Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen
I didn't go to Tyrena's skinny swim party.The last time I saw Spencer, he was having an earnest chat with Sude Shearer, and he didn't go either.I wonder if Monsignor Edward succumbed to Terena's temptations.
The banquet was not completely over yet, and the chairmen of the Relief Foundation were making short speeches one by one, and many members of higher status became restless.At this time, Lee Hunter told me softly that the CEO and his party were about to leave and asked me to accompany them.
It's about 23:00 GST, and I figured they were going back to the government building, but when I stepped through the entrance of the one-way portal (except for the executive's bodyguards who were standing behind us, I was The last one in the group to leave), but was stunned by the sight in front of him.I was looking down a stone-walled corridor, and through the narrow windows a Martian sunrise was playing, setting it off like a relief.
Mars is not technically part of the Ring; humanity's oldest extraterrestrial colony is deliberately isolated and out of reach.If the pilgrims of Zen Spirituality want to visit the God Rock in the Greek Basin, they need to be teleported to the main station of the home galaxy first, then go to Europa or take a space shuttle, and finally reach Mars.It's just a detour of a few hours, but it seems sacrificing and risky in a society where everything is literally within reach.Other than historians and experts in brandy cactus farming, very few professionals were drawn to Mars.Over the past century, Zen spirituality has gradually declined, so that even the pilgrimage there is less crowded.No one cares about Mars anymore.
Except for the military.Although the logistics administration of the military department is located in the heart of the whale, and its bases are spread throughout the ring network and protective bodies, Mars is still the real headquarters of this military organization, and the Olympus command school is its heart.
A handful of military dignitaries were waiting to greet the handful of political dignitaries.I made my way to one of the windows, wide-eyed at the constellations outside, swirling like colliding galaxies.
The corridor was part of the entire complex carved out of the upper rim of Olympus, and from our stand, ten miles above sea level, it felt like we could see half the planet at once.Looking out from here, the planet looks like an ancient shield volcano, and the highways playing tricks, the old cities built along the cliff walls, and the slums and forests of the Talsis Plateau have all become The crooked lines of the red surface looked as though nothing had changed since man first set foot on the planet, declared it the domain of a country called Japan, and took a picture.
I watched the rise of a small star and thought to myself: That is the sun.Clouds sneaked out of the darkness on the other side of the infinitely long mountainside.I was admiring the colorful scene of the sun above the clouds when Lee Hunter suddenly approached. "The CEO will see you after the meeting." He handed me two sketchbooks that an aide had brought over from the government building. "At this meeting, what you heard and saw is top-secret content, you should be aware of it?"
I didn't take that statement as a question.
Wide bronze doors gaped through the stone walls, and their lights flashed, revealing carpeted ramps and stairways leading to the central conference table of strategic resolutions in the middle of a vast black area that looked like a vast auditorium entirely. There is no darkness anymore, only a single island is still bathed in light.The assistant hurriedly led the way, pulled out the chair, and blended into the shadows.Reluctantly, I turned my back on the sunrise and followed the crowd into the abyss.
General Morpurgo and three other military leaders personally went into battle to give a briefing.The diagrammatic location is light-years away from the crude palettes and holograms used for briefings at government buildings; Clerks are fine, but right now, most of the darkness above our heads has been filled with free-kick pitch-sized Omega-quality holograms and charts.The sight was somewhat frightening.
The content of the briefing was also worrying.
"This battle in the Hyperion system, we are about to retreat," Mopurgo concluded. "The most optimistic estimate is that it will be a tie, and the Ouster swarm will be kept out of the defensive zone, allowing them to communicate with the teleporter." Qiqi penalty maintains a distance of about fifteen astronomical units. But if we do this, we will be constantly harassed, and our forces will be consumed by their small ship attacks. At worst, we will have to retreat and go to a defensive position. Evacuate the fleet and the Overlord's inhabitants, and leave Hyperion to the Ousters."
"What happened to the coup de grace we promised?" asked Senator Korsev, who sat near the apex of the diamond-shaped table. "What about the decisive attack on Youqun?"
Morpurgo cleared his throat, but Marshal Nasita rose to his feet, and the general glanced at him.The black uniform of the corps space commander made his tense face a phantom floating in the darkness.Just thinking about this image gave me a sense of déjà vu, but I glanced back at Meina Gladstone, her face lit by the various war graphics floating above our heads, like The famous holographic spectral form, so I started painting again.I've put away my paper sketchbook and am now drawing with my light stylus on the flexible compliant sheet.
