The Three-Body Problem

Ding Yi shook his head. “The existence of this kind of weapon is now public knowledge. We don’t know if the ship has been equipped with magnetic walls to shield against ball lightning. Even if it hasn’t, a ball lightning weapon can indeed kill all personnel within the ship, but it cannot do so simultaneously. Also, after the ball lightning enters the ship, it may hover in the air for some time before releasing its energy. This wait time can last from a dozen seconds to a minute or longer. They will have enough time to realize they’ve been attacked and destroy the data.”

Colonel Stanton asked, “What about a neutron bomb?”

“Colonel, you should know that’s not going to work.” The speaker was a Russian officer. “The radiation from a neutron bomb cannot kill right away. After a neutron bomb attack, the amount of time left to the enemy would be more than enough for them to have a meeting just like this one.”

“Another thought was to use nerve gas,” a NATO officer said. “But releasing it and having it spread throughout the ship would take time, so it still doesn’t achieve General Chang’s requirements.”

“Then the only choices left are concussion bombs and infrasonic waves,” Colonel Stanton said. Others waited for him to finish his thought, but he said nothing more.

Da Shi said, “I use concussion bombs in police work, but they’re toys. They’re indeed capable of stunning people inside a building into unconsciousness, but they’re only good for a room or two. Do you have any concussion bombs big enough to stun a whole oil tanker full of people?”

Stanton shook his head. “No. Even if we did, such a large explosive device would certainly damage equipment inside the ship.”

“So what about infrasonic weapons?” someone asked.

“They’re still experimental and cannot be used in live combat. Also, the ship is very large. At the power level available to current experimental prototypes, the most that a full assault on Judgment Day could do is to make the people inside feel dizzy and nauseous.”

“Ha!” Da Shi extinguished the cigar butt, now as tiny as a peanut. “I told you all we have left to discuss is bullshit. We’ve been at it for a while now. Let’s remember what the general said: ‘Time is of the essence!’” He gave a sly grin to the translator, a female first lieutenant who looked unhappy with his language. “Not easy to translate, eh, comrade? Just get the approximate meaning across.”

But Stanton seemed to understand what he was saying. He pointed at Shi Qiang with a fresh cigar that he had just taken out. “Who does this policeman think he is, that he can talk to us this way?”

“Who do you think you are?” Da Shi asked.

“Colonel Stanton is an expert in special ops,” a NATO officer said. “He has been a part of every major military operation since the Vietnam War.”

“Then let me tell you who I am. More than thirty years ago, my reconnaissance squad managed to sneak dozens of kilometers behind Vietnamese lines and capture a hydroelectric station under heavy guard. We prevented the Vietnamese plan to demolish the dam with explosives, which would have flooded the attack route for our army. That’s who I am. I defeated an enemy who once defeated you.”

“That’s enough!” General Chang slammed the table. “Don’t bring up irrelevant matters. If you have a plan, say what it is.”

“I don’t think we need to waste time on this policeman,” Colonel Stanton said contemptuously, as he lit his cigar.

Without waiting for a translation, Da Shi jumped up. “‘Pao-Li-Si’—I heard that word twice. What? You look down on the police? If you’re talking about dropping some bombs and turning that ship into smithereens, yeah, you military are the experts. But if you’re talking about retrieving something out of it without damage, I don’t care how many stars are on your shoulder, you aren’t even as good as a thief. For this kind of thing, you have to think outside the box. OUT. OF. THE. BOX! You will never be as good at it as criminals, masters of out-of-the-box thinking.

“You know how good they are? I once handled a robbery where the criminals managed to steal one car out of a moving train. They reconnected the cars before and after the one they were interested in so that the train got all the way to its destination without anyone noticing. The only tools they used were a length of wire cable and a few steel hooks. Those are the real special ops experts. And someone like me, a criminal cop who has been playing cat and mouse with them for more than a decade, has received the best education and training from them.”

“Tell us your plan, then,” General Chang said. “Otherwise, shut up!”

“There are so many important people here that I didn’t think it was my place to speak. And I was afraid that you, General, would say I was being rude again.”

“You’re already the definition of rudeness. Enough! Tell me what your out-of-the-box plan is.”