Chapter 5 Chapter Four
The military briefing babbled on until about ten o'clock in the morning.I wonder if meetings like this are all the same—a lilting, monotonous background noise of narration, a stale smell of too much coffee, smoke, and piles of hard coffee. Cortical superimposed vertigo from face data and implant access—unchanged for centuries.I wonder if these things were easier when I was a kid; Wellington rounded up his men—what he dubiously but masterfully called ""—and drove them off without saying a word. To die.
I turned my attention back to the group.We're in a large conference room with a gray wall against a bright white rectangular rug and a gunmetal horseshoe table with a black touchscreen and a few decanters here and there in a rather subdued tone.Executive Meina Gladstone sat in the center of the arc of the table, flanked by senior MPs and cabinet ministers, and further down the curve were military officers and other secondary decision-makers.Behind them, beyond the table, sat the indispensable group of aides, none of whom belonged to the military department below the rank of colonel, and behind them—in those uncomfortable-looking chairs— — sits the assistants of these assistants.
I don't have a chair.Another group of people was invited, but it was obviously not their turn to speak, so I sat with them on a high stool near the back corner of the room, 20 meters away from the CEO and from the officials who were giving briefings. It's even further away.The speaker was a young colonel, with a pointer in his hand, who did not hesitate to say anything.Behind the colonel is the gold and gray adjustable display screen guide, and in front of him is the slightly raised Vientiane ball that is indispensable in any imaging well.At times the palette is clouded and brought to life; at other times the air is clouded with complex holograms.Tiny images of these charts flashed on every touchpad and hovered over some of the comlogs.
I sat on the stool, observing Yueshi, drawing instant sketches.
When I woke up that morning in the guest room of the government building, the bright whale sun poured in through the peach-colored curtains. At 6:30 in the morning, it was my wake-up time, and they opened by themselves at that time. Forgot where I was, still looking for Rainer Hoyt in my mind, and worried about the Shrike and Height Masteen.Then, as if some force fulfilled my desire, took me away from these thoughts, and made me start to dream my own dream. Looking around expecting the lemony rugs and peachy glow to recede like a hot dream, leaving only pain and phlegm and a horrible hemoptysis, the linen stained with blood, the sunlit room dissolving into Plaza de España In the shadows of the dark apartment, there are ghosts everywhere, and the sensitive face of Joseph Seven leans forward, watching me, waiting for death to fall on my head.
I took two showers, first a water bath and then a sound bath, and came out of the bathroom with a new gray suit on the freshly made bed, which I took and put on, and set out to find East Court - I 1 new A gift card left next to the clothes said that breakfast was being served there for the guests of the government building.
The orange juice is freshly squeezed, and the bacon is crisp and tender, the real deal.The newspaper said that CEO Yueshi will be addressing the entire Web at 10:30 Web Standard Time through the global and major media outlets.The pages of the newspapers were full of war news.Above, a flat photo of the Armada glows in all colors and glows.On the third page, looking out somberly, General Mompercourt was dubbed "the hero of the Second Glennon High Rebellion."Diana Frome, who was eating at the next table with her ape-like husband, glanced at me.Her dress this morning was more formal, a dark blue dress, far less revealing than last night, but there was a thin slit on the side, and she could faintly see her figure last night.She picked up a strip of bacon between her shiny nails and took a careful bite, never taking her eyes off me.Hormond Frome muttered something in his throat as he read some pleasant news in the financial pages of the folder.
"The Ouster relocation team... or the wandering swarm as it is commonly known... was detected by the Hawking jamming sensor in the Cam system a little over three standard years ago," said the young officer briefing. "As soon as it was detected, Military Task Force 42, which had been modified for the evacuation of the Hyperion system, immediately spun into FTL from Parvati with top-secret instructions that they would establish A portal that brings the entire Hyperion into the range of teleportation capabilities. At the same time, Task Force 87.2 was ordered to dispatch troops from the Surkov-Kinda staging area around Kam 3 to deal with the evacuation of the Hyperion system. Rendezvous, find the Ouster relocation party, engage them and destroy their military forces..." The image of the Armada appeared on the palette and reflected on the young colonel.He flicked his pointer, and a ruby-colored light cut halfway through the larger hologram, revealing the 3C battleship mentioned in the message. "Task Force 87.2 was ordered by Marshal Nasita, and he is currently on the 'US' Tyrant..."
