Mikhail Vadimov
Names: Mikhail VadimovVadimovMikhail
First appears in Book 3: Death's End, chapter 7 (Crisis Era, Years 1–4 Cheng Xin)
Appearances
What you know
Book 3: Death's End
- Ch 7Vadimov, a tall Russian in his forties with heavy accent, directs the Technology Planning Center and has a vague, possibly intelligence-linked past.
- Ch 7Vadimov named Cheng Xin's plan the Staircase Program and insisted the probe be light as a feather.
- Ch 7Vadimov leads the task force on the Staircase Program and recognizes the plan requires the Trisolarans to capture the probe and keep the spy.
- Ch 9Vadimov tells Cheng Xin that Wade threatened to replace him with her, and hopes she never becomes ruthless enough to sell her mother to a whorehouse.
- Ch 11He believes he is the best Staircase candidate but is healthy, newly married with a one-year-old daughter, and does not want his family to see him turned into something worse than a corpse.
- Ch 12Vadimov died when his car crashed off a bridge into the Harlem River; an autopsy found leukemia and retinal hemorrhages, and his brain was unusable.
- Ch 12Vadimov treated Cheng Xin like a younger sister, helped her adjust abroad, and never showed jealousy of her brilliance.
Connections
- leadsTechnology Planning Center
- related toCheng Xinaide to her boss
- member ofPDC Strategic Intelligence Agency
- friend ofCheng Xin
- enemy ofThomas WadeWade killed Vadimov
Key moments
- Book 3 · Ch 7Cheng Xin joins the PIA
Cheng Xin leaves chemical rocket design to become aide to Vadimov at the PIA, meets him and the chilly chief Wade, and sees the distrustful new staff gather.
- Book 3 · Ch 7Wade proposes a spy probe
At the first all-hands meeting, Wade announces the PIA must launch a probe at the Trisolaran Fleet reaching one percent of lightspeed, and experts doubt it is possible.
- Book 3 · Ch 7Cheng Xin presents en-route propulsion
Mocked at first, Cheng Xin explains distributing nuclear bombs along the route to push a light sail probe; the experts take it seriously and Vadimov names it the Staircase Program.
- Book 3 · Ch 7Staircase Program voted down
Feasibility studies show the probe must be only 200 kg, and Wade reveals that the PDC rejected the program for its minimal intelligence value.
- Book 3 · Ch 7Wade proposes sending a person
Wade explodes that they will not stop and proposes sending a live hibernating human into the Trisolaran Fleet. The group sees that sophon transparency could work in the plan's favor.
- Book 3 · Ch 9Wade proposes sending only a brain
Facing the half-kilogram payload limit, Wade rallies his despairing team and announces a new plan: send only a brain to the Trisolarans.
- Book 3 · Ch 11Mass missile launch
Peacekeeper, Topol and Dongfeng missiles are launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral and elsewhere to supply power for accelerating the Staircase probe; Cheng Xin watches in tears.
- Book 3 · Ch 11Cheng Xin sees her star
After cloudy days, Cheng Xin and Vadimov find the faint red DX3906 with binoculars. Vadimov confides that he is the best candidate for the Staircase Program but is avoiding it.
- Book 3 · Ch 12Vadimov's suspicious death
Vadimov dies in a car crash caused by leukemia-induced hemorrhages; Cheng Xin suspects deliberate irradiation to prevent his brain from being used.