Chapter 48 chapter Ten

"More than that," Rachel sighed. "You don't know. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there." She frowned. "Have you seen my math ansible? My whole house is a complete mess. I can't find anything." Sol cleared his throat. "No class today, kid." Rachel stared at him. "No classes? It's Tuesday! I'm graduating in six weeks! What's going on?" "You're sick," Sara said firmly. "You can stay home all day. Just today." Rachel's scowl deepened. "Sick? I'm not sick. It just feels weird. Like something's... not right. Like, how come the couch in the screening room is going the other way? Where's Chips Is it? I called it many times and it didn’t come.”

Saul grabbed his daughter's wrist. "You've been sick for a long time," he said, "and the doctor said you might forget something when you wake up. Let's walk around campus and talk. How about it?" Rachel beamed. "Skipping class to go to the university campus? That's great." She immediately put on a panicked expression. "Hope we don't run into Roger Sherman. He's taking calculus with a freshman there, and he's such a bloody jerk." "We won't meet Roger," Saul said. "Going out?" "Now," Rachel leaned over to give her mother a big hug, "bye swiftlet."

"Goodbye, Swift," Sarai said. "Okay," Rachel said with a bright smile, her long hair thrown over her shoulders, "I'm ready." Sol purchased an electromagnetic vehicle because of frequent trips to Barsad City.On a crisp autumn day, he drove it slowly on the bottom driveway far away, enjoying the sight of the freshly harvested cornfields and the pleasant fragrance below him.Many men and women working in the fields waved to him. Basad has flourished since Dasol's childhood, but the synagogue remains on the fringes of one of the city's oldest settlements.The temple was old, and Sol felt old too, even the yarmulke he put on before entering the door looked old, worn down to a thin layer of skin after decades of use.But the pastor is very young.Thor realized the man was at least forty—his dark scalp was thinning on the sides—but he was just a child in Thor's eyes.Saul was relieved when the young man suggested that they have this conversation in the park across the street.

They sat down on a park bench.Sol was surprised to find himself still holding the yarmulke, the piece of cloth being passed from hand to hand.The air smelled of burning leaves and rain from the night before. "I don't quite understand, Mr. Winterborough," said the chaplain, "whether your mind is disturbed by that dream, or that your daughter has been ill since that dream?" Thor looked up and felt the sun shining on his face. "Neither, exactly," he said, "but somehow I feel the two are connected." The priest's fingers brushed his lower lip. "How old is your daughter?"

Sol hesitated slightly, but the priest didn't notice.Finally Thor said, "Thirteen." "Is her illness... serious? Is it life-threatening?" "Not life-threatening," Saul said. "Not yet." The priest folded his arms over his round belly. "You don't believe...can I call you Thor?" "certainly." "Saul, you don't believe it's you who caused your daughter's illness because of this dream...?" "Yes," said Saul, and sat for a while, wondering whether he was telling the truth. "Yes, Chaplain, I don't believe it at all..."

"Call me Mort, Thor." "Okay, Mort. I didn't come because I believed that I—or the dream—caused Rachel's illness. But I do believe that my subconscious might be trying to tell me something." Mort's body rocked slightly back and forth. "Maybe a neurologist or a psychologist would be more helpful at this point, Saul. I'm not sure I know..." "I want to know a little bit about the story of Abraham," Saul interrupted him. "I mean, I've been exposed to different ethical systems, but I still can't understand one of them. At the beginning of that system, the gods actually would order a father to kill his own son."

"No, no, no!" cried the priest, waving his stubby, childlike fingers in front of his face. "When the time came, God stopped Abraham's hand. He would never allow a human sacrifice to be made before him. That was complete obedience to God's will so..." "Yes," Saul said. "Obedience. But the Bible says, 'Abraham stretched out his hand to kill his son.' God must have searched his soul and knew that Abraham was ready to kill Isaac. Mere superficial obedience without heart God’s devotion must not please the Creator. What would have happened if Abraham had loved his son more than God?”

Mort tapped his fingers on his knee for a moment, then reached out and grabbed Thor's upper arm. "Saul, I can see that you are concerned about your daughter's illness. But don't confuse it with a document written eight thousand years ago. Could you please tell me more about your daughter. I mean, not now. There are children dying of disease. At least not in the Ring." Saul stood up, smiled, then took a few steps back and withdrew his hand. "I'd love to say something else, Mort. I meant to. But I have to go back. I have class tonight." "Are you coming to the temple this Sabbath?" the priest asked, spreading his stubby fingers for a parting handshake.

Thor dropped the yarmulke into the young man's hand. "Maybe just a few days, Mort. I'll be here in just a few days." Later that fall, Sol looked out of his study window and saw a dark figure standing under the bare elms in front of the house.It's the media people, Saul thought, his heart sinking.For ten years he had dreaded the day when the secret would come out, knowing that it would mean the end of their simple life at Clover.He went out into the chill of the evening. "Merio!" He yelled out as soon as he saw the tall man's face. The archaeologist stood there with his hands in the pockets of his long blue coat.Even though it had been ten standard years since their last contact, Arondez wasn't very old - Thor guessed his physical age was only twenty-seven or eighteen.But the young man's sun-tanned face was full of sorrow. "Saul," he called, holding out his hand, almost embarrassed.

Sol shook his hand warmly. "I didn't know you were back. Come in and tell me." "No need," the archaeologist took half a step back. "I've been standing outside for an hour, Thor. But I don't have the courage to go in." Thor's lips moved, but in the end he just nodded.He put his hands in his pockets to keep out the cold.The first stars began to shine above the black gables of the house. "Rachel isn't home right now," he said finally. "She's gone to the library. She...she thought she had a history paper due." Merio took a deep breath exhausted and nodded in response. "Saul," he said, slurring his voice, "hope you and Sarai understand we've done our best. The expedition has been on Hyperion for three standard years. If the university hadn't cut off the funding we'd still be here." Possibly longer. But we didn't find any…”

"We understand," Thor said, "and thank you for your metaluminous message." "I've lived alone in the Sphinx myself for several months," Melio said. "From the instrument display, it is just a pile of lifeless stones, but sometimes I feel that I can sense it." ...is there something strange..." He shook his head again. "I failed her, Thor." "Don't say that," Saul said, grabbing the young man's shoulders under his woolen coat, "but I have a question. We've spoken to the MPs...and even asked the STC leaders... But no one can explain to me why the Overlords don't want to spend more time and money investigating the phenomenon on Hyperion. In my opinion, just for the scientific potential of this planet, they should have invested in it to join the ring network. They How can you turn a blind eye to a mystery like the Tomb of Time?" "I understand what you mean, Saul. In fact, the withdrawal of our funds earlier was also very suspicious. It seems that the Overlord has a policy to keep Hyperion out of reach." "Did you feel..." Saul said, but just then Rachel came towards them in the clear autumn twilight.Her hands were deeply hidden in the red jacket, her hair was cut short, a style popular among young people all over the world decades ago, and her round face was flushed red from the cold.Rachel is on the verge of childhood, on the verge of adulthood; her long legs, draped in jeans, sneakers, and a baggy jacket, look like a boy's silhouette. She smiled at them, "Hi, Dad." She stepped closer in the dim light, nodding shyly at Merio. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation." Sol took a breath. "It's all right, son. Rachel, this is Dr. Arundez from Liberty Island Imperial University. Dr. Arundez, this is my daughter, Rachel." "Nice to meet you," Rachel said, beaming. "Wow, Imperial. I've read its catalog. Wish I could go someday." Merio nodded stiffly.Thor saw his shoulders and torso move awkwardly. "So you..." said Merio, "I mean, what do you want to study there?" Saul thought Rachel could hear the pain in the man's voice, but she just shrugged and smiled. "Oh my God, I want to learn everything. Old Eckard - he was the professor who taught paleontology and archeology in my advanced classes at the Education Center - he said they had an excellent school of classics and paleoanthropology Relic Academy." "That's right." Merio finally spit out these four words.