Chapter 14 Ecological cultivation of unmanned planet

Jason suggested that we book a room at Coco Beach's hotel and wait for him there for a day, and he would come and meet us.He is hosting the last round of press conferences on the campus of the foundation, answering questions from the media.However, he has pre-arranged a space before the launch, hoping that when watching the launch scene, he can be alone for a while, without CNN reporters bombarding him with a bunch of pigheaded questions. I told Diane what Jason meant.She said: Great, then let me ask him those stupid questions. She was worried about Jason's treatment, so I had to make up something to reassure her: No, he's not dying.He himself should be aware of any temporary changes in physical condition.She believed, or seemed to believe, what I said.However, she still wanted to see him with her own eyes, as if she would feel at ease only by seeing him with her own eyes, as if my mother's death had shaken her confidence.She has always believed that in the universe of the Lawton family, my mother is an eternal star.

I flashed my foundation ID, flashed Jason's name, and got two adjoining suites at the Holiday Inn with a view facing Cape Canaveral without any hassle.After the idea of ​​the Mars project took shape, it didn't take long for more than a dozen launch pads to be built in the shallow waters off Merritt Island.The EPA had protested, and the foundation's response was to know but to ignore.These shallow sea launch pads can be seen most clearly from the hotel.In addition to the launch pad, the landscape in front of you includes parking lots, winter beaches, and blue oceans. We are standing on the balcony of the suite.After the drive from Orlando to the hotel, Diane took a shower and changed before we headed down to the restaurant in the lobby for a good meal.From here, we can see that other balconies are densely packed with cameras and lenses.Holiday Inn is the designated media hotel. (Perhaps Simon doesn't trust the mundane media, but Diane is deeply involved in it now.) We can't see the sunset, but the brilliance of the sunset is reflected on the distant launch pads and rockets, as if a group of giant robots are heading towards the world. The Mid-Atlantic Trench, plunged into a big battle.The sight was so otherworldly that it seemed unreal.Diane took a few steps back from the balcony railing, as if the sight in front of her frightened her.Why are there so many rockets?

I said: ecological cultivation of decentralized goals. She laughed, with a hint of accusation in her tone.Are you imitating Jason's speech? That's not Jason's word, not quite.The term ecological cultivation is Robert.Hynes invented it in 1990.At the time, the idea of ​​terraforming other planets was a purely speculative science.Technically speaking, it is to create an anaerobic biological living area that can automatically adjust on an inanimate planet.However, in contemporary times, the meaning of this word is the transformation of Mars in the purely biological field.Greening Mars requires two different terraforming projects.The first stage is the terraforming of the natural environment, increasing the surface temperature and increasing the atmospheric pressure, reaching the threshold almost capable of cultivating organisms.The second stage is ecological cultivation, which uses microorganisms and plants to moisten the soil and produce oxygen to inject into the atmosphere.

The time spin has done the hard part for us.The expanding sun has warmed enough of the planets in the solar system, except Earth.The rest of the work is more subtle ecological cultivation.However, there are many possible avenues for ecological cultivation, with a long list of organisms ranging from fungi that live on rocks to lichens and mosses that live on alpine mountains. Diane got it.She said: Because you want to send all the creatures there, it's called a scatter target. Send them all over.Give as much as you can afford, since no organism is sure to be fit for survival.Maybe one can survive, though.

Maybe more than one. That's even better.What we want is an ecosystem, not a single environment.In fact, the timing of rocket launches is carefully planned and staggered in batches.The first wave of rockets carried only anaerobic and photoautotrophic organisms, simple life forms that do not require oxygen and derive energy from sunlight.If they grow luxuriantly and die to a certain amount, they can accumulate into a biomass layer per unit area to cultivate a more complex ecosystem.The second wave is launched a year later, loaded with organic organisms capable of producing oxygen.This will be the last wave of unmanned rockets, delivering primitive plants to fix the soil and regulate the cycle of evaporation and rainfall.

It seemed unlikely that it would be successful. We live in an impossible time.However, there is really no guarantee of success. What if it doesn't work? I shrugged.We have nothing to lose anyway. Lost a lot of money, a lot of manpower. Could there be a better use for this money and manpower?Yes, it's a big gamble, and it's certainly not guaranteed, but it's worth the risk when you think of the potential payoffs we'll get.And, good for everyone, at least for now.On the one hand, it can boost the morale of our domestic people, and on the other hand, it can also promote international cooperation.

But you will also mislead a lot of ordinary people.You make them believe that the time spin is something we can control, that we have found a technology that can change the time spin. You mean, we gave them hope. false hope.And if you fail, you rob them of hope. So what do you want us to do, Diane?Go home and kneel on the mat to pray? That's not an admission of defeat either. I mean prayer.Well, if you are successful, the next step is to send someone there? Yes, if Mars greens, we'll send people there.It's a harder, morally more complex task.We will send a group of carefully selected volunteers up, ten people in each group.They had to cram into small spaces, rely on limited food rations, and endure an extremely long journey.No one knows how long that will be.After spending several months in a state of weightlessness in the Delta V rocket, they reached the atmosphere of Mars, endured the near-fatal friction deceleration of the atmosphere, and then ventured down to the surface of Mars.If the previous process is successful, if the survival equipment with a limited quota can also descend in parallel and land near them, then, next, they must start training their own survival skills in an environment where humans can barely survive .The mission briefing didn't teach them how to return to Earth, only that they had to live long enough to reproduce enough humans to pass on a tried and tested mode of existence to their children and grandchildren.

What normal person would want to do such a thing? You can never imagine.I don't know what kind of people the volunteers in China, Russia and other countries are like, but the pilots in North America are just a group of ordinary men and women, which is very surprising.They were chosen because they were young, strong and able to endure tough conditions.Only a few were test pilots in the Air Force, but all of them possessed what Jason called the psychological characteristics of test pilots, willing to risk their lives in the pursuit of excellence.Of course, the common fate of most of them is death, just like the fungi carried by the previous rockets.It is reasonable to expect that a few scattered bands of survivors will wander into the moss-infested ravines of Valles Marineris.They might run into contingents of Russians, Danes, or Canadians, spawning sizeable populations of Martian humans.This is the most optimistic outcome.

