北半球春季，如果在晴朗的夜晚，临睡觉前，正南方半空中，有几颗跳动闪烁的小星。它们组成的形状像一扇晶莹洁净的窗户。太空里清新的星辰气息，仿佛从那翕张不定的小窗吹进来，轻轻抚慰着人们的梦境。
这个星座叫乌鸦座。
初次辨认乌鸦座的人们可能会有相同的疑惑——那星座的形状怎么也看不出是一只乌鸦。与其说这几颗星的形状像乌鸦，还不如说，更像那种让鸟儿站立在上边的吊架。
至于它为什么被称为“乌鸦”座，想来和希腊神话有关。
在这乌鸦座的西边，有个巨爵座，传说“巨爵”是太阳神阿波罗的酒杯，“乌鸦”是用巨爵为太阳神斟酒的仆人，所以人们就把东边靠近巨爵的几颗星称为乌鸦座。
乌鸦座看上去是那么遥远，那么宁静，与人世间的纷扰并无瓜葛。可是，前一段时间，那片天区发生的天体事件，让地球上的各大星际殖民公司和航天大国深感不安。
根据近地轨道某国宇航员Hipparchus（依巴谷）的太空天文台观测报告，乌鸦座边缘的室女座61k行星周围曾经爆发一次怪异的闪光，随后，该星与地球的信息联络中断。
61k是距离地球十几光年之外人类已经开发的星球，那里是星际能源供应和行星发动机生产的基地。
61k失去联络之前，没有传回异常的通讯信号。事情发生的时候，61k上边没有执行任务的宇航员。
祸不单行。这次件事之后不久，乌鸦座触须星云（NGC 4038/9）方向，隶属于阿尔伯特深空动力公司的人工改造星体——殖民7号星，信号消失。
殖民7号失联，使阿尔伯特深空动力公司和它的所属国开始揣测事件背后的“人为”原因，怀疑这是太空竞争对手——小安德烈深空通讯公司干的。
紧接着，小安德烈深空通讯公司开发的星体——殖民6号星，在半人马座星区，信号消失。
很快，地球各星际殖民公司开始行动起来，向乌鸦座周围的室女座Rose128恒星周围的殖民地增兵。
名义上，各殖民公司要在Rose128建立抵御乌鸦座方向外星入侵的防线；实际上，这几桩离奇的天体失踪事件使各航天大国之间的猜忌加深，太空军备竞赛迅速升温。即使各方对事件的调查完全没有头绪，彼此之间还是本能地加强了戒备。
地球人在深空的军事对峙，使星际殖民国家逐渐分化成由跨国商人集团控制的两大阵营。一方是小安德烈深空通信公司控制的国家阵营，小安德烈是头儿；另一方是阿尔伯特深空动力公司控制的国家阵营，首领是西曼。
殖民7号刚刚失去联络，西曼和其所属国宇航局就派遣宇航员Justin（贾斯汀），驾驶“印第安座”星际战舰，飞向乌鸦座星区，准备去登陆室女座61k行星和殖民7号星，维护设备，恢复它们与地球的联络。
印第安座武装航天器如一粒微尘，掠过星际，进入室女座与乌鸦座交界的深空。
Justin从深眠中醒来。
“印第安座”减速，指挥舱防护罩打开。
检查完设备和飞行记录，Justin调暗舱灯，将目光投向舷窗外。
没有近空殖民地的喧嚣，远离银河，这里是一片星光寥落的区域。
乌鸦座四个角上的亮星，失去了地球上所看到的晶莹色彩，勾勒出来的直立四边形，不再像一扇灵动的窗，反而像是暗黑空间里一扇半掩着、使人感到犹疑的门，每个宇航员似乎都会望而生畏，停下前进的步伐，不知道那晦暗的门后边是什么？
Justin思绪中掠过一丝沮丧，甚至隐隐感觉到，那乌鸦座看起来像是一座孤悬在正前方太空中的墓碑。周围空间里亿万颗暗淡的恒星，如烟似雾，被各种引力源拉扯，变得丝丝缕缕，如细密的蛛网，又像随风飘动的透明帘幕，勾连在这人迹罕至的墓碑周围。
印第安座舰艏前方倾斜的巨爵座的容器里边，好像还荡漾着美狄亚调制的毒液酒浆。被美狄亚的计谋俘获的珀利阿斯（Pelias）的一部分灵魂碎块儿，似乎还在浸泡在毒酒中，在暗夜无边的深空里发出低沉的哀吼。
一滴毒液——乌鸦座触须星云（NGC4038/9）——从倾斜的巨爵容器口中滑落，飘在半空中，落向下方长蛇座的脊背。长蛇座的九头毒蛇希德拉，正阴险地向赫拉克勒斯（武仙座）缓缓爬去，尾巴掠过荒凉的墓碑。乌鸦惊起，又回落到墓碑上。