"Got it, got it," General Morpurgo complained, "we know all this, Yanni. Cut the nonsense."
The young colonel squeezed out a smile, nodded slightly to the general and CEO Yue Shi, and then changed back to the tone just now, but there was a little less confidence in it. "During the past seventy-two standard hours, according to reports of super-light encrypted messages from Unit 42, intense fighting has broken out between the Scouting Team of the Task Force Evacuation Force and the vanguard of the Ouster Relocation Team— "
"It's You Qun." Lee Hunter interrupted him.
"Yes," Yanni said.He turned to face the palette, and the five-meter-deep frosted glass appeared flickeringly.To me it was all just an incomprehensible maze of cryptic symbols, colorful vector lines, low-level codes, and military acronyms, and it all seemed like gibberish.Perhaps the top generals and politicians in the room didn't know anything about these things either, but no one admitted they didn't.I started a new portrait of Pleasant Stone, with Morpurgo in the background resembling a bulldog in profile.
"While initial reports indicated a Hawking wake of four to five thousand units nearby, many people misunderstood this data order," continued Colonel Yanni.I'd love to know if that was his first or last name. "You know. The Ouster... ah... the pack could consist of as many as tens of thousands of individual drive units, but the vast majority of them were small, or not armed at all, or not of much Military implications. Microwave, ultra-optic, and other emission evaluations show—"
"Excuse me," Meina Gladstone said, her weathered voice in stark contrast to the briefing officer's smooth, honeyed language, "can you tell us how many Destroyer ships are of military significance? "
"Ah..." said the colonel, casting a glance at his superior.
General Morpurgo cleared his throat. "We estimate there are about six... seven hundred first-class ships," he said. "There's nothing to worry about."
CEO Yueshi raised an eyebrow. "What about the size of our fleet?"
Morpurgo nodded to the young colonel, beckoning him to relax, and he answered the question himself. "Task Force 42 has about sixty warships, Your Excellency. Plus—"
"Task Force 42 is the evacuation unit?" Yue Shi asked.
General Morpurgo nodded, and I thought I could see a hint of humility in his smile. "Yes, ma'am. Task Force 87.2, the fleet that was transmitted to the system about an hour ago, will—"
"Sixty ships are enough to withstand six or seven hundred warships?" Yue Shi asked.
Morpurgo glanced at one of his colleagues, as if to beg him for patience. "Yes," he said, "perfectly enough. You see, my lord, six hundred Hawking drive ships might sound like a lot, but they're just a few high-flying single ships, scout ships, or what they call Five-seater assault craft for the Lancers. Task Force 42 consists of nearly two dozen mainline orbiters, including the aircraft carriers 'Shadow of Olympus' and 'Uranus Station'. Any of these ships can carry More than a hundred fighter jets or artillery positioning radars." Mopogo fumbled in his pocket for a while, pulled out a cigar-sized genetically modified cigarette, and then inserted it back into his coat pocket as if remembering that Yueshi disapproved of smoking .He frowned. "When Task Force 87.2 is deployed, we will have enough firepower to deal with even a dozen or so wandering groups." Still frowning, he nodded to Yanni, signaling him to continue.
The colonel cleared his throat, then pointed his pointer at the on-call display. "You see. Task Force 42 was able to clear the necessary space for the construction of the teletransmitter without breaking a sweat. The work started six weeks before RST and was completed at 1600 GST yesterday. Twenty-four minutes completed. The first round of Ouster harassment attacks have been repulsed, and Unit 42 has suffered no casualties. In the past forty-eight hours, a major battle has been launched between the vanguard of the task force and the main force of the Ousters. The battle. The focus of this conflict is here" - Yanni gestured again, and with the blow of the tip of his pointer, a region of the palette flashed blue and danced - "in the ecliptic plane twenty Nine degrees high, thirty AU from Hyperion's stars, and about 0.35 AU from the putative edge of this galaxy's Oort cloud."
"What about the casualties?" Lee Hunter asked.
"It's completely within acceptable limits for a firefight at such an extraordinary time," said the young colonel, who looked as if he had never been within a light-year radius of the battlefield.The blond hair was carefully combed to the side, reflecting in the strong light of the spotlight. "Twenty-six Hegemony fast attack fighters were damaged or missing, twelve torpedo-mounted artillery locating radars, three torch ships, fuel carrier 'Asquith's Pride', and destroyer 'Dragonstar III' '."
