北半球春季，如果在晴朗的夜晚，臨睡覺前，正南方半空中，有幾顆跳動閃爍的小星。它們組成的形狀像一扇晶瑩潔凈的窗戶。太空里清新的星辰氣息，仿佛從那翕張不定的小窗吹進來，輕輕撫慰著人們的夢境。

　　這個星座叫烏鴉座。

　　初次辨認烏鴉座的人們可能會有相同的疑惑——那星座的形狀怎么也看不出是一只烏鴉。與其說這幾顆星的形狀像烏鴉，還不如說，更像那種讓鳥兒站立在上邊的吊架。

　　至于它為什么被稱為“烏鴉”座，想來和希臘神話有關(guān)。

　　在這烏鴉座的西邊，有個巨爵座，傳說“巨爵”是太陽神阿波羅的酒杯，“烏鴉”是用巨爵為太陽神斟酒的仆人，所以人們就把東邊靠近巨爵的幾顆星稱為烏鴉座。

　　烏鴉座看上去是那么遙遠，那么寧靜，與人世間的紛擾并無瓜葛?？墒牵耙欢螘r間，那片天區(qū)發(fā)生的天體事件，讓地球上的各大星際殖民公司和航天大國深感不安。

　　根據(jù)近地軌道某國宇航員Hipparchus（依巴谷）的太空天文臺觀測報告，烏鴉座邊緣的室女座61k行星周圍曾經(jīng)爆發(fā)一次怪異的閃光，隨后，該星與地球的信息聯(lián)絡(luò)中斷。

　　61k是距離地球十幾光年之外人類已經(jīng)開發(fā)的星球，那里是星際能源供應(yīng)和行星發(fā)動機生產(chǎn)的基地。

　　61k失去聯(lián)絡(luò)之前，沒有傳回異常的通訊信號。事情發(fā)生的時候，61k上邊沒有執(zhí)行任務(wù)的宇航員。

　　禍不單行。這次件事之后不久，烏鴉座觸須星云（NGC 4038/9）方向，隸屬于阿爾伯特深空動力公司的人工改造星體——殖民7號星，信號消失。

　　殖民7號失聯(lián)，使阿爾伯特深空動力公司和它的所屬國開始揣測事件背后的“人為”原因，懷疑這是太空競爭對手——小安德烈深空通訊公司干的。

　　緊接著，小安德烈深空通訊公司開發(fā)的星體——殖民6號星，在半人馬座星區(qū)，信號消失。

　　很快，地球各星際殖民公司開始行動起來，向烏鴉座周圍的室女座Rose128恒星周圍的殖民地增兵。

　　名義上，各殖民公司要在Rose128建立抵御烏鴉座方向外星入侵的防線；實際上，這幾樁離奇的天體失蹤事件使各航天大國之間的猜忌加深，太空軍備競賽迅速升溫。即使各方對事件的調(diào)查完全沒有頭緒，彼此之間還是本能地加強了戒備。

　　地球人在深空的軍事對峙，使星際殖民國家逐漸分化成由跨國商人集團控制的兩大陣營。一方是小安德烈深空通信公司控制的國家陣營，小安德烈是頭兒；另一方是阿爾伯特深空動力公司控制的國家陣營，首領(lǐng)是西曼。

　　殖民7號剛剛失去聯(lián)絡(luò)，西曼和其所屬國宇航局就派遣宇航員Justin（賈斯?。{駛“印第安座”星際戰(zhàn)艦，飛向烏鴉座星區(qū)，準備去登陸室女座61k行星和殖民7號星，維護設(shè)備，恢復(fù)它們與地球的聯(lián)絡(luò)。

　　印第安座武裝航天器如一粒微塵，掠過星際，進入室女座與烏鴉座交界的深空。

　　Justin從深眠中醒來。

　　“印第安座”減速，指揮艙防護罩打開。

　　檢查完設(shè)備和飛行記錄，Justin調(diào)暗艙燈，將目光投向舷窗外。

　　沒有近空殖民地的喧囂，遠離銀河，這里是一片星光寥落的區(qū)域。

　　烏鴉座四個角上的亮星，失去了地球上所看到的晶瑩色彩，勾勒出來的直立四邊形，不再像一扇靈動的窗，反而像是暗黑空間里一扇半掩著、使人感到猶疑的門，每個宇航員似乎都會望而生畏，停下前進的步伐，不知道那晦暗的門后邊是什么？

　　Justin思緒中掠過一絲沮喪，甚至隱隱感覺到，那烏鴉座看起來像是一座孤懸在正前方太空中的墓碑。周圍空間里億萬顆暗淡的恒星，如煙似霧，被各種引力源拉扯，變得絲絲縷縷，如細密的蛛網(wǎng)，又像隨風飄動的透明簾幕，勾連在這人跡罕至的墓碑周圍。