Justin不是第一次来这么遥远的深空，他定了定神，收回目光，启动重力探测，锁定左前方的室女座61恒星系统。
根据舰载探测仪器的数据，计算之后，Justin得出结论，室女座61恒星系统内部的各行星已经改变了轨道，进入彼此之间的引力调整期。这意味着，室女座61恒星系统中的行星之间，正在发生着大量的极端天体事件。
Justin的模拟结果显示，没有61k引力参与的恒星系统运行状况与目前的观测结果是一致的。
这说明，61k消失了。
Justin感觉身上有些发冷。重力探测器探测不到61恒星系统以外的天体有明显的扰动，根本无法找到61k逃逸的路径信息。
“难道61k直接融化成了虚空？轨道上走着走着，就消失了？或者说，61k没有逃逸，直接就没了……” Justin静静地看着乌鸦座星空的边缘方向，自言自语道。
一片死寂中，探空雷达忽然发出“嘀—嘀”的提示音。虽然声音不大，Justin还是吓了一跳。经过一番辨认，他发现那是小安德烈深空通讯公司的航天器，航行在前方很远的地方。
此时，Justin的思绪稍稍平复了一些，尽管那是竞争者阵营的航天器，但它们的出现，减少了Justin的恐惧和孤独感。Justin重新振作精神，感觉身上逐渐暖和起来。
这时，本国宇航局天琴座通讯系统的机器语音响起：“宇航局呼叫Justin！宇航局呼叫Justin！立即切换北极星盘，建立联络！”
星盘是深空导航设备，拥有庞大的数据库和高精度的计算能力。Justin能从近地轨道来到深空乌鸦座，整个航程就是在星盘的自动引导之下完成的。
重新与本国宇航局建立联络之后，Justin纳闷儿，自己从太阳系出发后，舰载星盘一直稳定地保持与总部星盘信号同步联络，为什么自己一觉醒来星盘联络中断了？
现在，Justin没有时间去细想这个问题。
“印第安座战舰Justin呼叫宇航局！舰载星盘一直开启，只是暂时联络中断，原因不明……”Justin一边查看星盘空间显示器中的任务项队列，一边向本国宇航局报告，“目前，现场确认室女座61k行星失踪！不可思议……原因待查，完毕！”
“Justin！室女座61k行星确认失踪，宇航局收到！”
Justin感觉清醒了许多，着手执行导航星盘提示中的第二项任务：实地探测殖民7号星。
此时，印第安座战舰已经接近殖民7号行星消失前的坐标位置。
Justin调整战舰姿态，引擎减速，向着乌鸦座星区范围内右侧的“触须星云”方向飞去。
乌鸦座触须星云（NGC 4038/9），好像巨爵座容器里飘洒出来的一滴彩色的液体，又像通体闪着荧光的小虫。小虫摆动长长的触须，冲着墓碑一样的乌鸦座轻缓地游动，谨慎地感知着星际空间中细微的扰动。
细看小虫的躯体，由上下两个漩涡星云组成，那是两个星系碰撞的结果。两条颜色浅淡的细长触须是碰撞之后生成的螺线形物质流，水波一样荡漾在寂寞的深空里。
当减速的印第安座置身于殖民7号星消失前的空间坐标点，Justin瞪大眼睛，直接向舷窗外搜寻。战舰外，上下左右，空无一物。指挥舱内的行星探测器异常安静。
殖民7号是人工变轨的流浪星体，比一般的小行星大很多，深空动力公司在该星储存了各种资源、设备，一直将其作为向更远处深空探索的中转站。
Justin之前推测，殖民7号星只是信号丢失，而不是星体本身消失。
现在，印第安座战舰置身于殖民7号星消失前的坐标位置，停泊在星际四壁真空里，一动不动。
殖民7号哪去了？
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?
星盘1情节跌宕起伏、扣人心弦，是一本情节与画风俱佳的星际小说作品，新笔趣阁网转载收集星盘1最新章节、无弹窗观看欣赏。
