Rebirth in America

In early October 1957, the sun was bright and cloudless.

Carl got up early and came to Bantam Books Company. He drove over in his newly purchased Cadillac.

He had been promoted to editor-in-chief a few years ago, and since he became Alex's editor-in-chief, he has been steadily rising through the ranks. Whenever a new book in the "Harry Potter" series is released, Bantam Books can make a lot of money, and Carl can also benefit from it.

He recalled that year, and was very glad that he did not throw Alex's manuscript aside, but instead seized the opportunity tightly and never let go.

What was the name of the guy who competed with him back then? Is it Andrew or Andre or something, that guy has gone to who knows where. As for himself, he firmly took the lead and successfully rose to the top.

In the past eight years or so, Bantam Books has more than doubled in size, requiring more editors. Karl even became a partner of the book club and received considerable dividends every year. This all comes from Alex's Harry Potter book, which unfortunately is coming to an end.

Originally, Karl might have persuaded Alex to continue writing before this. For Alex, the income from the book "Harry Potter" is nothing, but for Karl, this is the source of income that he relies on for survival.

Now that this golden rice bowl is about to disappear, how can we not make Karl anxious. Unexpectedly, Alex would be kidnapped while attending a signing event. This not only caused Alex to temporarily withdraw from the entertainment industry, but also stopped his plan to write his next book.

"Hey! This is really an unexpected situation!" Every time Karl thought of this incident, he felt that he was so unlucky.

He came to his office, sat down, and considered whether to call Alex. Before this, he had made phone calls, but they were blocked by the people around Alex.

Carl tried to try again, determined to convince Alex to continue writing.

Looked at the time. It was still early, and he probably would still be picked up by someone else if he called. At such an early hour, Alex might not be free yet, he guessed.

Bored, he took out a radio from the drawer. This "Carpenter" radio was given to him by Alex. There is another one at home, which he bought specially for his children. This kind of radio is compact, convenient and novel in style, making it suitable as a gift.

I turned on the radio and randomly tuned a channel, and a strange electronic sound came from it.

"Deep beep! beep beep! beep beep! beep beep! beep beep!"

Carl tapped the radio. He thought it was broken. Or the channel is not ready. So I changed the channel again. But the sound received was still this strange sound.

"Is it really broken?" He stood up and wanted to find someone to repair it.

The office door was suddenly opened, and a person broke in, that was Karl's assistant. He was sweating profusely. He looked a little flustered.

"The editor is bad, the new TV we bought is broken!" said the assistant.

The TV was just purchased last week as a benefit provided by Bantam Books to its employees. The people above believe that as a book editor, you must always keep abreast of news and current events so that you can accurately position the book market.

"Broken? What happened?"

Karl followed the assistant to the lobby. He had some ominous premonitions in his heart. This TV was not cheap, and it was also a "Carpenter" brand appliance. Did it happen that all "Carpenter" brand products had problems today?

The TV is on. There were a bunch of people standing around, all employees of Bantam Books, and several people were banging on the TV, trying to repair the broken appliance.

Programs can still be received normally, and images and sounds can still be played. There's just a mysterious electronic sound sandwiched between them.

"Deep beep! beep beep! beep beep! beep beep! beep beep!"

This sound was exactly the same as the radio in Karl's hand, which was very strange. When Carl told others about this coincidental incident, they soon found their own radios and were also able to receive this mysterious sound signal.

"Oh! My God, what's going on? Are all the Carpenter appliances broken all of a sudden?"

Some people couldn't help shouting loudly, but soon someone raised objections: "It's not just a problem with Carpenter appliances, my radio of other brands also received the mysterious signal."

"Is it possible that there are radio stations around us that are broadcasting signals, which is interfering with the normal operation of radios and televisions?"

TVs in this era still received wireless signals, and they received analog signals, which were easily interfered by other high-power radio stations. But they soon received many reports, and it was said that similar problems had been discovered in other states.