　　印第安座艦艏前方傾斜的巨爵座的容器里邊，好像還蕩漾著美狄亞調(diào)制的毒液酒漿。被美狄亞的計謀俘獲的珀利阿斯（Pelias）的一部分靈魂碎塊兒，似乎還在浸泡在毒酒中，在暗夜無邊的深空里發(fā)出低沉的哀吼。

　　一滴毒液——烏鴉座觸須星云（NGC4038/9）——從傾斜的巨爵容器口中滑落，飄在半空中，落向下方長蛇座的脊背。長蛇座的九頭毒蛇希德拉，正陰險地向赫拉克勒斯（武仙座）緩緩爬去，尾巴掠過荒涼的墓碑。烏鴉驚起，又回落到墓碑上。

　　Justin不是第一次來這么遙遠的深空，他定了定神，收回目光，啟動重力探測，鎖定左前方的室女座61恒星系統(tǒng)。

　　根據(jù)艦載探測儀器的數(shù)據(jù)，計算之后，Justin得出結(jié)論，室女座61恒星系統(tǒng)內(nèi)部的各行星已經(jīng)改變了軌道，進入彼此之間的引力調(diào)整期。這意味著，室女座61恒星系統(tǒng)中的行星之間，正在發(fā)生著大量的極端天體事件。

　　Justin的模擬結(jié)果顯示，沒有61k引力參與的恒星系統(tǒng)運行狀況與目前的觀測結(jié)果是一致的。

　　這說明，61k消失了。

　　Justin感覺身上有些發(fā)冷。重力探測器探測不到61恒星系統(tǒng)以外的天體有明顯的擾動，根本無法找到61k逃逸的路徑信息。

　　“難道61k直接融化成了虛空？軌道上走著走著，就消失了？或者說，61k沒有逃逸，直接就沒了……” Justin靜靜地看著烏鴉座星空的邊緣方向，自言自語道。

　　一片死寂中，探空雷達忽然發(fā)出“嘀—嘀”的提示音。雖然聲音不大，Justin還是嚇了一跳。經(jīng)過一番辨認，他發(fā)現(xiàn)那是小安德烈深空通訊公司的航天器，航行在前方很遠的地方。

　　此時，Justin的思緒稍稍平復(fù)了一些，盡管那是競爭者陣營的航天器，但它們的出現(xiàn)，減少了Justin的恐懼和孤獨感。Justin重新振作精神，感覺身上逐漸暖和起來。

　　這時，本國宇航局天琴座通訊系統(tǒng)的機器語音響起：“宇航局呼叫Justin！宇航局呼叫Justin！立即切換北極星盤，建立聯(lián)絡(luò)！”

　　星盤是深空導(dǎo)航設(shè)備，擁有龐大的數(shù)據(jù)庫和高精度的計算能力。Justin能從近地軌道來到深空烏鴉座，整個航程就是在星盤的自動引導(dǎo)之下完成的。

　　重新與本國宇航局建立聯(lián)絡(luò)之后，Justin納悶兒，自己從太陽系出發(fā)后，艦載星盤一直穩(wěn)定地保持與總部星盤信號同步聯(lián)絡(luò)，為什么自己一覺醒來星盤聯(lián)絡(luò)中斷了？

　　現(xiàn)在，Justin沒有時間去細想這個問題。

　　“印第安座戰(zhàn)艦Justin呼叫宇航局！艦載星盤一直開啟，只是暫時聯(lián)絡(luò)中斷，原因不明……”Justin一邊查看星盤空間顯示器中的任務(wù)項隊列，一邊向本國宇航局報告，“目前，現(xiàn)場確認室女座61k行星失蹤！不可思議……原因待查，完畢！”

　　“Justin！室女座61k行星確認失蹤，宇航局收到！”

　　Justin感覺清醒了許多，著手執(zhí)行導(dǎo)航星盤提示中的第二項任務(wù)：實地探測殖民7號星。

　　此時，印第安座戰(zhàn)艦已經(jīng)接近殖民7號行星消失前的坐標位置。

　　Justin調(diào)整戰(zhàn)艦姿態(tài)，引擎減速，向著烏鴉座星區(qū)范圍內(nèi)右側(cè)的“觸須星云”方向飛去。

　　烏鴉座觸須星云（NGC 4038/9），好像巨爵座容器里飄灑出來的一滴彩色的液體，又像通體閃著熒光的小蟲。小蟲擺動長長的觸須，沖著墓碑一樣的烏鴉座輕緩地游動，謹慎地感知著星際空間中細微的擾動。

