Chapter Seventeen (Saturn’s Rings I): The Great Flare

65 million years ago, Venus

Upon returning home, utterly exhausted, Nikola Tesla washed and climbed into bed, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

These days, he had been shuttling between Earth, Venus, and Mars, and the fatigue had worn him thin. Thankfully, there was now a preliminary plan to address the Venus crisis, pending approval from the Alliance.

A loud knocking startled Nikola Tesla awake. Groggy, he opened his eyes and waved to turn on the light, but nothing happened—the room remained in darkness. Power outage?

He fumbled to open the door, where Abbott was anxiously calling out:

“Nikola, get dressed and come with me—something serious has happened around Saturn.”

The corridor was pitch black, and the road to the Academy building was no different: a genuine, widespread blackout.

For over eighty years, during Tesla’s coma, Abbott had been studying his superluminal wave theory. To convince skeptical mainstream scientists, Abbott planned to erect an eighteen-thousand-kilometer-high structure on Venus’s Tower Island.

If Tesla’s theory proved correct, the device would fully receive the superluminal wavelength, becoming an inexhaustible source of clean energy—the so-called Superluminal Wave Power Station.

Abbott’s proposal was universally opposed by his peers, and even he was uncertain about the side effects, for Venusian humanity knew too little about the nature of the superluminal wave.

Thus, the experimental Saturn Power Station project was conceived. Saturn was far from Venus, separated by Earth, Mars, and Jupiter. Even if there were side effects, Venus would remain unaffected.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, had the most satellites, whereas Saturn possessed only a few. Its largest satellite, with a diameter exceeding ten thousand kilometers—greater than Mars—was named Sedna by Venusian humanity.

Sedna’s semi-major axis was 380,000 kilometers, comparable to the distance between Earth and its moon.

Supported by the Venus Alliance, Abbott’s team spent more than a decade building a 380,000-kilometer-long flexible carbon fiber tube on Sedna’s equator, always facing Saturn.

For stability, a massive metal space capsule was constructed at the midpoint, about 190,000 kilometers, serving as a habitat and maintenance station.

At the end of the structure hung a giant metal sphere, suspended several hundred kilometers above Saturn. Saturn’s powerful gravity stretched the entire structure taut.

As superluminal waves entered, the stations at Sedna’s surface and midpoint converted thermal energy into electricity, marking the completion of the first Superluminal Wave Power Station in the solar system.

Because Sedna’s station was experimental, and limited by transport and construction costs, its power output was minuscule compared to the later Venus Tower Island station—only a millionth of its scale.

The power station’s thermoelectric conversion was far from perfect, causing Venus to overheat internally. After the crisis emerged, the Venus Academy closed several superluminal wave power stations.

But Sedna’s station, being distant and low-powered, was retained to better study the nature of superluminal waves.

A few hours ago, the residual superluminal thermal energy inside Saturn’s largest satellite, Sedna, finally erupted. The enormous icy moon split apart.

Fragments scattered around Saturn’s equator, chaotic blocks of ice and rock colliding and spinning at high speed, stretching nearly a million kilometers. Saturn became shrouded, blurred within a vast swarm of ice and debris.

Take the Sun as an example: superluminal waves radiate from all directions. Since their wavelength is less than the Sun’s diameter, the immense energy is uniformly injected, triggering nuclear reactions, making the star burn bright.

Saturn’s diameter is smaller than the superluminal wavelength. From Saturn’s direction, the Sun receives diffracted superluminal waves; when blocked by Saturn, the corresponding region’s surface temperature drops.

Adding further obstructions lowers the surface temperature more, forming sunspots, which in turn trigger high-temperature edge explosions—solar flares.

Sedna’s rupture shattered the previous balance. Saturn, entangled with a million-kilometer span of ice debris, blocked superluminal waves over a broader region.

Sunspots at those positions grew rapidly, and the resulting solar flares dramatically increased the Sun’s ultra-low-frequency radiation power, resonating with Venus’s electrical grid and causing widespread blackouts.

