Beijing.
At the Orbital Design Institute of the Pan-Asian Academy of Sciences, a group of researchers in white coats stood in front of a map with sad faces, pointing at several red circles drawn on the map.
“What about point 104? I remember in the alternative…”
“Impossible. It was discussed at the meeting last time. Although there has been no strong geological activity in 50 years, this area is still on the volcanic belt!”
“Then point 86—”
At this moment, footsteps could be heard coming from outside the door, interrupting the discussion among the researchers surrounding the holographic map.
Looking in the direction of the door, the scholar with sideburns immediately showed a surprised expression at the person who walked into the office. He stepped forward and asked, “Chairman… and Secretary-General? Academician Lu? You… Why are you here?”
Two of the most powerful figures in the Pan-Asian Cooperation!
And Academician Lu, a leader in academia!
Although the speech at the fusion ignition day celebration made him foresee that the space elevator project was becoming a national key project for the Pan-Asian Cooperation, he did not expect that his small palace would attract so many big names.
“My apologies for disturbing you all.” Li Guangya nodded when looking at the old scholar who came forward. He then looked at Lu Zhou standing beside him and spoke.
“This is Academician Ge Huaizhi, the director of the Orbital Design Institute. He is also the person in charge of the current space elevator project. Since about 5 years ago, his research team has been tackling technical problems in the space elevator field. He is a top player in the field.”
After hearing the introduction by Chairman Li Guangya, Academician Ge suddenly showed an awkward expression on his face, and he said with some subtlety, “Oh, you’re too kind. After so many years of researching in this field, I still can’t produce a decent result. I’m really ashamed.”
“There is no need to be ashamed of this kind of thing. Scientific research is not about producing results,” Lu Zhou reassured as he looked at the embarrassed Academician Ge. He then went straight to the main topic and asked, “So, what problems do you have?”
Before Academician Ge could speak, Li Guangya coughed slightly and spoke first.
“We ran into problems for the site selection…”
“Site selection?”
Lu Zhou glanced at Academician Ge in disbelief. After getting a positive confirmation from his facial expression, Lu Zhou’s face showed an annoyed expression. He couldn’t help but complain, “I didn’t expect you guys to have this kind of problem.”
“Ahem, as the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning…” Li Gaoliang gave a dry cough. He quickly shifted the topic to the right track and continued with a serious expression, “Academician Ge, can you tell Academician Lu what’s the situation?”
Several researchers looked at each other.
Finally, Academician Ge sighed and said, “Here’s the thing…”
It took about three minutes for Academician Ge to explain the whole story to Lu Zhou in concise terms.
It turned out that, about five or six years ago, when the entire space elevator project first started, they had actually selected the site for the space elevator.
It was a small island close to Malaysia, located on the equator. Although it was very close to the Pacific Rim volcanic belt, theoretically, this island was not in a seismically active zone.
Unfortunately, an earthquake three years ago completely ruined their plan.
However, no one cared at that time. After all, until a few days ago, space elevator-related research was considered a relatively marginal research project in the Pan-Asian Cooperation, and even the researchers in the project team did not pay much attention to it. They treated the project as theoretical research.
Besides, the site selection was not critical. There was no guarantee when the project would begin. It didn’t make sense to find a site so eagerly.
However, no one thought that this day came so suddenly. All the issues that were not considered at that time, or that were not considered seriously, were all exposed.
After listening to Academician Ge’s description, Lu Zhou said without hesitation, “Let me see the map.”
“It’s here.” Academician Ge nodded. He immediately led Lu Zhou to the map suspended in the holographic window. Pointing at the red dots on the screen, he said, “These are the anchorages that we have investigated before. We invited marine geologists to make an evaluation for each of them… Previously, points 104 and 86 were our alternatives, but for various reasons, we eliminated them.”
Without listening to what Academician Ge was talking about, Lu Zhou stared at the map and thought for about 5 minutes. Suddenly, he reached out his index finger and clicked on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean on the east side of the Malay Archipelago.
“Finding an anchorage site for the space elevator on the volcanic belt around the Pacific Ocean is nothing short of a mess! The safest way is to build it directly on the Pacific Ocean.”
All the territorial waters of the Pan-Asian Cooperation on the equator were distributed at the junction of the Indian Ocean plate and the Pacific plate, or they were close to each other; it was almost impossible to find a suitable anchorage site.