　　細看小蟲的軀體，由上下兩個漩渦星云組成，那是兩個星系碰撞的結(jié)果。兩條顏色淺淡的細長觸須是碰撞之后生成的螺線形物質(zhì)流，水波一樣蕩漾在寂寞的深空里。

　　當減速的印第安座置身于殖民7號星消失前的空間坐標點，Justin瞪大眼睛，直接向舷窗外搜尋。戰(zhàn)艦外，上下左右，空無一物。指揮艙內(nèi)的行星探測器異常安靜。

　　殖民7號是人工變軌的流浪星體，比一般的小行星大很多，深空動力公司在該星儲存了各種資源、設(shè)備，一直將其作為向更遠處深空探索的中轉(zhuǎn)站。

　　Justin之前推測，殖民7號星只是信號丟失，而不是星體本身消失。

　　現(xiàn)在，印第安座戰(zhàn)艦置身于殖民7號星消失前的坐標位置，停泊在星際四壁真空里，一動不動。

　　殖民7號哪去了？

　　English version：

　　ASTROLABE

　　VOLUME Ⅰ

　　the Shadow of Light sail

　　CHAPTER 1 The Graveyard of Stars

　　In spring in the northern hemisphere， if on a clear night， just before going to bed， due south in mid-air， there are several small stars dancing and twinkling. They form the shape of a crystal clear window. The fresh star breeze of the universe seemed to blow in from the twitching window， gently soothing people's dreams.

　　This constellation is called Corus， or Corvus.

　　First-time visitors to the constellation Corvus might have had the same puzzle - why doesn't the constellation look like a crow? The constellation is not so much shaped like a crow as a standing frame on which a parrot might stand.

　　As for why these stars are called “Corvus“， it seems to have something to do with Greek mythology. To the west of Corvus， there is a constellation called “Crater”， or the Cup. According to Greek mythology，“Crater” is the wine cup of Apollo. The crow was a servant who poured wine for Apollo with the big cup， so people called the constellation near Crater to the east the Crow.

　　The constellation Corvus seems so far away， so peaceful， and out of touch with human affairs on earth. Some time ago， however， celestial events in that region had disturbed the major interstellar colonizing companies and space-faring nations on Earth.

　　According to space-observatory observations by low-Earth orbit astronaut Hipparchus， an eerie flash of light erupted around Virgo 61K， near the edge of the constellation Corvus， and communication between the planet and Earth was interrupted. 61K is a explored planet more than a dozen light years from Earth， serving as a base for interstellar energy supply and planetary engine production.

　　There were no abnormal transmissions from planet 61K before it lost contact with Earth. At the time of this incident， no astronauts were operating on 61K.

　　Misfortunes never come alone. Shortly after this event， signals from Colonial 7， Albert Deep Space Dynamics' modified star， disappeared in the direction of the Corvus Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/9).

　　The loss of contact with the Colonial 7 has led Albert Deep Space Dynamics and its host country to speculate on a “human“ cause behind the incident， and to suspect a space rival， Andre Deep Space Communications.

　　Immediately after， the Andre Deep Space Communications planet， Colony 6， lost its signal in the Centauri region.

　　Soon， earth's interstellar colonization companies were on the move， sending reinforcements to colonies around the star virgo Rose128 around the constellation Corvus. Nominally， the colonial companies were to build a defense around Rose128 against an alien invasion in the direction of Corvus; In fact， these bizarre signal disappearances have deepened suspicion among the space powers， and the space arms race has heated up rapidly. Even in the absence of a clue to the investigation， each party instinctively stepped up its guard.

　　The military confrontation between earthmen in deep space gradually divided the star colonizing nations into two camps controlled by transnational merchant groups. The country faction controlled by Andre Deep Space Communications was a group， with Andre Junior as the leader; The national camp controlled by Albert Deep Space Dynamics was another， led by Seaman.

　　As soon as the Colony 7 lost contact， Seeman and his NASA crew sent astronaut Justin， who piloted the Indian interplanetary warship， to the Corvus region， preparing to land on virgo 61K and Colony 7 to repair equipment and restore contact between the two planets and Earth.

　　The armed Indian spacecraft， like a high-speed speck of dust， flits across the stars into deep space where virgo and Corvus meet.

　　Justin woke up from a deep sleep.

　　As The Indian slowed down， the command module's shields opened.

　　After checking the equipment and flight logs， Justin dimmed the cabin lights and began to look out into space.

　　Here， without the noise of near-space colonies， far from the Milky Way， is a region of sparse starlight.

　　The bright stars in the four corners of the constellation Corvus have lost the striking colors seen on Earth. The upright quadrilateral they formed no longer looked like a glistened window， but like an ajar door in a dark space. Every astronaut would stop in his tracks with fear， for no one knew what lay behind that dark door.