Nikola Tesla followed Abbott into the emergency command center of the Venus Academy building. Backup generators were running, and several sky-monitoring telescopes were focused on Saturn. Abbott pointed at the screen’s enormous ice cluster:

“Nikola, restoring power isn’t our job. What we must do is quickly assess the effects of Sedna’s rupture on solar activity—and on the entire solar system.”

Tesla, facing this sudden upheaval, was momentarily at a loss. He gathered his thoughts and said:

“The most obvious impact I can imagine is sunspots and flares. This chaotic structure, spanning a million kilometers, is clearly unstable. When it dissipates and stabilizes in some form, perhaps solar activity will return to normal.”

“Dissipate slowly? How long will that take? In the meantime, we Venusians will suffer from unprecedented solar flares and solar winds.” Abbott spoke while pressing Tesla into a special chair. “I’ve already input Sedna’s data into your external brain. Connect to the Lightning Sphere and think deeply.”

Tesla, querying his external brain via the Lightning Sphere, was first shocked by the answer. Disconnecting, he slumped in his chair. Under Abbott’s urgent questioning, Tesla replied slowly:

“The external brain is a computer, unlike us—it gives cold, worst-case answers. Whenever Jupiter and Saturn align, they trigger stronger solar activity. But now, what happens when Jupiter and Saturn’s giant ice cluster intersect, Abbott?”

Abbott’s spine chilled instantly. Grabbing a tablet, he found the planetary conjunction cycle table and muttered in despair:

“The conjunction cycle of Saturn and Jupiter is about twenty years. We’re so unlucky—the next is three years from now.”

Tesla’s addition was like a blow in the midst of catastrophe:

“More unfortunately, three years from now, the conjunction point of Saturn and Jupiter will be exactly on the line between the Sun and Alpha Lyrae, triggering the most intense sunspots and flares ever recorded.”

“Three years... By then, will we Venusians even survive? Nikola, you must find a solution.” Abbott spoke in despair.

“If that’s all, I believe—even with massive blackouts and abnormal heat every twenty years—Venusians won’t be wiped out. Remember, we are resilient.” Tesla spoke firmly, as if to comfort Abbott, then added:

“The good news is, when Sedna ruptured, the power station’s structure was outside the Sun, broken into two segments, crossing each other, spinning toward the outer solar system, not toward us. And the chaotic ice cluster, under Saturn’s gravity, will form beautiful rings.”

Abbott couldn’t help asking, “And the bad news? I care little for the future beauty of Saturn’s rings right now.”

Seeing Abbott’s anxiety, Tesla hesitated, then stood, clenching his fist, and said:

“Don’t wait for the Alliance’s approval. Prepare a spaceship for me—I must go to Earth immediately and begin the lunar mass anomaly experiment using space debris.”

Abbott was full of doubts, an ominous feeling rising in his heart. He asked, “With Saturn’s crisis so urgent, why are you thinking of conducting the lunar mass anomaly gravity experiment now?”

Tesla looked at Abbott with regret, unsure whether to reveal the truth to his old friend. Filled with remorse, he said:

“Abbott, I truly hate myself for developing this so-called superluminal wave theory. One could say the crisis facing Venusian humanity is the result of my scientific mania.”

Abbott grasped Tesla’s arm, saying:

“This isn’t your fault, and it’s not a question of blame. We must never abandon hope or effort. You’re going to Earth for an experiment—have you found a way to solve the crisis?”

Tesla could not hold back, answering with difficulty:

“I haven’t found a good solution. I fear my gravity theory is correct as well. If so, we will face an even greater catastrophe.”

Abbott was shocked again. “Are you saying Venusian humanity will be destroyed?”

Nikola Tesla loathed the answers his external brain gave him through the Lightning Sphere, unable to suppress his cry:

“Not just Venusian humanity—the entire solar system will be annihilated!”

&

A string of poems:

The vast wild, cold stars touch the earth below.
Even solid ice can stir lingering waves.
The guest unburdened by fame passes through Alpha Lyrae.
Even with a long rope, what can one do to the Sun?