The Six-Dimensional Planet Family

In the year 2078 of the Earth calendar, a three-dimensional star map slowly rotates in a holographic projection inside the central control room of the United Nations Department of Solar System Transportation.

Lin Shen stares at the real-time monitoring data from the Mars base, suspended in midair, his brow furrowed. As the department’s youngest engineer for π-planetary passages, he knows exactly what those flashing red alerts mean: Mars’s water-ice extraction has remained below the minimum survival threshold for three consecutive months.

“Engineer Lin, there’s a quantum-entanglement communication request from the lunar transfer station.” His assistant Xiaoya’s voice comes through his earpiece.