Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen
The Sparrowhawk is a quiet ship.Ordinary warships are always full of the noise of people talking, laughing and shouting.Special Forces soldiers don't do such stupid things.
Once on board, the commander of the Sparrowhawk explained to me. "Don't expect people to talk to you," Major Creek said to me when I went to report for duty.
"Sir?" I said.
"I mean the soldiers of the Special Forces," he said. "It's not that I have any complaints against you, but we are not very talkative. When there are no outsiders, we almost all use BrainPal to communicate. It's faster that way, and we Nor do you prefer talking in a natural way like you do. We are born with BrainPals, the first time someone speaks to us with a BrainPal, so that becomes our primary means of communication. Please understand. Also, I will order the soldiers to speak when they need to communicate with you."
"That's not necessary, sir," I said. "I can use a BrainPal, too."
"You can't keep up," Major Creek said. "Your brain communicates at one speed. We communicate at another. Talking to a stranger is half the speed of communication. Talk to us." You'll find us curt and curt in our voices a little longer. Because we feel as if we're talking to a dull child, it's natural. Don't take offense, I didn't mean to offend you."
"It's all right, sir," I said, "but you and I seem to be communicating fine."
"Well, as a commander, I spend a lot of time with people outside of Special Forces," Crick said. "Also, I'm older than most of my soldiers, so I've learned some social etiquette."
"How old are you, sir?" I asked.
"I'm going to be fourteen next week," he said. "Well, I'll have a staff meeting at 0600.Until then, you settle down, eat something, and get some rest.Let's talk again tomorrow morning. "He saluted and sent me away.
Jane is waiting for me in my room.
"It's you again." I smiled.
"It's me." She only answered these two words, and immediately asked, "How are you doing?"
"Fifteen minutes on board," I said, "very well."
"We're all talking about you," Jane said.
"Yeah, the endless babble is ample evidence of that," I said.Jane was about to speak when I raised a hand. "Just kidding," I said, "Major Creek told me about BrainPal."
"That's why I like talking to you like this," Jane said. "It's different to me talking to other people."
"I seem to remember you talking when you rescued me." I said.
"We were worried about being tracked by the enemy," Jane said. "It was safer to speak up. In public, we also spoke up. We didn't like drawing unwanted attention."
"Why did you arrange this?" I asked her. "Why did you put me on the Sparrowhawk?"
"You are useful to us," said Jane, "your experience will be useful, both on Coral Planet and as an integral element of our preparations."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"Major Creek will be at the briefing tomorrow," Jane said. "I'll be there too. I command a platoon and do intelligence work."
"I'm useful to you guys. That's the only reason I'm on board, right?" I asked.
"No," said Jane, "but that's the only reason I can get you on board. Look, I can't stay with you very long. I have a lot of work to do for this mission. But I want to know her, know Cathy. I want you to tell me who she is and what she looks like."
"I'll tell you," I said, "but I have one condition."
"What condition?" Jane asked.
"You have to tell me about yourself," I said.
"why?"
"Because for nine whole years I've assumed my wife was dead. And now you're showing up and messing with my mind." I said, "The more I know about you, the more I get used to the fact that you're not her." .”
"My life isn't that interesting," said Jane, "and it's only been six years. There's not much time to do anything."
"I've done more in the last year than I've done in all the previous years put together," I said. "Trust me, six years is enough."
"Sir, do you want some company?" A friendly young soldier (probably only four years old) and his four fellow special forces approached me with a dinner tray and stood at attention.
"This table is empty," I said.
"Some people like to eat alone," said the soldier.
"I'm not that kind of person." I said, "You guys please sit down."
"Thank you, sir," said the soldier, placing the tray on the table.
"I'm Corporal Sam Mendel. They're privates, George Linnaeus, Will Hegel, Jim Ball, and Jen Fermi."
"I'm Lieutenant John Perry," I said.
"Well, what do you think of the Sparrowhawk, sir?" Mendel asked.
