In orbit above Orange Star, a silver thing with wings was slowly squirming.
Before long, it had transformed into a brand-new silver satellite. It had no interest in the faint stirrings of electromagnetic force coming from the barren planet below.
It felt that somewhere within the star system was a place that drew it in.
The silver satellite ignited its existing mechanisms, and tiny particle thrusters propelled its body.
It flew deeper into the star system...
In the silence of space, a man-made spacecraft was slowly making its way forward.
All that could be seen here were points of light scattered across the darkness, or a nebula the apparent size of a washbasin. Behind the ship lay a ball of fire.
The spacecraft had a white exterior and was shaped like a Ferris wheel. It came from the human civilization of Water Blue Star, carrying a large shipment of supplies to support Orange Star.
The space transport Tianhe 1.
Its main body was an enormous framework, like two umbrella canopies joined top to bottom, while its rim resembled a bicycle tire, forming a large, rounded ring.
Cylinders extended from both the front and rear of its center, housing enormous bidirectional propulsion engines. Within thirty meters of the giant engines, there was nothing but empty space and massive support struts.
Fuel pipelines and control wiring were concealed inside the struts. The outer region, from thirty to seventy meters, was more complicated.
Rectangular cargo containers were packed densely together there, overlapping like the plates of armor worn by ancient warriors.
Each container was eight meters long, three meters wide, and three meters high. They were mounted in four rings around the central region, tapering from seven layers thick near the center to four at the rim.
Amid the cargo holds carrying a total of 178,000 tonnes was a fuel compartment that encircled the entire engine.
The fuel compartment looked as though it had been sliced into four separate sections. Each held a different fuel, which would only be injected into the engine after mixing.
Near the outer edge of these four sections were human Stasis Pods and living areas, protected by the cargo containers just like the fuel compartment.
Then came the thirty-meter-diameter "tire." The living compartment occupied the region from seventy to ninety meters, running around the entire rim in a ring divided internally by more than a hundred airtight doors.
The ship was equipped with artificial gravity. Since feeding the humans and handling their bodily needs and survival after they reached Orange Star would require too many resources, it carried only twenty-four crew members.
Tianhe 1 was hauling fully automated construction machinery needed by Orange Star Base. Humanity was already preparing to transform the planet.
Tianhe 1 was now about three million kilometers from Orange Star, and the intelligent system controlling the transport began to wake.
The ship began reducing its current speed of 200,000 kilometers per hour, approximately fifty-four kilometers per second through space.
The program began compiling and processing information. The protective covers over Tianhe 1's large reaction thruster nozzles opened, and blue ion streams flared to life, slowing the ship.
In just twenty-three days, this cargo ship with a mass of 550,000 tonnes would enter orbit around Orange Star.
At the same time, Tianhe 1's artificial intelligence formally sent a communications request to Orange Star.
[WFBC01...] [Access code...] [Requesting access to Orange Star communications...] [...] [...]
The electromagnetic signal took nearly ten seconds to reach Orange Star.
But Orange Star's communications satellite network had long since been destroyed. The message received no response-
Over twelve hours without a response, the artificial intelligence repeated the transmission every ten minutes.
After seventy-two attempts.
The artificial intelligence confirmed that Orange Star had sent no reply. It immediately activated the wake-up protocol and switched to manual operation.
In No. 1 Hibernation Area, ceiling lights cast a faint White Light. The cream-colored walls were made up of individual blocks that looked like pieces of bread.
Two groups of pale yellow Stasis Pods were arranged symmetrically, six in total.
Through the narrow glass window of one Stasis Pod, half a man's face could be seen, illuminated by beige light.
A black breathing mask covered his mouth and nose. Kept asleep by drugs and sustained by nutrient fluid, the man looked utterly peaceful.
The pod looked just like a coffin.
"Beep-" The alarm sounded only once.
The room's white lights came on at full brightness, illuminating the beige interior.