"First of all, our information about Youqun must be limited," Nasita said.The graphic above the head has changed, "It is impossible for reconnaissance probes and long-range reconnaissance planes to tell us the characteristics of each combat unit in the Destroyer Migration Fleet. The previous results we obtained obviously seriously underestimated the actual combat effectiveness of this group. We intend to To pierce the defense of the wandering group, only long-range attack fighter jets and torch ships were used, but it did not achieve the desired effect.
"Secondly, to keep such a huge defense area of the Hyperion galaxy stable, it has placed excessive demands on our two task forces that are performing missions. At this moment, a sufficient number of ships must be sent to the Attacking on the battlefield is really difficult for a strong man."
Korschef interrupted him. "Marshal, you are saying that your number of ships is too small for this mission to crush and repel this Ouster attack on the Hyperion system. Am I right?"
Nacita glared at the congressman, and I thought of the oil paintings I had seen before, those warriors who were about to draw their swords out of their sheaths in an instant and kill people invisible. "Exactly, Senator Korschev."
"However, nearly a standard week ago, in our War Cabinet briefing, you fully assured us that two task forces would be sufficient to protect Hyperion from invasion, from its destruction, and would be able to roam the Ousters. The group is coming for the coup de grace. What's going on now, Marshal?"
Nasita straightened up completely—he was taller than Morpurgo, but still shorter than the average height of the Ring—and turned his gaze to Pleasant Stone. "My lord executive, as I have explained, something has changed and we have to revise the battle plan. Can I start the briefing again?"
Meina Yueshi rested her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her right hand, resting two fingers on her cheeks, the other two curled up under her jaw, her thumb resting on her chin, she seemed to be a little distracted. "Marshal," she said kindly, "while I believe that you should not evade MP Korschef's question, I think that the situation you have outlined for us in this and previous briefings has answered it. ’” She turned to Korschef. "Gabriel, our calculations were wrong. Even with the full force of the military, our best-case scenario is a stalemate. The Ousters are meaner, more powerful, and more numerous than we imagined." Eyes turned to Nacita. "Marshal, how many more ships do you need?"
Nacita took a breath, clearly frustrated at being asked such a question so soon after the briefing began.He glanced at Morpurgo and the other leaders of the Combine, then clasped his hands together in the gesture of a funeral director. "Two hundred warships," he said, "at least two hundred. That's the minimum."
There was a commotion in the meeting room.I looked up from the painting.Everyone except Yueshi was whispering or otherwise moving.It took me a while to figure it out.
The number of ships in the entire military space battle fleet is less than six hundred.Of course, each one is astonishingly expensive - building one or two large interstellar warships is already very difficult. To pay for more warships, there are very few planetary economies that can do it, and even a few torchships powered by Hawking A ship could bankrupt a colony planet.Each of them is extremely powerful: an attack carrier can destroy a planet, and a fleet of cruisers and orbiting destroyers can destroy a star.It is conceivable that the overlord ships that have gathered in the Hyperion system are enough to destroy most of the galaxies in the ring network (if guided by radio through the large teleportation matrix of the military department).A century ago, less than fifty ships of the kind requested by Nasita destroyed Glennon High's fleet and suppressed the mutiny forever.
But the real problem behind Nacitar's request is to simultaneously commit two-thirds of the overlord's fleet to the Hyperion system.I can feel the unease running through these politicians and policy makers like electricity.
Councilor Li Xiu from Fuxing Arrow cleared his throat. "Marshal, we've never concentrated our fleet's firepower like this before, have we?"
Nacita turned his head smoothly, as if his neck were a bearing.The stern face did not soften in the slightest. "We have never been committed to such an important fleet operation for the future of the overlord before, Mr. Li Xiu."
"Yes, I understand this," Li Xiu said, "but I want to ask, what effect will this have on the defenses elsewhere in the ring network. Isn't this a frightening gamble?"
Nacita grunted, and the icons in the vast space behind him swirled, fogged, and joined together, and a picture of the Milky Way, taken from above the ecliptic plane, appeared before our eyes, and it was breathtakingly beautiful; the angle suddenly changed, We seemed to be hurtling toward a spiral arm at dizzying speed until the teleportation web of the blue grid was within sight.Overlord, the spiers and pseudopods of this irregular golden nucleus extend into the green halo of the protective body.The shape of the Ring looks haphazard, dwarfed by the majestic grandeur of the Milky Way... These impressions are indeed an accurate reflection of reality.
