Death's End (The Three-Body Problem) Read online

  DEATH’S END

  Cixin Liu

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  About this Book

  About the Author

  Table of Contents

  www.headofzeus.com

  About Death’s End

  Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay.

  It is an uneasy balance, but the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge has triggered an era of unprecedented prosperity on Earth. With human science advancing and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations can co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But has peace also made humanity complacent?

  Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the 21st century, awakens from hibernation into this new age. She brings knowledge of a long-forgotten program dating from the start of the Trisolar Crisis, and her presence may fatally upset the delicate balance between two worlds.

  The universe is a dark and dangerous place, devoid of mercy or sentiment. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?

  Contents

  Cover

  Welcome Page

  About Death’s End

  A Brief Note from the Translator

  Table of Eras

  Excerpt from the Preface to A Past Outside of Time

  Part I

  May 1453, C.E. The Death of the Magician

  Crisis Era, Year 1 The Option for Life

  Crisis Era, Year 4 Yun Tianming

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Infantilism at the Start of the Crisis

  Crisis Era, Year 4 Yun Tianming

  Crisis Era, Years 1–4 Cheng Xin

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Hibernation: Man Walks for the First Time Through Time

  Crisis Era, Years 1–4 Cheng Xin

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Staircase Program

  Crisis Era, Years 1–4 Cheng Xin

  Crisis Era, Years 5–7 The Staircase Program

  Part II

  Deterrence Era, Year 12 Bronze Age

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Nyctohylophobia

  Deterrence Era, Year 12 Bronze Age

  Deterrence Era, Year 13 Trial

  Deterrence Era, Year 61 The Swordholder

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Ghost of the Wallfacers: The Swordholder

  Deterrence Era, Year 61 The Swordholder

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Cultural Reflection

  Deterrence Era, Year 61 The Swordholder

  Deterrence Era, Year 62 Gravity, in the Vicinity of the Oort Cloud

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time More Indirect Evidence for the Dark Forest: Sophon-Blind Regions

  Deterrence Era, Year 62 Gravity, in the Vicinity of the Oort Cloud

  Deterrence Era, Year 62 November 28, 4:00 P.M. to 4:17 P.M. Deterrence Center

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Choice of the Swordholder: Ten Minutes Between Existence and Annihilation

  Deterrence Era, Year 62 November 28, 4:00 P.M. to 4:17 P.M. Deterrence Center

  The Final Ten Minutes of the Deterrence Era, Year 62 November 28, 4:17:34 P.M. to 4:27:58 P.M. Deterrence Center

  Post-Deterrence Era, First Hour A Lost World

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Reflections on the Failure of Dark Forest Deterrence

  Post-Deterrence Era, First Hour A Lost World

  Post-Deterrence Era, Day 60 A Lost World

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Technology Explosion on Trisolaris

  Post-Deterrence Era, Day 60 A Lost World

  Post-Deterrence Era, Year 2 Australia

  The Final Ten Minutes of the Deterrence Era, Year 62 November 28, 4:17:34 P.M. to 4:27:58 P.M. Gravity and Blue Space, Deep Space

  Post-Deterrence Era, Year 2 The Morning After the Great Resettlement, Australia

  Post-Deterrence Era, Day 1–Day 5 Gravity and Blue Space, Deep Space Beyond the Oort Cloud

  Part III

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Cheng Xin

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Delusions of Cosmic Persecution The Last Attempt to Invalidate Dark Forest Theory

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Cheng Xin

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time A New Model for the Dark Forest

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Sophon

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Cosmic Safety Notice: A Lonely Performance Art

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Sophon

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Long Staircase

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Yun Tianming

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

  The First Tale of Yun Tianming “The New Royal Painter”

  The Second Tale of Yun Tianming “The Glutton’s Sea”

  The Third Tale of Yun Tianming “Prince Deep Water”

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Bunker Project: An Ark for Earth Civilization

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Motion Through Bending Space

  Broadcast Era, Year 7 Yun Tianming’s Fairy Tales

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Three Paths of Survival for Earth Civilization

  Broadcast Era, Year 8 Fate’s Choice

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Space Sentries: The Solar System Advance Warning System

  Broadcast Era, Year 8 Fate’s Choice

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time Terror of the Endless Night

  Broadcast Era, Year 8 Sun-Earth Lagrangian Point

  Part IV

  Bunker Era, Year 11 Bunker World

  Bunker Era, Year 11 Lightspeed II

  Bunker Era, Year 11 Halo City

  Part V

  Bunker Era, Year 67 Orion Arm of the Milky Way

  Bunker Era, Year 67 Halo

  Bunker Era, Year 66 Outside the Solar System

  Bunker Era, Year 68 Pluto

  Bunker Era, Year 68 The Two-Dimensional Solar System

  Part VI

  Galaxy Era, Year 409 Our Star

  About Seventeen Billion Years After the Beginning of Time Our Star

  Outside of Time Our Universe

  Excerpt from A Past Outside of Time The Stairs of Responsibility

  Outside of Time Our Universe

  Translator’s Postscript

  About Cixin Liu

  About the Translator

  About The Three-Body Problem Series

  An Invitation from the Publisher

  Copyright

  A Brief Note from the Translator

  Chinese and Korean names in this text are rendered with surnames first and given names last, in accordance with the customs of these cultures. For example, in the name “Yun Tianming,” YUN is the surname and TIANMING is the given name.