The Stasis Pod lids slowly opened like staplers, revealing humans dressed in pale yellow clothing. A storage case popped out beside each pod.
As the wake-up protocol took effect, a young man woke under the influence of the drugs.
His eyelids twitched, then slowly opened a crack.
Still groggy, he pulled off his breathing mask and gagged.
His body began functioning again, and memories flooded his mind.
The young man felt dizzy and muddled, his whole body weak. "This is... the ship... my head hurts..."
He opened his eyes as they adjusted to the light, struggled upright, and rubbed his head, revealing blue metallic-looking bands around both wrists.
There were three men and three women in this hibernation area, all wearing wristbands.
The artificial intelligence said, "Good evening, crew members. An exceptional situation has triggered an early awakening."
"Tianhe 1 has been unable to contact Orange Star. Estimated time until arrival in Orange Star orbit is eighteen days and ten hours."
A kindly woman's voice rang out. "I recommend resting briefly before considering food to replenish yourselves."
"Hi, Lin He... morning..." A petite young woman greeted Lin He groggily.
Her little snow-white hands rubbed her round cheeks, and she hazily stepped onto the floor.
She swayed every few steps, looking as though she might fall at any moment.
The others instinctively offered greetings, though they were just as out of it.
"Morning..."
"Morning..."
"Urgh-" A young woman bent over and retched.
Her curvy rear drew a glance. Beside her, a muscular older man lay on his side in his Stasis Pod, smiling.
"You okay?" Lin He asked casually, though he really did not want to move at all.
The young woman's limp body slumped heavily onto him. Lin He's eyes rolled back, and he nearly threw up.
"I'm dying... my head's spinning... urgh-"
"Hey! Don't throw up on me-there's a bag!" Lin He instinctively tried to push her away, but with no strength in his body, it looked more like playful flirting.
A handsome young man put on black-framed glasses and twisted his neck with a series of cracks. Enduring the discomfort in his muscles, he slowly stretched his arms and said, "Our stomachs haven't taken in food for several months straight. Our digestive capabilities have probably almost deteriorated."
The older man was in his early forties. When he got up and stepped out of his Stasis Pod, he stood an impressive 1.9 meters tall, his bulky muscles filling out his clothes.
Looking at these weaklings, he stroked his full beard and chimed in, "You two lads and three young ladies, can we go get something to eat? My mouth's forgotten what flavor is."
Lin He shook his head weakly. "Probably not..."
"Same..." The girl draped over Lin He shifted her body.
Lin He said, "Hey, stop moving me!"
Two hours later, the six of them put on white uniform jackets.
Supporting one another in twos and threes, they made their way to the gathering hall.
The hall was cylindrical, five meters in diameter, with a round table and chairs with backrests in the center. Raised padded blocks covered the walls.
It connected to the kitchen and the hibernation room.
Lin He sat in a soft-backed chair, still feeling dizzy and muddled.
A tall woman lay slumped over the table. Her name was He Xuan. With a heart-shaped face and jet-black hair falling past her shoulders, she was young and pretty, like a minor celebrity.
She was also an outstanding scientist who had participated in the design of Tianhe 1.
The older man seated to her right was named Li Junran. With his crew cut, square face, and full beard, he looked very mature.
According to him, the girls at bars liked mature, strong, caring older men best. He was a permanent space station staff member with extensive experience working in space.
The girl who barely made her presence felt was named Huang Qi. Any eye contact made her hastily lower her head. She was a talented plant researcher.
The rather handsome young man with glasses, Qi Siyu, was proficient in all sorts of programming and electronic hardware technologies. In fact, his glasses were only frames.
And the clingy little dumpling beside Lin He was Wang Xiaofei. Her oval face had a touch of cute baby fat, and her enormous, watery eyes fluttered with an innocent look.
She was the clingy junior type, working in mechanical engineering and manufacturing research-and she really was his junior.
He Xuan raised her head and asked, "Mom, how far are we from Orange Star?"
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