Gandalin at 4,397 meters and Yingxiu at 892 meters were two entirely different worlds.
Standing at the summit of Kaoqin Peak and looking southeast, the nine-kilometer-long surface rupture looked like a giant black zipper that had been torn open. It ran along the valley all the way to the distant Pusan Peak, ripping a hundred-meter-wide gash in the gray mountain and exposing vast stretches of reddish-brown bedrock—like a fresh wound, startlingly vivid. This was the scar left by the 2010 Yushu earthquake. Compared with the lush vegetation of Yingxiu, the ecologically fragile plateau had almost no capacity to heal; the geological changes caused by the great quake remained crystal clear, like a freshly completed colossal sculpture. This six-year-old scar might become Earth's permanent memory.
The slope of Pusan Peak had been stripped away on a massive scale, like a red onion sliced open—a rare natural trench. Yan Ran was suspended on a near-vertical face, observing at close range the ancient folds in the Bayan Har Plateau's crust. Early spring on the plateau brought not only the majestic Jigzhi Temple but also fierce ultraviolet radiation. Because of years spent working outdoors, both Yan Ran and his young Tibetan guide Dorje had faces burned to a deep purple高原 red, giving them an extra layer of calm and steadiness beyond the cycle of reincarnation. An hour passed, and he remained motionless in the same position. Equally motionless was a pitch-black iron sphere embedded in the rock layer. Yan Ran stared at the sphere; the sphere stared back at him—like an eternal standoff between Atlas and the celestial globe.
The iron sphere itself was not strange. What was strange was where it had appeared. This perfect sphere, roughly half a meter in diameter, was perfectly smooth, its surface faintly etched with bizarre patterns and radiating a cold metallic sheen. It was firmly encased in Ordovician rock strata 450 million years old, with no scratches or damage whatsoever. This flawless creation stood arrogantly before Yan Ran, flaunting its own power. Pusan Peak lay deep in the uninhabited Gandalin wilderness. For hundreds of millions of years, seas had advanced and retreated, yet no human foot had ever trodden here before the survey team arrived. The creator needed no human craftsmen. The mountain's collapse had occurred six years earlier in the great earthquake. Apart from the main rupture zone more than two meters wide, the valley floor showed no other damage. The plateau's permafrost had almost no healing ability; once vehicle tracks appeared, they could remain visible for decades or even centuries. On the ground there were only the survey team's tire marks—no sign of any other human visit. The pitch-black iron sphere, abruptly embedded in the red rock layer, looked as bizarre as a pyramid standing in front of the Louvre.
Half an hour later, team leader Mo Yungui and Han Ting slid down from the peak. The three of them formed a triangle around the sphere; from a distance they looked like three colorful balloons hanging upside down. Mo Yungui hung on the main rope, quietly studying the sphere. In thirty years of geological work he had faced floods and beasts, dug up strange stones and fossil bones, yet he had never seen anything like this. Half a pack of cigarettes later he still hadn't spoken. He silently put the Geiger counter back in his pocket and shot Han Ting a stern look that stopped the young man's raised geological hammer in mid-air.
Yan Ran asked carefully, "Should we treat this as a geological specimen… or a historical relic?"
Mo Yungui did not answer. He gave the main rope a shake, pushed off the rock face with both legs, and slid downward. Looking up, he said, "Call everyone up. Bring all the equipment."
…
The Gandalin wilderness, which had slept for hundreds of millions of years, had never been so lively. The survey team moved their base camp from Shaning Village twenty kilometers away into the valley below Pusan Peak. Tents, vehicles, containers, fuel, supplies, and equipment were scattered everywhere. The roar of generators echoed among the peaks. The once-empty basin suddenly became noisy and full of life.
Mo Yungui did not rush to organize excavation. Instead he assigned Yan Ran to lead Han Ting and four other team members as Team One to conduct a full survey of Pusan Peak, while he led the remaining three as Team Two to map the surrounding geology. By the end of the day Team Two had only managed to flush out a nest of wild rabbits and found nothing of greater value. The surprise came from Team One. At dusk, Yan Ran made a major unexpected discovery on the shallow stratigraphic profiler.
A large and a small circle appeared on the imaging of the mountain's rupture face. The small circle was on the surface of the rupture, exactly where the first iron sphere had been found. The large circle appeared about twenty meters to its lower left, 4.2 meters below the rupture surface, with a diameter of roughly 1.3 meters. It showed the same shallow-brown color as the small circle, proving the two objects had identical density. High-power ground-penetrating radar and high-precision spectrometers produced the same results, confirming the existence of two iron spheres. Every team member's face was covered with exclamation and question marks. Yan Ran fought hard to suppress the excitement surging in his chest, forcing himself back to rationality. In as steady a voice as he could manage, he asked the team leader what the next step would be.
Mo Yungui tossed the two wild rabbits he was carrying to Dorje, swept his arm in a wide arc at the group, and roared, "Dig!"
Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the plateau red on the team members' faces looked even brighter and more agitated. Pusan Peak would not sleep that night.
