Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen

Braun Lamia slept fitfully until morning, her dreams filled with images and sounds from elsewhere—a vague conversation with Meina Gladstone, in the room where Seemingly floating in space, with men and women darting through hallways, walls whispering like poorly tuned hyperoptic receivers - there's a sense of insanity beneath the chaotic landscape of a hot dream , how close, how close, was Johnny—her Johnny—to her.Lamia cried out in her sleep, but her voice was lost among the echoes of the sphinx's cooling stone and quicksand. Lamia woke up suddenly, as wide awake as if a transistor instrument had been switched on.Sol Winterberg was supposed to be on guard, but now he was sleeping by the low door of the room where the party was hiding.His young daughter, Rachel, sleeps in the middle of a pile of blankets on the floor beside him, her little bottom sticking up, her little face squeezed into the blankets, a tiny bubble of saliva hanging from her lips.

Lamia looked around.The light was hazy, with only the dim light of a low-wattage fluorescent ball, and the faint skylight reflected by the corridor from four meters away, from which she could only see a fellow pilgrim—a deep hole on the stone floor. the black package in which Martin Silenus lay snoring.Lamia felt a surge of fear, as if someone had abandoned her in her sleep.Silenus, Sol, the baby... only the Consul was absent, she remembered.The pilgrimage party of seven adults and a baby has been dwindling in numbers: Height Masteen, missing on a wind transport while crossing the Sea of ​​Grass; Rainer Hoyt, killed the night before ; later that night, Kassad also disappeared... the Consul... where did the Consul go?

Braun Lamia looked around again. There was nothing but backpacks, bedrolls, sleeping poets, scholars, and children in the dark room, which made her slightly relieved. Then she got up and was in a mess. He found his father's automatic pistol between the blankets, fished the nerve stunner out of his backpack, and slipped past Winterburo and the baby into the hallway outside. Morning had come, and the sky was bright outside, and Lamia had to cover her eyes with her hands to successfully walk down the stone steps of the Sphinx and onto the heavily trampled path leading to the valley.The storm has passed.Hyperion's sky was a crystal-like azure blue, covered with traces of azure green clouds, and Hyperion's sun, a bright light source like a white spot, had just risen from the cliff wall to the east.The shadows of the rocks mingled with the splayed silhouettes of the Tombs of Time, spreading across the valley floor.The Emerald Tomb is on fire.Lamia saw the newly formed quicksand and sand dunes after the storm, pure white and vermilion sand entangled with curves and lines on the edge of the stone.The traces of their overnight camp were long gone.The Consul was sitting on a rock ten meters down the hill.He was gazing out over the valley, wisps of smoke spilling from his pipe, winding up.Lamia slipped the pistol into her pocket and walked down the hill toward him.

"No sign of Colonel Kassad," the Consul said as she approached.He didn't look back. Lamia overlooked the valley, looking at the Crystal Monolith standing below.Its once bright surface was now sore and dented, and the top seemed to have been chipped twenty or thirty meters away, and what remained of the bottom was still smoking.The distance between the Sphinx and the Monolith is about half a kilometer, and there are burnt marks and potholes along the way. "It looks like he had a big fight before leaving," she said. The Consul grunted.The smoke from the pipe made Lamia feel a little hungry. "I searched all the way to the Shrike Temple, just two kilometers below the valley," said the Consul. "The location of the fight seems to have happened at Monolith. It still doesn't look like there is a ground-level population there, but the height is far away There are many potholes in the place, so you can see the internal honeycomb structure that depth radar often shows."

"But there is still no news from Kassad?" "No." "No blood? Burnt bones or something? No note, saying he'll be back with a change of clothes?" "No." Braun Lamia sighed and sat on another boulder, beside the consul.The sun shone warmly on her skin.She narrowed her eyes and looked towards the mouth of the valley. "Well, what the hell," she said, "what shall we do next?" The Consul removed his pipe, frowned at it, and shook his head. "I tried to use the comlog to forward the message again this morning, but the ship is still being detained." He shook off the ash, "I also tried the emergency band, but obviously couldn't get through. Either the spaceship did not forward normally, or Those people were ordered and could not respond."