This suddenly made people feel scared, and a creepy feeling emerged spontaneously. Is there any TV tower in the world that can emit such a powerful signal that it can cover the entire United States! This is simply impossible.

Soon, Americans learned that this mysterious signal was not only received in the United States, but also on radios and televisions around the world.

They invariably received this mysterious electronic sound. Some people were confused about it, some were afraid, and many people were dissatisfied. They called the radio or TV station to ask what was going on.

This incident was quickly reported and made headlines and TV shows. Everyone was talking about it. Some scientists analyzed that such a large-scale signal must come from the universe. In other words, it was sent by extraterrestrial life.

This kind of speculation has made people excited. Some people believe that this is a signal sent by God to mankind, and its purpose is to warn greedy mankind not to continue to act arbitrarily.

Not only are the people feeling excited, panicked and fearful, but governments around the world have also begun to attach great importance to this mysterious signal from space, and have set up relevant departments to investigate and study it. But no one has been able to decipher what this signal means.

Not long after the incident, the mysterious electronic signal incident soon came to light, because the Soviet Union announced that they had successfully launched the world's first satellite, an artificial satellite orbiting the earth.

The satellite is shaped like a spherical comet, with a sphere diameter of 55 centimeters and several slender antennas outside the sphere. It only takes 1 hour and 35 minutes to orbit the earth, with a maximum altitude of 900 kilometers from the ground, and uses two channels to continuously transmit signals.

Because the orbit is at an angle of 65 degrees to the equator. Therefore it can pass over Moscow twice a day.

The Soviet Union did not provide detailed reports on the rocket that launched the satellite, but it did mention that it left the ground at a speed of 8 kilometers per second. Soviet officials said: "This launch opens the way to interstellar navigation."

The news quickly spread throughout the world, and people were shocked by the Soviet Union's feat. Americans, in particular, have set their sights on the red country and want to see through the thick Iron Curtain what is going on inside.

U.S. officials declared that they were not only shocked that the Soviet Union had successfully launched a satellite first, but also that they were surprised by the size of the satellite. The satellite weighs 83 kilograms, which is eight times heavier than the satellite planned to be launched by the United States.

The news of the successful launch of the first man-made satellite spread quickly around the world, and all countries were shocked. The world's major newspapers and periodicals reported in prominent positions with big-character headlines: "News that Sensational in the 20th Century", "New Era of Science and Technology", "The Soviet Union Takes the Lead Again" ", "The Russians opened the way to the universe again" and so on.

The New York Times published an article saying: "The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite. This improvement in human ability is equivalent to the first upright walking of primitive humans a long time ago."

Wald McDougall, a historian at the University of Pennsylvania, once wrote: "Not since Pearl Harbor has anything affected public life like this."

The Soviet "Pravda" expressed joy with extremely restrained joy. Cover the news in a standard two-column format.

Khrushchev, then the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, was very happy when he received the news of the launch. He and his son Sergei turned on the radio, listened to the beeps from the satellite, and then went back to the bedroom to rest.

Later in an interview with the New York Times. Sergey recalled: “We did not realize at the time that the world would be so shaken in the next few hours.”

It was indeed shocking, and the whole world was shocked. This was an unprecedented event. Humanity is finally ready to explore space. This satellite is just a small stone. After this, more man-made objects will be sent into space.

But for Americans, their only question is: "Why was it the Soviets who launched the satellite first, and not the United States!"

The huge gap makes Americans feel very uneasy about new inventions and creations. People often ask, “What did God do again?”

The question now becomes: "What can the Soviets do next?"

The news that the Soviet Union had launched its first satellite also made Alex, who was strategizing at home, very excited. He shouted: "I have finally waited for this day! Well done to Korolev!"

Media reports quickly shifted the focus from the kidnapping to the satellite, and suddenly the entire United States was alarmed. For the first time, the United States felt it was falling behind in space technology. It felt as if the Soviet Union had placed a pair of eyes in the sky, staring closely at them.

