Part 25 (1/2)

YE: I started the fire, but I couldn't control how it burnt.

INTERROGATOR: You had a plan to eliminate the Adventists from within the ETO, and you even began to implement this plan. But Judgment Day is the core base and command center for the Adventists, and Mike Evans and other Adventist leaders usually reside there. Why didn't you attack the s.h.i.+p first? Most of the armed forces of the Redemptionists are loyal to you, and you should have enough firepower to sink it or capture it.

YE: It's because of the messages from the Lord that they intercepted. All those messages are stored in the Second Red Coast Base, on some computer on Judgment Day. If we attacked that s.h.i.+p, the Adventists could erase all the messages when they realized that loss was imminent. Those messages are too important for us to risk losing them. For Redemptionists, losing those messages would be as if Christians lost the Bible or Muslims lost the Koran. I think you are faced with the same problem. The Adventists are holding the Lord's messages hostage, and that is why Judgment Day has remained unmolested so far.

INTERROGATOR: Do you have any advice for us?

YE: No.

INTERROGATOR: You also call Trisolaris your ”Lord.” Does this mean that you've also developed religious feelings for Trisolaris like the Redemptionists? Are you already a follower of the Trisolaran faith?

YE: Not at all. It's just a habit.... I do not wish to discuss it further.

INTERROGATOR: Let's get back to those intercepted messages. Maybe you don't know the exact contents, but surely you must have heard rumors of some of the details?

YE: Probably only baseless rumors.

INTERROGATOR: Such as?

YE:...

INTERROGATOR: Did Trisolaris transfer certain technologies to the Adventists, technologies more advanced than current human technology?

YE: Not likely. Because such technology would risk falling into your hands.

INTERROGATOR: One last question, and also the most important: Until now, has Trisolaris sent only radio waves to the Earth?

YE: Almost true.

INTERROGATOR: Almost?

YE: The current Trisolaran civilization is capable of s.p.a.ce travel at one-tenth the speed of light. This technology leap occurred a few decades ago in Earth years. Before that point, their maximum speed had hovered around one-thousandth the speed of light. The tiny probes that they sent to the Earth have not even completed one-hundredth of the journey between there and here.

INTERROGATOR: Then I have a question. If the Trisolaran Fleet that had been launched is capable of flight at one-tenth the speed of light, it should take only forty years to reach the solar system. So why do you say that it would take more than four hundred years?

YE: Here's the thing. The Trisolaran Interstellar Fleet is composed of incredibly ma.s.sive s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps. Accelerating them is a slow process. One-tenth the speed of light is only their maximum speed, but they cannot cruise at this speed for long before decelerating as they approach the Earth. Also, the source of propulsion for the Trisolaran s.h.i.+ps is matter-antimatter annihilation. In front of each s.h.i.+p is a large magnetic field shaped like a funnel to collect antimatter particles from s.p.a.ce. This collection process is slow, and only after a long wait can it gather enough antimatter to allow the s.h.i.+p to accelerate for a brief period. Thus, the fleet's acceleration occurs in spurts, interspersed by long periods of coasting to collect fuel. This is why the time it takes the Trisolaran Fleet to reach the solar system is ten times longer than the flight time of a small probe.

INTERROGATOR: Then what did you mean by ”almost” just now?

YE: We're talking about the speed of s.p.a.ce flight within a certain context. Outside this context, even backward human beings are capable of accelerating certain objects to close to the speed of light.

INTERROGATOR: (a pause) By ”context,” do you mean at the macro scale? At a micro scale, humans can already use high-energy particle accelerators to speed up subatomic particles to near the speed of light. These particles are the ”objects” you meant, correct?

YE: You're very clever.

INTERROGATOR: (points to his earpiece) I have the world's foremost scientists behind me.

YE: Yes, I meant subatomic particles. Six years ago, in the distant Trisolaran stellar system, Trisolaris accelerated two hydrogen nuclei to near the speed of light and shot them toward the solar system. These two hydrogen nuclei, or protons, arrived at the solar system two years ago, then reached the Earth.

INTERROGATOR: Two protons? They only sent two protons? That's almost nothing.

YE: (laughs) You also said ”almost.” That's the limit of Trisolaran power. They can only accelerate something as small as a proton to near the speed of light. So over a distance of four light-years, they can only send two protons.

INTERROGATOR: At the macroscopic level, two protons are nothing. Even a single cilium on a bacterium would include several billion protons. What's the point?

YE: They're a lock.

INTERROGATOR: A lock? What are they locking?

YE: They are sealing off the progress of human science. Because of the existence of these two protons, humanity will not be able to make any important scientific developments during the four and a half centuries until the arrival of the Trisolaran Fleet. Evans once said that the day of arrival of the two protons was also the day that human science died.

INTERROGATOR: That's ... too fantastic. How can that be?

YE: I don't know. I really don't know. In the eyes of Trisolaran civilization, we're probably not even primitive savages. We might be mere bugs.

It was near midnight by the time w.a.n.g Miao and Ding Yi walked out of the Battle Command Center. They had been invited to listen to Ye's interrogation due to w.a.n.g's involvement in the case and Ding Yi's connection to Ye's daughter.

”Do you believe what Ye Wenjie said?” w.a.n.g asked.

”Do you?”

”Many things that have happened recently are incredible. But for two protons to block all progress of human science? That seems...”

”Let's focus on one thing first. The Trisolarans were able to shoot two protons at the Earth from four light-years away and they both reached the target! That accuracy is incredible! There are numerous obstacles between there and here: interstellar dust, for example. And both the solar system and the Earth are moving. It would require more precision than shooting a mosquito here from Pluto. The shooter is beyond imagination.”

w.a.n.g's heart clenched when he heard ”shooter.” ”What do you think this means?”

”I don't know. In your impression, what do subatomic particles such as neutrons and protons look like?”

”They would just look like a point. Though the point has internal structure.”

”Luckily, the image in my head is more realistic than yours.” As Ding spoke, he tossed his cigarette b.u.t.t away. ”What do you think that is?” He pointed at the b.u.t.t.

”A cigarette filter.”

”Good. Looking at that tiny thing from this distance, how would you describe it?”

”It's practically just a point.”

”Right.” Ding walked over and picked up the b.u.t.t. In front of w.a.n.g's eyes he tore it open and revealed the yellowed spongy material inside. w.a.n.g smelled burnt tar. Ding continued, ”Look, if you spread this little thing open, the adsorbent surface area can be as large as a living room.” He tossed the filter away. ”Do you smoke pipes?”

”I no longer smoke anything.”

”Pipes use another type of more advanced filter. You can get one for three yuan. The diameter is about the same as a cigarette filter, but it's longer: a small paper tube filled with active charcoal. If you take out all the active charcoal, it will look like a little pile of black particles, like mouse droppings. But added together, the adsorbent surface formed by the tiny holes inside is as large as a tennis court. This is why active charcoal is so adsorbent.”