Do you agree with this assessment? No one asks for my opinion.But I hope they are safe. Diane gave me a dissatisfied look, but stopped arguing with me.We took the elevator down to the restaurant in the lobby.As we waited in line for a waiter to take us to our seats, ahead of us were a dozen TV news network technicians.Diane must have sensed the growing excitement. After ordering, she turned to listen to the sporadic conversations at the neighboring tables.The journalists were rehearsing, or wrestling with, some terminology they would use for the next day's work.She heard words here and there, such as photodissociation and sublithic fungi, and of course ecological cultivation.She also heard laughter and the unscrupulous collision of knives and forks, and felt a dizzying joy in the air, as if there was an inexplicable expectation.It was the first space adventure to garner global attention since man first landed on the moon more than 60 years ago.And the time spin gives this mission a unique meaning that landing on the moon lacks: this is a real crisis, time is tight, and the risk is shared by human beings around the world.

It's all Jason's work, right? Even without Jason and Edward, human beings will still take this step, but the process may be different, slower and less efficient.Xiaojie was the central figure in this project from beginning to end. And we are all peripheral molecules, surrounding this genius.To tell you in secret, I'm a little scared of him.I haven't seen him for so long, I'm really a little scared to see him.I know he's not very happy with me. Not dissatisfied with you.As for your lifestyle, maybe. You are talking about my beliefs.We can chat about this.I know that Xiaojie feels that I have betrayed him a little bit.It was as if Simon and I had vetoed everything he believed in.But it's really not the case.Jason and I have never walked the same path.

Did you know that Xiaojie is still Xiaojie in his heart, the same Xiaojie from before. But am I still the same Diane? I don't have an answer to this question either. She evidently had a good appetite and ate vigorously.After the main course, we ordered dessert and coffee.I said: You are lucky to have time to watch such a scene. You mean, I'm lucky because of Simon's cattle grazing. I did not mean that. take it easy.However, it is also true to say so.Simon may have been a little too involved.He wants to know where I am. Do you feel troubled? Do you mean there is something wrong with my marriage?No, that's not the problem, and I wouldn't let the marriage go wrong.However, that does not mean that there will be no disputes between us.She hesitated.I can tell you something, but it's a secret between the two of us, understand?Can't tell Jason, only you know. I nod. Simon has changed a lot since you last met.Everyone has changed, even the old partners in the days of the new country have changed.The new kingdom belongs to young people, and it is to create a community of faith and create a sacred space.There, we can embrace each other without being afraid of those around us.Hugs are not symbols, but real hugs.The Garden of Eden on earth.Unfortunately we were wrong.We think that AIDS is nothing to be afraid of, and jealousy is nothing to worry about. Who cares about that?Now that the end of the world has come.However, Xiaotai, the disaster came slowly.The catastrophe is a lifetime, and we need a healthy and strong body to face the catastrophe. Then you and Simon Oh, we are healthy.She smiled.Thank you for your concern, Dr. Dupre.However, AIDS and drug use have cost us many friends.The whole movement is like a roller coaster, love takes us all the way to the top, and sadness takes us all the way to the bottom.Anyone who has ever played sports feels the same way. Maybe, but Diane was the only person I knew who had participated in the New Nation movement.The past few years have been rough for everyone. Simon couldn't quite adapt, and life was hard.He truly believes that we are God's blessed generation.Once he told me that God has come and is so close to us, like a stove beside us in winter night.He said that he could really touch Tian Guo with his hands and feel his warmth.We all felt that way, and that really brought out the best in Simon.Then the whole movement went downhill, and several of our friends got sick or got addicted, all kinds of addicts.This incident hurt him deeply.Even then, our money ran out, and in the end, Simon had to find a job.Both of us had to find work.I've been working part-time for several years.Simon couldn't find a normal secular job, but he went to work as an overseer at our church in Temple City, Arizona, the Jordan Chapel.They pay him