Destiny (short story)
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| "Destiny" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Liu Cixin | |
| Country | China |
| Language | Chinese |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publication | |
| Publication date | 2001 |
"Destiny" (Chinese: 命运; pinyin: mìngyùn) is a science-fiction short story by Chinese writer Liu Cixin, first published in 2001. The short story was included in the collection A View from the Stars published by Head of Zeus in April 2024 and by Tor Books in May 2024.[1][2] It was translated by Andy Dudak.[3]
The protagonist and Emma return to Earth after an interstellar mission and sacrifice an engine to crash on a meteorite on a collision course, pushing it into an orbit around Earth. Both eventually realize that their curvature propulsion system has created a wormhole and send them into the past. Events like this rarely occur, but a protocol forbids to interact with the past. Although knowing they stopped the extinction of the dinosaurs, they agree to travel back into the future. After landing back on Earth, they are greeted by humans but learn that dinosaurs still exist and dominate the Earth. After also getting told that the dinosaurs know that the meteor which is still in orbit was diverted due to the impact crater and worshipping whomever responsible as a god, they request to speak with them with the proof from their ship.