Chapter 25 (Rushed and Burning with Anxiety, Part 1): The Wattle Fence

65 million years ago, Venus

Nikola Tesla sat across from Director Disston in the Venusian Union Office. Dean Abbott and Colonel Fellman sat nearby. No one spoke; it felt nothing like a meeting.

At last, Dean Abbott broke the silence and asked Tesla, “Over the past three years, our observations show Jupiter is slowly drifting closer to the sun. Now no one doubts your theory of gravity. Is there any way you can help us survive this crisis? Please, tell us.”

Tesla was a man of science and engineering, direct in character and not well-versed in diplomacy. Years ago, he had stubbornly submitted his paper, “The Dynamic Principle of Gravity,” to the Union Academy of Sciences, fully aware it would provoke opposition from mainstream scientists.

He had already devised a solution to the present catastrophe three years ago, aided by the Lightning Sphere’s external mind. But this time, even someone as blunt as Tesla could foresee how much resistance and doubt such a proposal would face if he spoke it aloud.

In truth, even he was uncertain whether this outlandish, theoretical plan could succeed at every step.

“Mr. Tesla, don’t hold back,” Director Disston encouraged. “Even if your proposal seems unworkable, we can discuss it together.” He turned to Abbott. “Or perhaps, Dean Abbott, you could briefly describe our current situation first.”

A catastrophic accident had occurred at the super-luminous wave power station the Venusians had built on Sedna, a moon of Saturn. Sedna shattered, sending thousands of fragments of ice and rock into orbit, wrapping Saturn in a veil over a million kilometers across. These massive ice clusters altered the way super-luminous waves were blocked, shattering the stability and balance of the solar system.

The data Dean Abbott brought revealed that Venus’s rotation was slowing—by several minutes each day, an astonishing change by astronomical standards. The lengthening of day and night, the widening temperature swings, the scorching days and freezing nights had already tormented Venusian humanity to the brink.

Almost everyone yearned to flee to Mars or Earth, but neither planet could accommodate the entire population. Worse still, Jupiter’s orbital speed was increasing—its path inching closer to the sun. Calculations showed that after a few more revolutions it would trigger a chain reaction, pushing Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury, one after another, toward the sun.

Soon, the habitable zone of the solar system would be destroyed, and Venusians would lose their place in the cosmos.

Colonel Fellman sat quietly, noticing that Tesla seemed different from their previous meetings. In the Colonel’s memory, Tesla was a resolute man who always found solutions in a crisis. But this time, Tesla remained silent.

After Abbott’s brief explanation, Tesla still gave no response. Unable to hold back, Abbott said, “To be honest, I still haven’t fully grasped your theory of gravity, but I have an idea. The massive ice ring around Saturn lies outside Jupiter’s orbit. If we could drag some of those ice and rock fragments inside Jupiter’s orbit, wouldn’t their opposing effect stop Jupiter from drifting toward the sun?”

Before Tesla could answer, Colonel Fellman, in charge of Venusian transport ships, interjected:

“What? That’s impossible. There must be hundreds of thousands, even millions of ice fragments around Saturn. We don’t have nearly enough ships for that.”

Director Disston sighed. “On a solar system scale, humanity’s power is negligible. Moving millions of ice fragments is simply unfeasible.”

Tesla finally broke his silence. “Abbott, your plan isn’t technically feasible, but the principle is correct. If we could construct a ring of millions of objects just inside Jupiter’s orbit, it would act as a barrier, reducing the sun’s energy on Jupiter and halting its advance.”

According to Tesla’s theory of gravity, Jupiter’s attraction to the sun depends on the intensity with which it displaces energy. Jupiter’s diameter is smaller than the wavelength of super-luminous waves, so, in principle, those waves cannot reach Jupiter or inject energy into it. The energy Jupiter emits should exactly match the energy it receives from the sun.

However, the arc of Jupiter’s hemisphere exceeds the wavelength of super-luminous waves, causing minor nuclear reactions within Jupiter. Observations show it emits twice as much energy as it receives from the sun.