a little when they have money and now he's preparing for his exam to get a plumber's license. This doesn't seem like the Promised Land of God. Yes, but you know what?I don't feel like the Promised Land has come.That's what I told him.Maybe we can feel that the millennium blessing is coming, but after all it has not come even if the result is doomed to failure, we still have to persist until the last second.Maybe what happened to us is God's judgment.We should be serious about everything we do with ourselves. We took the elevator to our room upstairs.Diane paused at the door of her room and said to me: I always remember how good it was to talk to you.Remember how we used to talk about everything? We used to reveal our fears to each other through the simple medium of the phone.Intimacy with a distance, she has always liked that feeling.I nod. She said: "Maybe we can relive old dreams.Maybe sometime I can call you from Arizona. Of course she called me, because Simon wouldn't like me calling her.We have a tacit understanding.That's the kind of relationship she wants to keep with me.She will be my pink confidant.For her, I was a non-threatening person, someone she could talk to when she was in a bad mood, just like the gay male friend next to the heroine in the movie.We can chat and share our feelings and no one will get hurt. It's not what I want or what I need.However, looking at her longing and somewhat disappointed eyes, I really couldn't speak.In the end, what I said to her was ok wow, of course. She grinned, gave me a hug, and went into the room, leaving me alone in the hallway. I stayed up late that night, much later than usual.I soothed my wounded dignity, lost in the noise and laughter from nearby rooms, thinking of the perihelion foundation, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Kennedy Space Center, and the scientists and engineers there.I think of the newspaper reporters, the TV newscasters, watching the intense arc lights hit the distant rocket, and I think of everyone busy at the end of human history, doing what they should do, doing what they do to themselves. Everything is solemn. ☆ Jason arrived at noon the next day, ten hours before the scheduled launch of the first wave.The weather was fine and calm, a good sign.Rockets around the world are ready to go, with the only noticeable delay being the European Space Agency.Their launch site is located in French Guyana, an extension of the former Kourou Space Centre.Due to a violent March storm, which was forced to close there, the organic organisms provided by the Ecological Society of America may be sent a day or two late by the equivalent of half a million years outside the time gyration. Jay came straight to my suite, where Diane and I waited for him.He wore a cheap plastic windbreaker and a marlin hat pulled down so low that it barely covered his eyes.This is done to hide from the reporters who live here.As soon as he saw me answer the door, he immediately said, "Tyler, I'm so sorry, but I'll be there if I can make time." He was talking about my mother's funeral.I see. Belinda.Dupree was the most missed man in the whole house.This is what I say from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.I said, and stepped back to let him in. Diane came across the room looking nervous.Jason closed the door behind his back without a smile on his face.The two of them stood one meter apart, looking at each other, and the atmosphere in the whole room was a bit dignified.Jason finally spoke. He said: Look at your collar, it looks like a British Victorian banker.Also, you really should eat a little fatter. Is it so difficult to eat a decent meal in your country where cattle are everywhere? Diane said: Xiaojie, we have more cacti than cows. Then they both laughed and walked forward to hug each other. ☆ After dark, we all ran outside to the balcony.We moved out our comfy chairs and ordered room service to bring up a huge tray of hors d'oeuvres (ordered by Diane).It was a night obscured by time gyrations, the sky was so dark that no stars could be seen.However, the launch pad in the distance is illuminated by huge bright lights, and the reflection on the sea seems to be dancing in the slowly undulating waves. By now, Jason had been seeing a neurologist for several weeks.The specialist's diagnosis was exactly the same as mine: Jason had a severe form of multiple sclerosis that didn't respond to medication, and the only effective treatment was massive doses of palliative medication.In fact, the neurologist wanted to report Jason's case to the CDC.The Centers for Disease Control is currently studying a disease that some call atypical multiple sclerosis, or