"Well……"
In the hibernation room of the "Fire" spacecraft, the door of a hibernation cabin slowly opened, and Zhao Changxing, who was lying in it, slowly regained consciousness.
He sat up slowly and looked around in a daze, and saw nineteen other hibernating cabins near him, but none of their hatches were open.
"Captain, welcome to wake up."
The neutral voice of the spacecraft's artificial intelligence, Xiao Xi, came over.
Zhao Changxing recovered for a moment, suppressed his physical discomfort, and asked: "The voyage, is the voyage over?"
"Yes. We are still half a month away from the target, and the scheduled wake-up time has been reached."
Zhao Changxing felt disappointed.
It turns out that 55 years have passed...
Recalling the scene 55 years ago when I and my companions embarked on a voyage with the blessing of the human world and embarked on this mission to continue human civilization, it seems like just yesterday. But in the blink of an eye, decades have passed.
"They...why didn't they wake up?"
Zhao Changxing pointed to his companions.
"Unfortunately, after I performed the wake-up operation, you were the only one who woke up."
Zhao Changxing was shocked.
If they can't wake up, that means they will never wake up.
Once life is lost, it is impossible to come back.
Hibernation technology was developed in a hurry by human civilization and is not mature. Before entering hibernation, I and my companions were mentally prepared to never wake up again after falling asleep. But he didn't expect that when the voyage finally ended, he would be the only one who successfully woke up.
Zhao Changxing was silent for a moment and had to accept the result.
"What about...our civilization?"
Xiao Xi said: "I received the last message from the earth nineteen years ago, and I haven't received any more since then."
There is a screen above the hibernation cabin. The next moment, the last message Xiao Xi received appeared on the screen.
That's a text.
"Affected by the gravitational disturbance during the process of the black hole swallowing the sun, an asteroid with a diameter of more than seven kilometers will hit the earth in a month. It is estimated that this impact will trigger a global earthquake. If there is no miracle, we will All survivors will die in this impact. This will be the last message our Earth base sends to you.
We pray with great devotion that one of you will read this letter. If someone can really see it, then, on behalf of all the survivors and victims on our planet, I extend my most sincere wishes to you or you. I wish you have successfully reached your destination at this moment. I wish that the "Tinder" spacecraft will operate normally. I wish you all the best in your follow-up work. I wish you can successfully continue our civilization. I wish our human civilization can one day step into the universe and the stars. , no longer afraid of these disasters.
We will be here on Earth blessing you until the very end. May civilization last forever and its spark never be extinguished. "
A huge sense of unreality enveloped Zhao Changxing. Although he had anticipated this situation before he started hibernating.
"I, I... I am the last human being alive in this universe?"
"It should be." Xiao Xi said: "Of course, if you want, you can breed more humans at any time. The sperm bank and egg bank on the spacecraft are still well preserved."
Zhao Changxing waved his hand feebly and remained silent for a long time.
This disaster originated nearly a hundred years ago.
At that time, human astronomers observed some unusual gravitational disturbances. It seemed that some external gravitational source was pulling on these celestial bodies in the inner solar system. However, despite repeated searches, no celestial bodies were found near the calculated coordinate points. It was not until the observation equipment was continuously upgraded that people finally determined that it was a black hole.
A miniature black hole about 1.5 times the mass of Earth.
People don't know where it comes from, or what disturbances it received before rushing into the solar system. People only know that it will eventually rush towards the sun and completely swallow it up. In this process, the gravitational chaos of the galaxy caused by mass transfer, the radiation emitted by the black hole swallowing the sun's mass, and the radiation erupted by the sun's "struggle" will make the entire inner solar system no longer suitable for human survival.
Not even hiding underground. Gravitational chaos will cause a large number of asteroids, comets, etc. to rush into the inner solar system and continuously impact all major planets, including the Earth. The violent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions they cause will kill all the people hiding underground.
The demise of human civilization is a foregone conclusion. And people are not willing to call it a day from the cosmic stage.
Led by the Civilization Management Committee, countless scientists and engineers invested in the "Fire" project. It took thirty years to finally build the "Fire" spacecraft where Zhao Changxing and twenty other astronauts are currently located.
It contains a sperm bank and egg bank capable of breeding millions of people, hundreds of thousands of seeds and millions of frozen animal embryos, as well as a larger number of bacterial and virus specimens, as well as the latest developed nuclear fusion engines and Ion and conventional hybrid propellers, the most efficient water circulation and thermal circulation systems, soilless cultivation plantations, almost fully automated livestock farms, artificial intelligence medical centers and other facilities.
