Chapter 56 Chapter two

The wind-powered carrier arrived at the pier where the pilgrims rested in the afternoon, but the storm continued and the light was exhausted.Weary passengers felt that it was already evening.This is the penultimate stage of their journey, and the Consul had hoped that representatives from the Shrike Temple would come here to meet them at the beginning of this stage, but now, the pilgrims' resting place seemed to the Consul to be as empty as the frontier . As the transport ship approached the foothills, the Bridle Mountains came into view. The first impression was really exciting, just like seeing land for the first time after a long voyage.Although the cold rain continued, the six pilgrims hurried to the deck to have a glimpse.The foothills are withered and beautiful, their sinuous brown curves, their abrupt upward bulges, a stark contrast to the monotonous emerald green of the Sea of ​​Grass.The gray and white plane hinted at the 9,000-meter peak in the distance, and the low clouds soon crossed it, but even if the top was truncated by the clouds, the scene was still breathtaking.Below the snow line for thousands of years, there are former pilgrims' resting places: piles of dilapidated huts and cheap hotels.

"If they destroy the funicular, we're doomed," the Consul muttered.Although he didn't think about it anymore now, it still repelled him. "I see the first five towers," said Colonel Kassad, who was observing with a powered telescope. "They seem to be intact." "See the carriage?" "No... wait, I saw it. There is one at the gate of the platform." "Anything that's moving?" Martin Silenus asked, obviously aware of how difficult it would be for him if the cableway broke down. "No." The Consul shook his head.Even in bad weather, even without passengers, the carriages will always be moving, so that the giant ropeway can keep stretching and not freezing.

The wind transporter hadn't put in its sails, and before the steps were stretched out, the six people had already moved their luggage to the deck.Now, with everyone wearing heavy coats against the weather—Kassad in the Army's thermal camouflage poncho; Braun Lamia in a long coat called a trench coat—people are I have long since forgotten why it is called that; Martin Silenus is wrapped in a thick sweater, and the capricious wind blows, and the fur on it is rippled, now black and now gray; Hoyt The priest, in his long black suit, looked more like a scarecrow than ever; Saul Winterberg wrapped him and the child in a thick goose down jacket; The dress was given to him by his wife decades ago.

"What about Captain Masteen's stuff?" Thor asked, as they stood on top of the running board.Kassad has gone to scout the village. "I'll get it," Lamia said, "we're carrying these things." "I always feel bad," said Father Hoyne. "I mean, it's almost here. We've got to...do something. Make sure, someone's dead." "It might be dead." Lamia reminded, she easily lifted the 40kg backpack with only one hand. Hoyt looked suspicious. "Do you really believe that Mr. Masteen may still be alive?" "No." Lamia said.Snowflakes fell on her black hair.

Kassad waved to them from the end of the pier, and they left the silent wind-powered carrier with their luggage.No one looked back. "Is there no one there?" Lamia called as they walked up to the Colonel. The tall man's cloak showed a gray-black chameleon pattern, disappearing there. "no one." "Where's the body?" "No," Kassad said.He turned and looked at Saul and the Consul. "Did you get anything from the ship's galley?" The two nodded. "What?" Silena asked. "Food, enough for us for a week." Kassad said, turning to look at the cable car station on the mountain.The Consul noticed for the first time the long assault weapon tucked in the Colonel's arm, peeking out from beneath his cloak. "We don't know if there will be food ahead."

Do we survive a week?the Consul thought.He said nothing. They made two round trips to move the gear into the platform.The cold wind whistled through the open windows and the splintered domes of the black buildings.On the return, the Consul and Rainer Hoyt worked together to lift Masteen's Möbius cube, he on one end and Hoyt on the other, panting. "Why do we take Erg with us?" Hoyt gasped, reaching the bottom of the metal steps leading to the platform.The rust on the platform was mottled like orange lichen. "I don't know either," said the Consul, also panting.

Standing on the terminal platform, they could see the distance of the Sea of ​​Grass.The windship sat squatting, its sails furled, a dark, lifeless thing.The blizzard swept across the prairie, and white waves seemed to be glowing on the countless tall grass stems. "Get the thing up on the gondola," Kassad called. "I'll go up and have a look. See if I can reset the running gear from the control cabin." "Isn't it automatic?" Martin Silenus asked, his little head almost hidden in the thick fur, "like a wind-powered transport?" "I don't think so," Kassad said. "Go in. I'll see if I can get it going."

"What if you don't come when it's open?" Lamia shouted to the colonel's back. "Will not." It was freezing cold in the cable car.There was a metal chair in the front compartment, a dozen battered beds in the small back compartment, and nothing else.The car was huge—at least eight meters long and five meters wide.The middle of the front and rear compartments is separated by a thin metal bulkhead, without a door, just an opening.There is a small washstand in the corner of the rear compartment, about the size of a toilet.The bottom of the window is waist high and rises to the top of the cabin.

The pilgrims piled their luggage in the center of the wide floor, and thumped about, waving their arms, or otherwise trying to warm themselves up.Martin Silenus lay stretched out on a bench, huddled in fur except for his feet and the top of his head. "I forgot," he said, "how the hell did you turn the heat on?" The Consul glanced at the black illuminated panel. "It's electric heating. When the colonel starts the cable car, there will be heating." "Whether it's going to drive or not," Silenus said. Saul Winterberg changed Rachel's diaper.Now he's wrapped her in the baby warmer again, holding her to his chest and rocking her. "I've never been here before," he said, "have you both been?"

