaker at the residence?" Kenji was very worried that Mr. Mishkin would be angry, but there was a slight smile on Potter's face. "Obviously, Mr. Max," he said slowly, "you have a gift for humor, which will be very rare on a long and tedious space trip." After a pause, he added: "I'm not an undertaker. , I studied law. I was a member of the Russian Supreme Court two years ago when I decided to retire to pursue a 'new life of adventure'." "Oh, I remember," Max said. "I read about you in Time Magazine. Hey, Judge Mishkin, excuse me. I didn't really recognize you..." "It doesn't matter," said Judge Mishkin, with a funny smile on his face. "I was a little surprised that someone didn't recognize me and took me for an undertaker. Maybe the judge looks like an undertaker. By the way What is your name, sir?" "Puckett, sir." "Mr. Puckett," continued Judge Mishkin, "would you like to have a drink with me? The vodka here is delicious." They walked out together, leaving Kenji and Nai in the observation room.They looked at each other and smiled.Kenji asked, "Don't you think they're going to be friends?" "Impossible," Nye replied, laughing. "They have very different personalities." "Mishkin is recognized as the best judge of this century. All Russian law schools have to study his ideas. Puckett is the manager of the Arkansas Farming Company. He is proficient in farming techniques and knows farm animals like the back of his hand." "Do you know the background of all the people in the 'Lowell' residence?" "No," Kenji replied, "but I've seen everyone's files." Nai put her hands on her husband's shoulders, hugged him and said, "Tell me about Nai Patong Watanabe..." "School teacher, fluent in English and French. IQ up to 2.48, SC up to 91..." Nai kissed Kenji and interrupted him: "You forgot the most important point." "What?" She kissed her husband again, saying, "She is the bride of Kenji Watanabe, a historian of the residence station. She loves him deeply."