Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty

"Remember what I told you, Gillian," Handel said, "form this picture in your head, then clench your fists and focus." Gillian followed Handel's instructions, her face tense, and she focused all her attention on the pillows at the foot of the bed on which they sat cross-legged.Carly leaned against the doorframe, watching them both with interest from the other side of the bedroom. Although Carly is not a biological power user, she is very familiar with the techniques taught by Handel.Project Ascension uses purely biomechanical feedback, such as clenching a fist, or punching a punch into the air are ways to unleash biological powers.Combining basic muscle movements with the necessary and complex thought power patterns can form the trigger mechanism for specific biological power techniques.With practice and training, the corresponding physical movements become the necessary catalysts for mental processing, increasing speed and strength for the desired biotic effect.

"You can do it, Gillian," Handel urged, "follow our practice, and you can." The girl gritted her teeth, clenched her fists tightly, and began to tremble. "Good boy," Handel encouraged, "now swing your arms forward and imagine the pillows flying across the room." Carly seemed to see something shimmering in the air, like heat rising from sun-baked asphalt.Then the pillow flew up from the bed by itself, flew in a circle towards Carly, and hit Carly right in the face.It didn't hurt so much this time, but Carly was still caught off guard. Gillian laughed--excited and surprised, so comfortable that even Handel laughed.Carly glared at them deliberately annoyed.

"This time your reaction time is slower than before," Handel commented. "Before you throw the lamp in my face, it's better to leave early." Carly left the room and returned to the passenger cabin at the back of the ship. It had been three days since their ship had landed on the Edenna, and they were still waiting for the captain to give permission to land on the ship.During this time, their lives were fine, but Carly suffered from severe cabin fever. Gillian and Handel passed the time by concentrating on developing biological powers.In such a short amount of time, Gillian has made amazing progress.Carly didn't know whether it was because Handel gave her one-on-one training, or because her outburst in the college cafeteria broke some kind of mental barrier inside her.While she was happy to see Gillian making progress, there was little she could do to help.

Still, Gillian is clearly content with where she is.She is always good and sometimes bad. Her state is completely irregular and unpredictable.Over the past few days, Gillian has still wandered off at times, or turned a blind eye to her surroundings, but overall she has maintained her awareness, awareness, and focus.Carly still didn't know why.It may be that she gets more personal attention here than at the academy.Or maybe it had something to do with their inability to get out of the ship; Gillian already knew every inch of it.Inside the ship, she felt safer, protected.And in the classrooms or the halls of Grism College, she always felt exposed and vulnerable.Or maybe it's just because she has fewer people to deal with—besides Handel and Carly, the only visitor to the ship is Rhyme.

Rhyme came in once or twice a day to tell them what was going on outside, what was going on aboard the Edenna, and any important news about the other ships in the fleet.With almost five thousand ships in the fleet—many frigates, ships, and small crew carriers—there was always a constant flow of information and traffic within the fleet. Fortunately, due to the tireless efforts of the quarians to search for resources, some spacecraft travel to and from neighboring planets every day.According to their promise, the Edenna got food suitable for humans from the storage of other spacecraft, as well as environmental isolation suits for humans.One day after the food supplies arrived, the storage room of the spacecraft could not hold it.

Not surprisingly, the request to provide human food has sparked speculation and comments among the rest of the fleet.As Rhyme explained, this is one of the reasons for the delay in making a decision.The captain of each ship has absolute power over his own ship, as long as the power is not abused and the fleet is not a danger to the fleet.But obviously admitting non-Quarians is definitely not within the scope of permissibility. Everyone began to understand what the Aidena's request for human supplies was about, and the College of Cardinals and Command—representing the civilians and military of the Querry government, respectively—joined the discussion on what decisions should be made.Finally, Rhyme explained to Carly that the final decision rested with the captain of the Aidena, but he must weigh other people's opinions and suggestions.