"What about the death toll?" CEO Yue Shi asked.Her voice was very calm.
Yanni cast a quick glance at Morpurgo, but answered the question himself. "About 2,300 people," he said, "but the rescue operation is currently underway, and we hope to find the survivors of the 'Dragon Star'." He stroked his coat, and immediately continued, "With the Destroyer battleship Compared with the confirmed casualties of at least 150 ships, this is completely insignificant. The attack launched by our army on the Migration Constellation-resulted in the destruction of another 30 to 60 warships in the group, including Comet Farm, Iron Ship, and at least one Commander Constellation."
Meina Gladstone twirled her rough fingers. "Do the casualty estimates—our casualties—include the passengers and crew of the destroyed treeship Yggdrasil? The ship we chartered for the evacuation mission?"
"Not including, ma'am," Yanni replied briskly, "although there was an Ouster raid when the treeship was destroyed, our analysis shows that 'Yggdrasil' was not destroyed by enemy action."
Yue Shi raised his eyebrows again. "That is how the matter?"
"Conspiracy to sabotage, this is the conclusion we have reached so far," said the colonel.He brought another Hyperion diagram to the palette.
General Morpurgo glanced at his comlog, then said, "Come on, skip to the ground defenses, Yanni. Your Excellency will be giving a speech in thirty minutes."
I finished the sketches of Pleasant Stone and Morpoge, stretched, and looked around for my next subject.Lee Hunter seemed like a challenge, with his indescribable face, features almost squeezed together.When I looked back up again, a Hyperion holographic sphere stopped spinning and gradually unfolded into a series of planar projections: oblique equirectangular, Born projections, vertical lines, star symbols, , clock hands, sinusoidal curves, Azimuthal equidistant, polyconic graphics, overkill Sanzine, Escherized computer, Bressmeister, Platinum Mins, Miller cylindrical, polygonal wirewound, and block diagram standards, and everything after that All melt into a standard Robinson-Board map of Hyperion.
I laughed.It was the most enjoyable thing I had seen since the briefing began.Yueshi's subordinates were moving impatiently.They want to spend at least ten minutes with the CEO before the broadcast starts.
"It is well known," the colonel said, "that Hyperion has a similarity of 9.89 degrees to the Old Earth standard, according to the Long-Romea measurement—"
"Oh, for God's sake," Mopurgo roared, "report the deployment of the army quickly, and get out of here early."
"Yes, sir." Yanni swallowed and raised his pointer.There was no confidence in his voice anymore. "You know... I mean..." He points to the northernmost landmass, the place that floats on the palette like a scribbled head and neck of a horse, and the animal begins with the chest and back muscles Place ends in a zigzag. "This is mainland Malaysia. It has another official name, but everyone calls it that since... this is mainland Malaysia. The chain of islands stretching southeast... from here to there... is called Cat and Nine Tails. In fact, this is an archipelago, with more than a hundred... Anyway, the second main continent is called the Aquila Continent. Maybe you can see that its shape looks a bit like the old eagle. This is Its beak... on the northwest coast... the claws extend here, all the way to the southwest... There is at least one wing here, all the way to the northeast coast. This part is the so-called wing plateau, because it is full of flame forests. The plateau is nearly impassable, but here... and here... to the southwest, there are major fiberplastic plantations..."
"Army deployment!!" Moboge roared.
I sketched Yanni.I found it impossible to express the brilliance of beads of sweat with graphite.
"Yes, sir. The third continent is the Great Bear Continent...it looks a bit like a bear...but no military troops have landed here, because this is the Antarctic, and it is almost impossible to settle down here, although the Hyperion Self-Defense Forces have a permanent submarine here. Listen to the whistle..." Yanni seemed to realize that he was talking nonsense.He straightened his body, wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand, and then continued to speak in a calmer tone, "The main army base of the military department is here...here...and here." His pointer finished near the capital Keats areas, those places are at the height of the neck of the mainland of Malaysia. "The space force of the military department has been dispatched to the first airport of the capital, as well as here... and the second battlefield here, and provide security." He clicked on Andymilion and Port Romance, both of which are located in Aquila mainland. "Military Army units have prepared fortifications here..." More than two dozen red lights were lit; most in the neck and mane area of the mainland, but a few in the beak of the Aquila mainland and the Port Romance area. "These include naval detachments, but also ground forces, surface-to-air and super-surface-to-air forces. The High Command expects that this will be different from the Battle of Brescia in that the battle will not take place on planetary land, but we have to do well Prepare in case they attempt to land aggression."