All of a sudden, the diagram changes, the ring and the colony planets become everything, and there are hundreds of planets in a spray shape, let us understand, this is a perspective view.
"These represent the current positions of our fleet members," Admiral Nasita said.Between the gold and the green and in the distance, hundreds of dense orange spots appeared; the most abundant part surrounded a distant protective planet, which I belatedly recognized as Haizurian .
"These are the most recent survey maps of the Ouster Swarm." A dozen or so red lines appeared, vector markers and blue-shifted trails showing the direction of travel.Even judging from this ratio, the Youqun doesn't have a vector to cut off the overlord's airspace, but the Youqun—a large group—seems to have entered the Hyperion galaxy around a detour.
I've noticed that flocks of arrows frequently turn back around military space deployments, except for bases and clusters near tricky planets like Maui, Brescia, and Qom-Riyadh.
"Marshal," Yue Shi said, interrupting his unfinished description of the deployment, "I think you have considered that the fleet's reaction time should pose a threat to some other locations on our border."
Nacita's stern face twitched, perhaps trying to laugh.There was something indisputable in his voice. "Yes, my lord executive officer. If you noticed that besides this wandering group located in Hyperion, here is the nearest..." The red arrow above a golden cloud in the field of vision zoomed in sharply, and it touched many people. A few galaxies, I'm pretty sure, include Heaven's Gate, The Forest of Gods, and Infinity Ocean.On this scale, the Ouster threat is indeed very remote.
"According to the Hawking-driven coda captured by the submarine listening posts inside and outside the ring network, we plan to plan the migration of the swarm. In addition, our long-distance probes are also frequently verifying the size and migration direction of the swarm."
"How often, Marshal?" asked Senator Korschev.
"At least once every few years," snapped the marshal, "you have to be aware that the voyage takes months, even at the speed of the orbiting ship, and from our point of view, the time debt of such a migration would As many as twelve years."
"There is a gap of many years between direct observations," the congressman insisted. "How can you obtain the location of the tour group at any time?"
"Driver Hawking never lies, Senator." Nasita's voice was completely flat. "The Hawking twisted wake cannot be simulated. All we are looking for is the real-time location of hundreds... if the swarm is larger, thousands... of operating singularity drives. Transmitting the Hawking effect using meta-optical communication broadcasts , without time debt.”
"Yes," said Kershev, his voice as flat and listless as the Marshal's, "but what if the flock is traveling at a speed slower than the gyratory ship?"
Nacita smiled heartily. "Below FTL, Senator?"
"yes."
I saw Moboge and several other soldiers shaking their heads, or trying to hide their smiles.Only the young corps naval commander, William Ajunta Lee, leaned forward, his face serious and intent.
"Traveling at sublight speeds," Marshal Nasita deadpanned, "our great-great-grandchildren have to worry about warning their grandchildren about the invasion."
Kershev pressed persistently.He stood up and pointed to the nearest wandering group on the Gate of Heaven that bypassed the Overlord. "What if this tour group plans to approach the ring network without relying on Hawking's drive?"
Nacita sighed, obviously irritated by the fact that these irrelevant questions had flooded the meeting. "Member, I assure you, if that wandering group turns off their drives now and turns around and heads towards the ring network immediately, it will wait until—" Nasita blinked, and checked her plant and communication links — "Two hundred and thirty standard years before they can reach our borders. That was not a factor in the decision, Senator."
Meina Gladstone leaned forward and all eyes were on her.I save the previous sketch on the palette and start a new one.
"Marshal, it seems to me that the real focus here is nothing more than two facts: the unprecedented concentration of firepower around Hyperion; and the fact that we are putting all our eggs in one basket."
People were amused, and a murmur spread up and down the table.Pleasant Stone has always been known for his use of long-forgotten aphorisms, allusions and clichés that sound somewhat refreshing today.This may be one of them.
"Are we putting all our eggs in one basket?" she continued.