non-MS for short.Xiaojie was half intimidating and half bribed, telling him to give up that idea.However, at least so far, the new cocktail therapy has effectively controlled his condition, and the symptoms have not recurred.His bodily functions were as normal as before, and he moved freely.Any doubts Diane might have had quickly dissipated. To celebrate the launch, he also brought a very expensive bottle of real French champagne.I told Diane: We could have gone to the VIP seats, in the bleachers outside the boat assembly building, next to President Gulen. Jason said: "The visibility here is just as good, if not better.Here, no one will rush to pull us to take a group photo. Diane said: "I've never seen the president in person. The sky was of course still dark, and someone on the TV in the room was reporting the time to circle the barrier (we had the TV on to hear the countdown).Diane looked up at the sky, as if the sky might miraculously become tangible, a cover over the earth.Jason saw the way she looked up.He said: They really shouldn't call it the isolation layer, no one in the newspapers uses that name anymore. Oh, and what names do they use? He cleared his throat.A singular dialysis membrane on one side. Diane laughed.Oh, no, no, that would be too horrible to bear.Sounds like an obstetrics problem. Yes, but the name isolation layer is wrong.A time gyration is more like a boundary.That is not an ordinary line that can be crossed at will.The time gyration will select the specific object, accept the object, and then accelerate and send it to the outer universe.Kind of like physical osmosis rather than breaking through a fence.Therefore, we call it a dialysis membrane. Xiaojie, I have forgotten what we used to say, I can be a little surreal and absurd. hush.I stop them both.You listen. Now that the TV had switched to the NASA picture, Mission Control was counting down the clock with a mechanical sound.thirty seconds.On the launch pad, twelve rockets have begun to inject fuel, and they are called one by one.Twelve rockets were launched simultaneously, an ambitious feat.In the past, NASA would have considered such an operation impractical and extremely dangerous.But, having said that, we now live in an age of desperate adventure. Diane asked: Why did they have to go up at the same time? Because Jason opened his mouth to answer, and then stopped suddenly.Wait a minute, let's see first. twenty seconds.ten seconds.Xiaojie stood up and leaned against the railing of the balcony. The balconies of the entire hotel were crowded with people.The beach is full of people, thousands of heads are moving, and countless lenses are rotating their focal lengths, all facing the same direction.According to subsequent statistics, there were nearly two million people surrounding Cape Canaveral that day.According to police reports, there were more than a hundred stolen wallets that night, two homicides with a knife, fifteen attempted assaults, and one woman gave birth prematurely. (An 1,800-plus-gram baby girl is delivered on a folding table at the International House of Pancakes in Cocoa Beach.) five seconds.The TV in the room suddenly went silent.At that moment, everything was silent, except for the click and buzz of the camera operation. Then, the rocket ignited, and a blinding light lit up on the sea, extending to the horizon. If it was just a rocket, even if it was launched in the dark, the local people would not be surprised by it.However, this time there is not only one flame, but five, seven, ten, and twelve pillar-shaped flames.At that moment, only the silhouettes of the launchers on the sea were left, like skyscrapers with only steel frames, quickly shrouded in the huge mist formed by the evaporation of seawater.Twelve white flames form huge pillars, several kilometers apart, but they seem to be close together when viewed from a distance, like twelve claws slowly stretching towards the dark sky.Under the light of twelve flames intertwined, the sky gradually changed from dark to indigo.The solid-fuel rocket climbed upward with a loud rumbling sound, as if the heart was crushed by ecstasy or fear, and sent out a shocking pulse.The crowd on the beach began to cheer and scream, and the two voices intertwined.However, we cheered not just because of the violent and passionate spectacle.I'm sure those two million people must have seen a rocket launch before, at least on television.As spectacular and earth-shattering as the volley of twelve rockets into the sky was, we weren't just cheering for it.We cheered, mainly for the hidden intention behind the scene, an uplifting idea.We're not just planting the flag of human life on Mars, we're also