Chapter 73 Chapter Six

Sealy and I walked down the hill to get back to the festival before sunrise the next day.All day and night we wandered the hillsides, dined in pavilions with strangers in orange silk robes, bathed together in the icy waters of the Sea of ​​Ciri, and the music played nonstop to the ensuing An endless queue of islands, and we dance with it.We are hungry.I woke up at sunset to find Siri gone.Then, before the moon rose on Maui, she returned.She told me that the parents had gone out with friends on a slow houseboat, which would take days.They left their home skimmers at the first stop.Now our daily life is going from dance party to dance party, bonfire to bonfire, and back to the city center.We planned to fly west, to her family's estate near Fewaron.

It was very late, but there were still many drinking revelers in the square of the first stop.I am very happy.I was nineteen and in love, and Maui's gravity of about 0.93 was nothing to me.I can fly anytime and do whatever I want. We stopped at a stall for fried dough and two cups of black coffee.I suddenly remembered one thing.I asked, "How do you know I'm a crew member?" "Hush, my friend Meirun. Get rid of your poor breakfast first. When I get to the villa, I can cook a delicious meal and end our fast." "No, I'm serious," I tell her, wiping the grease off my chin with my dirty clown suit sleeve. "This morning, you said you knew right away that I came from the boat last night. Why? By my accent? Or my clothes? That's what Mike and I saw everyone else wearing."

Shirley smiled, pulling back her hair that hung in front of her. "You're lucky I recognized you, Merren, my dear. If my Uncle Gretchen or any of his friends find out, you may be in for some bad luck." "Oh? Why?" I picked up another donut and Sealy paid for it.I followed her through the dwindling crowd.Despite the crowds and music everywhere, I still felt tiredness creeping up my body. "They're all separatists," said Sealy. "Uncle Gretchen recently gave a speech in Parliament asking us to rise up and not be absorbed into your hegemony. He said we should Get the teleporter out before it dies."

"Oh?" I said, "did he say how to do it? Last time I heard your folks had craft that couldn't fly the Ring." "He didn't say we'd still be 50 years old without flying machines like that," Healy said, "but it shows how angry the Separatists can be for a second." I nod.Both Captain Singh and MP Homin have briefed us on Mauiyo's so-called separatists. "Usually the militarists and the old-fashioned in the colonies are united," Singer said, "and that's another reason why we're slowing down the engineering and exploiting the trade potential of the planet until the teleporter is finished. The Ring doesn't need that." Rednecks run in prematurely. The existence of groups like the Separatists is another reason why we keep you crews, construction workers, and those goddamned people on the ground.”

"Where's my skimmer?" I asked.The square was soon empty.Most bands have packed their instruments and are heading home for the night.Extinct lanterns were thrown here and there on the grass-covered cobblestones, and among them lay the festive crowd, snoring loudly.Only part of the place surrounded by people still retains a cheerful atmosphere. The crowd dances slowly to a guitar solo, or sings to themselves as if drunk.I recognized Mike immediately?Huo Shuo, a fool with ripped clothes, his mask had long since disappeared, and the two girls hugged left and right.He was trying to teach his admirers to dance "Hawa? Nagilia", but unfortunately, although the people in that circle were concentrating on learning, they were all clumsy. Once someone fell, everyone else fell into a mess.Mike whipped them, and in a fit of giggling and giggling, they danced again, clumsily following his deep voice.

"Right there," Healy said, pointing to the short line of skimmers moored behind the congregation hall.I nodded and waved to Mike, but he was too busy flirting with the two girls next to me to notice me.Siri and I walked across the square, hidden in the shadows of ancient buildings, when suddenly there was a loud cry. "Crew! Turn around, you son of a bitch overlord bastard." I stiffened, turned around, and clenched my hands into fists, but no one was around.Six young men came down the grandstand stairs and formed a semicircle behind Mike.The man at the head was tall, thin, and surprisingly handsome.He looked to be in his mid-twenties, and his long, blond curly hair fell over a crimson silk suit, accentuating his physique.He held a meter-long sword in his right hand, which seemed to be tempered steel.

Mike turned around slowly.Even from this distance, I could see him surveying his situation with clear eyes.The woman next to him and a young couple from his own group giggled as if they had heard some joke.Another drunken grin appeared on Mike's face. "Are you talking to me, sir?" he asked. "I'm talking to you, you bitch bred dominatrix," said the leader of the crowd.There was a sneer on his handsome face. "Berthol," Sealy said softly to me, "my cousin. Gretchen's youngest son." I nodded and stepped out of the shadows.Siri grabbed my arm.