To pass the time between Rhyme's visits, Carly started chatting with the quarians standing guard outside the airlock.The older of the two was Yoggho, who was more polite but aloof.His answer to Carly was always a few words, so when he was on guard, Carly gave up her plan to bother him and chat with him. Hito is the exact opposite of Yoggho.Callie guessed he was about Rhyme's age, but he was covered under a mask and environmental suit, and the only clue Carrie had was the "Gnar" in his name, which showed that he hadn't experienced wandering yet.But for some reason Hito looked more innocent and younger than Rhyme.Rhyme's months of roaming the world outside the fleet must have been a factor, but Hito had always had a childlike enthusiasm that Carly had simply put down to excitable extroversion.

Carly quickly learns that Hito is good at talking.As long as Carly asked a question or two, Hito could talk for a long time, like a river flooding, and it was out of control.But Carly didn't care.It helps her pass the time, and she learns a lot about the quarians, especially Aidena, from Hito. He explained that the Aidena was thirty years old, but it was still considered a new ship, which is understandable, because some of the ships in the fleet were built even three hundred years ago, when Querry Man has not yet been defeated and exiled by the geth.Over time, these ships have been upgraded, repaired, and refitted to bear little resemblance to the original ships, but are generally considered less reliable than newer ships.

Hito also told her that the Aidena was a medium cruiser, but large enough to hold a seat in the College of Cardinals.The College of Cardinals is a popular assembly that provides advice to the fleet commander in formulating fleet policy, and can also adjudicate specific disputes and make decisions on the internal affairs of the fleet.She knew that there were 693 men, women, and children who called the Aidena home—694 if Rhyme's gift of wanderings was accepted by the captain and thus became a member of the Aidena.This number shocked Carly. In the alliance, a medium-sized cruiser only has seventy or eighty crew members at most.In her mind, she seemed to see the miserable life of the inhabitants of the Aidena, crowded and squalid.

The more Carly and Hito talked, the more Hito let go.He chatted with her about the captain of the Aidena, Isin Mal Vas Aidena.Captains are generally traditional men or women; Marr, however, is generally seen as an active advocate for change and progress.Hito even whispered that he made a suggestion to the fleet to send patrol ships to the unknown space to carry out long-distance exploration missions, hoping to find a planet that is suitable for life and has not been occupied, so that the quarians can have their own territory to settle down.He seemed to have told Carly all the secrets in his heart.