Nasita took a step forward, put both hands on the table, stretched out her long fingers, and pressed hard on the table.That intensity befits the character of the short man; he is one of the rare men who command attention with such ease and convincingness. "No, my lord executive, we don't." Without turning around, he gestured towards the video screen above his head and behind him. "If the recent flock relies on Hawking's propulsion, we will definitely issue an early warning two months before reaching the overlord's territory... That is three years for us. Our fleet in Hyperion—assuming they will Deploy widely and have them in readiness—withdrawal and transfer anywhere within the ring in less than five hours."
"That doesn't include the fleet outside the ring network," Councilor Li Xiu said, "You can't leave the colonial planet behind and let others slaughter it."
Nacita gestured again. "We will summon two hundred warships to fight the decisive battle of Hyperion. These warships are already inside the ring network, or have the long-distance transmission capability of the jump ship. None of the independent fleets sent to the colony planet will be affected. .”
Yue Shi nodded. "But what if Hyperion's transmitter is damaged, or taken over by the Ousters?"
Judging from the commotion, nods and gasps of the crowd around the table, I guess she hit home.
Nacita nodded and strode back to the small podium, as if he had anticipated the question and was pleased that the digression had finally come to an end. "Excellent question," he said, "this has been mentioned in previous briefings, but I'm going to go into more detail about this possibility next."
"First of all, we have rich long-distance transmission capabilities. Currently, there are no less than two jump ships in the galaxy, and we plan to send three more when the reinforcement task force arrives. All five ships were wiped out The odds are very slim... considering the formidable defenses we've had with the reinforcements of the task force, it's hardly a possibility.
"Second, there is zero chance of the Ousters capturing an intact military teleporter and using it to invade the ring network. Every ship...every ship...must be authenticated when passing through the military teleporter , the code is read by the anti-tamper micro transponder mechanism, and the transceiver is updated every day—”
"Couldn't the Ousters have broken these codes...and inserted their own?" Congressman Korschef asked.
"Impossible," Nasita strode back and forth on the small podium, with his hands behind his back, "The code update will be transmitted daily through the one-way super-light launch pad of the military headquarters in the ring network."
"Excuse me," I said, and I was surprised to hear this voice appear here, "I took a short trip to the Hyperion galaxy this morning, and found that the so-called coding is just empty talk."
People turned to look at me.Marshal Nasita turned his head dramatically again like an owl, as if his neck were a frictionless bearing. "However, Mr. Seven," he said, "you and Mr. Hunter have both been coded—at the end of the two-distance transmission line, by infrared lasers, painlessly and painlessly."
I nodded, surprised for a moment that the Marshal remembered my name, but then I remembered that he had implants too.
"Third," Nasita continued, as if I had never spoken, "even if the impossible happened, and the Ouster force swept across the defenses, broke us into pieces, and captured the teleporter intact, the intelligence Take the fail-safe transmission cipher system and activate a technology they are not familiar with, which we have claimed to be undeveloped for more than four centuries... Even so, all their efforts will be nothing but zero eggs One, because all military traffic goes to Hyperion via Modi's base."
"Where?" Everyone asked in unison.
I had only heard of Modi from Lamia's story about his client's death.Both she and Nasita pronounced the word "magic flute."
"Moly," repeated Marshal Nasita, laughing heartily.It's strange, this smile looks a little childish. "Do not doubt your comlogs, ladies and gentlemen. Mudi is a 'black' galaxy and cannot be found in any catalog or civilian teleportation charts. We hide it for this purpose. Mudi has only one Planets are habitable and only suitable for mining and building bases, it is the ultimate and most reliable place to stand. Should the Destroyer make the impossible move and break through our defenses and population in Hyperion, the only place they can go is the end Ya, there's a lot of automated firepower out there, aiming at anything that comes in, sure enough. If the impossible happens, and their fleet survives teleportation to the Last Ya system, those outbound teleportation The nodes will also self-destruct automatically, and their warships will be stranded there, away from the ring network for thousands of years."
"Well said," Councilor Li Xiu said, "but so are we. Two-thirds of our fleet will be stranded in the Hyperion system."
Nacita stood in a relaxed parade pose. "It does," he said, "and of course the coalition leaders and I have weighed the outcomes of this highly unlikely event several times, and we'd say it's statistically impossible. We've found the risk to be reasonable." Acceptable. Even if the impossible happens, we have more than 200 spare battleships to defend the ring. In the worst case, we can also deliver a fatal blow to the Ouster before the fall of the Hyperion system... …that the blow's power, combined with its impact, would be enough to deter any future aggression is almost certain.
