During her introductory period at Red Coast, Ye Wenjie explains, she’s restricted to very simple, uninteresting tasks in the Transmission Department rather than a “real job.” She feels alone and unsure why she was sent to this base. Everyone else is dressed in military fatigues, and the political accusations against her cause others to distrust her. Her colleagues include many talented computer scientists. Because of the dull nature of the work, these talented individuals “hide their technical competence” (164) so that they’ll be transferred. These departures allow Ye to rise through the hierarchy. The security around her gradually relaxes, but she’s still forbidden from accessing many parts of the base.

Yang Weining works on the base. He bullies Ye, even though they’re victim to many of the same politically minded suspicions. Conversely, Commissar Lei drops his “initial rudeness and coldness” (166) toward Ye. Lei is the person who finally explains the goal of Red Coast: the large antenna is designed to beam microwaves at “the enemy’s space vessels” (167), allowing the Chinese to target satellites and spacecraft belonging to the Americans or the Russians. Yang Weining criticizes Lei for sharing this information with Ye.