His point of view often brought himself into conflict with other captains and the Order of Cardinals, a group of people who insisted that the fleet should be united if it was to survive.However, from the young quarian's words, Carly clearly understood that he supported her captain's position, not the conservative cardinals. As she made her way through the passenger compartment to the airlock, she wished that the fun-loving Hito was standing guard instead of the grim-faced Uggho.Although they were still not allowed to leave the ship, she was going to use the intercom on the airlock to contact the guard outside and ask him to come aboard.At this moment, the sealed door suddenly opened by itself. The door opened and seven quarians walked in. Kali took a few steps back in surprise. When this group of people walked into the spaceship, Carly felt a little nervous, but when she found that none of these people were carrying weapons, she relaxed again.She saw that Yugeho and Hito were both in the group.She thought the person at the front of the line was Easley, the head of security who had come up to greet them in the first place.Carly didn't know the other four people. "The captain agrees to meet with you." Yislie greeted.This also shows her identity. What an asshole at this point, Carly thought.She asked aloud, "When?" "Now," Easley told her. "We'll escort you to the bridge to meet him. Of course you'll need to wear an environmental suit." "Okay. Then I'll tell Handel and Gillian that I'm leaving." "They need to go, too," Easley insisted. "The captain wants to meet the three of you. Rhyme is already waiting there." Kali was unwilling to force Gillian off the ship, dragging her across the deck of the crowded Aidena, but given the circumstances, she didn't know how to say no. Carly told Handel her worries, and Handel felt the same way, but Gillian was not very worried.Five minutes later, they all put on their environmental isolation suits and set off.Yisli, Yugehuo, and Xito escorted them around, and the other four stayed behind. "They're going to sanitize the ship," Easley told them. "You better not be on board while they're working." Callie wondered if they had actually sterilized the ship, or if this was just an opportunity for the quarians to search the ship thoroughly without offending them.It didn't make any difference though, they had nothing to hide anyway. Yislie walked in front, and Yugeho was beside her, without saying a word.Hito followed, so that he could comment and explain to them what he had seen along the way. "This is the barter deck of the Edenna," Hito said as they passed the dock.On Alliance ships, this might just be a cargo hold. The room was full of quarians, all wearing environmental suits, next to each other, each carrying a bag or bag.Storage cabinets line the walls.Most of the doors of the cabinets are open, and inside are clothes and kitchen utensils and other daily sundries. There are also many large iron boxes and metal storage tanks with the lids opened scattered on the ground. Pretty much all of these things.There was only a narrow path left in the room, and they walked through it. The quarians just walked around among the chests and cabinets. They rummaged through these boxes, and occasionally took out an item to examine it carefully, or kept it, or put it back, and continued to search. "Anyone who has an item they don't need will put it here," Hito explained. "Other people will come and get what they need." "You mean that anyone can take something from anyone else?" Handel asked in surprise. "If that thing is being used by others, of course not." Hito said.His tone seemed to say that the answer was obvious there. "But if you don't use it, you should bring it here and let someone else take it and use it for free." "Then what do you keep it for?" the young quarian replied.One thing this question showed was that he didn't understand what it was like to sell his extra stuff to his neighbors, he didn't have the concept at all. "What if other people hoard these things?" Handel asked. "You understand? Just keep everything in your hands." Hito laughed. "Who would do such a thing? Your living space is small enough, so you can only sleep standing up, and it's just for things you don't need at all." He shook his head and smiled, expressing emotion to Handel stupidity. As they made their way through the barter deck, Carly glanced at Gillian.It was hard to see through her mask, but she looked fine. Satisfied, Carly turned her attention to the quarians scavenging for supplies.At first glance, this bustling market looks a lot like any other colonial market.Up close, it's a big difference, there isn't as much haggling as in other markets.There was a decent crowd here—Carly guessed there were forty or fifty—but no one was jostling or fighting over things.Usually, two or three people get together to have a talk, and will carefully step aside so as not to block the way of others while talking. It took Carly another moment to realize that something was missing: the hustle and bustle.There are no market peddlers shouting loudly to sell their goods, and no consumers and operators fighting over prices.Just the sound of people flipping storage cabinets and pots lightly and the easy chatter of friends and family. They had reached the elevator that would take them to the top of the ship.Carly saw something a little different.Here's a small, unidentifiable alien hardwood table in front of a storage room next to a large cargo hold.A female quarian sat behind a computer at a desk, and there were five or six people waiting in line.Two male quarians stood behind her. The man at the front of the line said something to the woman, and the woman typed some more information into the computer.He handed her the empty bag, and she handed it to a man behind him.The man disappeared into the room, reappeared a moment later, and handed the bag to the man in line, but it was now full. "What's there