The Rendezvous Cycle (Short Calendar 1)

65 million years ago, Tower Island, Earth

A 3D brain scan of Cynthia and her companions was presented to Maria and Tesla, while Brahma and his wife waited anxiously for Maria's analysis.

"The gyri, neuron count, and network distribution structure of their brains show no abnormalities. Why is their consciousness incompatible with our computers and unable to be uploaded?" Maria asked, looking puzzled.

"It seems analysis alone won't give us the answer. Why don't we try it directly on the machine?" Tesla suggested.

Hope flickered in Vinu's eyes, then dimmed. She said timidly, "According to Venus Alliance regulations, Cynthia and the others are not legal citizens and do not have the right to upload their consciousness."

Nicholas Tesla exchanged a look with Maria and declared loudly and firmly, "Brahma has voluntarily taken on the duty of guarding the Space elevator landing site. He will face solitude and danger. Based on that alone, your daughter Cynthia is certainly qualified to upload her consciousness."

Maria added, "Furthermore, starting January 1st next year, all Venus Alliance regulations will become void. If technically feasible, there will be no legal obstacles to Cynthia and the others extracting their genes and uploading their consciousness."

The experiment of merging with the clone Cynthia's cybernetic brain began.

The connection could not be established, and the computer showed no response, yet Cynthia reacted intensely. After she signaled discomfort and disconnected, her blood pressure rose, she had difficulty breathing, and she coughed uncontrollably, bent over.

Vinu gently patted Cynthia's back with a look of distress and affection, then pleaded with Maria. Maria and Tesla didn't know what to say, merely shaking their heads silently.

Vinu wiped the tears from her eyes and asked Tesla, "Do you think we will still have a chance to survive here when the Mars explosion happens?"

Tesla explained that according to his plan, during the Mars explosion, Earth would be 120 degrees ahead of Mars's orbit. Most of the debris and ice from the Mars explosion would fly towards the rear and outer sides of Mars's orbit, forming the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

A very small amount of debris would fly towards Earth. Even if some of it impacted Earth, the impact point would be the MAYA region behind the Tower Island power station.

The mass of the impact debris would be negligible compared to the entire Earth, and it would not affect Earth's orbital or rotational speed, nor would it directly impact the Tower Island and Victoria region's Superlight Wave Power Station.

However, this did not mean the impact would have little effect on Earth. On the contrary, the massive amount of dust generated by the impact would block out the sun and sky. The immense kinetic energy would cause severe earthquakes and trigger volcanic eruptions in multiple locations.

Toxic gases would envelop Earth's atmosphere along with the dust, making the entire sky appear to be on fire. All life exposed on the surface, including dinosaurs, would perish due to the lack of sunlight and oxygen.

Maria asked Tesla, "Before the Mars explosion, can we take Vinu and Cynthia and hide on Saturn?"

Tesla expressed his difficulty, stating that the number of clones was too large. Taking only Vinu and Cynthia would be unfair and irresponsible, but the existing spacecraft could not carry all the clones, so they would have to remain on Earth.

"Nikola, can't you build a safe house for Vinu and Cynthia? Food and water won't be a problem, and they can be supplied with oxygen using an oxygen generator, wouldn't that work?"

"The Victoria Power Station and the Space elevator that Brahma will soon be guarding are expensive to build, structurally sound, and capable of generating power. However, the so-called power station on Tower Island is different. It was built to receive Superlight Wave energy to be channeled into the Earth's core and modify the terrain; it doesn't have a generator installed."

Everyone looked at Tesla in confusion, seemingly asking, "So what?"

"The special fuel power station currently in use will be destroyed. There will be no electricity in the Tower Island region, meaning the oxygen generation equipment cannot be used," Tesla said. "We cannot house Vinu and Cynthia in the Victoria region and share Brahma's power station because it is too dangerous. Brahma might blow up the power station when the invaders arrive."

While worrying about Vinu and Cynthia, Maria also thought of Brahma and asked Tesla doubtfully, "Nikola, since we know the invaders are coming, why don't we destroy the Space elevator now? Then Brahma wouldn't have to guard that dangerous place."

Tesla shook his head and replied, "The Victoria facility is both a Space elevator and a Superlight Wave Power Station. A portion of the heat energy it receives is being channeled underground. Although the energy being channeled is far less than what's being received on Tower Island, it plays a significant role in changing the terrain, and it cannot be stopped yet."

Tesla calculated in his mind and added, "The invaders are also human. They will wait until Earth's atmosphere settles and the oxygen content is suitable for survival before coming to Earth. I estimate it will take at least 30 years. During these 30 years, the energy being channeled into Earth will change the terrain for a very long time, making it more conducive to our future survival."

"I understand. The Victoria region will develop a Great Rift Valley and lakes, becoming the source of rivers. Diverse life and plants will emerge explosively."

"It seems Vinu and the others will have to continue living in the power-less Tower Island region. Since it will take an extremely long time for Earth's atmosphere and natural ecosystem to recover, relying solely on stored oxygen tanks to supply hundreds of clones with oxygen for decades or even centuries is not feasible."

Nicholas Tesla considered that the air would be mixed with toxic gases, but the oxygen-rich water was pure. Without electricity, oxygen could be extracted from the water using chemical agents and supplied to the clones in a relatively enclosed space.

Nicholas Tesla's method was to utilize the abundant natural cave resources in the Tower Island region and find a suitable large cave deep underground.