"But this is not the result we expected. We and the prophets of the AI Advisory Council - both foresee that if two hundred warships are transmitted as soon as possible - within the next eight standard hours - 99% The odds are that we can completely defeat the invasion of the Destroyer hordes, and at the same time, our military strength will only suffer a small loss."
Meina Gladstone turned to face Advisor Alberto.In low light, the projection looks flawless. "Mr. Advisor, I don't know anyone has asked this question to the Advisory Council. Is the value of 99% probability reliable?"
Albert laughed. "Pretty sure, Mr. Executor. The probability factor is 99.962794 percent." His smile widened even further. "It's pretty safe to put all your eggs in one basket in a short period of time."
Yue Shi didn't smile. "Marshal, how soon will the battle start after the reinforcements arrive?"
"One standard week, Mr. Executor. At most."
Yue Shi raised his left eyebrow slightly. "Such a short time?"
"Yes, my lord executive."
"General Moboge? What's the opinion of the army?"
"We share the same view, Your Excellency. Reinforcements are essential, and urgently needed. About a hundred thousand Marines and Army soldiers need to be transported to deal with the remnants of the stray group."
"In seven days or less?"
"Yes, my lord executive."
"Marshal Singer?"
"Absolutely necessary, my lord executive."
"General Van Hitter?"
Yue Shi asked the joint leaders and top military officers present one by one what they meant, and even asked the principal of the Olympus Command School, who was a little ecstatic because he was asked about it.One by one, she followed their unequivocal proposals for reinforcements.
"Commander Lee?"
All eyes turned to the young naval officer.I noticed that the senior soldier's posture was stiff and stern, and I realized that Lee's presence was due to the executive's invitation, not the benevolence of his superior.I recall Yueshi being quoted once as saying that the aggressiveness and ingenuity displayed by young Commander Lee were exactly the qualities that were often lacking in the military.I suspect that the entire military career of this man was lost at this meeting.
Commander William Ajunta Lee moved restlessly in his comfortable chair. "My lord executive officer whom I admire very much, I am just a junior naval officer, and I am not qualified to express my humble opinion on an event of such strategic significance."
Yue Shi didn't smile.She nodded, her movements imperceptible. "I understand, Commander. I can guarantee that even if it was your superior present, he would. However, in this matter, I hope you will be willing to accommodate me and comment on this issue immediately."
Li sat up straight.At that moment, his eyes contained not only faith, but also the despair of a small animal caught in a trap. "Well then, Mr. Executive Officer, if I have to make an evaluation, I have to speak of my own intuitions—they are just intuitions: I don't understand the tactics of interstellar warfare—but I oppose this reinforcement." Li took a breath . "It's just a military assessment, my lord. I don't know anything about the political consequences of defending Hyperion."
Yue Shi leaned over. "Then why do you object to reinforcements, Commander, only on military principle?"
Even sitting half a table away from him, I could feel the power of the military chief's gaze, like a 100-million-joule laser beam, enough to ignite the deuterium-tritium in the ancient inertial shielded field fusion reactor nuclear.Under such direct gaze, Li didn't collapse, explode, burn, or fuse, which really surprised me.
"Based on military theory," Li said, although his eyes were desperate, but his voice was firm, "the two biggest crimes that a person can commit, one is to split one's own military force, and the other is... as you said , Your Excellency... put all your eggs in one basket. And in this case, we didn't even make the basket ourselves."
Yue Shi nodded, sat back, raised his index finger against his lower lip.
"Commander," General Morpurgo said, I just realized that saying a single word can actually make you spit, "Since we have been fortunate enough to have your... suggestion... can I ask you, have you Participated in space combat?"
"No, sir."
"Any air combat training, Commander?"
"Besides the required training at the Olympiad School, which is a small part of the history curriculum. No, sir, I have not had any training."
"Have you been involved in any strategic planning above...how many naval surface ships do you command in Maui, Commander?"
"One, sir."
"One," Moboge took a breath, "is it a big ship, Commander?"
"No, sir."
"About the right to control this ship, Commander, did you earn it through hard work, or did it naturally come to you in the course of the war?"