for?" "Important items like food and medicine are stored separately," Hito explained, "and we need to keep track of our reserves so we always have enough for everyone in the fleet." "What if the reserves are running out?" Handel asked. "If we manage strictly, the reserves will never run out," Hito replied. "Lifeships are shipped in every week to meet our basic needs. Special items and luxuries are sent by us to explore the surrounding world and star system. provided by frigates, or traded with other ships in the fleet." They stepped onto the elevator and began to ascend, leaving the barter deck slowly under their feet.But when they reached the second floor, when the elevator doors opened, Carly's jaw almost dropped to the ground when she saw the scene in front of her. If this deck is on an alliance cruiser, it should be the place where the crew lives and rests.But there were no canteens, dormitories, medical clinics, and entertainment venues as expected, and it was the first time she saw how most quarians lived. Most of the interior walls on this deck have been removed to make the most of every inch of space.Instead, there is a grid of a large number of small compartments, usually in groups of six: three compartments along the hull direction, and two compartments on the left and right sides of the ship, each compartment is about three or four meters Square, with three walls made of steel plates, standing upright from the floor to the ceiling, while the fourth side facing the alley is open, but this side is full of clothes of various colors, and the clothes hang from the ceiling. down, covering the opening like a curtain.The lanes in the middle of each group of compartments are also criss-cross along the bow-to-stern direction and starboard and starboard directions respectively.The lack of hustle and bustle in the market seems to be concentrated here, and the sound of talking and talking can be heard from every cubicle. "I live on this floor." Hito said proudly as Ellis was leading them through a path in the middle of the compartment.Like the deck of the barter cabin, the road on the living cabin is also full of people, and they have more things to do than the people who are leisurely picking out their own supplies.Still, they made way for each other without hesitation. As they passed cubicle after cubicle, Carly wondered if the colors and intricate designs sewn into the drapes that served as doors served some other purpose, such as marking a person from a particular tribe or family.She wanted to look for common or recurring marks in these artifacts, which might have some hidden meaning, but she couldn't find such repeated marks. Many of the cloth curtains were only partly painted with patterns, and Carly couldn't help but peek through the gaps as they passed the cubicles, to see how ordinary quarians went about their daily lives.Some were cooking on small induction hobs, while others were tidying up their rooms.Some people are playing cards or games, and some people are just watching personal videos.Others gather in twos and threes and sit on the floor while visiting friends or relatives.Some people are sleeping.But all of them were wearing environmental suits. "Are they wearing environmental suits because we're coming?" Hito shook his head. "We almost never take off our environmental suits, except in the most intimate situations, or when we meet with loved ones." "We work hard to maintain our spaceship," said Yisili in front, "but even if things like hull damage or engine radiation leakage don't happen directly to us, we must never take it lightly." On the surface her explanation seemed logical, but Carly suspected there was something else going on.After all, such things as hull damage or engine leakage rarely happen, and generally only happen on old and dilapidated spaceships.And only simple air quality monitors and element zero detectors are needed to warn people on the spacecraft, and in case of emergency, immediately put on environmental isolation suits so that serious damage does not occur. The biggest possibility is that wearing environmental isolation suits has become a deep-rooted tradition. On an overcrowded spaceship, there is nowhere to escape privacy, and wearing isolation suits has become an innate folk custom.Face coverings and layers of fabric can be a physical, emotional and psychological cushion in a society where we can hardly be alone. "How do you get to the bathroom?" Gillian asked, much to Carly's surprise.She had expected the little girl to shrink back, avoiding crowds and loud noises in unfamiliar surroundings. Perhaps she also derives some psychological privacy from the mask and environmental suit. "We have bathrooms and showers on the deck below." Hito explained Gillian's problem. "The room is sealed and sanitized. It's one of the rare places where we can take off our environmental suits and feel very comfortable." "What do you do when you're not on the Quary?" Gillian wondered. "Our gowns are airtight between the inner and outer layers and can hold waste for days. So the gown can be washed and let go of the waste in any communal sanitation facility - like your spaceship bathroom — without worrying about the wearer being polluted by the outside world.” Hito suddenly ran forward and opened the door curtain of a small compartment. "This is where I live," he said excitedly, beckoning them over. Carly glanced inside and saw a crowded but neatly organized room.The sleeping mat stands rolled up in the corner.There is a small stove for cooking, a screen, and a computer against the wall.On the wall hung several bright yellow garments, the color to match the curtain that covered the doorway. "Do you live here alone?" Carly asked.Hito laughed again at the stupidity of humans. "I live here with my parents. My sister used to live here for many years, until she left the fleet to wander. Now she stays with the crew of the Rhea fleet." "So where are your parents now?" Gillian asked, and