After Alex returned home, he has been busy practicing martial arts, becoming familiar with disguise and investing. He adjusted and reorganized several companies in his hands, and then used investment companies to make more business investments. He originally planned to do something after finishing all this work, but his plan was disrupted by the Soviet Union's launch of a satellite.

After the news spread, Alex got a call from Hughes. Hughes's voice sounded anxious: "The Soviets are already ahead, we must take action!"

"Don't worry, everything is in my plan." Alex replied, he was serious, if the Soviet Union did not stimulate the United States, then the space race would not be possible.

"So are you confident about launching the satellite?" Hughes asked.

"No matter how confident you are, you still don't have the money to do it! Launching an earth satellite is not a matter of tens of millions. The funds involved are hundreds of millions! Are you ready to invest money now?" Alex asked rhetorically.

"I'm already contacting the government, hoping to secure relevant funding and policy support."

After hearing this, Alex smiled: "Then you go for it, I still have to stick to my own pace. You should know our plan. The first satellite will not be launched until next year at the earliest!"

After speaking, Alex hung up the phone. He believes that it is still difficult to get support from the government, even if Hughes has strong connections.

However, the preparations could not be left behind. He called Shockley to ask about the miniaturization of transistors.

"No problem, the transistor you want is already ready!" Shockley replied, but judging from the other party's tone, it seemed that he still had something to say.

"Then you send those transistors and other components to the Rocket Research Institute. I will use them now." Alex didn't think much about it. He had many problems at the moment and didn't have time to care about Shockley's troubles.

"Okay! I'll have someone send it over immediately!" After Shockley finished speaking, he paused for a moment and asked hesitantly: "Have you received a call about Moore and the others?"

Alex replied angrily to such a nonsensical question: "What phone call? I have been kidnapped for so long, and I can't even receive calls from outside!"

Shockley apologized quickly and said: "I'm sorry, I feel very sorry. I shouldn't have asked you this question! Maybe I'm overly concerned, and of course you won't know what's happening on our side!"

Alex shrugged and said incredulously: "Is there anything else? By the way, how is your research going now? Has it produced any results?"

Shockley was silent for a long time, and after a long time he said: "Not yet, we are studying it now!"

"Then you have to hurry up. Now the Soviet satellites are in the sky. If you don't hurry up, someone else might apply for a patent while your research is still in the laboratory!"

Regarding Alex's obvious joke, Shockley just smiled and did not answer. After the two of them said goodbye, they hung up the phone.

Soon, the Rocketry Research Institute of Interstellar Technology Company received the electronic components sent by Shockley. These were specially made small things that were intended to be used on satellites. With these things, Alex's satellite plan can take the next step. After all, he is not sending a useless big iron ball when launching the rocket, but a communication satellite that wants to realize commercial value.

As a profit-seeking entrepreneur, he must prioritize profitability. It is impossible for him to spend hundreds of millions of funds to conduct rocket experiments for Von Bryan like the U.S. government did. UU Reading www.uukanshu.net He is even considering asking the government for money to obtain research and development funds for his interstellar technology company.

As for how to get benefits from the government, it depends on whether the next plan goes smoothly and how strong Americans' fear of the Soviet Union is.

In this era, World War II has just ended more than ten years ago, and the shadow of war still hangs over people's heads. Especially with the rapid rise of the Soviet Union after the war, the differences in ideologies caused the countries on Earth to form two camps competing with each other.

At this time, China had just been liberated and had a lot of domestic problems that needed to be dealt with urgently. At the same time, China and the Soviet Union have not yet had conflicts, nor have they parted ways and established separate schools. The concept of the so-called Third World still only exists in the minds of some people and has not yet been announced loudly and publicly.

In Truman’s words: “From Stczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, an Iron Curtain has descended across the European continent!”

This iron curtain not only isolates all aspects of communication, but also increases the fear in the hearts of the government and the people. They desperately compete in various fields and try to overwhelm each other in all aspects. This is what Alex and Hughes had in mind, to use this emotion to win the support of the government and the people, and earn a lot of political capital and money.