Chapter 49 Chapter Eleven

Rachel looked shyly at her father, then at the stranger, obviously feeling the tense atmosphere among them, but she didn't know where it came from. "Uh, I wanted to bother you one more time. I was going to go in and sleep. I guess I've had this weird virus since... it's probably a kind of meningitis, a lot of people say that, it must be it , makes me very forgetful at the moment. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Arundez. I hope we can meet again at Imperial University someday." "Me too," said Melio, staring at Rachel somberly and nervously that Saul felt like he was trying to remember every detail of the moment.

"Okay, so..." Rachel said, stepping back, her rubber shoes creaking on the stairs. "Good night, then. See you in the morning, Dad." "Good night, Rachel." She stopped at the door.The gaslight on the grass shone on her, making her look like a little doll under thirteen. "Goodbye, two swiftlets." "Goodbye, little Swift," Thor said, and heard Merio whisper the same words at the same time. They stood in silence for a while, feeling the night fall on the town.A little boy passed by on his bicycle, the leaves rustling under the wheels, the spokes gleaming in the halo of old street lamps.

"Go inside," Saul said to the silent man. "Sarai will be glad to see you. Rachel should be in bed." "I'm not going now," said Merio.He stood there in silhouette, his hands still in his pockets, "I've got to… this was a mistake, Thor." He turned and walked away, then back. "I'll call you when I get back to Liberty Island," he said. "We'll arrange another expedition as soon as possible." Sol nodded.Three years' journey, he thought.If they left tonight she'd be... she wouldn't be ten years old before they got back. "Very good," he said.

Merio paused, waved goodbye with one hand up, and walked away along the curb, ignoring the rustling of fallen leaves underfoot. Saul never met him alone again. The largest Shrike church in the Web was in Luses, and Saul had teleported there a few weeks before Rachel's tenth birthday.The building itself is not much larger than the old church, but its flying corridor leading to the main hall, the twisted superstructure, and the buttresses of the stained glass windows have a good visual effect and look quite magnificent.Thor's mood is very low, not to mention the strong gravity of Luthers can't relax at all.Even though Saul had an appointment with the bishop, he had to wait more than five hours before being allowed into the chamber.Most of the time he watched the twenty-meter-high colored steel statue slowly rotate, which looked very much like the legendary Shrike...but it might also be an abstract homage to all man-made bladed weapons.What attracted Thor's attention the most were the two floating red spheres, which made the nightmarish space look like a skull.

"Mr Winterberg?" "Your Excellency," Thor said.He noticed that the acolytes, exorcists, chanters and porters who had accompanied him in the long wait prostrated themselves on the black tiles as the bishop entered the gate.Saul also imitated them and performed a formal bow. "Come in, come in, come in, Mr Winterberg," said the Bishop.Sweeping the sleeves of his robes, he pointed to the doorway to the Shrike's sanctum. Thor went inside and found himself in a dark place.The echo was heavy, and the scene was not far from the scene in his repeated dream.Then he took the seat the bishop pointed out to him.And the bishop sat on his seat, which looked like a delicately carved little throne on a modern table.Saul noticed that the bishop was a native of Lusus, with a fat, puffy face, but still looked as terrifying as any Lusus resident.His robes were scarlet... bright, arterial red, not made of silk or velvet but as liquid in a vessel, trimmed with mottled ermine.On each of the bishop's fingers was a huge ring, red and black, which really made Thor uneasy.

"Your Excellency," Saul said, "first of all, let me apologize to you. I may...or have violated the etiquette of your church. I admit that I know very little about the Shrike Church, but it is my little knowledge brought me here. If I inadvertently and poorly use a title or a term, it is only out of ignorance, so please forgive me." The Bishop waved his hand at Sol.Rubies and black gems gleamed in the twilight. "It doesn't matter what we're called, Mr. Winterberg. For non-members, it's perfectly appropriate to address us as 'Your Excellency.' The entity called...the Shrike...when we refer to it...if we call it by its name...we call it the Lord of Mourning, or more generally—the Avatar. So please Go on to the important question you want to ask."