Carly thought she heard a little longing in Gillian's voice. "My dad works on the upper deck. He's a navigator. My mom is a member of the Commons Council and usually advises Captain Marr, but this week she's on the Lifeship. Be back in two days." "You see all the orange clothes hanging on the wall, what's going on?" Carly changed the subject and stopped discussing her parents who were out. "Is there any meaning to this?" "The meaning is that my mother likes orange." Xito laughed, and lowered the curtain, and they continued to move forward. They walked through many isolation rooms until the next elevator. "From here, I will escort them on the following route." Yisli told Yugehuo and Hito, "You two go back to report and continue with your daily work." "I'm afraid we're going to part here," said Hito respectfully, "and hopefully we'll see each other again soon." Uggho nodded too, but said nothing. The elevator doors opened and they followed Easley inside.The elevator closed and rose rapidly, sending them to the bridge.When getting out of the elevator, Carly was surprised to see that there were still several compartments by the wall next to the elevator.Obviously, the space on the spacecraft is too precious. Even if it is only a few meters away from the bridge, every inch of available space is not wasted. "That's the captain's quarters," Easley told them, pointing to one of the compartments as they walked toward the bridge and passed the compartments.Now that Hito is gone, Isri fills the role of tour guide.The turquoise curtains were completely drawn down, and nothing could be seen inside.But according to the width of the corridor and the two iron plates that served as side walls, Carly calculated that the captain's room was the same size as the others' rooms. When they finally reached the bridge, Carly noticed with some surprise that there was finally a place on the ship that wasn't as crowded as the rest. There were still quite a few people in this small area—a helmsman, two navigators, a comms operator, and a few other crew members—but it was pretty much the same on any Alliance ship.The captain sat in the middle of the bridge, and Rhyme stood beside him, the injured leg still tightly wrapped in the protective boot.When they came, the captain rose and went to them, Rhyme limping after him. "Captain Isin Mal Vas Edenna," Rhyme introduced, "allow me to introduce Carly Sanders and her companions Handel Mitra and Gillian Grayson." "I welcome you and your friends to the Edenna," said the captain, shaking hands with each of them.This time, Gillian still didn't flinch from physical contact, but she still didn't have the courage to speak. It must be the environmental suit, Carly thought. Captain Marl looked into Carly's eyes like any other quarian man Carly had met.She knew her observations were more than racial discrimination.Even taking into account the fact that the physical differences have been erased by the environmental suits, it's safe to say that quarians all look alike.They are all about the same height and build, unlike humans, whose appearance varies wildly. Aside from the fact that Rhyme is easier to spot because of the different shoes they wear, Kali has to rely on subtle differences in their clothing to tell the quarians apart.For example, there is a small but noticeable discoloration on the left shoulder of Hito's environmental isolation suit, which may have been caused by constant friction or wearing over several months.However, if Handel and Carly were both wearing environmental isolation suits, there would be no need for such a trick to distinguish between the two—Handel was about fifteen centimeters taller than Carly and weighed twenty kilograms.However, this striking difference does not exist in quarian populations. Carly thought to herself, this is similar to other races.For some reason, humans are far more genetically diverse than any other race in the galaxy.She hadn't consciously noticed it before, but on the bridge of the Edenna she seemed to feel it. It happens to us too.She saw Handel shaking hands with the captain.Larger ancestry from northern Europe and India is becoming more and more common on the planet, and the inevitable by-product of this genetic mixing is greater body uniformity in humans.In the twenty-second century, blonde hair like hers is rare, and natural blue eyes no longer exist.But now with hair dye, skin tone and colored contact lens technology, who cares? "On behalf of my ship and every crew member, I extend a warm welcome to each of you," the captain said, pulling Carly back to reality. "It's a great honor to meet you." "We are deeply honored, Captain Mal," Carly replied, "You took us in when we were desperate." "We are vagabonds ourselves," said the captain. "We have found a sense of security and community in the vagabond fleet. Now I also provide security for you." "Thank you, Captain," Carly replied. The captain nodded in gratitude, then put his hand on Carly's shoulder, bringing the two of them so close that what the captain whispered through the mask's voice module was barely audible. "Unfortunately, the safety of the Wandering Fleet is in vain," said the captain. Carly was a little overwhelmed by the cryptic warning.She was quite surprised and didn't know how to answer.Fortunately, he didn't seem to be expecting an answer from Carly either.He dropped his hands from Carly's shoulders, stepped back, and resumed his normal conversational voice. "Representatives of the College of Cardinals and the Command are coming to the Edenna to meet with you," he told Carly. "It's a huge honor for my ship and crew." From his tone, Carly sensed that the captain considered it an inconvenience, not an honor. "Captain," a member of the crew reminded the captain, "The Restiac requests to enter the dock." "Tell them to dock five," Mal replied. "We'll meet them there." "Come on," he said to Carly and her companions, "we cannot keep such an important guest waiting."