"It's nice and quiet," I said.
"That's right, sir." Mendel said, "I told Linnai just now, I don't think I've spoken more than ten words this month."
"So you just broke your own record," I said.
"Would you mind revealing a bet for us, sir?" Mendel said.
"Will it be hard to do this?" I asked.
"No, sir," Mendel said, "we just want to know how old you are. Well, Hegel bet you're twice as old as all of us in the class combined."
"How old are you all?" I asked.
"There were ten soldiers in my squad, including me," said Mendel. "I was the oldest, five and a half years old. The others were between two and five years old. The total age was about thirty-five." Zero two months."
"I'm seventy-six," I said, "so he's right. Any recruit in the colonial army would have won him the bet, though. They don't let us enlist until we're seventy-five. There's a saying I have to say, being twice the age of all of you in this class puts me to shame."
"Yes, sir," Mendel said, "but to put it another way, we're both at least twice as old as you. So it's pretty much a tie."
"I guess so," I said.
"Sir, you have a full life before this life," said Pole at the head of the table. "This must be interesting. What does it feel like?"
"Feeling about what?" I said. "Are you referring to my life specifically, or are you referring to something like another life before the military?"
"You can say whatever you want," said Pole.
It dawned on me that the other five sitting at this table hadn't even picked up their forks to eat.The lively dining room, filled with the telegraphing of cutlery on trays, was completely silent.As Jane said, everyone was very interested in me.Obviously, she was right.
"When it comes to my old life, I liked it," I said. "Other people might not find that exciting, maybe even boring. I don't know. But for me, it was a good time." Life. As for the other life before the military life, I haven’t really thought about it. As for the current life, before I joined the army, I never thought about what the military life would be like.”
"Then why did you choose this life?" Pol asked. "You must have some idea of it."
"No, there isn't," I said, "I guess none of us old men who joined the military really knew what the military and war were all about. Most of us never saw war, nor were we Bing. No one knew in advance that they would be pulling out our ego and stuffing it into a new body that only partially resembles who we used to be."
"That sounds silly, sir," said Pole.This reminded me that he was probably only two years old and hadn't learned how to express his opinions tactfully. "It's hard to understand why someone would decide to sign up for an organization without knowing anything about it."
"Well," I said, "you haven't experienced old age. An unimproved man of seventy-five is far more daring than you when it comes to taking risks and accepting new ideas."
"I don't see any difference in age," Pol asked.
"When you hear this, you know it's coming from a two-year-old who has never experienced aging," I said.
"I'm three years old." Pohl said angrily.
I raise a hand. "Okay," I said, "let's look at it differently for a moment. I was seventy-five years old, and I did take a bold leap when I joined the colonial army. But then again, it was my choice. I don't have to be in the army. If you find that hard to imagine, isn't it even harder for me to imagine you?" I turned to Mendel and said, "I couldn't even tie my shoes when I was five. Take. You can't imagine what it's like to be in the army at my age. Come to think of it, how hard it is for me to imagine a five-year-old adult who knows nothing but war. If nothing else, I at least know What's life like outside the colonial army. What about you?"
Mendel looked at his companions, and they looked back at him. "We don't usually think much about these things, sir," Mendel said. "At first, we don't even think we're unusual. Everyone we know is 'born' the same way. It seems to us that you That's unusual. You had a childhood, a whole life before you started this life. Isn't it so inefficient to do that?"
"Haven't you guys ever wondered what life is like outside of Special Forces?"
I asked.
"I can't imagine that," Pohl said, and the others nodded. "We're all fighters. That's what we do. That's who we are."
"That's why we find you interesting," Mendel said. "The idea that military life is a choice is unimaginable. There should be another way of life besides the military. It's not like ours." The concept is so out of place.”
"What did you do, sir?" Mendel asked. "In another part of your life."
"I used to be a writer," I said.They stare at each other. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's a strange way of making a living, sir," said Mendel. "You make money stringing words together."