challenging time to spin. The rocket lifts off. (I glanced at the TV in the room from the balcony. On the rectangular screen, I could see western China, Swodebo, Baikonur, Xinjiang, and similar rockets drew curved flight tracks and disappeared into the clear day The sea level gradually became intermittent flickering under the harsh light, gradually dimming, and the night once again occupied the sea.On the beach, on the cement platform, and on the boiling sea water, the rumbling noise gradually became distant.I seem to smell the pungent smell of gunpowder floating ashore with the tide, a unique smell that is very similar to the Roman candle fireworks, but it does not smell uncomfortable. Hundreds of cameras click, click like dying crickets, and then fade away. The cheers of the crowd varied in several forms and lasted until dawn. ☆ We went back to our room, drew the curtains to hide the night outside, and popped the champagne.We watch overseas news on TV.Except for the delay in France due to wind and rain, the launches everywhere went smoothly.A fleet full of fungi has set foot on the journey to Mars. Why did they lift off at the same time?Diane asked again. Jason looked at her thoughtfully for a long time.Because we want them to arrive at their destinations at about the same time.However, it's not as simple as it sounds.They must enter the time gyration dialysis membrane at the same time as possible, otherwise, once they are outside, their time gap will be several years, even several centuries.Perhaps for those anaerobic fungi, time has little effect, but we still regard time as a key factor in execution. For years, or even centuries?how can that be possible? Diane, that's the nature of time gyrations. I know.But how many centuries? He turned his chair around to face her, frowning.I want to find out how ignorant you are Xiaojie, I just asked a question. Time me for a second. What? Look at your watch and count one second for me.Forget it, I'll do it myself.- He paused.seconds, do you understand? Jason Be patient.Do you know the ratio of time gyrations? Probably know. Probably not enough to know.One second on the earth is equivalent to three years and two months outside the time circle.Remember this number.If one rocket entered the time gyrodialysis membrane one second later than the others, it would reach Mars orbit three years later. I just can't tell that number Diane, this number is important.Let's say our little fleet just emerged from the dialysis membrane, right now, right now he's beating the air with his fingers.one second.passed.That's been more than three years for our small fleet.A second ago they were orbiting the Earth, and now they've sent stuff to the surface of Mars.I mean right now, Diane, this very moment.Things have happened and work has been done.Next, watch your watch run for one minute. The clock in the sky has probably run for one hundred and ninety years. That's a long time indeed, but you can't change a planet in two hundred years, can you? So, up to now, this experiment has been carried out outside the time circle for two hundred years.Even now, though, as we speak, surviving colonies of fungi have been thriving on Mars for two centuries.Another hour and they would have been there for eleven thousand and four hundred years.By this time tomorrow, they will have reproduced for nearly 274,000 years. All right, Jay.I see what you mean. This time next week, 1.9 million years. OK. One month later, 8.3 million years. Jason One year later, one hundred million years. i know but On Earth, 100,000,000 years span the time roughly from the time life appeared outside the oceans to your last birthday.100 million years is probably enough time for those microbes to extract carbon dioxide from the carbonates stored in the earth's crust, filter nitrogen from nitrates, remove oxides from the topsoil, and, after dying in large numbers themselves, enrich the soil with nutrients.Those released carbon dioxide form greenhouse gases.The atmosphere will be thicker and warmer.A year from now, we'll send another space fleet with organisms capable of respiration and begin cycling carbon dioxide into free oxygen.In another year, or as soon as the results of the spectroscopic analysis of Mars become available, we'll be transporting pastures, plants, and other more complex organisms there.After all this has stabilized and formed some kind of roughly balanced planetary ecosystem, we will send humans there.Do you know what this means? Diane said sullenly: You tell me. Meaning, within five years a thriving human civilization will emerge.farms, factories, roads, cities Jay, there is a Greek word for what you said. Ecopoiesis (ecological cultivation). I'm thinking of hubris (arrogant). He smiled.I fret about a lot of things, but I'm not worried about offending God. Maybe it's to offend hypothetical intelligent beings. He stopped talking, leaned back in his chair, and took a sip of the champagne in his glass.exactly the opposite.I'm afraid I'm doing exactly what they want us to do. He refused to explain further, and Diane was anxious to change the subject. ☆ The next day, I drove Diane to Orlando to catch a plane back to Phoenix. For the past few days, we have not even discussed, not even mentioned, not even hinted at in words, that night in the Berkshires, before she married Simon.The feeling of avoidance is becoming more and more obvious.Precisely because we went to the trouble of beating the subject around the bush, we realized that there was an invisible taboo between us.When we hugged and said goodbye in front of the airport security gate, she said to me: I will call you.I know she means it.Diane rarely made promises to people, but she kept them very seriously.However, I also realize that it has been a long time since we last met, and that the next time we see each other, it will be a long, long time, although not as long as outside the circle of time, But it also gnaws at my heart and makes me sink into the torment of longing.There are some wrinkles around her eyes and around her mouth, and I see similar wrinkles when I look at myself in the mirror every morning. I thought to myself, what the hell, how are we so busy making ourselves into two people who don't know each other well. ☆ In the spring and summer of that year, several rockets were launched one after another, loaded with exploration equipment, orbiting the earth for several months, and then brought back photos and spectroscopic maps of Mars.We can use this to understand the status of ecological transformation on Mars. Preliminary results are ambiguous: the limited increase in carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere may be a marginal effect of solar exposure.Mars is also, by reasonable assessment, an icy, uninhabitable planet.Jason admitted that the ultraviolet rays of the Martian sun are too strong, and the topsoil is full of oxides, so even GMOs may not be able to adapt. (GMOs are the genetically engineered Martian organisms carried by the first wave of rockets.) It's not even midsummer, however, and we've found strong evidence of biological activity in the spectrograms.The atmosphere became denser and water vapor increased, methane, ethane, ozone also increased, and even a small increase in free nitrogen was detected. On Christmas Eve, the changes were subtle, but definitely not caused by the sun.Although the warming effect of solar radiation would still cause a change, it is by no means likely that the magnitude of the effect would be this large.Mars has become a living planet. The launch pad is ready again.New microorganisms have been successfully cultivated and loaded.In that year, a full 2% of the gross domestic production of the United States was invested in aerospace operations related to time maneuvers. To put it bluntly, it was the Mars Project.Similar ratios are found in other industrialized countries. ☆ In February, Jason's symptoms returned.One day, he woke up from sleep and found that he couldn't focus his eyes.His neurologist adjusted his prescribed medication and told him to wear an eye patch, which temporarily adjusts his vision.Jay recovered quickly, but he was unable to go to work for almost the whole week. Diane kept her word.She started calling me, at least once a month, but usually not that often.She usually called late at night, because Simon was asleep by then, on the other side of their small apartment.They rented rooms above a used bookstore in Temple City.Diane had a salary, and Simon's income from his job at the Jordan Chapel was not stable. With their income, living in such a place was already considered very good.On hot days, I could hear the cooling fan humming over the phone, and in winter, she would turn on the radio quietly to drown out her voice. I invited her to come to Florida to watch the second launch, but of course she couldn't come.She was busy at work, and friends at church would seek them out for dinner and weekends.Besides, Simon would not understand why she had come.Simon is currently having a bit of a crisis of faith.He's trying to figure out the messianic question What's wrong with Messiah? Diane said: You really should read more newspapers.I think she probably overestimated the chances of these religious controversies getting into the mainstream media. At least we in Florida rarely see it. Maybe the west is not