The Fence

65 Million Years Ago, Venus

Nikola Tesla sat opposite Director Diston in the Venus Alliance office. Dean Abbott and Colonel Feynman sat to one side. No one said a word; it hardly felt like a meeting.

At last, Dean Abbott broke the silence and asked Tesla:

"Observations over the past three years show that Jupiter is slowly drawing closer to the Sun. No one doubts your theory of gravity anymore. Is there anything we can do to get through the crisis we're facing? Tell us quickly."

Nikola Tesla specialized in scientific research and engineering. He was forthright by nature and not very good at social niceties.

Years ago, he had known that his paper, The Dynamic Principle of Gravity, would meet with opposition and even criticism from the mainstream scientific community. But he had stubbornly submitted it to the Alliance Academy of Sciences anyway.

Tesla had worked out a way to address the current crisis three years ago, with the help of the Lightning Ball external brain.

This time was different. Even someone as oblivious to social conventions as he was could foresee the fierce opposition and doubts his plan would provoke.

Even he wasn't sure that every step of this far-fetched idea, conceived on paper, would succeed.

"Mr. Tesla, don't hold back. Even if your proposal isn't feasible, we can discuss it together." Director Diston turned to Abbott again. "How about we start with Dean Abbott briefly explaining our current situation?"

The Superlight Wave Power Station that the Venusians had built on Sedna, a moon of Saturn, had suffered an accident. Sedna had shattered, and tens of thousands of fragments of ice and rock now circled Saturn, enveloping it in a cloud more than a million kilometers across. This immense mass of ice had altered how superluminal waves were obstructed, disrupting the stability and balance of the Solar System.

The observational data Dean Abbott had brought showed that Venus's rotation was slowing, losing a few minutes each day. In astronomical terms, this was an astonishing change.

As the days and nights grew longer, the temperature differences grew more extreme. The heat of the day and the cold of the night had become unbearable for the Venusians.

Almost everyone wanted to flee to Mars or Earth as soon as possible, but neither planet could possibly support the numbers who needed refuge.

Even more despairingly, Jupiter's orbital speed was increasing, and its orbit was drawing closer to the Sun. Calculations showed that after a few more orbits around the Sun, a chain reaction would begin, sending Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury toward the Sun in succession.

Before long, the habitable zone of the Solar System would be completely destroyed, and the Venusians would have nowhere left to live.

Colonel Feynman sat quietly to one side, noticing that Nikola Tesla seemed different from the previous times they had met.

In the colonel's impression, Tesla was a man of strong convictions who could always find a solution, no matter what crisis he faced. This time, however, Tesla remained silent.

After Dean Abbott finished his brief explanation, Tesla still showed no reaction. Unable to hold back any longer, Abbott said:

"To be honest, I still don't fully understand your theory of gravity. But I've thought of a possible solution. That immense mass of ice surrounding Saturn lies outside Jupiter's orbit. If we could drag some of the ice and rocks to the inside of Jupiter's orbit and create an opposing force, wouldn't that stop Jupiter from approaching the Sun?"

Before Tesla could answer, Colonel Feynman, who was in charge of coordinating Venus's transport ships, hurriedly cut in:

"What? That's impossible. There must be hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of ice fragments around Saturn. We certainly don't have that many ships."

Director Diston sighed. "On the scale of the Solar System, humanity's capabilities are insignificant. Moving a million fragments of ice is completely unfeasible."

Nikola Tesla finally broke his silence. "Abbott, your proposal isn't technically feasible, but the principle is sound. If we could create a ring of a million objects inside Jupiter's orbit, it would act like a fence, reducing the intensity of the Sun's radiation on Jupiter and stopping it from moving closer."

According to Nikola Tesla's theory of gravity, the Sun's gravitational pull on Jupiter depended on the intensity of the energy Jupiter displaced. Jupiter's diameter was smaller than the wavelength of superluminal waves, so, in theory, those waves could not enter Jupiter and infuse it with energy. The intensity of the energy Jupiter emitted should therefore have been exactly equal to the intensity of the energy it received from the Sun's radiation.

But the arc length of Jupiter's hemisphere was greater than the wavelength of superluminal waves, causing slight nuclear reactions to occur inside the planet. Observations and calculations showed that the energy it emitted was twice the energy it received from the Sun.