  CHARACTERS FROM THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM AND THE DARK FOREST

  (Chinese names are written with surname first.)

  Ye Wenjie

  Physicist whose family was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. She initiated contact with the Trisolarans and precipitated the Trisolar Crisis.

  Yang Dong

  Physicist; daughter of Ye Wenjie.

  Ding Yi

  Theoretical physicist and the first human to make contact with the Trisolaran droplets; Yang Dong’s boyfriend.

  Zhang Beihai

  Officer in the Asian Fleet who hijacked Natural Selection during the Doomsday Battle, thus preserving a flicker of hope for humanity during their darkest hour. Possibly one of the first officers to understand the nature of dark battles.

  Secretary General
Say

  UN secretary general during the Trisolar Crisis.

  Manuel Rey Diaz

  Wallfacer; he proposed the giant hydrogen bomb plan as a defense against the Trisolarans.

  Luo Ji

  Wallfacer; discoverer of the dark forest theory; creator of dark forest deterrence.

  Table of Eras

  Common Era Present–201X C.E.

  Crisis Era 201X–2208

  Deterrence Era 2208–2270

  Post-Deterrence Era 2270–2272

  Broadcast Era 2272–2332

  Bunker Era 2333–2400

  Galaxy Era 2273–unknown

  Black Domain Era for DX3906 System 2687–18906416

  Timeline for Universe 647 18906416–...

  Excerpt from the Preface to A Past Outside of Time

  I suppose this ought to be called history; but since all I can rely on is my memory, it lacks the rigor of history.

  It’s not even accurate to call it the past, for the events related in these pages didn’t occur in the past, aren’t taking place now, and will not happen in the future.

  I don’t want to record the details. Only a frame, for a history or an account of the past. The details that have been preserved are already abundant. Sealed in floating bottles, they will hopefully reach the new universe and endure there.

  So I’ve written only a frame; someday, the frame may make it easier to fill in all the specifics. Of course, that task won’t fall to us. I just hope such a day will come for someone.

  I regret that day didn’t exist in the past, doesn’t exist in the present, and will not exist in the future.

  I move the sun to the west, and as the angle of the light shifts, the dewdrops on the seedlings in the field glisten like countless eyes suddenly popping open. I dim the sun so that dusk arrives earlier; then I stare at the silhouette of myself on the distant horizon, in front of the setting sun.

  I wave at the silhouette; the silhouette waves back. Looking at the shadow of myself, I feel young again.

  This is a lovely time, just right for remembering.

  PART I

  May 1453, C.E. The Death of the Magician

  Pausing to collect himself, Constantine XI pushed away the pile of city-defense maps in front of him, pulled his purple robe tighter, and waited.

  His sense of time was very accurate: The tremor came the moment he expected it, a powerful, violent quake that seemed to originate from deep within the earth. The vibrating silver candelabra hummed, and a wisp of dust that had sat on top of the Great Palace for perhaps a thousand years fell down and drifted into the candle flames, where the motes exploded in tiny sparks.

  Every three hours—the time it took the Ottomans to reload one of the monstrous bombards designed by the engineer Orban—twelve-hundred-pound stone balls battered the walls of Constantinople. These were the world’s strongest walls: first built by Theodosius II during the fifth century, they had been continually reinforced and expanded, and were the main reason that the Byzantine court had survived so many powerful enemies.

  But the giant stone balls now gouged openings into the walls with each strike, like the bite of an invisible giant. The emperor could imagine the scene: While the debris from the explosion filled the air, countless soldiers and citizens rushed onto the fresh wound in the walls like a swarm of brave ants under a sky full of dust. They filled in the break with whatever was at hand: bits and pieces taken from other buildings in the city, flaxen-cloth bags of earth, expensive Arabic carpets.... He could even imagine the cloud of dust, steeped in the light of the setting sun, drifting slowly toward Constantinople like a golden shroud.

  During the five weeks the city had been under siege, these tremors had come seven times a day, spaced as regularly as the strokes of some colossal clock. This was the time and rhythm of another world, the time of heathens. Compared to these tremors, the ringing of the double-headed eagle copper clock in the corner that represented the time of Christendom seemed feeble.

  The tremors subsided. After a while and with an effort, Emperor Constantine pulled his thoughts back to the reality before him. He gestured to let the guard know that he was ready for his visitor.

  Phrantzes, one of the emperor’s most-trusted ministers, came in with a slender, frail figure trailing close behind.

  “This is Helena.” Phrantzes stepped aside, revealing the woman.