the same as our side.The old New Kingdom movement believed in a different kind of second coming than Christianity, and that's what makes us different.Besides that, I thought, their penchant for being naked in public was what set them apart.Early writers, such as Reiter and Greengee, argued that time gyrations directly fulfilled biblical prophecies, that is, historical events redefined them, rewritten them.There won't necessarily be a real catastrophe, or even a living second coming of Christ. <1 and 2 Thessalonians>, <1 and 2 Corinthians>, and <Revelation> in the New Testament, these things can be reinterpreted, or simply ignored, because the revolving time is God’s personal intervention The deeds of human history are living miracles.The time gyration replaces the Bible itself.It is the whirl of time that frees us from all bondage to create heaven on earth.We suddenly realized that the Millennium Bliss must be created by ourselves. I don't know if I understand.In fact, about the time she said the word Advent, I was a little dazed. The second coming of Christ means forget it, let alone this.The problem was with the Jordan Chapel, our little church.They openly re-proclaim all the New Kingdom teachings, however, half of the church members are old-school New Kingdom believers, like me and Simon.So, we're suddenly at odds, and we're quarreling over the apocalypse, over whether the time spins fit the prophecy of the Bible.Everyone began to have clear barriers.Does the Antichrist exist, and if so, where is he?When will the bliss of being raptured appear?Before the catastrophe?In catastrophe?還是大難後？諸如此類的問題。也許你會覺得這些問題微不足道，但是在信仰上，那是足以動搖國本的問題，而且，和我們僵持不下形同水火的，卻是我們關心的人，我們的朋友。 那妳是哪一國的？ 我自己嗎？She stopped talking.電話裡，我又隱隱約約聽到收音機的聲音，夾雜在她的聲音裡，有一個催眠般的聲音在為那些睡不著覺的人播報夜間新聞。我聽到那個聲音說梅莎市槍擊案件的最新進展。有基督復臨，或是沒有基督復臨。這麼說吧，我現在很矛盾。我不知道自己相信什麼。有時候我很懷念從前那段日子，一路走來努力打造人間天堂。就好像 她忽然停下來。我聽到收音機夾雜著靜電雜訊的含糊聲音，此外，還有另外一個聲音在說：黛安？妳還沒睡嗎？ Excuse me.她很小聲地說。賽門出來巡視了，我們的空中相約，跟她這片刻沒有肌膚之親的小小出軌也該提早收場了。I'll call you again. 我還來不及說再見，她就掛電話了。 ☆ 裝載第二系列種子的火箭也順利發射升空了，就像第一次一樣完美無瑕。媒體再度團團包圍了卡納維爾角，不過，這一次我是在基金會大會堂的大型數字投影電視上看的。火箭發射的時候，陽光普照，彷彿一群鷺鷥飛散到梅里特島的上空，就像漫天閃亮的五彩碎紙片。 接下來，是另一個漫長夏季的等待。美國生態協會啟用了一系列新一代的太空望遠鏡和射電干涉儀，獲取了不少影像資訊。這些影像比去年的更細膩更清晰。還不到九月，基金會每一間辦公室的牆上都掛滿了高解析度照片，裡面可以看得到我們的成果。我也掛了一幅在醫務室候診室的牆上。那是一張火星的連續色階輸出影像。圖片上看得出來，整個奧林帕斯山的輪廓似乎覆蓋著霜或冰，上面鏤刻著一條條新的排水渠道，雲霧像水一樣飄蕩在水手谷中，血管般的綠色紋路在火星之眼太陽湖裡蜿蜒流竄。薩瑞南陸地南邊的高地還是一片荒漠，不過，由於氣候愈來愈潮濕，風愈來愈強，那個地區的隕石坑已經遭到嚴重侵蝕，幾乎快要看不見了。 接連好幾個月，需氧有機生物的數量起伏不定，使得大氣中的含氧量也跟著起起落落。不過，到了十二月，大氣壓力已經超過二十毫巴，而且趨於穩定。不斷增加的溫室氣體，不穩定的水循環，再加上新的生物地質化學回饋循環系統，由於這些因素潛在的混沌整合，火星已經找到了屬於自己的平衡狀態。 一連串的成功對傑森是很有幫助的。他的症狀一直沒有再復發，而且忙得很開心，彷彿忙碌可以治療他的病。如果說有什麼事情會讓他感到沮喪，那就是他漸漸浮出台面，變成近日點基金會的天才樣版，或至少也是火星改造計畫的科學名人，典範金童。這不是傑森自己願意的，而是艾德華搞出來的把戲。艾德華很清楚，社會大眾希望基金會能夠有一個門面，最好是年輕聰明，但不會給人壓迫感。因此，自從基金會成為一個航太領域的國會遊說團體之後，他就把傑森推上鏡頭。小傑勉為其難地承受這一切。他是一個很有耐性的優秀解說人員，而且很上相，可是他痛恨這樣的過程。不管到什麼地方，只要看到電視上出現自己的畫面，他就寧可趕快離開。 就在那一年，我們進行了第一次核電太空船無人飛行。傑森全神貫注地留意整個過程。這些太空船就是要用來運送人類到火星去的，構造上不像種子太空船那麼簡單。核電太空船是全新的科技。核電是核子電力推進系統的簡稱，也就是使用核反應爐動力的離子引擎，比種子太空船的引擎威力強大得多，足以承載大量的人員裝備。不過，要把這些巨大的太空船送上軌道，需要史無前例的巨大火箭，遠大於太空總署曾經發射過的任何火箭。這項行動，傑森稱之為英雄式的工程，不過，工程費用也是同樣英雄式地昂貴。巨大的經費，就連一向大力支持的國會都亮起了紅燈，不過，一連串引人注目的成功壓住了蠢蠢欲動的反對勢力。傑森很擔心，只要有一丁點明顯的失敗，贊成與反對兩邊的勢力就會扯平。 新年剛過沒多久，一艘核電太空船測試飛行失敗，裝載測試資料的飛行器無法重返大氣層，根據推測，很可能在軌道上出故障了。國會山裡有一個小團體發表譴責聲明，他們代表的是財政極端保守的幾個州，在航太工業方面沒有什麼明顯的投資。不過，艾德華在國會裡的朋友否決了他們的反對。一個星期之後，測試飛行成功了，國會裡的爭議也就偃旗息鼓了。不過，傑森說，我們只是很巧妙地躲過了子彈。 我把這件事告訴黛安，她雖然聽得懂，卻覺得那些都是無謂的爭辯。她說：傑森真正需要擔心的，是火星計畫究竟會給地球帶來什麼樣的影響。到目前為止，媒體上多是一片歌功頌德，對不對？大家都在熱頭上。我們都需要找點什麼來給自己一點信心，相信人類我不知道該怎麼形容，怎樣說好了，相信人類具有無窮的潛力。只不過，這種自我陶醉遲早會醒過來，到時候，大家就會開始變得很聰明，非把時間迴旋的真相搞清楚不可。 Is not it good? 萬一火星計畫失敗了，或是無法滿足大家的期望，是的，那就不妙了。這並不只是因為他們感到失望。他們親眼目睹整個火星地球化的過程，所以，他們現在手上有一把尺了。他們會用這把尺來衡量時間迴旋。我說的是，衡量時間迴旋那種全然瘋狂的力量。時間迴旋並非只是某種抽象的現象，你讓他們鼓起勇氣面對這隻龐然巨獸，而且我猜，這對你們是有好處的。不過，萬一你們的計畫出了什麼問題，也就等於奪走了他們的勇氣，更糟糕的是，他們已經見識到時間迴旋的威力了。而且，泰勒，他們不會喜歡你們失敗的，因為，萬一你們失敗了，他們就會陷入前所未有的恐懼裡。 我唸了一段郝士曼的詩，那首詩是她從前唸給我們聽過的：幼兒尚未知曉，已成大熊佳餚。 她說：那個小孩已經開始搞清楚了，也許那就是你們描繪出來的大難了。 Maybe.有些夜裡，睡不著覺的時候，我會想到假想智慧生物，納悶著，他們究竟是誰。對於他們，其實我們只看得到冰山的一角，只看到一個明顯的事實，那就是，他們就是有能力用這個透析膜把地球包在裡面，而且，他們已經在外面等了將近二十億年了，將我們納為己有，調整我們的星球和時間的流速。 沒有任何生物能夠那麼有耐性，即使只有一點點像人，也不可能那麼有耐性。 ☆ 傑森的神經專科醫師拿了一份美國醫藥協會期刊給我看，是那年冬天出版的一份研究報告。康乃爾大學的人研究了嚴重的抗藥性多發性硬化症，發現了一種標誌基因。那位醫生名叫大衛．馬斯坦，是一個胖胖的佛羅里達當地人，待人很親切。他分析傑森的基因圖譜，在裡面找到了可疑的基因序列。我問他那究竟代表什麼意思。 意思就是，我們幫他開處方配藥的時候，就能夠更明確一點了。此外，傑森不是典型的多發性硬化症病人，我們永遠不可能把他治療到症狀長期不會發作。 可是，他的症狀似乎已經一年多沒有發作了，那不算長期嗎？ 這只是代表他的症狀被控制住了，就是這樣而已。非典型多發性硬化症還是會在他體內繼續蔓延，就像火苗在煤礦層裡燜燒。總有一天，我們會壓制不住的。 無可挽回的轉捩點。 The same can be said. 他還能維持正常多久？ 馬斯坦遲疑了一下，然後說：你知道嗎，這就是傑森問我的問題。 你怎麼告訴他的？ 我說我不是算命師。非典型多發性硬化症目前還沒有找到明確的病因，而且每個病人的體質不同，發作的時間不一定。 我想他不會滿意你這樣的回答。 他話的確說得很白，就是不接受。可是我說的是真的。他有可能十年都不會發作，但也有可能過幾天就坐在輪椅上了。 老天，你真的這樣告訴他？ 我說得比較委婉，帶點激勵。我不想讓他失去希望。他的鬥志很強，這對病情是很有幫助的。我告訴他，短時間之內他應該不會有問題，可能是兩年、五年，或者更久。接下來就不用再猜了。這些都是真的，我沒有騙他。真希望我能夠有更好的預測。 