Chapter 38 Chapter Thirty-Seven

We walked all day.Me and Hunter.In the evening we found an inn, which was full of food for us—poultry, rice pudding, cauliflower, a plate of macaroni, etc.—though there was no one there, no one at all.But a fire was burning in the fireplace, and it seemed to have just been lit, and the food on the stove was still steaming. Hunter was distraught by all this; by this, by this horrible withdrawal symptoms (he was suffering from being disconnected from the data network).I can imagine his pain.One grows up in a world where information is at your fingertips, you can communicate with people anytime, anywhere, you just step into a teleporter to get anywhere, but suddenly, life degenerates, as our ancestors knew, like suddenly waking up. Come and find yourself blind and lame.After the first hours of walking, yelling and rage, Hunter finally calmed down and fell into a silent depression.

“But the CEO needs me!” was all he yelled for the first hour. "She needs me to bring him information, too," I said, "but there's nothing we can do." "Where are we?" Hunter asked for the tenth time. I've explained to him it's another Old Land, but I know he means something else now. "I think it's the place of detention," I replied. "The kernel brought us here?" Hunter asked. "That's all I can guess." "How do we go back?" "I don't know. My guess is that by the time they feel safe enough to release us from detention, the teleporter will show up for us."

Hunter cursed softly. "Severn, why are you detaining me?" I shrugged.I think it's because he heard what I said on Payson, but I'm not sure.I'm not sure about anything. The road leads all the way into meadows, vineyards, twists and turns on low hills, and then snakes through valleys.In the valley, the ocean came into view. "Where does this road lead?" Hunter asked me just before we found the inn. "All roads lead to Rome." "I'm telling you the truth, Seven." "Me too, Mr. Hunter." Hunter pried a loose rock from the road and threw it far into the bushes.Somewhere a thrush is calling.

"Have you been here before?" Hunter's tone was reproachful, as if I was leading him on a road of no return.Maybe. "No." I said.But Keats was here, and I almost add that.The transplanted memories surged to the surface, they were so full of painful feelings and imminent death that they almost swallowed me up.So far from friends, from Fanny, his eternal love. "Are you sure you can't access the data network?" Hunter asked. "I'm sure," I replied.He didn't ask me about Wanfang.com, and I didn't tell him.I was afraid of entering Wanfang.com and losing myself there.

Just before sunset, we found the inn.It is perched in a small valley with smoke rising from stone chimneys. As we ate, with darkness pressing against the panes, our only light being the flickering fire and two candles on the stone mantelpiece, Hunt says: "This place makes me believe in ghosts a little bit." "I do believe in ghosts," I told him. At night I wake up coughing and feel wet on my bare chest and I hear Hunter groping for a candle and in the light he looks down at the blood on my skin stained bedding. "My God," whispered Hunter, his face horrified, "what are these? What's the matter?"

Another fit of coughing followed, making me weaker and spewing more blood, and when it was over, I finally said, "Cough blood." I started to get up, but fell headfirst on the pillow again.I pointed to the basin of water and towels on the bedside table. "Damn, damn," muttered Hunter, looking for my comlog, trying to read the medical index.but can't find it.Walking earlier in the day, I had already thrown away Hoyt's useless tools. Hunter pulled out his comlog, adjusted the monitor, and rolled it around my wrist.But the index meant nothing to him, it merely indicated an emergency requiring immediate medical attention.Hunter, like most people of his generation, had never seen disease or death—a professional problem that ordinary people no longer saw.

"Don't worry," I whispered, the coughing siege passed, but the weakness still weighed on me like a blanket of rock.I pointed to the towel again, and Hunter dampened it and wiped the blood off my chest and arms, and he sat me down in a chair before removing the splattered sheets and blanket. "Do you know what's going on?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice. "Yes," I forced a smile, "precise. Realistic. Individuals reenact the laws of biogenesis." "Excuse me," Hunter called, helping me back to the bed. "Why are you bleeding? What can I do for you?"

"Give me a glass of water, please." I took a sip, feeling my chest and throat seething, but I fought back another round of coughing fits.I feel like my stomach is on fire. "What's going on?" Hunter asked again. I spoke slowly and cautiously, putting each word in place, as if I was stepping on land full of mines.The cough did not recur. "It's called consumption," I said. "Tuberculosis. Judging by the severity of the bleeding, the patient is terminally ill." Hunter's basset-hound face was pale. "Jesus, Seven. I've never heard of tuberculosis." He held up his hand as if to check his comlog data, but the wrist was empty.

I gave him the comlog back. "Tuberculosis has been gone for centuries. Cured. But John Keats got it. Died of it. And my cyberbody belongs to Keats." Hunter stood up and appeared to rush out the door for help. "Now the Kernel will definitely let us go back! They won't let you stay in this empty world, where there is no medical assistance!" I lay back on the soft pillow and feel the down under the pillowcase. "Perhaps that's why they've kept me here. We'll see when we get to Rome tomorrow." "But you can't move at all! We can't go anywhere tomorrow morning."