"There are worse careers," I said.
"We didn't mean to offend you, sir," said Pole.
"I don't think you're offending me," I said, "it's just that you don't see things the way I do. But it does remind me of a question: why do you do this?"
"What's the matter?" Pol asked.
"War," I said. "You know, most of the soldiers in the colonial army are my kind of people, and most of the people in the colony are even more different from you. Why are you fighting for them? Why are you fighting?" Fight alongside us?"
"We're human, sir," said Mendel, "just like you."
"Based on the current state of my DNA, the word human doesn't mean much," I said.
"You know you're human, sir," said Mendel, "and so are we. You're much closer to us than you think. We know how the colonial army selects its recruits. Fight the colonists you have seen, who were enemies of your country. Why should you fight for them?"
"Because they're human, and because I said I'd fight for them," I said, "at least that's why I did it in the first place. But now, I'm not fighting for the colonists. I mean, I'm I did fight, but at the end of the day, I fought—or used to fight—for my platoon and my squad. I fought for them and they fought for me. I fought because if I If you don’t work hard, you will disappoint them.”
Mendel nodded. "That's why we go to war, sir," he said. "So, there are many things that make us human, and this is one of them. Good to know, sir."
"That's right." I agreed.Mendel grinned, picked up his fork and began to eat.The dining room came alive again, with the clanging of tableware.I raised my head, listened to the noise, and found that Jane was looking at me from a far corner.
During the morning briefing, Major Creek got right to the point. "Colonial intelligence thinks the Rye are a bunch of crooks," he said. "Our first task is to confirm that. We're going to visit the Consu first."
This statement surprised me.I can see that I am not alone in this reaction. "What the hell have the Consu got to do with this?" asked Lieutenant Tagore, seated to my left.
Crick nodded to Jane sitting beside him.Jane said: "At the request of Major Creek and other officers, I studied some other battles between the colonial army and the Rui people to determine their technological level. In the past 100 years, we have had ten battles with the Rui people. World War II and dozens of skirmishes, including one major war and six skirmishes over the past five years. During this time, the Rye have been far behind our technology curve. This is due to a number of factors, including Their cultural bias against technological advancement and their lack of communication with technologically advanced races."
"In other words, they were backward and stagnant," Major Creek said.
"This is especially true in terms of jumping technology." Jane said, "Before the Battle of Coral Star, the jumping technology of the Rei people had always been far behind ours. In fact, more than a century ago, the colonial army fought a failed battle with the Rei people." In the course of the trade, we provided them with relevant information, which formed the immediate basis of the Rye's transition physics."
"Why did that trade fail?" asked Captain Jung, who was sitting across the table.
"The Rye eat a third of the trade delegation," Jane said.
"Oh," said Captain Jung.
"The important thing is, judging from the characteristics and technical level of the Rui people, it is impossible for them to jump ahead of us overnight." Captain Creek said, "The most reasonable guess is that they have not made technological progress— —It’s just that the technology of predicting the jump thruster has been obtained from other civilizations. We all know the races that the Rui people know, and according to our speculation, only one civilization may have this level of technology.”
"Kangsu people." Tagore said.
"It's the Kangsu people." Crick said, "Those bastards have the ability to let a white dwarf star pull their carts for them. We can reasonably guess that they have successfully solved the problem of predicting the jump."
"But how could they have anything to do with the Rye people?" asked Lieutenant Dalton, who was sitting at the end of the table. They are much more advanced than the Ruiyi people. The Kangsu people will not take the Ruiyi people as opponents if they want to train soldiers."
"The idea of this is: Unlike us, the Consu people are not interested in technology," Jane said. "To them, our technology is as worthless as we no longer value the secret of the steam engine. According to our Guess they have other motives."
"Religion," I said.All eyes turned to me, and I suddenly felt like a choir boy who farted loudly during service. "I mean, when my platoon fought the Consu, they started with a prayer that sanctified the battle. I also said to a friend at the time that I think the Consu felt they were fighting for the planet. Baptize." Everyone was still staring at me, "Of course, I could be mistaken."