"Yes," said the poet. "I haven't," said the consul, "but I've seen pictures of the cable car." "Kassad said he came back to Keats this way," Braun Lamia called from another room. "I think..." As soon as Saul Weinbert opened his mouth, he was interrupted, the gears made a loud grinding sound, and the car body tilted violently, shaking, making people dizzy.Then, suddenly, the cable moved, and the car began to wobble forward.Everyone rushed to the windows facing the platform side. Earlier, before Kassad climbed the long steps and ran to the control cabin, he had thrown the equipment into the compartment.Now, he ran out of the door of the control cabin, slid down the long stairs, and rushed towards the cable car.

The car has moved away from the loading area of ​​the platform. "He won't make it," whispered Father Hoyt. In the last ten meters, Kassad sprinted at full speed, his legs were unbelievably long, like a cartoon character sticker in a shopping mall. The cable car slid out of the loading slot and wobbled off the platform.There is already a distance between the car and the platform.It is eight meters high from the rocks below.The platform deck was covered with ice, streaked.Kassad came running at full speed, the car had already left. "Quick!" Braun Lamia screamed.Others also shouted together. The Consul looked up and saw that the cables were covered with ice, and they were crackling and falling apart as the car moved forward and upward.He looked back again.Too far.Kassad will definitely not make it through. Feldman Kassad ran to the edge of the platform, incredibly fast.The Consul remembered for a second time the Oldland jaguar he had seen at the Luthers Zoo.He vaguely imagined that the Colonel's foot slipped on a piece of ice, his long legs stretched out horizontally, and then fell soundlessly to the snow rock below.Kassad, however, seemed to fly.At that moment, time was frozen.His long arms were outstretched, and his cloak flew behind him.Then, he disappeared behind the car. There was a "bang" sound.One minute long wait.No one spoke, no one moved.Now, they had risen to a height of forty meters, and were climbing towards the first tower.A second later, the group saw Kassad appear around the corner of the car, clutching a series of ice dimples and metal handles as he struggled forward.Braun Lamia flung the hatch open.Ten hands drew Kassad in. "Thank God." Father Hoyt breathed out. The colonel took a deep breath and smiled tenaciously. "There's an emergency parking brake there. I put a sandbag on it. I don't want to take the car back and do it again." Martin Silenus pointed to the rapidly approaching maintenance tower, and the cloud curtain in the distance above.The cable went all the way up and disappeared into the distance. "Now, I guess, we're going to go across the mountains whether we want to or not." "How long does it take to cross?" Hoyt asked. "Twelve hours. Maybe not that much. Sometimes, if it's too windy and freezing, the operator will stop the car." "We're not going to stop," Kassad said. "Unless the cable breaks somewhere," said the poet, "or we hit something in the way." "Shut up," Lamia said, "who wants hot food?" "Look," said the Consul. They went to the front window.The cable car rose above the last graceful brown foothills, more than a hundred meters from the summit.They took a last look a few kilometers below and behind them, the platform, the huts where the pilgrims rested, and the motionless wind-powered transport. Then, snowflakes and thick clouds covered them. There is no real cooking equipment on the gondola, but there is a refrigerator in the back cabin, and a microwave for reheating.Lamia and Winterberg mixed together various meats and vegetables from the galley of the transport ship and made a passable stew.Martin Silenus took out the bottles he had taken from the Benares and the transport, and he chose a bottle of Hyperion Burgundy to drink with the stew. When they were about to finish their dinner, the darkness that had been close to the window suddenly brightened, and then the darkness disappeared.The Consul stood up from his chair and watched the setting sun suddenly reappear.The daylight poured into the cable car, and the car was filled with an otherworldly golden light. Everyone sighed in unison.Though darkness seemed to have fallen hours before, they now rose above the sea of ​​clouds, where the mountainous archipelago was greeted by a glorious sunset.The Tower of Hyperion, the great dome of ice and stone set ablaze.The consul looked around.A little more than a minute ago his fellow pilgrims had looked black and small in the dim light, but now they were all big and glowing in the golden sunset. Martin Silenus raised his glass. "Indeed, it's much better this way." The Consul looked up to their line of travel, the great cable stretching into the distance, shrinking to a thin line, and then gone.A few kilometers above the summit, there is the next shining golden maintenance tower. "There are 192 towers in total," Silenas said flatly, like a tour guide giving a disinterested introduction. "Each tower is constructed of durable alloy and whisker carbon, and is 83 meters high." "We must be in a very high place." Braun Lamia's voice was very soft. "The total length of the cable car journey is 96 kilometers, and the highest point is at the peak of Kuke Mountain, which is one of the five peaks of the Bridle Mountain Range, with a height of 9,246 meters." Martin Silinas said monotonously and lowly. Colonel Kassad looked around. "The cabin is pressurized. I just noticed a change in pressure." "Look here," Braun Lamia said. The sun perched on the cloud horizon for a long time.Now it had sunk in, as if from below it had set ablaze the interior of the storm-cloud, and cast down all the world's western rims in all its splendor and splendor. Snow cornices and rime still glisten on the sides of the western peaks, which rise a thousand meters higher than the slow-moving cable cars.At this time, there were still many bright stars appearing in the darkening sky. The Consul turned and looked at Braun Lamia. "Ms. Lamia, why don't you tell your story now? It's a long time before we reach the fort, before we go to bed." Lamia sipped the last of her drink. "Who else wants to hear it now?" The rose-red twilight shot down, and everyone nodded in unison.Martin Silenus shrugged. "Okay," Braun Lamia said.She put down the empty glass, lifted her feet up on the chair, put her elbows on her knees, and began her story.