The “lens effect” of Saturn’s colossal ice ring amplifies Jupiter’s internal reactions, increasing the energy it expels and, consequently, the acceleration toward the sun.

How to counteract the extra energy from Saturn’s “lens effect”? By “filling” the space inside Jupiter’s orbit—between Jupiter and Mars—with vast quantities of ice or debris.

Sunlight headed for Jupiter would be partially blocked and scattered by these fragments, reducing its intensity. This would offset the effect of Saturn’s ice ring and stabilize Jupiter’s orbit.

Tesla stood slowly, surveying the room. “The first step of my plan is to destroy Mars. More precisely, to build a structure 180,000 kilometers tall on Mars’s surface to capture super-luminous waves and heat the core, causing the planet to explode. The resulting millions of fragments would form a ring—we might call it the ‘Asteroid Belt.’ It would serve as a fence, reducing the sun’s gravitational pull on Jupiter.”

Though everyone had braced themselves for an outlandish proposal, the idea of shattering Mars left them stunned and speechless.

Seeing their expressions, Tesla awkwardly continued, “Blasting Mars is more feasible than dragging Saturn’s ice, and it would effectively stabilize the solar system’s structure. But I understand your concerns.”

Neither Colonel Fellman nor Director Disston were experts in astronomy or physics, but common sense told them that Mars’s destruction would inevitably affect Venus and Earth. Humanity and most life on those planets would be annihilated by this engineered disaster.

Director Disston composed himself and, regaining his usual calm, said, “Yes, Mr. Tesla, your proposal feels like a test for us. If Venusian humanity is to be wiped out, must we still strive to maintain the solar system’s stability until the end? Is that what you mean?”

Should humanity, on the eve of extinction, still labor to uphold the solar system? It was a question steeped in despair.

Having worked with Tesla for years, Dean Abbott’s friendship was deep. He fixed Tesla with a piercing look. “You can’t seriously mean to sacrifice all Venusians for the sake of the solar system’s stability. You said destroying Mars is only the first step—what comes next? There must be a way to save us all, isn’t there?”

Tesla forced a bitter smile, his mind still heavy. “The idea of destroying Mars is shocking, even to me. As for the next steps—it’s not that I don’t dare say, but I can’t imagine how you’ll react when you hear them.”

Venusian science had made remarkable leaps in the past century, and their scientists took pride in three main achievements:

Harnessing super-luminous waves for clean energy and space technology;
Artificial intelligence powered by immense computational capacity;
Genetic and biological engineering.

Tesla counted these three Venusian strengths on his fingers. Dean Abbott seemed to grasp the implication. Suddenly, inspiration flashed across his face. “Your plan is to extract the genetic material from every Venusian, upload their consciousness to a computer, relocate them to a safe place, and, after Mars is shattered, resurrect their bodies using cloning technology, transferring each consciousness into the brain of its cloned self.”

Colonel Fellman took several deep breaths, yet still felt a crushing weight on his chest. What an unfathomable plan! Even with the Lightning Sphere’s assistance, the Colonel could scarcely believe that Tesla had conceived such an idea.

Suddenly, the Colonel understood what Tesla meant earlier, when he had said Maria might have a solution to the problem of Venus’s limited transport capacity—how to evacuate six billion Venusians.

Director Disston considered this, almost speaking to himself: “Extract the genes, upload the minds, destroy Mars, clone humanity, resurrect in new bodies!”

Abbott realized his guess was correct and pressed Tesla, “After Mars is destroyed, it won’t be habitable. Once the dust settles, where, according to your plan, are we to be reborn?”

“Earth,” Tesla replied calmly.

&

Epigraph:

Scattered stars rise, one after another—Ming, Li Kai
All shall shatter, linked like a chain—Tang, Zhou Tan
Even if we return, the path will be lost—Yuan, Li Gu
Who can ask the heavens about fortune and fall?—Song, Shi Yangxiu