Not to mention those points on the monsoon belt. In a sense, typhoons were more terrifying than earthquakes and volcanoes.
Therefore, from this perspective, the Pacific Ocean was the most suitable choice.
“I’m afraid not.” Secretary-General Wu Shuhua, who had never spoken, frowned slightly when she heard Lu Zhou’s words and reminded him, “This violates the international convention and is inconsistent with Pan-Asia’s diplomatic norms of building a community of shared future for mankind.”
A wry smile appeared on Academician Ge’s face. He made a helpless expression at Lu Zhou.
If he could find a small island in the Pacific, he would have proposed that.
However, this was clearly unrealistic.
“Not necessarily.” After hearing Wu Shuhua’s words, Lu Zhou looked at her and said, “It is precisely because the diplomatic principle of the Pan-Asian Cooperation is to build a community of human destiny that we should set an example to build this space elevator on international waters.”
Wu Shuhua frowned and was about to say something when Li Guangya, who was standing next to him, suddenly smiled and interjected.
“Academician Lu is right. Once the space elevator is built, the whole world can benefit from it. From this perspective, there is nothing wrong with our behavior. We represent the interests of all mankind.”
“This… This is outrageous. Don’t you think this is a bit far-fetched?”
Hearing Li Guangya’s words, Wu Shuhua couldn’t help but frown.
In fact, what she wanted to say was that this was too barbaric, and it undermined the international image of the Pan-Asian Cooperation.
However, Li Guangya smiled heartily, as if he didn’t take it seriously.
“It’s not far-fetched. It’s a bit irrational at best… But I think we are still quite strong, so there should be no problem with doing this. Even if we cause a diplomatic dispute, I believe that with your abilities, you can easily solve it!”
Wu Shuhua sighed. She did not continue to say anything about this issue. Instead, she persuaded from another angle.
“Setting aside the diplomatic issues for the time being… Have you ever considered the cost of building space elevators on international waters?”
Before Li Guangya could speak, Wu Shuhua continued, “In terms of cost, the farther the anchorage of this space elevator is from our economic zone, the higher the cost of construction and maintenance, and the lower the economic utility. Even if this is a project that will benefit the future, we should leave a valuable fortune to future generations, not a heavy burden.”
Academician Ge nodded and added, “Cost is really a big problem… A space elevator with a total length of 500 kilometers. This kind of super-project is an astronomical figure in terms of the logistics cost of construction materials, not to mention the construction. The construction site is close to our transportation network. The farther we go, the greater the pressure on our costs.”
The discussion seemed to stop.
Even Li Guangya, who agreed with Lu Zhou’s opinion before, had an embarrassed expression on his face.
True.
If the space elevator is far from the borders of the Pan-Asian Cooperation, there’s no point.
In addition, he also thought of other issues, such as national security.
Guarding an elevator with a vertical height of 500 kilometers on international waters was obviously not as convenient as having it in their own territory.
Chairman Li Guangya cast a look at Lu Zhou for help. He asked sincerely, “Are there any alternatives?”
Lu Zhou thought about it for a while before giving a reply that seemed feasible to him, “Although I don’t understand economics very well, the decision of our Lunar Orbit Committee back then was to build a city on the moon.”
Build a city?
Hearing these words, Wu Shuhua was stunned.
“Build a city? You mean to fill the sea to make land? On the international waters of the Pacific Ocean? How could that be—”
“I didn’t say fill the sea to build land.” Interrupting her, Lu Zhou continued in a calm tone, “We build a big ship that’s about the size of Guanghan City, then let it float on the sea, and every year, we can move it a centimeter or two… No one will measure it anyway.”
“I understand what you mean.” Li Guangya’s eyes lit up, and he reacted in an instant. “Just like the strategy we adopted in Guanghan City, the territory of the moon belongs to all of mankind, but the aerospace devices on the moon are the properties of the Pan-Asian people!”
Lu Zhou smiled and nodded.
“That’s it.”
Freedom of navigation was the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, organizations, and regional alliances. No one could stop the ship from sailing just because it was a little slow.
With the current technical strength and industrial capabilities of Pan-Asian cooperation, it was perfectly possible to build this floating city on the sea for the space elevator project!
Li Guangya’s eyes became brighter. His right hand clenched into a fist, and he struck it hard on the palm of his left hand.
“It’s decided then!
“We’ll call this the Penglai!”