We cannot stay in the inner solar system, and interstellar navigation is unrealistic at the current level of human science and technology. The only thing that can possibly continue human civilization is the distant celestial body beyond Neptune. Although it is cold, dead, and lacks light, there is still hope for building a base there, slowly multiplying the population, and slowly expanding your homeland with the most advanced human technology.
Given time, maybe it can really become a place for the revival of human civilization.
The target chosen by the Spark spacecraft is a planet that is 11.4 billion kilometers away from the sun at its closest point and 77.5 billion kilometers away at its farthest point. It has a diameter of only about 1,000 kilometers and a mass that is only about 1/73 of the moon. A distant planet. This planet is numbered as asteroid 90377 and is also called Sedna.
It is one of the farthest solar system planets known to have reached hydrostatic equilibrium from the Sun. Its such a long distance minimizes the impact of the radiation released when the sun is swallowed by the black hole.
Because it is so empty there, the possibility of being hit by an asteroid is very low. In addition, its surface is rich in tholin, a mixture of simple structural organic matter such as methane and ethane that is irradiated with ultraviolet light and can be used as fuel, as well as a considerable amount of water ice. Further observations show that it supports a Most of the various raw materials needed for the industrialization process of civilization have considerable amounts, and people eventually selected it as the destination of the Tinder Project.
Of course, it is still too small compared to the earth to support a prosperous civilization, but even if everything goes well, the fire of human civilization that has just migrated there will spend the primary stage of civilization development there - with a population of more than a thousand Ten thousand years ago, hundreds to thousands of years may have passed since then. Human scientists at this stage really cannot predict what will happen at that time. It is left to the people at that time to decide how to choose in the future.
Now, the Spark spacecraft is about to reach its destination. And Zhao Changxing has become probably the only human being in the entire universe.
"Captain, during these years of voyage, our spaceship..."
"I need to take a break."
Zhao Changxing stopped Xiao Xi from continuing. Afterwards, he staggered out of the hibernation cabin and came to his lounge.
He stayed in the lounge for five full days. During these five days, he recovered physically while making psychological adjustments, and received psychological treatment through interactive videos produced by the world's top psychologists.
Accepting the situation at this moment was not easy even for Zhao Changxing, who had passed the most stringent psychological test before departure and had a mental toughness that ordinary people could not imagine. But he knew that he had to accept this situation as soon as possible and adjust his mentality. You must be energetic, confident, positive and optimistic, and determined. Because only in this way can I hope to complete the task of continuing human civilization.
So five days later, when Zhao Changxing left his lounge, the person he was once familiar with was always confident and calm no matter what difficulties he encountered, as if he would not be knocked down by any difficulties, always energetic, optimistic and positive, Zhao Changxing, who always has a faint smile on his lips, is back.
"Hello, Xiaoxi."
"Hello, Captain. You seem to be in a good mood today."
"Of course. The first such long-distance interstellar voyage was successful. After hibernating for 55 years using immature hibernation technology, I can still wake up successfully without any sequelae. Isn't this worthy of happiness? Okay, Xiao Xi, let's go Tell me everything that happened in these 55 years."
"Okay. Here's the situation..."
Xiaoxi's report is very long. With the help of audio, video and text data, Zhao Changxing finally figured out the overall situation of the spacecraft at the moment.
Due to an impact during the voyage, the main axis of the spacecraft was seriously damaged. After decelerating into orbit and entering the orbit around Sedna, it will no longer be able to support another acceleration and deceleration action. The third circle was smashed by an asteroid, and the reserve The supplies were almost completely lost. Water, fusion fuel, oxygen reserves, and food reserves are all in critical condition. As for the rest of the components, some minor problems such as gas leakage, blockage of some circulation channels, etc. need not be mentioned.
The main shaft of the spacecraft was seriously damaged. This failure is not fatal for the time being. After all, after entering the orbit around Sedna, Zhao Changxing did not prepare to leave again in a short period of time. But the loss of materials in the third circle is more serious.
Because the food for the astronauts to survive is stored there.
Without food, Zhao Changxing will starve to death here.
"The situation is really bad." Zhao Changxing said to himself: "But it doesn't matter, there will always be a way."