Thor leaned forward slightly. "Your Excellency, I am a teacher..." "Forgive me for interrupting you, Mr. Winterberg, but you are much more than a teacher. You are a scholar. We are very familiar with your work on ethical hermeneutics. The arguments contained therein, though imperfect, are quite rich. Challenging. We use it often as material for our doctrinal defense classes. Please continue." Sol blinked.His work is hardly read outside of the rarest fields of academia, and this remark surprised him.But within five seconds, Saul regained his composure. He was willing to believe that Bishop Shrike said this just to figure out who he was talking to, and the people around him were only one in a hundred. "Your Excellency, my academic background is irrelevant. I am visiting you because my child...my daughter...has contracted a disease, and this disease is most likely developed by her in a place of great significance to your teaching. Acquired during research work. Of course, I'm talking about the so-called Time Tombs on Hyperion."

The bishop nodded slowly.Saul wonders if he knows about Rachel. "You are well aware, Mr. Winterberg, that the place you mentioned...which is what we call the Ark of the Contract...has recently been announced by Hyperion's Home Rule Council that it will not be open to those so-called researchers. ,Is it?" "Yes, Your Excellency. I have heard about it. I understand the situation of your teaching very well. It is your teaching that has contributed to the passage of this decree." The bishop had no reaction to this.At the far end of the murky, fragrant mist, little bells sang.

"No matter what, Your Excellency, I sincerely hope that some aspect of your teachings can help the little girl's illness." The bishop's head tilted slightly forward, and a beam of light illuminated him, his brow glowed, and his eyes were sunk into shadows. "Are you trying to receive a religious sermon on the mysteries of the Church, Mr. Winterberg?" Thor runs a finger to his beard. "No, sir, unless it restores the little girl to health." "Is Ling'ai willing to join the Doomsday Salvation Sect?" Thor paused for a moment. "I'll say it again, Your Excellency, she also hopes to recover from her illness. If joining your teaching can make her healthy or help her treatment, she will seriously consider it."

The bishop sat back in his chair, his robes rustling.Red seemed to flow from him into the gloom. "You speak of physical health, Mr. Winterberg. Our sect is the final arbiter of spiritual salvation. Don't you realize that the latter is an indispensable prerequisite for the former?" "I realize that this is an old and well-respected proposition," Saul said. "My daughter's full recovery is all that my wife and I have in mind." The bishop propped his head up with a fist. "What is the nature of your daughter's illness, Mr Winterberg?" "It's...a time-related disease, sir."

The Bishop leaned forward, suddenly tense. "Which sanctuary do you say that your daughter contracted the disease, Mr Winterburton?" "It's at the ruins of a civilization called the Sphinx, sir." The bishop stood up quickly, and all the papers on the table were knocked to the ground.Even without the robe, the man would have weighed twice Thor's.In the constantly swinging red robe, the Shrike Bishop stood completely upright and looked down at Thor, like the incarnation of crimson death. "You may go!" said the bulky man. "Your daughter is the most blessed and unluckiest of all. Neither you nor the church...or anyone on earth...can do anything about her." .” Saul still held that last glimmer of hope and asked: "Your Excellency, if there is a slight possibility..." "Impossible!!" the bishop yelled, his face flushed, like a ghost with an entity.He tapped on the table.Exorcists and lectors appeared at the door, their black robes trimmed with red, cut in the same cut as the bishop's.The janitor, dressed in pitch black, was completely lost in the darkness. "The visit ends here," said the Bishop, in a much quieter voice, but with certainty and a sense of finality. "Lingai was made by the incarnation, and she will be redeemed in a strange way, otherwise, she will be punished one day like all sinful people and those who do not believe in the incarnation. That day will soon arrival." "Sir, if I could take another five minutes of your time..." The bishop snapped his fingers, and the exorcist stepped forward and took Sol away.They are all Lutherians.Five Sol is more than enough for everyone to single out.