Meina Gladstone checked her comlog.Seventeen minutes until the live broadcast.
"What's the evacuation plan?"
Yanni's re-established composure crumbled again.He looked at his superior official with a little despair.
"There was no evacuation," Marshal Singh said. "That was an illusion, to lure the Ousters."
Yue Shi tapped the table with his fingertips. "But there are millions of people on Hyperion, Marshal."
"Yes," said Singer, "we will protect them. Even evacuating the approximately sixty thousand inhabitants of the Overlord is problematic. If we allow all three million inhabitants into the Ring, there will be riots. Meanwhile , this is also not possible due to security concerns.”
"Because of the Shrike?" asked Lee Hunter.
"For security reasons," repeated General Morpurgo.He stood up and took the pointer from Yanni.The young man stood there for a second, seeing that there was no place to sit and no place to stand, hesitated, and finally moved to the back of the conference room near me, standing there in a relaxed parade posture, looking near the ceiling something - perhaps gazing at the end of his military career.
"Task Force 87.2 has entered the system," Morpurgo said. "The Ousters have retreated to the center of their swarm, about sixty AU from Hyperion. I can assure you that the entire system is safe." ...Hyperion is safe. We are waiting for a counterattack, but we know full well that we have the ability to contain the enemy. Also, the fact that Hyperion is now part of the Ring. Questions?"
No one asked.Gladstone left with Lee Hunter, a group of MPs, and her assistants, and the senior officers moved in groups, forming groups apparently distinguished by rank.Assistants scattered around.The few correspondents who were allowed to remain in the conference room ran to the photographers who were waiting outside.The young colonel, Yanni, was still standing in a relaxed parade posture, his eyes were distracted and his face was pale.
I sat for a while, staring at Hyperion's slate map.From such a distance, mainland Malaysia looks more like a horse.From where I sit, I can just make out the peaks of the Bridle Range and the orange-to-yellow gradation of the high desert below the "eye" of the horse.There was no sign of any military defense disposition to the northeast of the mountains, no sign of anything except a small red light that might signify the deserted city of poets.The Time Tombs are not marked at all.It's as if the cemetery has no military significance and plays no role in today's operations.But somehow I know more than that.Somehow I suspect that the entire war, the thousands of battles, the fate of millions—even billions—is in the hands of six people on that unmarked orange and yellow field.
I closed my sketchbook, stuffed my pencil in my pocket, looked for an exit, found it, and left.
In a long corridor leading to the main entrance, I met Lee Hunter. "Are you leaving?" he asked.
I took a breath. "Aren't you allowed to leave?"
Hunter smiled, if the upward movement of his thin lips could be called a smile.
"Of course it's allowed, Mr. Seven. But the executive officer, Lord Yueshi, has told me to tell you that she wants to talk to you again this afternoon."
"when?"
Hunter shrugged. "When she's finished speaking, anytime. It's your convenience."
I nodded, counting millions of lobbyists, job seekers, would-be biographers, businessmen, executive fans, and would-be killers willing to lose their fortunes just to spend a minute with the Hegemony's most eminent leader, Executor Pleasant spent a few seconds with her, but I was able to see her "at my convenience".No one ever felt that this universe was normal.
I brush past Lee Hunter and head for the front door.
In accordance with long-standing tradition, there are no public teleportation entrances within the exterior walls of government buildings.I had to walk a little, past the security barrier at the main entrance, through the gardens, to the building that served as the news headquarters and terminal.News reporters are clustered around a central viewing well where Weilin Drake, "Voice of the Big Picture," is giving background commentary to CEO Pleasant Stone's "Life and Death Importance to Hegemony" speech.I nodded in his direction, found an open portal, flashed my Universe card, and went inside to find a bar.
Once you get to the central plaza, you'll find that it's the place within the ring where you can teleport for free.Every planet in the Web offers at least one of the best city blocks—Whaleheart offers twenty-three—for shopping, entertainment, fine dining, and drinking.Especially drinking.