"Our captain died, sir. I took over as a matter of course. It was the last sea battle of the Mauiyo campaign, and—"
"That's enough, Commander." Moboge ignored the war hero and asked the executive officer instead. "Would you like to investigate our opinion again, ma'am?"
Yue Shi shook his head.
Senator Korschev cleared his throat. "Maybe we can have a closed cabinet meeting at Government House."
"No need," Pleasant Stone said, "I have made a decision. Marshal Singer, you have the right to transfer sufficient fleets to the Hyperion system as you and the joint leaders see fit."
"Yes, my lord executive."
"Marshal Nasita, I hope that with sufficient reinforcements, the hostilities can be successfully ended within a standard week." She looked around the table. "Ladies and gentlemen, we must control Hyperion and resolutely stop the threat of the Ousters, but I will not repeat this importance and put pressure on everyone." She stood up, walked to the bottom of the slope, walked into the darkness outside. "Good night, gentlemen and ladies."
Around four o'clock, ring and whale time, Hunter knocked on my door.I've wrestled with the Sandman for three hours since teleporting back.Just as I was sure that Yueshi had forgotten my appointment and was about to take a nap, there was a knock on the door.
"Go to the garden," said Lee Hunter, "be sure to tuck your shirt into your trousers."
I wandered along the dark path, my boots rubbing softly against the sandy path.The light from the lanterns and fluorescent balls was particularly dim, and the stars could hardly be seen in the sky above the courtyard, because the TV light in the city that never sleeps was too bright, but I could still see the flowing light of the orbital colony across the sky like a ring of fireflies.
Yueshi was sitting on a steel bench by the bridge.
"Mr. Seven," she said in a low voice, "thank you for coming to accompany me. Sorry to disturb you so late. The cabinet meeting has just ended."
I didn't say anything, just stood still.
"I want to ask about your visit to Hyperion this morning," she chuckled in the dark, "Oh, it was yesterday morning. How do you feel?"
I don't know what she means by that.I guess the woman has an insatiable appetite for data, useful or not. "I did see someone," I said.
"Oh?"
"Well, Melio Arendez. He was... and is..."
"...Winterbo's daughter's friend," Yue Shi added for me. "It's the child who goes against her age. Do you have any news about her condition?"
"Absolutely not," I said, "I took a nap today, but the dreams I had were all fragments."
"Is there any news after your meeting with Dr. Alandzi?"
I rubbed my chin, my fingers suddenly turned cold. "His research team has been waiting in the capital for months," I said. "They may be the only hope of learning about the tomb. And the Shrike..."
"Our prophets say that pilgrims should not be disturbed by anyone unless they are exhausted. This is very important." Pleasant Stone's voice came from the darkness.She seemed to be looking at the stream beside her.
I felt a sudden, inexplicable, unquenchable rage rush through me. "Father Hoyt is 'exhausted,'" I said, more sharply than I thought in my head. "If the ship is allowed to rendezvous with the Pilgrims, they can revive him. Arend Zi and his crew may also save the baby - Rachel - even though it's only a few days away."
"It's been less than three days," Yueshi said. "Is there anything else? Did you find any...interesting impressions about that planet or Marshal Nasita's command ship?"
I clenched my hands into fists and let them go again. "You still don't allow Alan Dezi to go to the tomb?"
"Not now, I won't."
"Then will the inhabitants of Hyperion be evacuated? At least the citizens of the Overlord?"
"Not yet."
I hesitated to speak, staring at the bridge, where there was the sound of gurgling water.
"No other thoughts, Mr. Seven?"
"Gone."
"Well, then I wish you good night and sweet dreams. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I still want to take some time to talk to you about your dreams."
"Good night." After I finished speaking, I hurriedly turned around and walked quickly back to the wing of the government building.
The room was very dark, I played Mozart's sonata and took three pills.When they woke me up, I was probably in a drug-enforced dreamless sleep from which the ghost of Johnny Keats and his more ghostly pilgrims could not find me.That meant Meina Gladstone would be disappointed, but that didn't alarm me in the slightest.
I think of the sailor Gulliver in the novel, and after he came back from the country of virtuous horses - the country of Huisi - his disgust for humans, the kind of disgust for his own race, grew so strong that he had to stay in the stables Li sleeps with horses, and the only way to feel at ease is to be with them and smell their scent.
My last thought before going to bed is, to hell with Yueshi, to hell with war, to hell with Ringnet.
Dreams go to hell too.
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