"You're right." Crick said, "The reason why the Consu people fought has always been controversial in the colonial army. With their technological level, they can wipe out other interstellar civilizations in this area without thinking. Most people think they It's done for fun, like we play baseball or football."
"We never played football or baseball," Tagore said.
"Other people will do that, idiot." Crick laughed, and then became serious again, "There are also people in the intelligence department of the colonial army who believe that the Consu war has religious significance, which agrees with Lieutenant Perry. These Although people are only a small minority, their views are valued. It may not be possible for the Rye to trade technology on an equal footing with the Consu, but they may have something that the Consu want. Maybe they can share their I will give my soul to the Kangsu people.”
"But the Rei people themselves are also religious fanatics." Dalton said, "Religion is also one of the reasons why they attacked Coral Planet."
"They have several colonial planets, some of which are not as valuable as the others." Jane said, "Leaving aside religious factors, they can give a colony planet that is of little value to them to the Kangsu people , exchange their technology, and take Coral Star from us. It's a good deal."
"It's not so good for the Rye people living on the exchanged planet," Dalton said.
"Yo, you really care about them, guess I don't?" Crick said.
"The technology provided by the Consu to the Rei makes them far ahead of other civilizations in this universe." Jung said, "No matter how powerful the Consu are, breaking the balance of power in this region will have a major impact. "
"Unless the Consu keep a hand," I said.
"What do you mean?" Jung asked.
"We currently believe that the Consu gave the Rye the technology to make the jump detection system," I said, "but they probably just gave the Rye a machine, with a manual or something, so they could operate it. That way, the Rye get what they want, which is to defend Coral against us, and the Consu avoid breaking the balance of power in the region."
"Until the Rye figure out what the hell is going on with that damn thing," Jung said.
"With their existing technology, that's years away," I said. "We've got time to kick them in the ass and take that technology out of their hands. But no. There are simply too many factors to determine: did the Consu really teach them that technology? Did the Consu really just give them a machine? Did the Consu really care about the balance of power in the region? etc."
"It's to find out that we're going to visit the Consu people," said Creek. "We've sent a remote-controlled jump ship to let them know we're coming. We're going to try and see What can we learn from them."
"Which colony planet are we going to cede to them?" Dalton asked—it was hard to tell if he was joking.
"None," Crick said, "but we have one thing that will entice them to meet us."
"What is it?" Dalton asked.
"He." Crick pointed at me.
"Him?" Dalton said.
"Me?" I said.
"You," said Jane.
"I suddenly feel bewildered and terrified," I said.
"The double-shot shooting procedure you invented allowed the colonial army to kill thousands of Consu people very quickly." Jane said, "From past experience, if the ambassador of the colonial government took a Colonial soldiers who killed a large number of Consu were with them, and the Consu were often more than happy to receive them. Since it was your shooting procedures that quickly finished those Consu fighters, you should naturally be credited for their deaths."
"Your hands are stained with the blood of 8,433 Kangsu people." Crick said.
"Fantastic," I said.
"It's wonderful indeed," said Crick. "Your presence will allow us to walk through the gate."
"Then what will happen to me when we walk through the gate?" I asked. "Think about how we would treat a Consu who killed 8,000 humans."
"They don't think the same way as we do about that," said Jane. "You should be all right."
"It should be fine." I said.
"Other than that, there is only one option. Our spaceship appears in the space of the Consu people, and the spaceship is blown up to ashes." Crick said.
"I know," I said, "I just wish I'd been given a little time to get used to this line of thinking."
"The situation is developing rapidly." Jane said coldly.Suddenly, I received a BrainPal message.The message said.I turned to Jane, who was looking at me calmly.
I nodded, indicating that I understood, and on the surface seemed to agree with what she had just said.
"After they express their admiration to Lieutenant Perry, what should we do?" Tagore asked.