The flowing underground river could solve the problem of drinking water and also supply oxygen through special devices and chemical agents. Food could be stored, poultry and livestock could be raised, and with fish, food should not be an issue.

Maria's face finally broke into a smile, and she said to Tesla, "You are truly a genius. The gene recombination sequencing oral medicine I developed can also be put to use. Although it won't grant immortality, it can keep people young and vibrant for decades, even centuries."

Maria magically produced a box of corn seeds and said mysteriously, "These are corn seeds I've carefully improved. They will grow to 10 meters tall, be rich in nutrients, and have a high yield, serving as food and feed."

Vinu showed a look of immense relief, and Brahma seemed even happier than her. The couple repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

Vinu suddenly remembered a very important question and asked Tesla:

"After the Mars explosion, how long will it take for you and Maria to return to Earth and reunite with us? Will we have to wait for many years?"

This seemingly simple question stumped Tesla. The Mars explosion and Earth being shrouded in dust were unprecedented events. How long would it take for Earth's natural environment to return to normal? Tesla didn't know. He connected to the Lightning Ball and asked the external brain.

The external brain's answer was scientific but frustrating. The time it would take for Earth's atmosphere to settle depended on factors such as the size and composition of the impact objects, as well as their speed and angle of impact. Without given parameters, an accurate estimation of the settling time was impossible. The conclusion was that it could take decades, or it could take millennia.

For Tesla or the entire Venusian population, decades or centuries were acceptable waiting times, but over a thousand years would not be, as the gene drugs developed by Maria and other Venusian life scientists could only guarantee Venusians a lifespan of 500 years.

"When Dean Abbott and I formulated the Mars explosion plan, we estimated the most probable mass and kinetic energy of the Martian fragments impacting Earth. The corresponding atmospheric settling time for Earth was estimated to be between 50 and 300 years," Tesla said.

"Ah? That long? It seems I'll need a large blackboard and make a mark on it every day, waiting for you to return as soon as possible," Vinu said with a wry smile.

Tesla pondered for a moment, then took out paper and a pen and drew three circles of large, medium, and small sizes. The large circle was tangent to the medium circle, with their scales interlocking like gears. The small circle was inside the medium circle, also tangent at the intersection points of the large and medium circles.

Vinu, with her accounting background, noticed that the large circle had 365 scales, the medium circle had 20 scales, and the small circle had only 13 scales.

"What do these circles and their corresponding scales mean?" Maria asked curiously.

"I will make three circles for Vinu as her manual calendar. With this, she won't need that large blackboard she mentioned earlier," Tesla explained.

At the time of the Mars explosion, Earth would be at 120 degrees ahead of its orbit, which is one-third of a full circle of 360 degrees. The synodic period of Venus and Earth is 584 days, and the synodic period of Mars and Earth is 780 days. With Earth's year calculated as 365 days, the least common multiple of these three numbers is 113,880 days, equivalent to 312 years.

If a manual device were created, such as rotating rings with their respective scales, where each intersection point corresponded to a number of days, then 113,880 days would require rings with many scales, making them difficult to produce and record.

If the total number of days were set as a unit of 365 * 260 = 18,980 days, which is one-sixth of 113,880 days, then 18,980 days would be an extremely interesting and useful calendar cycle. This number of days, multiplied by 1, would be divisible by 365; multiplied by 2, it would be divisible by 584; and multiplied by 3, it would be divisible by 780.

Being divisible by the synodic period means what? It means that two celestial bodies in conjunction are aligned in a straight line with the sun. 18,980 days divided by the synodic period of Mars and Earth, 780 days, is not an integer. 780 = 3 * 260. 18,980 is divisible by 260 but not by 3.

After the Mars explosion, Earth would be at 120 degrees ahead of Mars's orbit, equivalent to one-third of the conjunction line. After 18,980 days, Earth and Mars would not have experienced an integer multiple of their synodic period, but rather an integer multiple of their synodic period plus two-thirds of a synodic period, plus one-third of a synodic period from the initial position. Therefore, Earth and Mars would align perfectly with the sun, becoming true "conjunctions."

When Tesla and Maria returned to Earth by spaceship after passing Mars, they could use Mars's gravity assist effect for acceleration to save fuel, provided Mars and Earth were in conjunction.

So, within a time cycle of 50 to 300 years, the ideal time window for a spaceship's return is 18,980 days, which is exactly 52 times 365 days.

"Every 52 years could be your return time, is that right?" Brahma and Vinu asked in unison.

"Yes, the greatest common divisor of the large circle 365 and the product of the middle and small circles, 260, is 5. If you remove 5 from the large circle, you can have 73 units correspond to 260 units, or if you remove 5 from the middle circle, you can have 52 units correspond to 365. Either way, the product is 18,980."

"This calendar is so unique! It's compiled using the synodic periods of Earth, Venus, and Mars. 18,980 days is also 52 times 365 days. Why don't you give this calendar a name?" Maria said.

"Let's call it the Short Calendar," Tesla said, thinking of Jupiter and Saturn, which have longer orbital periods.

&

Chapter Collection Poetry:

Universe entrusts traveler's pavilion, Song, Xue Jixuan

Rain washes, merging into deep green. Yuan, Fan Ben

Lying alone, calculating the journey home, Qing, Zhao Guanbin

Who knew I'd see the gathering of stars. Ming, Luo Hongxian