我沒有告訴小傑我和馬斯坦談過，不過，我看到他的反應了。在接下來的幾個禮拜裡，他的工作量加倍，彷彿想利用自己的成功，戰勝時間，戰勝有限的生命。不是全世界的時間和生命，是他自己的。 ☆ 火箭發射的步伐開始緊鑼密鼓了，而花費的暴增也就更不在話下。最後一波種子火箭是在三月發射的（可以這麼說，只有這一次才是裝載真正的植物種子），距離先前的第一波發射已經兩年了。當年，小傑、黛安和我一起看著十幾艘外形相似的火箭飛離佛羅里達，奔向那個當時還是不毛之地的火星。 長期的火星生態培育需要極其漫長的時間，而時間迴旋正好發揮了槓桿作用，給了我們所需要的時間。如今，我們既然已經發射了植物的種子，接下來，能否掌握時機就成為攸關成敗的關鍵了。如果我們等太久，火星的演化可能會脫離我們的掌握。某個品種的穀類原本是可以吃的，可是在荒野中歷經百萬年的自然演化之後，可能就不再是原始的品種了，可能會變得難以下嚥，甚至有毒。 這意味著，種子船隊發射之後，再過幾個禮拜，我們就必須發射探測衛星。如果探測到的結果是正面的，我們就必須立刻發射載人的核電太空船。 探測衛星發射後不到幾個鐘頭，我們就從降回地球的裝置裡拿到了影像資訊，不過，這些影像資訊還在送往南加州巴莎迪那市的路上，準備交給太空總署的噴射推進實驗室做分析。那天晚上，我又接到黛安打來的午夜電話。她的聲音聽起來有點沮喪，經我一再追問，她才承認，至少在六月的時候她就已經被解雇了。她和賽門的房租已經拖欠了很久，生活有問題了。可是，她不能跟艾德華要錢，而卡蘿則是連談都沒辦法談。她正打算鼓起勇氣找小傑幫忙，但又覺得丟人現眼很不是滋味。 黛安，妳到底缺多少錢？ 泰勒，我不是要 I know.妳並沒有跟我借錢，我只是想也許我能幫上忙。 呃這個月，只要五百塊就可以過得去了。 如果我猜得不錯，我們那位配管工人的財產已經花光了。 賽門的信託基金已經用完了。他們家裡還有錢，只不過他家的人連話都不跟他講。 要是我寄支票給妳，他恐怕會莫名其妙吧？ 他會不高興的。我大概會跟他說，我找到一張舊的保險單，把保費退回來了。大概就是這樣隨便編個理由吧。撒這種小謊應該不算是犯罪。也只好這樣想了。 你們還住在科里街那個地址嗎？我每年都會寄聖誕卡到那個地址去，寫得很含蓄，四平八穩。他們也會從那個地址回寄聖誕卡給我，上面寫著：賽門與黛安．湯森，願上帝祝福你。 她說：對，還在那裡。謝謝你，泰勒，真的很謝謝你。你知道嗎，真的很丟臉。 大家日子都不好過。 不過，你過得還好吧？ 是啊，我過得還不錯。 我寄了六張支票給她，上面的日期預先填好往後每個月的十五號，夠她繳半年的房租了。只是，真不知道這樣做會使我們的友誼更堅貞，還是會使我們的友誼變質。或者，做不做朋友已經無所謂了。 ☆ 從探測船拍攝的照片看起來，火星還是比地球乾燥，不過已經看得到湖泊的痕跡，像一顆顆磨得發亮的綠松石鑲在一面圓形銅片上。一縷縷漩渦狀的雲霧繚繞著那顆星球。暴風雨帶來雨水，落在古老火山口的迎風坡上，流入河床，流入淤塞的低地三角洲，看起來一片青翠，宛如郊區的草坪。 發射台上的巨大火箭已經注滿燃料。全球各地的火箭發射場和太空中心，將近八百個人登上發射架，關進碗櫃大小的太空艙裡，迎向完全無法預料的命運。火箭的鼻錐裝載著核電太空船，裡面除了太空人之外，還有各種動物的胚胎，包括綿羊、牛、馬、豬、山羊。這些胚胎儲存在鋼鐵孕育槽裡，運氣好的話，有一天會發育成熟傾倒出來。此外還有蜜蜂和其他有益昆蟲的幼蟲。裝載在太空船裡的，總共有幾十種類似的生物。它們也許能夠熬過漫長的旅程，熬過嚴酷的再生過程，重獲新生。然而，也可能熬不過。他們也帶了人類基本知識的壓縮檔案，每個檔案製成數字和細字印刷兩種格式，數位檔案還附有閱讀設備。此外還有簡易房舍的零件和配備，太陽能發電機，溫室，純水機，簡陋的野外醫療設備。根據最樂觀的預期，這些人類探險隊的太空船會陸續抵達火星赤道的低地，降落在約略相同的地點。抵達的時間可能會相差幾年，間隔的長短，要看他們穿越時間迴旋透析膜那一瞬間的秒差有多少。最壞的打算是，就算只有一艘太空船能夠安然抵達，只要沒有太大的損傷，船上的裝備就足以支撐太空人度過一段環境適應期。 然後，我又再度來到基金會的大會堂。那些沒有到北邊海灘現場去看發射的人，也都到大會堂來了。我坐在前面的座位，就在傑森旁邊。我們全神貫注，伸長了脖子盯著太空總署那邊傳送過來的影像。畫面上，鏡頭停在海上發射台的全景，看起來像是一座座鋼鐵島嶼，島與島之間連接著龐大無比的軌道橋，聚光燈的光束交織成一片耀眼的光網，籠罩著十枚巨大的普羅米修斯火箭，彷彿一排漆成白色的籬笆木樁，一路延伸到大西洋蔚藍的海上。（這些取名為普羅米修斯的火箭是波音公司或洛克希德馬丁公司製造的。俄羅斯、中國和歐盟的火箭也是採用相同的結構設計，只是命名和外殼塗裝不一樣。）這光輝的一刻是犧牲了無數代價換來的：稅收與財富，海岸線與珊瑚礁，前途與生命。（卡納維爾角沿海，每一具發射架的底座都鑲著一面牌匾，上面刻著十五個人的姓名，以紀念十五位在組裝過程中不幸殉難的建築工人。）倒數計時進入最後一分鐘的時候，傑森用腳在地板上猛打拍子，我還以為他的症狀又發作了。他發現我在看他，就靠到我耳朵旁邊說：我只是有點緊張，你不會嗎？ 其實已經出了一些問題。全球各地總共組裝了八十枚這種火箭，準備在今天晚上同時發射。然而，這種火箭是全新的設計，瑕疵錯誤在所難免。有四枚火箭在發射前就已經因為技術問題停罷了。在全體火箭必須全球同步發射的情況下，其中三枚目前已經暫時停止倒數計時，原因是一些常見的問題：燃料輸送管有危險，軟體失靈。雖然這類問題是無可避免的，而且早在規劃之初就已經想到了，只不過還是會給人一種不祥的預感。 一切都發生得太快，令人措手不及。這次我們要移植的不是普通的生物，而是人類的歷史。小傑說過，和漫長遲緩如鐵鏽般蔓延的演化過程比起來，人類的歷史就像熊熊燃燒的火焰。（當年，我們還很年輕的時候，差不多在時間迴旋出現之後和他離開大房子之前這段時間，小傑就很懂得運用舞台上表演魔術的手法來表達他的想法。他會說：把手舉起來，平舉在身體兩邊。然後，當他把你的身體調整成一個十字形之後，他會說：從你的左手食指開始，經過你的心臟，到右手食指，這一段代表地球的歷史。那麼，你知不知道人類的歷史在哪裡？人類的歷史就在你右手食指的指甲上。甚至還不是整片指甲，只是指甲尾端白色的那一小截，太長的時候會剪掉的那一截。那一小截代表自從人類第一次發現火，發明文字，伽利略，牛頓，登陸月球，到九一一事件，到上個禮拜，到今天早上。跟整個演化的過程比起來，我們就像剛出生的嬰兒。跟整個地質結構比起來，我們幾乎不存在。） 接著，太空總署終於下達了最後指令：發射！傑森咬牙吸氣，把頭撇開。那十枚火箭是比紐約帝國大廈更高聳的巨大燃料筒，裡面灌滿了液態火藥。其中九枚火箭引爆了火藥，準備迎向天空。火箭抗拒著地心引力和慣性的法則，瞬間燒掉數以噸計的燃料，終於升高了十幾公分，蒸發了底下的海水，平息了足以將火箭震成碎片的巨大音爆。接著，蒸氣和煙霧彷彿形成了一座階梯，火箭沿著階梯攀升而上，速度明顯加快了，赤青色的火焰驅散了先前冒出來的滾滾濃煙。就像每一次成功的發射一樣，火箭刺向天際，最後消失在雲端：像夢一樣迅如閃電、清晰逼真，然後向上躥升、倏然消失。 最後一枚火箭由於感應器故障，延後了十分鐘才發射，因此，可能會比船隊的其他火箭晚一千年才抵達火星。不過，原先計畫的時候就已經預估過這種狀況，認為這種現象最後可能反而有意想不到的好處。當先前的移民所攜帶的書本和數位檔案都化為灰燼之後，這枚火箭又重新帶來地球的科技和知識。 ☆ 過了一會兒，螢幕上的畫面切換到法屬蓋亞那，那裡是歷史悠久的庫魯太空中心，後來大幅擴建成為國家太空研究中心。有一枚法國航太公司製造的巨大火箭出事了。火箭上升了三十幾公尺之後，忽然失去衝力，墜回到發射台上，爆炸成一團蕈狀雲。 總共十二個人罹難，包括核電太空船上的十名機員和兩位地面工作人員。還好，這是整個發射過程中唯一明顯的悲劇。大體上來說，整個發射過程的成功大概只能說我們運氣夠好。 ☆ 不過，任務還沒有結束。到半夜的時候，火星上已經過了將近一萬年了，人類文明究竟是徹底失敗了呢，還是已經順利發展了一萬年？對我來說，半夜是最清楚的時間指標，然而，地球和時間迴旋之外的時間差異如此巨大，還是令我感覺十分怪異。 a thousand years.自從人類出現成為一個明確的物種，到昨天下午為止，差不多就是一萬年。 從我開車離開園區，回到我住的公寓，一萬年已經過去了。我在等紅綠燈的時候，火星王朝可能已經歷經了興盛與衰亡。我想到那無數人的生命，那些活生生的人。我的手錶正在計時的當兒，每一個生命都侷限在我手錶上的一分鐘裡。我忽然感到有點暈眩，時間迴旋的暈眩。或者，那還有更深層的意義。 當天晚上，我們又發射五、六艘探測衛星，設定的程序是尋找火星上人類的生命跡象。衛星上運載的裝置降回地球之後，還不到天亮，我們就拿到了裡面的影像資訊。 ☆ 探測結果還沒有公開，我就先看到了。 當時，普羅米修斯火箭發射後已經過了整整一個禮拜，傑森已經掛了號，預定十點三十分到醫務室來。他不是要來看病，而是要告訴我噴射推進實驗室那邊送來的影像資訊。他沒有取消預約，可是卻晚了一個鐘頭才到。他進來的時候，手上拿著一個牛皮紙封套，表情顯然很焦慮，似乎不是要來跟我談治療的問題，而是有別的事情。我催他趕快進診療室。 他說：我真的不知道要跟媒體說什麼，我剛剛才跟歐洲太空總署署長還有一票中國官員開完會。我們想擬一份草稿，給各國元首發表聯合聲明，可是，俄國人同意的，中國人卻否決，雙方拉鋸糾纏不休。 小傑，什麼樣的聲明？ 衛星照片。 結果已經出來了嗎？事實上，已經比預期的時間晚了。噴射推進實驗室通常會更快把照片送過來，不過，從傑森的話裡，我聽得出來有人扣下了那些照片。這意味著照片裡的結果和他們預期的有出入。大概不是什麼好事。 傑森說：你自己看。 他打開那個牛皮紙封套，抽出兩張望遠鏡拍攝的合成照片，疊在一起。普羅米修斯火箭升空之後，當天晚上，衛星從地球軌道上拍攝到那兩張火星的照片。 第一張照片令人震驚。由於拍攝的時候，火星正好在距離地球比較遠的位置上，看起來反而沒有我裱在候診室牆上那張那麼清楚，不過，從照片細膩的程度，看得出當代影像科技的水準。乍看之下，感覺上似乎和牆上那一張沒什麼差別。從照片上綠色的部分，看得出來移植的生態還是完好如初，還是很活躍。傑森說：你仔細看。 照片上有一片靠近河邊的低地，他用手指頭沿著低地蜿蜒的線條指給我看。這裡的綠地有輪廓鮮明、形狀規則的邊界。我越仔細看，就看到越多這樣的綠地。 小傑說：農業。 我屏住氣，尋思著那代表什麼意義。我腦海中想到的是：現在，太陽系裡有兩顆住著人類的星球了。這不是憑空想像，這是活生生的。這是人類居住的地方，人類在火星上居住的地方。 我想再看仔細一點，傑森卻把照片塞回封套裡，露出底下那一張給我看。 他說：第二張照片是隔了二十四小時之後拍的。 I don't understand. 同一顆衛星，同一個鏡頭拍的。我們分別在不同的時間從相同的角度拍攝照片，用來確認成果。乍看之下，我們以為是影像系統有瑕疵，後來，我們強化了影像的對比，才看得比較清楚。 可是，照片裡什麼都沒有，只看到一些星星，中間有一坨圓圓的東西，形狀看起來像個圓盤。what is that? 傑森說：時間迴旋透析膜。從外面看就是像這樣。現在，火星也被包在透析膜裡面了。