"If everything is the same as we used to deal with, we'll have a chance to ask up to five of the Consu people questions," said Jane, "and we'll send five of them to fight five of them. The actual number of questions depends on the outcome of the match. Fighting is one-on-one. The Consu fight with bare hands, we don't have the kind of sword arms they have, so our fighters can carry knives, to make up for that. It's important to note that, In the past when this ceremony was performed, the Consu people we fought were disgraced soldiers or prisoners who depended on this fight to regain their honor, so they would be very determined. We can win a few battles, and we can ask Some Problems."
"What counts as winning?" Tagore asked.
"You win if you kill the Consu, and he wins if he kills you," Jane said.
"It's so interesting." Tagore said.
"One more detail," Jane said, "the combatants are selected from among us by the Consu people. According to the etiquette requirements, the delegation should have at least three times the number of people. The only person with immunity is the leader. Out of etiquette, He doesn't fight Consu criminals and losers."
"Perry, the position of head of the delegation can only be held by you," Crick said. "You killed those eight thousand damn things. From their point of view, you should naturally be the head of the delegation. And , Among the people present, only you are not a special forces soldier. Unlike us, you have undergone profound improvements in speed and physical strength. If you were selected, you might be killed."
"I am very touched by your concern." I said.
"That's not the case," Crick said. "If the star we used to lure them was killed by a lowly criminal, that outcome would make the Consu people much less likely to cooperate with us."
"Okay," I said, "I thought you were softening."
"Impossible," said Crick. "Well, we have forty-three hours before we reach the jump area. The delegation will consist of forty of us, including all platoon leaders and squad leaders, and the remaining I will choose people from ordinary soldiers. That is to say, from now until the jump, you all have to conduct hand-to-hand combat training for your soldiers. Perry, I have downloaded the etiquette of the delegation to you, please do well Learn and don't screw things up. Once the jump is over, we'll meet and I'll tell you the questions we want to ask, in the desired order. If we're good enough, you can ask five questions; but probably You can't ask that much, you have to prepare in advance. Let's get started, comrades. Disband."
During those forty-three hours, Jane got to know Cathy deeply.She would appear in front of me out of the blue, ask questions, listen to my answers, then disappear and go about her work.It is a strange way to know a person's life in this way.
"Tell me about her," she said to me as I studied protocol information in the forward lounge.
"I've known her since she was in first grade," I said, and had to explain what first grade was.Then, I told her the first thing that Cathy left in my memory: it was an art class in the first and second grades, and I shared a bottle of paste with her to make paper models.She caught me eating a little bit of paste and said I was disgusting.For that word, I hit her, and she hit me in the eye.She was suspended for one day for this.We didn't speak to each other until we were in junior high school.
"How old were you when you were in first grade?" she asked.
"Six," I said, "as old as you are now."
"Tell me about her," she said to me a few hours later, in another place.
"Cathy nearly divorced me once," I said. "We had been married for ten years and I had an affair with another woman. Cathy found out and was furious."
"Why should she mind if you're making out with someone else?" Jane asked.
"It's not about the relationship," I said, "but that I lied to her. In her mind, physical infidelity is just a hormonal weakness, and lying shows disrespect to her. She doesn't want to be with a man. People who don't respect her stay married."
"Then why didn't you get divorced?" Jane asked.
"Because despite my affair, I still loved her and she loved me," I said, "and we ended up reconciling because we still wanted to live together. Then again, a few years later she had An affair, so you could think we were even. In fact, we've gotten better together since then."
"Tell me about her." After a while, Jane popped up again.
“Cathy makes unbelievable pies,” I told her. “Her secret strawberry pies are so delicious that they make you jump.” One year, Cathy sent her pies to state A trade show competition, judged by the governor of Ohio, and the first prize was a sponsorship of a new oven."
"Did she win?" Jane asked.