Unlike the slow, meticulous work of archaeological excavation, geological digging was always fast and brutal—after all, stone is far tougher than civilization. The small iron sphere on the surface of the rupture took only half a day to free. The larger one, buried 4.2 meters deeper, was far more difficult. Mo Yungui split the nine team members into two groups, with Yan Ran and Han Ting each leading one, taking turns. Fueled by two pots of rabbit stew, by the afternoon of the fourth day the second iron sphere finally saw daylight.
Old Mo sat alone on a pile of broken rock, pinching the stub of a cigarette and silently watching the excited young people. He turned his head toward the dark cave mouth on the cliff face and let out a long breath, secretly grateful that the loosened rock layers after the quake had not collapsed a second time. Looking at those fresh young faces, Mo Yungui suddenly felt a warmth in his chest. He stood up, flicked away the cigarette butt, and walked toward the crowd gathered around the large sphere. He gently patted Yan Ran on the shoulder.
Yan Ran turned around and stepped aside. Seeing Old Mo's exhausted face, he was momentarily stunned; in a daze he felt the team leader had aged considerably. Old Mo cleared his throat twice, pointed at the sphere with a slightly hoarse voice, and said:
"Yan Ran, I'll give you three days to study them. After three days I'll notify the institute to come and take them away."
The lights inside the tent were bright—almost glaring. Under the lamps the two iron spheres turned a deep gray, quietly radiating a cold, faint glow that gave off an overwhelming sense of oppression. Yan Ran took a deep breath, trying to ease the suffocation caused by tension. The small sphere was about 0.48 meters in diameter and weighed roughly 0.37 tons; the large one was about 1.28 meters in diameter and weighed 6.5 tons. Both were perfectly smooth, without the slightest damage or rust. Time had left no mark on them. They seemed to stand outside time itself.
For two days Yan Ran had been orbiting them; his "orbit" and his thoughts were equally chaotic. Could they be someone's prank? What was the purpose? Who made them? When were they manufactured? Why were they placed here? Why were they inside Ordovician strata…? "Small 48, large 128, small 48, large 128…" Yan Ran slumped exhausted in his chair, eyes closed, muttering unconsciously. Suddenly a spark flashed through the turmoil in his mind, igniting the molten magma below. Yan Ran shot up from the chair like an electric shock, rushed straight to the large sphere, lowered his head, and slowly ran his fingers along the lines on its surface. The frown that had been locked for two days gradually relaxed.
"Vidi!" Yan Ran shouted inwardly with excitement.
February 23, 2016, Beijing, small conference room at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Early spring Beijing was still immersed in festival cheer. In the years to come, Yan Ran would often recall this day. It changed not only his own fate but the future of all humankind.
The experienced Mo Yungui had kept the meeting as small as possible: only the director Zhong Yuan, two committee directors, two academicians, himself, and Yan Ran. Mo Yungui's caution was not without reason. First, the rationality of the two iron spheres was questionable; second, Yan Ran's discovery was too "unorthodox." If it turned out to be a joke, the young man's career would be ruined. Field research equipment was limited and could not support deep investigation, but the matter was too important—they had to take the risk. Mo Yungui chose to trust Yan Ran, and even more to trust his own instinct.
The warm air in the conference room stung the eyes. Compared with it, Yan Ran still preferred the crisp, cold wind of the plateau. He stood up, greeted Director Zhong Yuan and the other long-unseen leaders, then opened the PPT and went straight to the point.
"Eleven days ago—February 12—we were conducting field work in the Gandalin area of Yushu when we discovered two metallic spheres inside the rock layers of the southern side of the main rupture zone on the collapsed face of Pusan Peak. The smaller sphere was half-exposed, approximately 48 cm in diameter and 0.37 tons in weight; the larger sphere lay inside the rock layer, about 4.2 meters below the surface, roughly 128 cm in diameter and 6.5 tons in weight. Both are perfect spheres, deep gray, perfectly smooth, undamaged and uncorroded, with different patterns etched beneath the surface layer. The excavation site is at the center of the uninhabited Gandalin wilderness. The mountain collapse face was formed by the 7.1-magnitude Yushu earthquake on April 14, 2010, approximately 125 meters wide and 140 meters high, with clear rupture features and no signs of human interference or other human activity nearby. Preliminary field investigation and isotope dating show that the Ordovician–Devonian strata in the Gandalin area cover about twenty square kilometers in an east–west orientation. The stratigraphic sequence from top to bottom is Devonian, Upper Ordovician–Silurian, Middle Ordovician, and Lower Ordovician. The lithology of the Pusan Peak collapse face matches this sequence, and both spheres are located within the Upper Ordovician–Silurian layers."
Yan Ran paused briefly for the slide to change, then continued:
"Our preliminary hypothesis is as follows: first, the metallic spheres are artificial objects; the pattern etched on the small sphere may represent Mercury, and the pattern on the large sphere may represent Earth. Second, preliminary testing shows that the electrical resistance of both spheres is close to zero, suggesting possible superconducting properties. We recommend further testing…"
The second conclusion instantly rendered the prepared skepticism powerless. Outsiders had no right to speak on professional matters. Director Zhong Yuan sat with arms folded, leaning back in his chair, staring fixedly at the screen. A huge question mark slowly rose in his mind:
Was this a geological discovery… or an archaeological one?