The "lens effect" of Saturn's immense mass of ice had intensified the nuclear reactions inside Jupiter, increasing the intensity of the energy it displaced and, in turn, its acceleration toward the Sun.

How could they counter the extra energy intensity caused by Saturn's "lens effect"? They could try to "fill" the space inside Jupiter's orbit—that is, between Jupiter and Mars—with vast numbers of chunks of ice or rock.

As the Sun's radiation traveled toward Jupiter, these fragments would partially block and scatter it, reducing its intensity. This could offset the effect of Saturn's ice and stabilize Jupiter's orbit.

Nikola Tesla slowly rose from his chair and looked around at everyone.

"The first step in my plan is to destroy Mars. More precisely, we would build an 180,000-kilometer-tall structure on the surface of Mars to receive superluminal waves and heat its core until the surface ruptures. The more than a million fragments blasted into space would form a ring, which could be called the 'asteroid belt.' It would become a fence that reduces the Sun's gravitational pull on Jupiter."

Everyone present had braced themselves, expecting Tesla's plan to be far-fetched, even absurd. But when they heard him say that Mars had to be destroyed, they were still stunned and didn't know how to respond.

Seeing their expressions, Tesla continued, looking slightly embarrassed. "Destroying Mars is more technically feasible than dragging Saturn's ice fragments. It could effectively stabilize the structure of the Solar System, but I understand what you're worried about."

Like Director Diston, Colonel Feynman wasn't well versed in astronomy or physics. But common sense told them that if Mars exploded, Venus and Earth would inevitably be affected. The humans and most other life on both planets would perish in this man-made disaster.

Director Diston took a moment to compose himself, then regained his usual calm and reasoned tone.

"Yes, Mr. Tesla, your plan seems to be asking us: if the Venusians go extinct, should humanity still strive to maintain the stability of the Solar System beforehand? Is that a fair way to put it?"

Should they still strive to protect the Solar System before humanity went extinct? It was a truly despairing question.

Dean Abbott had worked with Nikola Tesla for many years, and they were close friends. He stared intently at his old friend and asked:

"You wouldn't really sacrifice all the Venusians just to stabilize the Solar System, would you? You said destroying Mars was the first step. What comes next? I'm sure you have a way to achieve both goals."

Nikola Tesla managed a wry smile, still weighed down by worry.

"Destroying Mars has already shocked you all. I think the plan is outrageous myself. It's not that I'm afraid to tell you the next steps. I just can't imagine how you'll react when you hear them."

Venusian technology was highly advanced, and it had made tremendous progress over the past century. Venusian scientists were especially proud of three areas:

Using superluminal waves to obtain clean energy and develop space technology;

Artificial Intelligence supported by enormous computing power;

Genetic bioengineering.

Nikola Tesla counted off the three technological advantages of the Venusians on his fingers. Dean Abbott seemed to catch on. Then a sudden flash of inspiration came to him, and he understood what Tesla had in mind.

"Your plan is to extract genetic material from every Venusian, upload their consciousnesses to computers, and transport them to a safe location. After Mars explodes, we'd revive their bodies through cloning, then download each uploaded consciousness into a clone's brain."

Colonel Feynman took several deep breaths, but his chest still felt tight. What an absurd plan! Even knowing that Tesla had the Lightning Ball external brain to assist him, the colonel still couldn't believe the genius had come up with such an idea.

The colonel suddenly understood what Tesla had meant earlier, when they discussed Venus's inadequate transport capacity and the impossibility of evacuating six billion people from Venus, and Tesla had said Maria might have a solution.

Director Diston considered the idea, then seemed to sum it up to himself: "Extract genes, upload consciousnesses, destroy Mars, clone humanity, bring everyone back to life!"

Abbott realized he had guessed correctly and pressed Tesla for an answer:

"After Mars explodes, it obviously won't be suitable for humans to live on. Once the dust has settled, where do you envision the Venusians coming back to life?"

"Earth," Nikola Tesla answered calmly.

A poem pieced together to close the chapter:

Scattered stars hang in orderly succession, — Li Kai, Ming Dynasty

They should all shatter together like a chain. — Zhou Tan, Tang Dynasty

Even if they return, they'll surely lose their way, — Li Gu, Yuan Dynasty

It's hard to ask Heaven again about rise and fall. — Shi Yangxiu, Song Dynasty