　　Justin felt an unspeakable sense of frustration. The frustration even made him feel that the shape of the raven constellation was like a tombstone hovering in space ahead. In the space around the tombstone， hundreds of millions of dim stars， like smoke and fog， are pulled in strands by various sources of gravity， like a fine web， or like a transparent curtain that moves in the wind， surrounding the unvisited tombstone.

　　Medea's poisoned wine seemed to be swaying in the tank of the tilted Constellation Of Colossus ahead of the Indian ship. A fragment of Pelias's soul， captured by Medea's stratagem， seemed still to be soaked in poisoned wine， uttering a low wail in the boundless darkness.

　　A drop of venom， the Tentacle Nebula in Corvus， slipped out of the slanting constellation Crater and floated in midair toward the back of Hydra below. Hydra was creeping insidiously towards Hercules， his tail sweeping over the desolate tombstone. The crow started up and dropped back down on the tombstone.

　　Justin has been to deep space more than once. He collected himself， withdrew his gaze， and activated the gravity probe， locking on the Virgo 61 star system ahead to the left.

　　Based on calculations from onboard instruments， Justin concluded that the planets within the Virgo 61 star system had changed their orbits and entered a period of gravitational adjustment with each other. This means that a large number of extreme celestial events are taking place between the planets in the Virgo 61 star system.

　　Justin's simulations show that stellar systems without 61K gravity behave in a manner consistent with current observations.That means 61K disappears.

　　Justin felt a little cold. Gravity detectors cannot detect significant disturbances outside the 61 star system， so no information about 61K's escape path can be found.

　　“61K melted into nothing? Did it just walk along the track and disappear? Or 61K didn't escape， it just disappeared...“ Justin said to himself， looking quietly at the edge of the constellation Corvus.

　　A dead silence， sounding radar suddenly issued a “di - di“ prompt sound. It was not loud， but Justin was taken aback. On the radar display， he identified them as Andre Jr.'s deep Space Communications spacecrafts， sailing far ahead.

　　At this point， Justin's thoughts calmed down a little. Even though they were the spacecraft of the rival camp， their appearance reduced Justin's sense of loneliness. Justin rallied and felt himself getting warmer.

　　At that moment， the robotic voice of the Lyra communication system rang out:“Headquarters to Justin! Headquarters to Justin! Please switch the North Astrolabe immediately and establish contact!“

　　The astrolabe is a deep space navigation device with a huge database and high-precision computing power. Justin was able to travel from low Earth orbit to the deep space constellation Corvus， guided by the astrolabe.

　　After re-establishing contact with the headquarters， Justin wondered: Since his departure from the solar system， the signal from the ship's astrolabe had been in sync with the signal from the headquarters. But why， when he woke up， contact with the astrolabe had been disconnected?

　　Right now， Justin doesn't have time to dwell on it.“Justin the Indian to headquarters! The astrolabe has been open， but contact has been temporarily interrupted for unknown reasons...“ Justin reports to headquarters while checking the task queue on his astrolabe display，“Currently， Virgo 61K is missing! Incredible... Cause to be checked， report end!“

　　“Justin! Virgo 61K confirmed missing， central copy!“

　　Feeling more awake， Justin embarked on the second task in his chart's instructions: a field survey of Colony 7.

　　At this point， the Indian warship is close to the coordinates of the colony 7 planet before it disappeared.

　　Justin adjusted his ship's stance， slowed his engines， and headed toward the “Tentacle Nebula“ to the right of the Corvus region.

　　The Corvus Tentacle Nebula (NGC 4038/9) looks like a drop of colored liquid floating from a container in the constellation Crater， or like a fluorescent insect. The insect wiggles its long tentacles toward the gravestone constellation Corvus， cautiously sensing subtle disturbances in interstellar space.

　　If you look closely at the insect's body， it consists of two swirling nebulae. That's the result of two galaxies colliding. Two slender pale-colored tentacles， spiraling streams of matter formed by collision， ripple like water waves in the lonely depths of space.

　　When the slowing Indian stopped at the coordinates of Colony 7， Justin looked out the porthole with his eyes wide open. Outside the spacecraft， up， down， left， and right， there was nothing. The planetary probe in the command module was eerily quiet.

　　Colony 7 is a rogue planet whose orbit has been altered by humans， much larger than the average asteroid. Deep Space Dynamics stores a variety of resources and equipment on the planet and has been using it as a staging post for deep space exploration.

　　Justin had speculated that Colony 7 was just missing signals， rather than the planet itself.

　　Now， the Indian battleship， anchored in the interstellar vacuum， sits motionless at the coordinates of the colony 7 before it disappeared.

　　Where's the Colony 7?