Had a [Borei] ballistic missile submarine launched an intercontinental nuclear missile toward the Moon from near the Bering Strait?
Rows of bilingual Chinese and English text filled the enormous ring-shaped screen. With no background music, the announcer's voice was the only sound in the inner hall, stark and cold.
Despite his calm delivery, everyone could hear the anger brimming in the announcer's voice.
"Extremely serious, exceptionally egregious, and extraordinarily dangerous."
Three extreme intensifiers in a row-this was exceedingly rare in the news. Official domestic releases and news dispatches generally avoided such emotionally charged language.
Surrounded by the crowd, Gao Jian lifted his head slightly to look at the big screen. Its deep blue background light reflected in his eyes, making them look especially unfathomable.
Even Director Dan and Deputy Director Bian, both department-level officials, frowned at the big screen. Soon, the deep blue display switched to a live feed. By some unknown means, the camera remained firmly locked onto the steadily ascending intercontinental missile, which had already crossed the Kármán Line.
An altitude of one hundred kilometers.
The intercontinental missile was clearly visible under the camera's continuous tracking.
Even NASA's recent United States lunar mission broadcast had not offered such high resolution. It was hard to imagine how this footage had been captured.
The male announcer's voice continued to issue from the big screen:
"No relevant parties were notified of this launch. This action undermines global mutual trust and harms world peace and stability. Multiple countries have lodged stern diplomatic protests with Russia..."
A small window appeared in the upper left corner of the screen.
It showed the Oval Office in the White House. The newly elected American president, with his round face and rather thick full beard, was delivering a televised address to the nation. He stated that Russia's actions had violated international law and the United Nations Charter, and that the United States strongly condemned them.
Everyone had been awfully busy condemning things lately.
A second and third window popped up as well.
The new windows showed spokespeople from France and the United Kingdom. As permanent Security Council members, both countries also condemned and denounced Russia.
Less than five minutes had passed since the launch. The speed with which they had reacted, coordinated pressure, and even pulled together this united front of live televised statements left many people well versed in international politics dumbfounded.
Had the Russians broken some heavenly commandment?
People in the hall murmured among themselves.
"What's going on?"
"Another intercontinental missile?"
"Is Russia upset because it wasn't invited to the fireworks party over Houston?"
"An intercontinental missile is a suborbital vehicle. Its cruising speed is below orbital velocity, so it can't even escape Earth. What's the point? And what's this about firing at the Moon?"
"Did Russia see that the United States was going to land on the Moon and decide to blow itself up along with it?"
"There's a certain beauty to it, like trying to blow up Mount Tai with a firecracker..."
"I looked up the Borei ballistic missile nuclear submarine. It fires Bulava intercontinental missiles, three-stage solid-fuel submarine-launched missiles. The third stage runs out of propellant at an altitude of 500 kilometers. Its remaining velocity can only carry it up to a maximum altitude of 2,800 kilometers before Earth's gravity drags it back down. But judging by the report, it's supposed to explode when it reaches that maximum altitude of 2,800 kilometers."
"A Deep Space nuclear detonation test? What for?"
The hall was filled with chaotic discussion. Gao Jian took in every conversation as he watched the news on the screen, keenly recognizing one thing.
They had reacted far too quickly. Far too fast.
Under normal circumstances, a Deep Space nuclear detonation test did not warrant such a strong reaction. At most, it would affect satellites, but every satellite around Earth was currently damaged. In theory, this Deep Space nuclear test was harmless.
Why such a huge reaction?
He could only analyze it in light of his own experiences.
The Russian intercontinental nuclear missile's maximum altitude of 2,800 kilometers was calculated on the assumption that gravity would keep dragging it down.
But once it flew beyond Low Earth Orbit at 500 kilometers, Earth's gravity would abruptly drop to almost zero. At its speed, the intercontinental missile could easily cross the 500-kilometer mark. Once gravity stopped dragging it down, it would immediately enter a constant-velocity flight phase.
The intercontinental missile would become an interstellar missile.
If the Lorentz Force Spiral still existed in the Van Allen Radiation Belt, the intercontinental nuclear missile would spiral along at a constant speed. It really could hit the Moon.
But why?
Did Russia have a grudge against Buddhist cultivators?
Gao Jian was utterly baffled. Just then, he felt a small, soft hand tug at his sleeve and turned his head.
It was Song Yaozu from R&D, the same age as Gao Jian, with a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University.
Despite being named Yaozu-"glory to the ancestors"-he had delicate, strikingly attractive features that even his gray work uniform could not hide. That was precisely why the organization had carefully selected him as the first blind date to introduce to Gao Jian.
But the organization had only vetted Yaozu's family, apparently forgetting to check his personality. Gao Jian was wholly devoted to the Dao, while Yaozu was wholly devoted to absurdist antics. It would have been a miracle if those two had worked out. Although the match went nowhere, Yaozu became Gao Jian's slacking-off buddy from then on. They were close in private, practically mother and son.
-At least, that was how little Yaozu saw it.
When Gao Jian went to the United States to visit NASA, he had even feigned illness and taken leave to go along. But his visa application hit a snag, so he stole his younger sister Song Guangzong's ID card. The visa officer saw through that too, leaving him with no choice but to sigh wistfully at the thought of America.
He had even been the first to find that earlier Douyin video with over nine million likes on YouTube while surfing foreign sites for porn. He downloaded it, edited it, and added some music from Detective Chinatown, creating the iconic scene of a CNSA observer tearing into NASA's chief engineer.
Later, major official media outlets reposted it, stripping out the background music and using it as archival footage. He deserved plenty of credit for Gao Jian's explosive rise to fame in China.
"Gao Jian."
"What?" Gao Jian asked warily.
Yaozu glanced around furtively, then lowered his voice. "You've gotta know something. C'mon, tell me."
"What do you want to talk about?"
Song Yaozu pointed at the live feed on the curved screen. At that moment, everyone, including Director Dan, was watching the big screen. No one was paying him any attention.
"I'm not involved. How would I know?" Gao Jian was speechless at this guy from Henan.
"You went all the way to the United States, and Musk's practically your fanboy now. You've gotta know what's going on." Song Yaozu did not believe him at all.
Gao Jian explained almost reflexively, "Ugh, don't bring that up. Just thinking about it pisses me off. Musk used me as his weapon. He told me a bunch of secrets and got me to expose them."
"Really?" Song Yaozu exclaimed in surprise. "How could Musk be that nasty?"
"How many big capitalists are decent people?" Gao Jian sneered.
Song Yaozu looked thoughtful. He had never been a big capitalist, but everything he had read growing up told him that big capitalists really were rotten bastards who belonged dangling from lampposts.
Gao Jian's mind was consumed by concern over the nuclear missile. Faced with Song Yaozu's repeated questions, he fobbed him off with distracted, halfhearted answers.
"Hey." Song Yaozu poked Gao Jian's arm.
"What now?" Without realizing it, Gao Jian had picked up a hint of a Henan accent.
"Director Egg's looking at you."
What Director Egg?
Gao Jian instinctively turned and met Director Dan Zhongde's piercing gaze.
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