"Are you really going to leave?" The consul shrugged.He had exchanged his diplomatic finery for a cold woolen pullover, breeches, and high boots. "Bringing the spaceship here will give us—you—the chance to leave. I hope others will consider whether to leave here. After all, Masteen is missing, Hoyt and Kassad are gone "I'm not sure what to do next." A deep voice came. "We can try to make breakfast." Lamia turned and saw Saul coming down the path, Rachel lying in the baby carrier on the scholar's chest, the sun shining brightly on the older man's balding scalp. "That's a good idea," she said. "Do we have enough supplies left?"

"Breakfast is enough," said Winterberg, "and Kassad has some cold food packets in his Extra Supplies pocket for a few meals. We'll end up eating skeletal bone, or killing each other. " The Consul managed to force a smile, and put the pipe back in his coat pocket. "I suggest that we go back to the Time Fortress before we get to that point. The frozen compressed food we brought from the Benares has all been consumed, but the Fortress still has a storage room." "I'd love to—" Lamia began, but she was interrupted by a cry from inside the Sphinx.

She was the first to rush to the Sphinx, automatic pistol in hand, and walked into the entrance.The hallway was dark, and the room where they slept was even darker, and it took her a moment to be sure no one was there.Braun Lamia knelt down and swung his pistol toward the dark curve of the hallway, and Silenas' voice came from somewhere out of sight again, yelling "Hey! Come on everyone!" The Consul walked into the entrance, and Braun looked back. "Wait where you are!" Lamia yelled sharply, and quickly walked to the corridor, leaning against the wall, stretched out the pistol, loaded the bullet, and pulled the safety bolt.The next hut held Hoyt's body, and she stopped at the open doorway, crouched, looked around, and walked in, clearing her way with her weapon.

Martin Silenus, who was crouching next to the body, looked up. The fiber plastic sheet they used to cover the priest's body was crumpled and drooping, and Silenus reached up and lifted one end, stared at Lamia, glanced uninterestedly at the gun, and stared back at the body. "Do you believe it?" he said softly. Lamia dropped her weapon and moved closer.The Consul peered in behind them.Braun heard Saul Winterberg in the corridor; for the child was crying. "My God," Braun Lamia said, squatting next to Father Rainer Hoyt's body.The painfully distorted face of the young pastor has been reshaped into the face of a man who is nearly seventy years old: tall eyebrows, a long nose bridge with aristocratic air, thin lips that are slightly upturned like a smile at the right corner of his mouth, and sharp cheekbones. There are pointed ears under the fringe of gray hair, and a pair of big eyes under the pale and thin eyelids like parchment.

The Consul crouched beside them. "I've seen his hologram. It's Father Paul Durley." "Look," said Martin Silenus.He continued to pull the sheet down, paused, then turned over the body and let him lie on his side.Two small crosses throbbed and glowed pink on the man's chest, just like Hoyt had done before, but his back was as smooth as ever. Saul stood by the door, shushing Rachel's cries, rocking her softly, humming a lullaby under his breath.When the child had calmed down, he said, "I thought it would take three days for Bikura to... come back to life."

Martin Silenus sighed: "Bikura has been reanimated by cruciform worms for more than two standard centuries. Probably because it is the first time, it is easier." "He still..." Lamia said. "Alive, right?" Silenas took her hand. "Touch and see." The man's chest rose and fell slightly.The skin is warm to the touch, and you can feel the heat emanating from the cross under the skin.Braun Lamia jerked his hand back. The dead body of Rainer Hoyt six hours ago opened its eyes. "Father Durley?" Saul said, taking a step forward. The man turned his head.He blinked, as if the faint light had stung his eyes, and then made an unintelligible sound. "Water," said the Consul, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out the small plastic bottle he carried with him.Martin Silina held the man's head while the consul poured water into his mouth. Thor approached, got down on one knee, and put his hand on the man's forearm.Even Rachel's dark eyes showed curiosity.Saul said, "If you can't speak, just blink twice for 'yes' and once for 'wrong'. Are you Dooley?" The man turned to face the scholar. "Yes," he said softly, in a low, graceful tone, "I am Father Paul Durley." What served as breakfast was the last bit of coffee left, minced meat fried with an expansion heating device, a small shovel of grains mixed in secondary hydrated milk, and the last piece of bread they had left, torn into five small pieces. piece.Lamia thinks these are quite delicious. They sat on the edge of the shadow under the outstretched wings of the Sphinx, using a low flat-topped stone as a table.The sun was getting higher and higher, and it was almost morning, and the sky was still cloudless.There was silence all around, save for the occasional clink of forks or spoons, and their whispered conversations. "Do you remember... from before?" Thor asked.The priest wore an extra spaceship suit from the Consul, a gray jumpsuit with the Overlord seal on the left breast.But the uniform is a little smaller. Du Lei held the coffee cup with both hands, as if he wanted to lift it up as a sacrificial offering.He looked up at the sky, and his deep eyes were filled with the same deep wisdom and sorrow. "What happened before I died?" Du Lei asked, a smile was drawn on those noble lips. "Yes, I remember. I remember exile, I remember Bikura..." He lowered his head again, "Even the Tesla tree." "Hoyt told us the story of the tree," Braun Lamia said.The priest once nailed himself to an active tesla tree in the flame forest, endured years of pain, death, resurrection, and death again, but he did not succumb to the simple symbionts hiding under the cross. Du Lei shook his head. "In the last few seconds... I thought... I'd gotten over it." "You have won," said the Consul, "by the time Father Hoyt and the others found you, you had expelled the thing from your body. So Bikura planted your crucifix in Rainer Hoyt." Du Lei nodded, "Is there no trace of that child?" Martin Silenus pointed to the man's chest and said, "Obviously this damn thing can't defy the law of conservation of mass. Hoyt has suffered a lot for a long time - he won't go back to what the thing wants him to go place—he didn't have enough weight to finish... what do you guys call it? Double rebirth?" "It's okay," Dooley said.He had a sad smile on his face. "The DNA nematode in the cruciform has infinite patience. If need be, it will tirelessly recombine the same host countless times. Both groups of nematodes will find a home sooner or later." "Do you remember what happened after nailing the Terrace tree?" Sol asked calmly. Du Lei finished the rest of his coffee. "Death? Hell or heaven?" He smiled sincerely. "I don't remember, gentlemen, and this lady, I'd rather I remember. I remember pain...eternal pain...then relief. Then darkness. And then waking up here. You say it's been How many years have you lived?" "Nearly twelve years," said the Consul, "but only six years for Father Hoyt. Most of his time was spent teleporting between the stars." Father Duley stood up and stretched, then paced back and forth.Tall and lean but with an air of strength, Braun Lamia found himself drawn to a figure whose strange and indescribable charismatic personality had only Appearing on rare characters, granting them power, but also bringing them curses.She had to remind herself, first, that he was a priest in a church that required celibacy, and, second, that an hour earlier he had been a dead body.As Lamia watched the older man pace up and down with catlike grace and ease, she realized that neither of these points, though irrefutable, could hinder the charisma exuded by the pastor. .She wondered if the man was aware of this. Duray sat on a boulder, stretched his legs forward, and rubbed his thighs, as if trying to stop the cramps. "You've already told me part of the story, about who you are . . . why you're here," he said. "Can you tell me a little more?" The pilgrims looked at each other. Du Lei nodded. "You think I'm a monster? Shrike spies or something? If you think so, I don't blame you." "We didn't think so," Brawne Lamia said. "The Shrike doesn't need fake agents to do its job. We also know you from Father Hoyt's story and your diary." She glanced at the others. people. "We just found it... difficult... to retell why we came to Hyperion. It's impossible to repeat those stories one by one." "I've made a note in the comlog," the Consul said, "albeit very brief, to help you figure out our past... and the overlords of the past decade. Why the Ring is at war with the Ousters, for example. As long as you want, you are welcome to access these records at any time. You can read them in less than an hour." "Thank you very much." Father Du Lei said, and followed the consul back to the inside of the Sphinx. Braun Lamia, Saul, and Silenus walk toward the entrance of the valley.Standing on the saddle among the low cliffs, they could see that less than ten kilometers to the southwest of the Bridle Mountain Range, the sand dunes and Gobi were spreading towards the mountains of the Mountain Range.Only two or three kilometers to their right, along a wide bridge that has been quietly blocked by the desert, there are some broken fluorescent balls, rounded minarets, and the ruined wind and rain commercial street corridors of the City of Poets, all of which are clearly visible. "I'm going back to the fortress to replenish supplies," Lamia said. "I don't like to split up," Saul said. "We can go back together." Martin Silenus folded his arms. "You should keep someone here and make plans for Kassad's return." "I think," Saul said, "we should look elsewhere in the valley before leaving. The Consul only went to the vicinity of the Monument this morning, and there is still a long way behind." "I agree," Lamia said. "We have to hurry before it's too late. I want to go to the fort to get some supplies and be back before night falls." When Du Lei and the Consul came out, they had already descended to the door of the Sphinx, and the pastor held the Consul's spare comlog in one hand.Lamia explained to them the plan to search for Kassad, and the two agreed and planned to join the operation. Once again they walked through the Great Hall of the Sphinx, illuminated by beams from flashlights and laser pointers, craggy rocks and water oozing from the surface.Then they walked out of the tomb again, entered the noon daylight, walked 300 meters, and entered the Jade Tomb.Lamia found herself shivering as she entered the room where the Shrike had appeared the night before.Hoyt's blood left a brownish-red rust-like stain on the forest-green ceramic floor, but there was no transparent entrance to the underground labyrinth, and the Shrike could not be seen. The obelisk has no compartments, only an elevator platform in the center, and a spiral slope spirals up between the ebony walls. It is too steep and it will be very strenuous to climb.Here, even the slightest word echoes, and everyone tries to keep their mouths shut.There were no windows, no way to see far, and at the top of the slope, fifty meters above the stony ground, the curved roofs appeared overhead, and the light of their torches lit only the darkness.The development of tourism in the past two centuries has left them with fixed ropes and iron chains, so they can descend without fear of slipping halfway, falling to the ground and dying, putting an end to their lives.They paused at the door, and Martin Silenus called Kassad's name one last time, and the echo followed them back to the Sunlands. They spent more than an hour surveying the damage near the Crystal Monolith.Piles of fused sand glass, about five to ten meters wide, scattered the midday sun like prisms, and reflected heat on the surface.The damaged surface of the Monument is now hollow and devastated, and strips of melted crystal wires are still swaying and floating, like a work of art that has just been recklessly vandalized. Everyone can see that Kassad must have risked everything. Life is at stake.There are no doors or paths leading into the beehive-like maze within.Instruments showed that the interior was as empty and uninhabited as it always was.Reluctantly they left, and climbed the steep path to the bottom of the northern cliff, where three cave mounds were scattered, within a hundred meters of each other. "Earlier archaeologists thought these three were the oldest because they were the roughest," Saul said as they walked into the first burial mound.He swept the beam of his torch across the rock, which was carved with dizzying, esoteric patterns.None of these mounds were more than 30 or 40 meters deep, each terminated in a stone wall, and no probes or radar imagers found hidden side roads. Towards the end of the third burial mound, the group sat down in the rare shade of shade and shared water and protein pie from Kassad's Superior Field Combo.Now the wind was picking up, sighing and whispering, through the hollows of rock high above their heads. "We couldn't find him," Martin Silenus said. "The shrike of the dog days took him." Sol took one of the few milk packs left and fed the baby.Although Saul did his best to shield her from the sun while walking outside, the top of the child's head was still red. "If there's another dimension of time beyond us," he said, "then he might be in one of the burial mounds we've been to. That's Alondez's theory, and he thinks the burial mounds are Four-dimensional buildings, their intricate enclosures can travel through time and space." "Excellent," said Lamia, "so we can't see Fedman Kassad even if he's here now." "Well," said the Consul, rising to his feet, with a weary sigh, "let's at least go through the motions. There's one last mound left." The Shrike Shrine was a kilometer away, deep in the valley, lower than the others, hidden behind a sharp turn in the cliff face.The scale of the building is not large, even smaller than the Emerald Tomb, but due to its exquisite and complex architectural techniques - the borders, minarets, buttresses and supporting columns are all curved in the shape of an arc, forming an orderly scene. The chaos of the scene - so the visual effect is much more magnificent than itself. The echoing chambers inside the Shrike Sanctuary, an irregular floor made up of a thousand snaking, interlaced fragments, reminded Lamia of some creature's fossilized ribs and vertebrae.Fifteen meters above the head, dozens of chrome-yellow "knife blades" on the dome intersect, pass through the walls, and intertwine with each other, looking like steel-pointed thorns on the entire building.The material of the dome itself is slightly transparent, casting a layer of bright milky white light on the curved space. Lamia, Silenas, the Consul, Winterberg, Durley, all of them started calling out to Kassad, their voices echoing around, but to no avail. "There is no sign of Kassad, nor Height Masteen," said the Consul when they had ceased shouting. "Maybe it will go on like this... We will disappear one by one until there is only one left." .” "And then, as the legends of the Shrike Church prophesy, the wishes of the last remaining will be granted, won't they?" Braun Lamia asked.She sat by the rickety hearth of the Shrike Temple, her short legs dangling in the air. Paul Dooley lifted his face to the sky. "I can't believe Father Hoyt's wish was to die in exchange for my rebirth." Martin Silenus squinted at the preacher. "Then what is your wish, priest?" Duley replied without hesitation: "I will petition... pray... that God will definitely and forever undo this twin evil for mankind-war and the Shrike." People were silent for a while, and the wind of the future lost no time to embed its distant sighs and moans. "Meanwhile," said Braun Lamia, "we've got to get some food, or we've got to learn how to live off the Mistral." Du Lei nodded. "Why did you only bring so little food?" Martin Silinas laughed and groaned loudly: He doesn't care for wine, mixes beer, Nor fish, fowl, or meat, Sauce is as cheap to him as chaff; He scorns swineherds who drink from their bowls, Not to tie obscene ribbons around the chin, Nor meet cunning lovers in contemptuous chairs, But the heart of this pilgrim lies behind the stream Panting, he feeds on the morning dew and evening air in the forest Although he is used to enjoying the rare osmanthus bamboo. Du Lei smiled, apparently still puzzled. "We all thought that success or success would be decided on the first night," the consul said, "I never thought we would stay here for so long." Braun Lamia stood up, dusting his trousers. "I'm leaving," she said. "I should be able to bring back four or five days' worth of food if the camping food pack or bulk storage we saw last time is still there." "Me too," said Martin Silenus. There was silence.The poet and Lamia have been at sword-point almost half a dozen times in the week since they embarked on their pilgrimage.She also threatened to kill the man.She stared at him for a long time. "Okay," she said at last, "let's go back to the Sphinx and get our knapsacks and water jug." As the crowd walked up the valley, the shadow of the western gable gradually lengthened.

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