  The emperor looked at her. The noblewomen of Constantinople tended to favor clothes bedecked with elaborate decorative elements, while the commoners wore plain, shapeless white garments that draped to the ankles. But this Helena seemed a combination of both. Instead of a tunic embroidered with gold thread, she wore a commoner’s white dress, but over it she draped a luxurious cloak; however, instead of the purple and red reserved for the nobility, the cloak was dyed yellow. Her face was enchanting and sensual, bringing to mind a flower that would rather rot in adoration than fade in solitude.

  A prostitute, probably one who did rather well for herself.

  Her body trembled. She kept her eyes lowered, but the emperor noticed that they held a feverish glow, hinting at an excitement and zeal rare for her class.

  “You claim the powers of magic?” the emperor asked.

  He wanted to conclude this audience as quickly as possible. Phrantzes was usually meticulous. Of the approximately eight thousand soldiers defending Constantinople now, only a small number came from the standing army, and about two thousand were Genoese mercenaries. Phrantzes had been responsible for recruiting the rest, a few at a time, from the city’s inhabitants. Though the emperor wasn’t particularly interested in his latest idea, the capable minister’s standing demanded that he at least be given a chance.

  “Yes, I can kill the sultan.” Helena’s quiet voice quivered like silk strands in a breeze.

  Five days earlier, standing in front of the palace, Helena had demanded to see the emperor. When guards tried to push her away, she presented a small package that stunned the guards. They weren’t sure what she was showing them, but they knew it was not something she should have possessed. Instead of being brought to the emperor, she had been held and interrogated about how she had acquired the item. Her confession had been confirmed, and she was then brought to Phrantzes.

  Phrantzes now took out the small bundle, unwrapped the flax cloth, and placed the contents on the emperor’s desk.

  The emperor’s gaze was as stupefied as those of the soldiers five days ago. But unlike them, he knew immediately what he was looking at.

  More than nine centuries earlier, during the reign of Justinian the Great, master craftsmen had cast two chalices out of pure gold, studded with gems and glowing with a beauty that seized the soul. The two chalices were identical save for the arrangement and shapes of the gems. One of the two was kept by successive Byzantine emperors, and the other one had been sealed along with other treasures into a secret chamber in the foundation of Hagia Sophia in 537 C.E., when the great church was rebuilt.

  The glow of the chalice in the Great Palace that the emperor was familiar with had dulled with the passage of time, but the one in front of him now looked so bright it could have been cast only yesterday.

  No one had believed Helena’s confession at first, thinking that she had probably stolen the chalice from one of her rich patrons. Although many knew of the secret chamber under the great church, few knew its exact location. Moreover, the secret chamber was nestled among the giant stones deep in the foundation, and there were no doors or tunnels leading to it. It should have been impossible to enter the chamber without a massive engineering effort.

  Four days ago, however, the emperor had ordered the precious artifacts of the city collected in case of Constantinople’s fall. It was really a desperate measure, as he understood very well that the Turks had cut off all routes leading to the city, and there would be nowhere for him to escape with the treasures.

  It had taken thirty laborers working nonstop for three days to enter the secret chamber, whose walls were formed f
rom stones as massive as those in the Great Pyramid of Cheops. In the middle of the chamber was a massive stone sarcophagus sealed shut with twelve thick, crisscrossing iron hoops. It took most of another day to saw through the iron hoops before five laborers, under the gaze of many guards, finally managed to lift the cover off the sarcophagus.

  The onlookers were amazed not by the treasures and sacred objects that had been hidden for almost a thousand years, but by the bunch of grapes placed on top, still fresh.

  Helena had claimed to have left a bunch of grapes in the sarcophagus five days ago, and as she had declared, half of the grapes had been eaten, with only seven left on the stem.

  The workers compared the treasures they recovered against the listing found on the inside of the cover of the stone sarcophagus; everything was accounted for except the chalice. If the chalice hadn’t already been found with Helena, and without her testimony, everyone present would have been put to death even if they all swore that the secret chamber and the sarcophagus appeared intact.

  “How did you retrieve this?” the emperor asked.

  Helena’s body trembled even harder. Apparently, her magic did not make her feel safe. She stared at the emperor with terror-filled eyes, and squeezed out an answer. “Those places... I see them... I see them as...” She struggled to find the right word. “...open....”

  “Can you demonstrate for me? Take out something from inside a sealed container.”

  Helena shook her head, dread stilling her tongue; she looked to Phrantzes for help.

  Phrantzes spoke up. “She says that she can only practice her magic in a specific place. But she can’t reveal the location, and no one must be allowed to follow her. Otherwise the magic will lose its power forever.”

  Helena nodded vigorously.

  “In Europe, you would already have been burned at a stake,” the emperor said.

  Helena collapsed to the ground and hugged herself. Her small figure looked like a child’s.

  “Do you know how to kill?” the emperor pressed.

  But Helena only trembled. After repeated urgings from Phrantzes, she finally nodded.