"Just wait and see," I said, closing my eyes. "Just wait and see." Early the next morning, a mastula - a small carriage - was waiting outside the inn.The horse was a tall gray mare whose eyes rolled towards us as we approached her.The animal's breath rose in the cold morning wind. "Do you know what this is?" Hunter asked. "a horse." Hunter raised a hand toward the animal, as if touching its flank would burst and disappear like a soap bubble.But it doesn't.The mare's tail flicked lightly, and Hunter quickly withdrew his hand. "Horses are extinct," he said, "they've never been brought back to life by foundationalists."

"This horse looks perfectly real," I said, climbing into the car and sitting on the narrow stool there. Hunter carefully sat down beside me, his long fingers twitching anxiously. "Who's driving?" he asked. "Where's the controls?" Without the reins, the driver's seat is empty. "Let's see if the horse knows its own way," I suggested, and at that moment the mare began to move at a slow pace, and the bouncing cart bumped over the stones and grooves of the rolling road. "It's some kind of joke, isn't it?" Hunter asked, gazing up at the unblemished blue sky and the fields beyond. I covered my mouth with a handkerchief made of a hotel towel, suppressing the intensity and length of my coughing as much as possible. "Very likely," I said, "but what's not a joke?" Hunter ignored my sophistry, and we continued to move forward, bumping and shaking, with no destination ahead, and no destiny waiting. "Where did Hunter and Seven go?" Meina Yueshi asked. Sydputra Akashy, Pleasant's second in command, a young black woman leaned forward so as not to interrupt the ongoing military briefing. "My lord, there is no news yet." "Impossible. Seven has a tracker, and Lee teleported to Payson an hour ago. Where are they?" Akashi glanced at the fax desk on the table. "Security couldn't find them. The Transit Police couldn't find them. The teleportation unit just recorded the code they punched in the heart of the whale - that's here - and walked in, but never arrived. .” "impossible." "Yes, Mr. Executor." "As soon as this meeting is over, I want to talk to Alberto or another AI consultant." "clear." The two women returned their attention to the briefing.The tactical center of the government building, the Olympus command strategy decision center, and the largest House briefing center, the three rooms are merged together by a fifteen-square-meter teleportation door that seems to be open, so these three places form one Cave-like uneven meeting area.The hologram in the center of the strategic decision seems to rise to an infinite height at the end of the display in this space, and the data columns are floating on the wall, everywhere. "There are still four minutes before the invasion of the earth-moon orbit." Marshal Singer said. "Their long-range weapons can already be aimed at the gate of heaven," Mo?General Baige said, "They seem to be a little bit restrained." "They were not so restrained with our torch ships," Foreign Minister Galian Pesov said.An hour ago, the emergency deployment of more than a dozen overlord torch ship breakout troops was quickly wiped out by the advancing wandering group, and this group of people was summoned at that time.Remote sensors relayed a sketchy image of the swarm—a cluster of embers trailing a comet-like fusion tail.There are many, many embers.The torch ships and their remotes then stopped broadcasting. "Those are warships," said Admiral Morpurgo. "We've been broadcasting for hours, and now the gates of heaven are wide open. Let's hope they show some restraint." Holographic images of Heaven's Gate surrounded them: the silent streets of the mudflats, the aerial image of the coastline, the orbital image of this taupe world with its unchanging cloud cover, the baroque of the singularity ball that connected all the teleporters. Dodecahedral Earth-Moon images, far-sighted, ultraviolet, X-ray images of the advancing Ouster taken from space - they are now much larger than dots or embers, they have entered within astronomical units guilty.Pleasant Stone looked up at the fusion tails of the Destroyers, their asteroid farms, their shield worlds, their tumbling, shimmering behemoths in their containment fields, their complex and bizarre inhuman zero-gravity city complexes.She thought, what if I did something wrong? The lives of hundreds of millions of humans are at stake in her belief that the Ouster will not brutally destroy the Overlord world. "Two minutes until the invasion," Singer said in the flat voice of a professional soldier. "Marshal," Yueshi said, "is this really necessary? Should we destroy the Singularity Sphere once the Ousters invade our perimeter? Can't we just wait a few minutes and see what they're trying to do ?” "No, CEO," the marshal replied quickly, "once they come within raid range, we must kill the teleport link." "But Marshal, we can only have inter-system connections, trans-optical relays, synchronization devices if the rest of the torch ships are not allowed to do this, right?" "Yes, my lord executive, but we must destroy the teleportation capability before the Ousters invade the system. This is the final bottom line of security, and there can be no further compromises." Yue Shi nodded.She understands that absolute caution is required now.It would be nice to have more time. "Fifteen seconds to intrude and destroy the singularity," Singer said. "Ten...seven..." All of a sudden, the holograms of all the torchships and Earth-Moon remotes flashed purple, red, and white. Yue Shi leaned forward. "Is that destroying the singularity ball?" Soldiers chirped to each other, calling for more data, switching between holograms and images on screens. "No, CEO," Mopurgo replied, "the Torchships are under attack. What you see is their overloaded defensive field. Then... ah... look over there..." A central image—possibly from a low-orbit broadcast ship—shows a zoomed-in view of the dodecahedron's singularity occlusion sphere, whose 30,000-square-meter surface remains intact, still above the heavens. The door shone brightly in the hot sun.Then, all of a sudden, the light intensified, and the nearest face of the building seemed to burn hot, and collapsed on itself. In less than three seconds, the sphere expanded, and the singularity imprisoned inside escaped, engulfing itself , also engulfed everything within a radius of 600 kilometers. At the same time, most views and data columns are blacked out. "All teleportation connections terminated," Singh announced. "Data within the system is now relayed only by the Transmitter." There was a burst of excited murmurs of approval and relief from the soldiers, while dozens of congressmen and political advisers present made sounds that were like sighs and soft moans.The Gates of Heaven have just been cut from the Ring... the first world lost by the Overlord in over four centuries. Pleasant Stone turned to face Sydputra Akashi. "Now, what is the travel time from Heaven's Gate to the Web?" "Using the Hawking drive, the time on the ship is seven months," the assistant immediately checked the result, "plus a little more than nine years of time debt." Yue Shi nodded.Heaven's Gate is now nine years away from the nearest Ringworld. "Look, our torchship is leaving," Singer groaned.The images are from a guard ship in orbit, and because the ship is moving fast as the computer processes them, they are pulsating false-color images of high-speed tachyon jet information.These images are a visual mosaic, but looking at them, Yueshi always thinks of silent movies in the early media age.This is no Charlie Chaplin comedy, however.Dazzling light set off the star field, appeared on the edge of the planet, two o'clock, then five o'clock, then eight o'clock. "'Nicky Weimar', 'Turtle', 'Comet', 'Andrew Paul', the broadcast of the four ships has been terminated." Singer reported. Bobby Dan-Kiddis raised his hand. "What about the other four, Marshal?" "Only the four ships mentioned above have super-light communication capabilities. The other four ships transmit radio, maser, and multi-frequency communication links, but the guard ship confirmed that these signals have also been terminated. Video data..." Singer paused, pointing Looking at the picture relayed from the automatic warning ship: eight circles of light that are constantly expanding and fading, a starfield full of fusion trails and new lights.Suddenly, even these images disappeared. "All Orbital Sensors and Transmitters terminated communication," said General Morpurgo.He pointed, and those blacked-out images were replaced by street images of the Gate of Heaven, and there were low clouds hanging in the sky as usual.The aircraft snapped a picture of the clouds—a sky already filled with wildly moving stars. "It has been confirmed that the Singularity Ball has been completely destroyed," Singh said, "The vanguard of Youqun has entered the high-altitude orbit of the Gate of Heaven." "How many people stayed there?" Yue Shi asked.She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table, her hands clasped. "A total of 86,789 people." Defense Minister Ibn replied. "Not counting the 12,000 sailors sent in the first two hours." General Van Hitt added. Eben nodded to the general. Yue Shi thanked them and returned his attention to the hologram.The data columns floating on the hologram, the summary extracted from the fax desk, commlog, and desk panel are all related data-the current number of flock ships in the system, the number and type of ships in orbit, the mapped Deceleration trajectory and time curve charts, energy analysis and communication band intercept information - but Yueshi and others are looking at relatively uninformative, invariant super-light images from aircraft and ground cameras: stars, The top of the clouds, the street, the view of the Mire Walk from the top of the Atmospheric Power Station, where Pleasant Stone had stood less than twelve hours ago.It was night there now.There is a gentle breeze blowing from the bay, and huge horsetail ferns are dancing with the wind. "I think they will negotiate with us," said Councilor Li Xiu. "They will first show us the fait accompli, the nine occupied worlds. Then they will negotiate with us, trying to find new ways of power. Balance. I mean, even if their two waves of aggression are successful, that's only twenty-five of the two hundred worlds in the Ring and the Protector." "Yes," said Pesov, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "but don't forget, MPs, that they include our most strategically important world... For example, ours, Whaleheart, is on the Ousters' timetable, right at Two hundred and thirty-five hours after the gates of heaven fell." Councilor Li Xiu stared at Pesov feeling uncomfortable. "Of course I know," she said coldly, "I'm just saying that the Ousters don't want real conquest in their hearts. It would be extremely stupid for them. The military department will not allow the second wave to be so unscrupulous This so-called aggression, I think, must be the prelude to negotiations." "Maybe," said Ronquist, MP for the North Island, "but such negotiations would necessarily depend on—" "Wait." Yue Shi said. Now, the data column shows that more than a hundred Destroyer warships are orbiting the Gate of Heaven.The ground troops there have been instructed not to fire unless they are under attack.Of the thirty-odd views sent to the strategic resolution center via hyperlight, there was no anomalous activity.Suddenly, the clouds above Mudflat City flickered, as if a giant searchlight had been turned on.Dozens of clear beams of wide beams pierced down into the bay and the city, and continued to give the illusion of searchlights. In Yueshi's view, they were like giant white pillars holding up to the sky, standing on the ground and the top of the clouds between. The illusion ended as a whirlwind of flame and destruction erupted at the base of these hundred-meter-wide beams.A huge gust of steam filled the nearest camera, and the sea boiled.Images from Vertex showed the town's century-old stone buildings bursting into flames, bursting inward as a tornado whizzed past them.Flames erupted from the promenade gardens and public grounds of the famed Ring Network, and mud and debris were flying in all directions, as if some invisible rake was raking through them.It seemed that some invisible hurricane was raging, and those horsetail ferns with a history of two hundred years were bent down, turned into a ball of flames, and finally disappeared, leaving nothing behind. "The cutting weapon of the bow-class Torchship," Marshal Singer broke the silence, "or a similar Destroyer weapon." The city was burning, exploding, raked into a pile of rubble by the beams of light, and then reduced to countless fragments again.There was no audio signal to these hyperoptic images, but Pleasant Stone thought he heard screams. One by one, the ground cameras dimmed.The image from the apex of the atmospheric powerhouse disappeared, becoming a blank slate.Airborne cameras have long since failed.The two dozen or so land-based images began to fade, and one turned a horrible crimson, and everyone in the room rubbed their eyes. "Plasma bomb," Van Hitter said, "low-megaton range." The image showed the Ministry of Defense naval air defense complex north of the city's canal. All of a sudden, all images went dark.Data flow terminated.The lights in the room turned on, making up for the horrifying darkness that suddenly appeared. "The main super-light emitter is invalid," Mo?General Baige said, "The main base of the military is located near Gaomen. It is hidden in our strongest containment field, under 50 meters of rock, and 10 meters of whisker silicon steel." "A controllable nuclear weapon?" Bobby Dan-Kiddis asked. "At least." Moboge said. Kershev stood up, his huge Lutherian body exuding a bear-like strength. "Fine. Looks like this isn't a fucking negotiating tactic. The Ousters have reduced a Web world to ashes. It's an all-out, merciless war. The survival of civilization is at stake. What do we do now manage?" All eyes turned to Meina Yiyueshi. The Consul pulled the half-conscious Theo Lane out of the wreckage of the skimmer, put one arm of the young man on his shoulder, and helped him sway fifty meters forward to Holly By the river bank, it finally collapsed on the grass under a tree.The skimmer didn't catch fire, but it had finally hit a pile of crumbling stone walls and was brought to a halt, where it now lies in tatters.Small flakes of metal and cermet were strewn across river banks and abandoned avenues. The city was ablaze.Smoke obscures the view across the river.And Old Town, this part of Jacktown, looked as if several funeral pyres were lit, with thick columns of black smoke rising into the low clouds.Combat lasers and missile trails raced through the haze, occasionally hitting assault boats, paragliders, and hoverfield shields that were continually falling from the sky like chaff from a freshly harvested field. "Theo, are you okay?" The governor nodded, and raised his hand to push up the glasses on the bridge of his nose...but stopped with a puzzled face, his glasses were gone.Blood streaked Theo's forehead and arms. "Bump on the head," he said, staggering. "We need to use your comlog," the consul said. "We need to get someone to pick us up." Theo nodded, raised his arm, and frowned at his wrist. "Missing it," he said. "Missing the comlog. Gotta look in the skimmer." He tried to get up. The Consul pulled him down.They were hiding in the shade of a few ornamental trees, but the skimmers were exposed and their landing had been detected.The Consul saw several heavily armed soldiers running down a neighboring street where the skimmer had crash-landed.They might be the Self-Defense Forces, or the Ousters, or even the Overlord's sailors, but the Consul figured that no matter who their allegiances were, they'd be belligerent guys. "Forget it," he said, "let's get a phone. Call the consulate." He looked around, making out the storefront and the stone building where they'd fallen.A few hundred meters upstream stood an old cathedral, long abandoned, and the collapsing chapel hung over the bank. "I know where we are," said the Consul. "It's only a block or two from Cicero. Come with me." He raised Theo's arm and put it on his shoulder, supporting the wounded Cicero. O stood up. "Excellent, Cicero," grumbled Theo, "and a drink." From the streets to the south came the clack of steel spear gun fire and the hiss of returning energy weapons.Doing his best to bear Theo's weight, the Consul made his way along the narrow alley by the river. "Oh, damn it," the Consul whispered. Cicero is burning.This old pub and tavern is as old as Jack's Town and older than most of the capital, with three of the four sloppy riverside buildings burning down and only a relentless fire platoon of patrons saving the last . "I see Stan," the Consul said, pointing to the massive figure of Stan Leveski, who was standing at the head of the fire platoon. "Come here," the Consul helped Theo sit under an elm tree in the aisle. "How is your head?" "pain." "I'll call for someone, and I'll be right back," the consul said, walking down the alley as quickly as he could, toward the crowd. Stan Leveski stared at the Consul as if he had seen a ghost.The big man's face was streaked with soot and tears, his eyes were wide open, and he seemed to be out of his mind.Cicero has been in his family for six generations.Now the sky is drizzling, and the fire seems to be defeated.But some of the wood in the burnt part had caved into the embers of the base, and the men of the fire platoon were yelling now and again. "God, it's all gone," Leveski said. "Did you see that? Grandpa Yerry's extension? All gone." The Consul grabbed the bulky man by the shoulders. "Stan, we need help. Theo's over there, he's injured. Our skimmer crashed. We need to get back to the airport—need to use your phone. Stan, it's urgent." Leveski shook his head. "The phone is gone. The comlog band is jammed. The bloody battle isn't over yet." He pointed to the burnt part of the old inn. "It's gone, damn it, it's all gone." The Consul clenched his fists, in despair, he was furious.Others milled around, but the consul didn't recognize any of them.There was no military or self-defense force authority in sight.Suddenly, someone behind him said, "I can help you. I have a skimmer." The Consul turned around, and in front of him was a man in his sixties, his handsome face also covered with soot and sweat, and his curly hair shining. "Excellent," said the Consul, "thanks for your help." He paused. "Do I know you?" "Merio? Dr. Alain Dezi." said the man, who had already started to walk towards the main road where Theo was. "Aron Dezi," repeated the Consul, stepping up to keep up with him.Strangely enough, the name seemed familiar.Was it someone he knew?Someone he should know? "My God, Aron Dezie!" he said, "you're a friend of Rachel Winterberg's, and you came here with her decades ago." "Actually, I'm her college advisor," Arondez said. "I know about you. You and Sol go on a pilgrimage." They stopped where Theo sat, who was still Hold your head. "There's my skimmer," said Arandez. The Consul saw a small two-masted light Zephyr parked under a tree. "Great. We'll get Theo to the hospital, and then I have to go to the airport right away." "The hospital is overcrowded and has become a mental hospital," Alun Dezi said. "If you plan to go to your spaceship, I suggest you take the governor there and use the spaceship's consultation room to help him treat him." The Consul hesitated for a moment. "How did you know I had a ship there?" Alain Dezi lifted the door and supported Theo, laying him down on the narrow stool behind the front contoured seat. "Mr. Consul, I know all about you and the other Pilgrims. I have been trying for months to get permission to go to the Valley of the Time Tombs. How disappointed I was when the cruise ship left secretly." Alun Dezi took a deep breath, and then asked a question that he obviously didn't dare to ask before: "Is Rachel still alive?" He had been her lover when she was a grown woman, the Consul thought. "I don't know," he said, "I'm trying to figure out how to get back in time to help her, if I can." Merio Arundez nodded, got into the driver's seat, and motioned for the consul to come in. "We'll try to get to the airport. But there's going to be a lot of difficulty on the way because of the fighting going on around there." The Consul leaned back in the chair, which surrounded him, feeling his own scrapes, cuts, and weariness. "We've got to get Theo...the Governor...back to the consulate or the government building, or whatever they call it now." Alang Dezi shook his head and started the seed blocking wheel. "No. The consulate was destroyed a long time ago. According to the emergency news channel, it was destroyed by a non-directional missile. Before your friend went to find you, all the officials of the overlord had already evacuated to the aviation museum." The Consul looked at Theo Wren, who was half unconscious. "Let's go." He whispered to Alun Dezi. As they flew across the river, the skimmers cut through a barrage of small arms fire, but steel spear guns rattled against the hull, and beams of energy streaked below them, sending out a ten-meter-high steam flow.Alondez steered the skimmer like a madman—weaving, heaving, banking, circling, and occasionally turning the skimmer on its axis like a plate gliding on a sea of ​​marble.The consul's seat restraints were tightly wrapped around him, but he could feel his internal organs seem to be churning.Behind them, Theo's head was bobbing limply back and forth on the back seat, already at the mercy of coma. "The urban area is already a mess!" Alun Dezi shouted over the growl of the stopper wheel. "I'll take the old viaduct to Airport Boulevard, then take a short cut through the countryside and fly as low as possible." They were together Turning around a burning building, the Consul belatedly recognized it as his old apartment building. "Is the airport avenue accessible?" Alan Dezi shook his head. "Don't even think about it. In the last thirty minutes, a large group of paratroopers landed near there." "Are the Ousters planning to destroy the entire city?" "No. If they want to do it, they don't have to go to such troubles at all. They can do it from orbit. They seem to have surrounded the capital. Most of the landing craft and paratroopers landed at least ten kilometers away." "Is it our Self-Defense Forces that are resisting?" Alun Dezi laughed, his dark skin lined with white teeth. "They're halfway to Endymirn or Port Romance now... But, ten minutes ago, when the communication lines weren't clogged, there were reports that those cities were under attack too. No, what you see is insignificant The little resistance came from a dozen corps sailors, who were left to guard the city and the airport." "So the Ousters haven't destroyed the airport, nor captured it?" "Not yet. At least not a few minutes ago. We're almost there. Hurry up!" The 10-kilometer flight to the airport usually only takes a few minutes via the VIP Avenue or the sky route on it, but the detours and up-and-down routes of Alan Dezi on the mountains, valleys, and woods make the entire journey time shorter. It got longer and became more exciting.The Consul turned his head and looked at the mountainside and burning refugee camp slums flashing to the left.When the skimmer rushed over, men and women crouched beside the boulders and under the bushes, holding their heads.At one point, the Consul saw a squad of corps sailors digging a hole in the mountainside, but their attention was focused on the hills to the north, where fire from colorful laser-cut weapons emanated.At this moment, Alan Dezi saw the sailors. He turned the skimmer quickly to the left and landed in a narrow mountain stream. The treetops on the ridge were almost cut off by invisible scissors. Finally, the skimmer roared and flew over the last row of ridges, and the west gate and protective fence of the airport finally appeared before their eyes.The perimeter line was flashing with the blue light of the concealment field and the blocking field. When there was the last kilometer left, a beam of visible dense laser light suddenly shot out, found them, and said through the radio: "Unidentified skimmer, land immediately! , or we're going to open fire." Alang Dezi drove the boat and landed. The tree line ten meters away seemed to flicker, and suddenly they were surrounded by ghosts dressed in living chameleon aggregates.Alang Dezi opened the transparent cover of the cockpit, and aimed his assault guns at him and the consul. "Get off the machine." Under the flash of camouflage, a hollow voice said. "We're taking the Governor," shouted the Consul, "and we must go in." "Nonsense," yelled someone, with a distinct Web accent, "come out!" The Consul and Alain Dezi hurriedly released their seat restraints and were about to climb out when suddenly a voice from the back seat called out, "Lieutenant Muller, is that you?" "Ah, yes, sir." "Do you recognize who I am, Lieutenant?" The camouflage flashes disappeared, and a young sailor in full armor stood within one meter of the skimmer.His entire face was covered only by a black mask, but his voice sounded very young. "Yes, sir... ah... Your Excellency Governor. Sorry, I didn't recognize you without your glasses. Sir, you are injured." "Of course I know I'm wounded. Lieutenant. That's why these two gentlemen sent me here. Do you recognize the former Overlord Consul of Hyperion?" "Sorry, sir," Lieutenant Mueller said, waving his hand for his men to back behind the tree line. "The base is cordoned off." "Of course the base is blocked," Theo gritted his teeth. "I signed the order. But I also authorized the evacuation of all the overlords. You should let those skimmers pass, right? Lieutenant Mueller ?” An armored arm was raised as if to scratch his helmeted and visored head. “啊……对，长官。啊，是。但是那已经是一小时之前的事了，长官。进行撤离的登陆飞船早已飞走——” “苍天在上，缪勒，快进入战术频率，到格拉西莫夫上校那获取许可，让我们进来。” “长官，上校已经死了。东部周界线发生了登陆飞船突袭——” “那就卢韦林上尉，”西奥说。他摇晃着身子，然后倚在领事座椅的后背上，稳住了。他的脸异常惨白，毫无血色。 “啊……战术频率已经出故障了，长官。驱逐者正在干扰多频率，用的是——” “中尉！！”西奥厉叫道，领事从未听到过他的年轻朋友用过这种口气说话，“你已经认出我来了，而且扫描了我的植入式身份证。现在，要么让我们进来，要么就朝我们开火吧。” 那个披甲的海兵回头朝林木线看了一眼，似乎在考虑要不要命令他的手下开火。“长官，登陆飞船全部都飞走了。不再会有什么船下来了。” 西奥点点头。血已经干了，凝结在他的额头上，但现在从他的发际线上新流下一股血流。“那艘扣押的飞船还在九号发射池中吗？” “是的，长官，”缪勒回答道，终于立正道，“但那是一艘民用飞船，不可能飞到太空中的，你瞧，铺天盖地的驱逐者——” 西奥挥手让那军官住了口，示意阿朗德淄驾车朝周界线开去。领事望向前面的安全界线、阻断场、密蔽场和一些可能是液压地雷的东西，十秒内掠行艇就将和它们狭路相逢。他看见那名海兵中尉正招着手，前头的紫蓝能量场开了个口子。没人开火。半分钟后，他们开始穿越航空港的硬土。北部周界线上有什么庞然大物正在燃烧。在他们左手边，一辆军部拖车和指挥舱已经被熔成了一滩冒泡的塑胶。 那里面还有人，领事想，他再一次抵抗着五脏的翻腾。 七号发射池被摧毁了，它那加固的十厘米碳碳圆墙被炸得四分五裂，就好像它们是用纸板做的。八号发射池正在燃烧，发出白热之光，看来受到了等离子弹的攻击。九号发射池完好无损，透过三级密蔽场的闪光，能看到坐落在发射池墙上的领事飞船的船首。 “阻断场开启了？”领事问。 西奥躺在加着衬垫的凳子上。他的嗓音含混不清。“对。悦石授权在飞船上覆盖了遏制圆场。那只是普通的防护场。只需一句口令就能撤销掉它。” 阿朗德淄驾着掠行艇降落在停机坪上，此时警报灯刚好开始闪烁出红色，合成声音开始说明有故障产生。他们把西奥扶了出来，站在小型掠行艇的背后，那儿有一排钢矛在发动机罩和阻种轮罩上歪七竖八地缝了一条口子。引擎罩的部分由于超负荷而熔化了。 美利欧·阿朗德淄轻轻拍了一下机器，两人转身扶着西奥进入了发射池的大门，爬上人坞中心。 “我的天，”美利欧·阿朗德淄博士说道，“真是漂亮。我以前从没进过私人星际飞船。” “现有的私人星际飞船也就十几艘而已。”领事边说，边把滤息面具戴在西奥的嘴和鼻子上，轻轻将这满头是血的人儿放进诊疗室的紧急救护营养槽中。“这船虽小，但价值好几亿马克。对公司和偏地行星政府来说，如果碰到一些少有的场合，需要在星际间旅行，使用军事飞船并不划算。”领事关上救护槽，和诊疗程序简单地交谈了几句。“他会没事的。”最后他对阿朗德淄说，然后回到了全息井中。 美利欧·阿朗德淄站在古老的施坦威钢琴旁，轻轻抚触着大钢琴富有光泽的漆面。透过收起的嘹望台上方的透明船体，他朝外望去。“我能看见主大门附近的火力。我们最好离开这。” “我正在这么做呢。”领事说，他朝排在投影舱中的圆床指了指。 考古学家一屁股坐到深垫中，他左右四顾。“没有……啊……控制器吗？” The Consul smiled. “驾驶台？驾驶舱仪器？或是能驾驶的方向盘？没那玩意。飞船？” “在。”不知什么地方传来轻轻的声音。 “我们可以起飞了吗？” "Can." “密蔽场去掉了吗？” “那是我们自己的密蔽场。我已经把它撤销了。” “好的，我们离开这鬼地方吧。我不需要告诉你，我们正在鏖战的中央，对吧？” “不需要。我一直在监控事情的发展状况。最后几架军部太空船正在离开海伯利安星系。这些海兵已经被困并且——” “飞船，这些战术分析留待以后再讲吧，”领事说，“把路线定往光阴冢山谷，赶紧让我们离开这鬼地方。” “遵命，先生，”飞船说，“我正要说，防卫航空港的军力已经没有一个多小时的残喘机会了。” “明白了，”领事说，“快起飞吧。” “首先我必须展示这份超光转播信息。信息于今日下午环网标准时间十六时二十二分三十八点一四秒抵达。” “慢点慢点！先给我停住！”领事叫道，让全息信息停在了中途。梅伊娜·悦石的半张脸悬在他们头顶。“你必须在我们离开前展示这条信息吗？你到底听从谁的命令，飞船？” “首席执行官悦石的，先生。五天前，执行官大人在所有飞船上赋予了一项优先超驰功能。这条超光信息是最后的要求，之后——” “这么说，这就是你没有响应我遥控的原因了。”领事嘀咕道。 “对，”飞船以会谈的口吻说道，“我正要说，放映这条信息是最后一条要求，之后你会重新得到控制权。” “到时候你会按我说的去做？” "yes." “我叫你去哪你就带我们去哪？” "yes." “不再有隐藏的超驰功能了？” “就我所知完全没有。” “那就继续。”领事说。 首席执行官梅伊娜·悦石那林肯似的面容漂浮在投影舱的中心，影像不断抽搐、裂解，这泄了密，那是超光转播信息的风土特色。“我很高兴你在进入光阴冢之后仍然活了下来，”她对领事说，“现如今，你必须知道我希望你在回山谷前去和驱逐者谈判。” 领事交叉双臂抱在胸前，对着悦石的影像怒目而视。外头，夕阳西下。他只剩下几分钟了，之后，瑞秋·温特伯就将回到她的出生之时，最后将简单地不复存在。 “我理解，你急着要回去帮助你的朋友，”悦石说，“但是此时此刻，你完全没办法帮助那个孩子……环网专家向我们保证，冰冻沉眠和神游都无法抑制梅林症。索尔知道的。” 投影舱对面，阿朗德淄博士说道：“她说的对。他们已经试验了好几年。她会在神游状态下死去的。” “……你能帮助环网的亿万人类，这些你觉得被你出卖了的人类。”悦石说道。 领事凑身向前，双肘支在膝盖上，拳头托着下巴。他的心在他的耳朵里轰然鸣响。 “我知道你会打开光阴冢，”悦石说，她那悲伤的褐色眼睛似乎正直勾勾盯着领事，“内核预言者显示出你对茂伊约的忠诚……对你祖母叛乱的记忆的忠诚……它们会凌驾所有的因素。是时候打开光阴冢了，但是驱逐者还需要做决定是否要激活他们的装置，在这之前，只有你能激活那东西。” “够了，”领事说着，站起身，转身背对着投影，“取消信息。”他对飞船说，但他也知道它是不会服从他的。 美利欧·阿朗德淄走过投影，紧紧抓住领事的手臂。“听她说完。好吗？” 领事摇摇头，但没有离开投影舱。他交叉着双臂。 “现在，最可怕的事情发生了，”悦石说，“驱逐者正在侵略环网。天国之门正在被毁。还剩一小时，神林就会被侵略军一扫而光。你必须去和海伯利安系统的驱逐者会面，跟他们谈判……用你的外交技巧和他们会谈。驱逐者不会对我们的超光或无线电讯息作出回复，但是我们已经向他们作出通告，告诉了他们，你将会去他们那儿。我想他们仍然信任你。” 领事呜咽着，走到钢琴前，拳头重重地砸在盖子上。 “我们只剩下几分钟了，而不是几小时，领事先生，”悦石说，“我请求你，先去和海伯利安系统的驱逐者见面，事毕之后，如果你一定要回光阴冢山谷，就回吧。你比我更加清楚战争的后果。如果我们不能找到什么可靠的途径，和驱逐者进行会谈，那么，上百万人会死于非命。 “决定权在你手上，但是，请你先考虑一下，如果我们无法完成这最后的尝试，无法找到真相，无法保住和平，后果会是怎样。一旦你抵达驱逐者游群，我会通过超光和你联系。” 悦石的影像闪烁着，模糊了，褪去了。 “是否回复？”飞船问道。 “不。”领事在施坦威钢琴和投影舱之间来回踱步。 “几乎两个世纪以来，没有太空船和掠行艇在山谷附近安全着陆而船员毫发无伤，”美利欧·阿朗德淄说道，“她肯定明白，你去了那儿……从伯劳手下幸免……然后和驱逐者汇合……这几率是多么的小。” “现在事情已经不一样了，”领事说道，他没有回头看美利欧。“时间潮汐已经变得非常狂暴。伯劳可以去它想去的任何地方。也许，以前阻止载人飞船着陆的现象也已不再有效。” “也许你的飞船可以很好地着陆，只是没了我们，”阿朗德淄问，“就像其他人一样。” “该死，”领事喊道，转过身来，“在你说要和我一起来的时候，你早就知道危险重重了，对吧！” 考古学家平静地点点头。“先生，我不是在说我自己的危险。我甘愿接受任何危险，只要我能帮助瑞秋……甚至只是再见她一面。但是，人类得以幸存的关键，不在我，而是在你。” 领事凭空挥舞拳头，在那来回踱步，就像一个关在笼中的掠食者。“那不公平！我以前是悦石的卒子。她随意利用我……带着嘲笑……全是蓄意。阿朗德淄，我杀了四名驱逐者。把他们射杀了，因为我必须激活他们那该死的装置来打开光阴冢。你以为他们会敞开臂膀欢迎我回去吗？” 考古学家抬起头，漆黑双眼一眨不眨地望着领事。“一晚石相信他们会和你会谈的。” “谁知道他们会做什么？谁知道悦石相信什么玩意？现在，我才不会理会霸主，不会理会它和驱逐者的关系呢。我真心希望他们两家都倒八辈子霉去吧！” “甚至是让所有人类受苦？” “我不知道什么是人类。”领事淡然说道，听上去已经精疲力竭，“我只认识索尔·温特伯。还有瑞秋。那个叫布劳恩·拉米亚的受伤的女人。保罗·杜雷神父。费德曼·卡萨德。还有——” 飞船轻柔的声音在他们四周回响。“航空港的北周界线已经被突破。我将开始最后的起飞程序。请坐好。” 内部密蔽场的垂直差动开始显著增强，压迫在领事身上，将所有物体锁在原位，保护着乘客，比任何皮带或者座椅约束器更加安全。此时，领事跌跌撞撞地走进全息井。一旦进入自由落体状态，密蔽场就会减弱，但仍然代替着行星的重力。 全息井上方的空气蒙上一层薄雾，显示出底下迅速远去的发射池和航空港。随着飞船猛然进入八十倍重力的逃避操纵，地平线和远方的山峦迅速远去倾斜。在它们的方向那里，有不少能量武器在闪光，但是数据列显示出外部场正在应付微效应。然后，地平线退却了，弯曲了，湛青的天空变暗了，成了太空的黑色。 “目标？”飞船询问道。 领事闭上双眼。他们身后什么东西发出一连串的鸣响，宣告可以将西奥·雷恩从恢复槽移到主诊疗室了。 “需要多长时间能和驱逐者的侵略势力汇合？”领事问。 “抵达特定游群需要三十分钟。”飞船回答道。 “我们多久之后进入他们攻击性飞船武器的射程？” “他们现在就已经在追踪我们了。” 美利欧·阿朗德淄的表情非常平静，但是他的手指在全息井的睡椅的背上显得异常惨白。 “好吧，”领事说，“去游群。避开霸主飞船。在所有频率上发布通告：我们是一艘毫无武装的外交飞船，请求进行会谈。” “先生，这条信息已经由首席执行官悦石授权并准备好。现在已经在超光和所有通讯频率上被广播出去了。” “继续，”领事说。他指着阿朗德淄的通信志， “你看过时间了吗？” “看了。离瑞秋出生还剩最后六分钟。” 领事躺了下来，双眼紧闭。“阿朗德淄博士，你一路奔波过来，却一无所获。” 考古学家站起身，先是摇晃了几秒钟，在模拟重力下重新找回了自己的重心，然后小心谨慎地走到钢琴前。他在那站了一会儿，透过嘹望台窗户望向外面的漆黑天空和退却的星球那依旧璀璨的边缘。“也许不，”他说，“也许不。”