"No, she won second prize, a $100 gift certificate to a bedding and sanitary ware store. But a week later, she got a call from the governor's office. The governor's assistant told Cathy that for political reasons, the governor would 1st prize went to the wife of a great patron best friend; but the governor has been nagging and raving about it since tasting her little slice of pie, so could she please bake another slice for the governor , so he can stop talking about the damn pie."
"Tell me about her," said Jane.
“I first realized I was in love with her when I was in junior high,” I said, “when our school put on a production of Romeo and Juliet and she was chosen to play Juliet. I was an assistant director for that play, This meant that most of the time, I was on set or serving coffee to Mrs. Amos, the teacher who directed the play. Cathy had a little trouble reciting her lines, and Mrs. Amos asked me to help. She figured it out. So, for the next two weeks, as soon as rehearsals were over, Cathy and I went to her house to recite lines. Actually, most of the time, we were talking about other things. Teenagers are like that, when everything It was all very innocent. And then it was the rehearsal stage with make-up, and listening to Cathy say those lines to Jeff Green, who plays Romeo, I was so jealous. She should have said those lines to me."
"How do you do it?"
"There were four performances from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. During the performance, I wandered around, avoiding Cathy as much as possible. Then, at the casting party on Sunday night, I was approached by Judy Jones who played Juliet's maid, Told me Cathy was sitting on the dock at the coffee shop crying like hell. She thought I hated her. I'd been avoiding her for the past four days and she didn't know why. Judy finally said if I didn't go there Tell Cathy I love her and she'll find a shovel and kill me."
"How did she know you were in love with Cathy?" Jane asked.
"When you're a teenager, when you're in love, it's obvious to everyone but you and the person you're in love with," I said, "don't ask me why, it's just the way it is. So I went to the pier and saw Kathy sitting there by herself with her legs dangling from the edge of the pier. It was a full moon that night, and the moonlight was shining on her face. I thought, that was the most beautiful moment of her that I had ever seen. I My heart is about to explode, and I know, I really know, that I've fallen so deeply in love with her that I'll never be able to describe to her how much I love her."
"How do you do it?" Jane asked.
"I cheated," I said. "You know, I just happened to memorize a whole bunch of lines from Romeo and Juliet. So I walked over to her on the pier and recited scene two to her." Lines from Act 2: 'Hush, whisper! What is that light that lights up in the window over there? That's the East, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun...' and stuff like that. I used to memorize those lines , but only this time, they became the voices of my heart. After I finished speaking, I walked up to her and kissed her for the first time. She was fifteen and I was sixteen, and I knew I would marry her and be with her For a lifetime."
"Tell me how she died," Jane asked before jumping to Consu's space.
"She was making waffles that morning and she was looking for vanilla extract and she had a stroke," I said. "I was in the living room. I remember she was talking to herself where she put the vanilla extract, and then, I heard a ping bang bang and something thumping on the floor. I rushed into the kitchen and she was lying on the floor, shaking. Her head hit the kitchen counter and was bleeding. I hugged her , called 911. I tried to stop her bleeding, told her I loved her, and kept saying that until the paramedics arrived and dragged her from my arms. They put me in the ambulance, Holding her hand all the way to the hospital. I still held her hand when she died in the ambulance. I watched the light go out in her eyes, but I kept telling her I loved her until I got in to the hospital and they pushed her away from me."
"Why did you do that?" Jane asked.
"I want to make sure the last thing she hears is me telling her how much I love her," I said. "What's it like to lose someone you love?" Jane asked.
"You're dead too," I said. "You're just waiting, waiting for the body to die."
"Are you still like this?" Jane asked, "I mean, are you still waiting for the body to die?"
"No, not now," I said, "you'll come back to life after all, it's just your life that's changed."
"So what you're experiencing now is your third life," Jane said.
"I think so," I said.
"How do you feel about your life this time?" Jane asked.
"I like it," I said, "I like the people I meet in this life."
Outside the window, the stars began to rearrange.We're in the space of the Consu.We sat in silence, at one with the silence of the ship.
Notes:
Notes: