Chapter 54 Chapter Sixteen

After a while, Saul hugged the sobbing child, trying to understand from her point of view the accident described so simply and plainly.So far, electromagnetic vehicles are the safest means of personal transportation invented by mankind.Their lifting devices may fail, but even if this happens, the residual charge in their electromagnetic response devices is enough to support the vehicles in the air to land safely from any height.The most basic fail-safe design of electromagnetic vehicle crash avoidance devices has remained unchanged for centuries.But nothing is foolproof.In this case, the perpetrators were a young couple who were driving a stolen electromagnetic car outside the traffic line, accelerating to Mach 1.5, but turning off all lights and transponders to prevent detection.On their way down towards the landing pad of the Barsad Municipal Theater, there was a one-in-a-million chance of crashing into Aunt Tessa's antique mast light.Tessa, Sarai and the couple were not the only ones killed in the crash; three others were killed as debris from the vehicle rolled into the theater's bustling atrium.

Sale. "Will we ever see Mom again?" Rachel asked, sobbing.She asks this every time. "I don't know, dear," Thor replied sincerely. The funeral was held at the family cemetery in Kezi County, Bana Region.News organizations did not invade the cemetery, but reporters circled the trees and rushed toward the black iron gates like an angry storm. Richard wanted to keep Saul and Rachel for a few more days, but Saul knew how much damage the news organization would do to the taciturn farmhouse if they continued their attacks.He didn't stay, just hugged Richard, said a few words to the reporters who were shouting outside the fence, and dragged Rachel, who was too scared to speak, to flee back to Hebron.

The journalists followed him all the way to the New Jerusalem, and tried to follow Dan Village, but the armed police stopped their licensed electromagnetic vehicle, put more than a dozen people in jail to make an example, and withdrew the teleportation visas of the rest. In the evening, Saul asked Judy to watch the sleeping child while he walked up the ridge of the village.He found his ears still filled with conversations with God, and he wanted to shake his fists at the sky, swear obscenities, and throw stones.But he resisted the urge to ask many questions instead, always ending with the word—why?

no answer.The Hebron sun was setting behind the distant ridge, and the rocks shimmered with heat.Saul was sitting on a boulder, his palms rubbing his temples. Sale. They lived a full life, even though the tragedy of Rachel's illness hung over their heads.It's ironic, Sarai just spent her first relaxing hour with her sister... Saul wailed loudly. The trap, of course, was set while they were preoccupied with Rachel's illness.None of them could face the future, Rachel's...death?disappear?Every day a child lives, their world is clenched on a hinge, and no one has time to think about the possibility of accidents, which is the perverse counter-logic of a sharp and unforgiving universe.Saul was sure that Sarai, like him, must have considered suicide, but the two of them would never leave each other.Nor will she abandon Rachel.It never occurred to him that he might be left alone to raise Rachel, and...

Sale! It was then that Thor realized that the millennia of angry dialogue between his people and God had not disappeared with the death of the old land...nor with the dispersal of new races...they continued.He and Rachel and Sarai had been part of them, and they were still one of them.He will not deny pain when it comes.It filled him with determination, despite the sharp pain it brought. As night fell, Sol stood on the ridge, weeping. In the morning, when the sun filled the room, he sat by Rachel's bed. "Good morning, Dad." "Good morning, darling." "Where are we, Dad?"

"We're traveling. It's a beautiful place." "Where is mother?" "She's at Aunt Tessa's today." "Can we see her tomorrow?" "Yes," Saul said, "now let's get dressed so I can make breakfast." When Rachel was three years old, Saul began petitioning the Shrike church.Travel to Hyperion is severely restricted, and access to the Time Tombs has become almost impossible.Only the occasional Shrike pilgrimage sends people to that place. Rachel was sad about not being able to be with her mother on her birthday, but a few kids from the Gibbs softened her heart a bit.One of the great gifts she received was an illustrated book of fairy tales that Sarai had picked out for her in New Jerusalem a few months earlier.

Before bed, Saul read a few stories to Rachel.She couldn't read by herself seven months ago.But she loved the stories—especially—and had her father read them to her twice. "I'll show it to Mom when we get home," she said, yawning, and Sol turned off the overhead pendant light. "Good night, child," he said softly, stopping at the door. "Hey dad?" "What's up?" "Good night, Swiftlet." "Good night, little Swift." Rachel buried her head in the pillow and giggled. With the last two years left, Saul often thought, it would be no different than watching a loved one grow old.Only this is worse.A million times worse.

Rachel's permanent teeth had been falling out since her eighth birthday, and by her second birthday there were none left.Her deciduous teeth replaced them, but by the time she was eighteen months old, half of these had been retracted into the gums. Rachel's hair, which had always been her pride, was getting shorter and thinner.Her face had lost its familiar shape, her cheekbones and firm jaw lost to the baby's fatness.Her coordination also gradually deteriorated, beginning with a sudden clumsiness in handling a fork and pencil.One day when she couldn't walk anymore, Saul put her in the crib early, then went into the study and got very drunk.

Language is the most difficult for him.Her vocabulary dwindles rapidly, like the bridge between father and daughter caught fire, severing the last cord of hope.One day after her second birthday, Saul tucked in the quilt for her, stopped at the door, and said, "Good night, Swiftlet." "what?" "See you tomorrow, Jinsiyan." Rachel smiled. "You should say—'See you soon, Swift,'" Thor said.He explained to her what swiftlets and swifts were. "See you there, Yuyan." Rachel giggled. The next morning she forgot all about it again. Saul had been taking Rachel all the time on his trip around the Web - ignoring the journalists - petitioning the Church of the Shrike for pilgrimage rights, lobbying the Council for a visa to Hyperion Forbidden, visiting anyone who might A research facility or clinic that provides therapy.As the months passed, more medical institutions admitted that they were helpless.When he finally fled back to Hebron, Rachel was only fifteen standard months old; in the ancient units used by Hebron, she weighed only twenty-five pounds and was thirty inches tall.She can no longer dress herself.There are only twenty-five words left in her language, of which her favorites are "mummy" and "daddy".

Saul loves to hold his daughter.Whenever she tilted her head against his cheek, the warmth of her on his chest, the smell of her skin—it all made him forget about all the extreme injustices.At these times, Thor would always temporarily feel the peace of this world, and it would be great if Sarai was by his side.Because of this, there will be a temporary truce in his angry dialogue with a God he does not believe in. ——What is the reason for this? ——What is the visible reason for the various forms of suffering that human beings suffer? —obviously, Sol wondered if he had won the debate for the first time at a certain point.But again he was suspicious.

——Just because something can’t be seen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. ——It's really awkward.To make a statement, a triple negative is not required.Especially the kind of statement that is not advanced. — Exactly, Saul.You're starting to get the gist of this. ——what gist? There were no answers to his thoughts.Thor lay in his room, listening to the howl of the desert wind. Rachel's last word was "Mommy," slurred when she was barely five months old. She awoke from her cradle without—and could not—ask herself where she was.Her world consists entirely of eating, sleeping and toys.There were times when she kept crying, Sol thought, because she wanted her mother. Sol went shopping at the commissary in Dan Village, choosing diapers, pacifiers, and the occasional new toy, always with his baby. A week before Sol left for the Whale Center, Ephraim and two other elders came to talk to him.It was evening, and the fading glow reflected light on Ephraim's bald head. "Saul, we're all worried about you. It's going to be a tough few weeks. The women want to help. We all want to help." Thor reached out and took the elder's forearm. "I am grateful, Ephraim. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done over the past few years. This is our second home. Sarai would...should have wanted me to say thank you. But we're leaving on Saturday. Rachel will be fine." The three sitting on the bench looked at each other.Avner asked, "Have they found a cure?" "No," Thor said, "but I have a reason to hope." "Hope is a good thing," said Robert carefully. Thor smiled, his white teeth showing through his gray beard. "It's better," he said, "sometimes that's the only thing we have." When "Folk Star Interview" opened, Rachel sat in Saul's arms, and the studio's holographic camera adjusted the focus to take a close-up of her. "So you're saying," show host Devon?Bai Jun, the third-ranked star face of the Ring Network Data Network, said, "The Church of the Shrike refused to let you go back to the Time Tomb...The overlord has been deliberately delaying the process of granting the visa...These things make your child ultimately doomed ... perish?" "Indeed," Thor said, "the journey to Hyperion can't be made in six weeks. Rachel is only twelve weeks old now. Any delay by the Church of the Shrike or the Web authorities will kill the baby .” The audience in the studio began to fidget.German?Bai Jun turned to the nearest remote-controlled imager.His rugged, friendly face filled the monitor screen. "Our guest didn't know if he could save his child," said Baek Jun, his infectious voice full of subtle emotion, "but all he asked for was a chance. You think he... and his Son... is this opportunity worth it? If you think it is, then please contact your local planetary representative and the nearest Shrike church. The number of the church closest to you is now on the screen," he turned to Saul again , "We wish you good luck, Mr. Winterberg. And—" Bai Jun's big hand touched Rachel's cheek, "—we wish you all the best, young friend." The monitor keeps showing Rachel's image until it fades to black. The Hawking effect causes nausea, dizziness, headaches, and hallucinations.The first part of the journey is to take the overlord torch ship "HMS Dreadnought". After ten days, we arrive at Parvati for a transfer. Sol held Rachel and endured it all.They were the only people on board the battleship who remained fully conscious.At first Rachel would cry, but after a few hours she was lying still in Saul's arms, looking up at him with her big dark eyes.Sol remembered the day she was born -- the doctor lifted the baby from Sarai's warm belly and handed him to Sol.At that time, Rachel's hair was not much shorter than it is now, and her eyes were as deep as they are now. Eventually they fell asleep from exhaustion. Sol dreamed that he was wandering in a building with columns as thick as redwoods and a ceiling so high that it couldn't be seen.Red light surrounded him with a cold emptiness.Saul was surprised to find that Rachel was still in his arms.In his dreams, Rachel never appeared as a child.The child looked up at him, and Thor felt a real contact with her conscious level, as if she had said something clearly and aloud. Suddenly a distinctive voice, deep and cold, echoed in the void: "Sol! Take your daughter, your only daughter Rachel, your beloved daughter, to a planet called Hyperion, where I will guide you, and sacrifice her as a burnt offering." Saul looked down at Rachel hesitantly.The child's eyes were deep and bright, and he looked up at his father.Thor felt her wordless affirmation.Holding her close, he stepped forward into the darkness, raising his voice and calling out into the silence, "Listen! There will be no more sacrifices, neither children nor parents. No one will be sacrificed for anyone other than us human beings." .The time of seeking salvation by obedience is long past." Sol listened.He felt the beating of his heart and the warmth of Rachel in his arms.Somewhere overhead, the sharp sound of the wind came through a crack invisible to the naked eye.Saul put his hands around his mouth like a microphone and shouted: "I'm done! Either let us go, or join us as a father, and don't accept other people's sacrifices for nothing. This is Abraham's choice!" There was a rumbling sound from under the stone floor, and Rachel fidgeted in his arms.The colonnade trembled.The red dim light became deeper and deeper, and then suddenly disappeared, leaving only darkness.From far away came the sound of rumbling heavy footsteps.A gust of wind whizzed by, and Saul hugged Rachel tightly. He and Rachel woke up on the "Dreadnought" bound for Parvati, and a flickering light was shot at them. The planet marches.Sol smiles at his seven-week-old daughter.She returned his smile too. Her last and first smile. After the old scholar finished telling the story, the main cabin of the wind transport ship was silent.Thor cleared his throat and drank from his crystal goblet.In the cradle made of open drawers, Rachel continued to sleep.The wind transport ship gently rocked along the way, the rumble of the big wheels and the hum of the main gyro kept ringing, lulling people to sleep. "My gosh," Braun?Lamia said softly.She was about to speak again, but she just shook her head and gave up. Martin Silenus closed his eyes and read: "Thinking of this, all hatred is driven away, The soul regains its fundamental innocence, ≌Before I learned that it was for self-entertainment, masturbating, comforting, frightening, Its own good will is Providence; Though every face rages, Every wind source roars, or every set of bellows Will burst, but she will still be happy. " Saul Winterberg asked: "William Butler Yeats?" Silenas nodded: "A Prayer for My Daughter." "I want to go out on deck and get some air before I go to bed," said the Consul. "Who wants to come with me?" We all went up together.There is a breeze in the passage, which is very cool.The group stood on the quarterdeck, looking at the dark sea of ​​grass rumbling by.The sky overhead was like a bowl, spilling stars and rifted by meteor trails.The sails and rigging creaked, as old as human tools. "I think we should have someone on guard tonight," Colonel Kassad said. "One man on duty and the others sleeping. Every two hours." "I agree," said the Consul, "I'll be on the first shift." "Tomorrow morning..." Kassad began. "Look!" cried Father Hoyt. They looked in the direction his arm was pointing.In the brilliance of the stars, fireballs of all colors shone, green, purple, orange, and green again—and the prairies around them were illuminated like silent lightning.The stars and meteor trails were paled into insignificance by this sudden display. "Explosion?" the priest ventured to ask. "It's air combat," Kassad said, "between lunar orbits. It's fusion weapons." He stepped off the deck at once. "Giant tree," Height?Masteen said he pointed to a moving sliver of light from the explosion, which appeared to be an ember floating in a firework. Kassad came back, holding a powered telescope and handing it out to everyone. "Ousters?" Lamia asked. "Have they begun to invade?" "It's almost certainly an Ouster," Kassad said, "but I'm also almost certain it was just a reconnaissance raid. Do you see that bright light? It's the Overlord's missile, the Ouster's shock reconnaissance The machine exploded." The telescope passed to the consul.Now, the flash was clearly visible, an expanding cloud of flames.He could see the dot, and the long blue trails of at least two scout planes fleeing the Overlord. "I don't think so..." Kassad said, and then he paused, the ships, sails, and the sea of ​​grass glowed bright orange under the reflected light. "Oh, my God," whispered Father Hoyt, "they hit the Treeship." The Consul swept his binoculars to the left.The growing halo of flames is visible to the naked eye, but in a telescope, the kilometer-long trunk and branches of Yggdrasil can be seen clearly, but only fleetingly, as it blazes It started to burn, long tongues of flame licked into the air, the containment field failed, and the oxygen burned violently.The orange cloud danced, receded, the retreat retreated, and the trunk was clearly visible again, in its last moments, glowing like the last long embers in a dying furnace, splintering.Nothing survived.The treeship Yggdrasil was dead, along with its crew, and all of its cloned, half-sentient erg drives. Consul towards Haight?Masteen turned and belatedly handed him the binoculars. "I'm... sorry." He whispered. The tall saint did not pick up the telescope.He was also looking up at the sky, but now he lowered his head slowly, pulled up his hood, and walked down without a word. The death of the giant tree ship ended with the final explosion.Ten minutes passed, no more flashes to disturb the night, Braun?Lamia said, "Do you think you caught them?" "Ousters?" Kassad said. "Probably not. Scouts are built for speed and defense. They should be light minutes away by now." "Did they shoot at the Treeship on purpose?" Silenas asked.The tone of the poet sounds very calm. "I don't think so," Kassad said, "just a coincidence." "The object of research," repeated Saul Winterberg.The scholar shook his head. "I want to sleep well for a few hours before sunrise." The others went down one by one.Now that only Kassad and the Consul were left on deck, the Consul said, "Where should I stand guard?" "You can go around," said the colonel, "from the main passage at the bottom of the ladder, and you can see all the cabin doors, and the entrance to the galley. Go up and check the side hatches and decks. Keep the lights on. You Do you have any weapons?" The Consul shook his head. Kassad handed over the death stick. "Dense light beam state - about half a meter wide, with a range of ten meters. Use it with caution unless you are sure that there is an intruder. The thick board slides in front, which is a safe state. Now open." The Consul nodded, making sure his fingers were clear of the fire button. "I'll be back in two hours to change shifts with you," Kassad said.He checked his commlog. "When I finish my guard duty, it will be dawn." Kassad looked at the sky, as if expecting "Yggdrasil" to show up again and continue to fly across the sky like a firefly.However, only the stars shine there.On the northeast horizon, a mass of darkness is moving, and a storm is approaching. Kassad shook his head. "What a waste." After finishing speaking, he left. The Consul stood and waited for a moment, listening to the wind blow through the sails, the creak of the rigging, the rumble of the wheels.After a while he went to the railing and stared into the darkness, thinking.