The central plaza, like the Tethys River, passes through a two-hundred-meter-high military-scale portal.The circular shape of Plaza Avenue gives the impression that it is an infinitely long main street, forming a torus of creature comforts.One can, as I did that morning, stand in the bright daylight of the whale, overlooking the night playground of Tianjin Sibing in the central square, full of neon and holographic glow, and catch a glimpse of the hundreds of floors of Luthers. The main mall in the city, and I knew it, and above that was the dappled shop of Shenlin; it had a brick avenue, an elevator to the treetops, and the most luxurious restaurant on the Ring.
I didn't curse it all.I'm just looking for a quiet bar.
Whaleheart's bars are always packed with bureaucrats, journalists, and businessmen, so I took a Central Plaza shuttle to the main thoroughfare of Draco Seven.The planet's gravity discourages many - and I'm not immune to it - but it also means that the bars here aren't overcrowded, and people don't come here to drink with other motives.
The place I chose was a single-story pub, almost buried under the supporting columns and service ramps of the main commercial shed, and it was dark inside: dark walls, dark wood, dark customers—my They were as dark as their skin was pale.But it was a nice place to drink, so I went in, ordered a double scotch, and sank more and more into it as I drank it.
Even there, I can't escape the clutches of the Pleasure Stone.At the far end of the room, a flat-screen TV shows Gladstone's face against a nationally broadcast blue and gold backdrop behind her.Several other drinkers gathered there to watch.I heard intermittent speeches: "...to ensure the safety of the citizens of the Hegemony and...to allow no threat to the Ring or our allies, not even to...Therefore, I have authorized a formal military operation, ..."
"Turn that damn thing down!" I was surprised to realize I was yelling.The customers turned their heads and gave me a savage look, but kept their voices down.Yue Shi's lips were still squirming, I looked at it for a while, then waved to the barman and asked for another double.
After a while, maybe hours, I put down my glass and looked up to find someone sitting directly across from me in the darkened room.It took me a while to squint my eyes hard, trying to see who that person was in the haze.For a moment I thought it was Fanny, and my heart beat faster, but I blinked again, and said, "Ms Froome."
She was still wearing the same blue dress I had seen at breakfast time.Somehow that bust line seems to be cropped lower.In the near-darkness of the room, her face and shoulders seemed to glow. "Mr. Seven," she said, almost whispering, "I have come to ask you to keep your promise."
"Promise?" I waved to the waiter, but he didn't respond.I frowned and looked at Diana Frome. "What promise?"
"Of course it's my portrait. Have you forgotten what you promised at the banquet?"
I snapped my fingers, but the arrogant waiter still wouldn't condescend to look in my direction. "I've done a portrait of you," I said.
"Yes," said Miss Froome, "but not a full-length portrait."
I sighed and drank the last of my scotch. "I'm drinking," I said.
Ms Froome smiled, "As I see it."
I got up, went to the waiter, thought about the question, and slowly settled down on the weather-beaten wooden stool. "Armageddon," I said, "they're playing with the end of the world." I took a good look at the woman, squinting a little to get a better look at her. "Do you know that word, ma'am?"
"I'm sure he won't give you any more alcohol," she said. "Where I live there is alcohol. You can draw while you drink."
I squinted again, this time with my wrist.I might have had a little too much scotch, but the alcohol didn't dampen my consciousness. "Your husband," I said.
Diana Froome smiled again, radiantly. "He's going to be in Government House for a few days," she said, a real whisper this time. "He can't be too far from the source of power at such an important moment. Come on, my car is just outside. "
I don't remember paying the bill myself, but I think I should.Ms Froome may have paid.I don't remember her helping me out of the bar, but I think someone else did.Maybe a driver.I remember a guy in a gray top and pants and I remember leaning against him.
The electromagnetic car has a foam-shaped vault, which looks like a spherical mirror on the outside, but the glass is quite transparent when viewed from the deep recessed cushions on which we sat.I counted, and we passed two entrances, and then we drove out of the central square, out into the distance, and began to climb above a blue field under a yellow sky.Beautifully furnished houses rose on hilltops, all made of some kind of ebony, surrounded by fields of poppies and lakes the color of bronze.Is it the arrow of revival?It was so difficult to figure out such a problem back then, so I rested my head on the vault and decided to take a break.I'll have to take a break from painting Ms. Froome... Heh, heh.
The countryside flies by below.
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