"This is the second time you have spoken ill of my mother, sir," Mike said vaguely, "Did she and I bother you? If so, I will pay you a thousand wrongs." Mike deeply He bowed, and the bell on his hat almost fell to the ground.His own group applauded. "You're pissing me off just standing here, you overlord son of a bitch. You pollute the air with all your fucking fat." Mike raised his eyebrows comically.A man in a fishsuit beside him waved. "Well, forget it, Berthol. He's just..." "Shut up, Ferrick. I'm talking to this fat piggy."

"Fat Piggy?" Mike repeated, his eyebrows still raised. "I flew two hundred light years to hear you call me Fat Piggy? It doesn't seem worth it." He spun gracefully and let it go Girls on both sides.I wanted to go over and help Mike, but Shirley grabbed my arm and whispered a plea I couldn't understand.When I finally broke free from her, I saw Mike still smirking like an idiot.But his left hand was in the baggy shirt pocket. "Give him your knife, Craig," Bertol snapped.A young man took out a sword, pointed the hilt at Mike, and threw it.Mike watched it arc in the air and land on the cobblestones with a crisp sound.

"Are you kidding me," Mike said softly, his voice suddenly becoming quite crisp. "You son of a bitch is dizzy. Do you really fucking think that just because you can be a hero among a group of chicks, I will fight you?" "Pick up the sword," Berthol cried, "or, in Heaven, I'll kill you." He took a quick step forward.The young man moved on, his face contorted with anger. "Go to hell," Mike said.He holds a laser pointer in his left hand. "Don't do that!" I yelled, running into the moonlight.Laser pointers are used by construction workers to engrave marks on whisker alloy beams and columns.

But everything happened too fast.Bertoll took another step forward, and Mike waved the green light nonchalantly across his face.The colonist uttered a scream and jumped back; a smoking black line slashed diagonally across the front of his silk shirt. I hesitated.Mike turned the setting down to the lowest.Bertol's two friends charged forward again, and Mike danced the light over their shins.One knelt down, spitting dirty words out of his mouth, and the other jumped aside with his legs crossed, yelling. A group of people gathered together.Mike bowed again, the clown hat was swept all the way to the floor, and people laughed. "I thank you," Mike said, "and so does my mother." Siri's cousin tried to suppress his anger.He foamed at the mouth, covering his lips and jaw.I squeezed my way through the crowd and stood between Mike and the tall colonist. "Hey, ok ok," I said, "we're leaving soon. Let's go now." "Bullshit, Merren, go away," Mike said. "It's okay," I said, turning to him, "I'm with a girl named Shirley, and she has a..." Bertol took another step forward, and the blade stabbed past me.I put my left hand around his shoulder and threw him back.He fell heavily in the grass on the ground. "Gah, hell," Mike took a few steps back.He was sitting on a stone step, looking tired, as if he wanted to gag. "Oh shit," he said softly.On the black cloth strip on the left side of his clown suit, a short crimson line appeared.Then, the narrow slit burst open, and blood flowed through Mike?Lively and broad abdomen. "Wow, my God, Mike." I tore a piece of cloth from under my shirt to stop the bleeding.We learned about first aid when we were midshipmen, but I don't remember it at all now.I scratched at my wrist, but missed my comlog.Both our comlogs landed on the USS Los Angeles. "It's alright, Mike," I took a deep breath, "it's just a stab wound." Blood was pouring down my hand and wrist. "Fucking karma," Mike said.The pain hit him, and his voice was raised a bit, "Fuck it, it's a deadly sword. Believe it or not, Mei Run? It's the place where I'm the most fucking strong and in high spirits. Time to chop me up with a goddam prop knife I bought for a fucking penny. Fuck, goddamn it hurts." "Threepenny props," I said, changing hands.The cloth strips were soaked with blood. "You know what the fuck's wrong with you, Merren? You're always thinking about your fucking two cents. Ouch?—" Mike's face went pale, then livid.He lowered his head, his chin to his chest, and took a deep breath. "It's hell, old boy. How about we go home, huh?" I turned my head and looked over, Berthol was slowly leaving with the help of his friend.The rest of the people were terrified and wandered around like headless chickens. "Go get a doctor!" I yelled, "Go get the medical staff!" Two men rushed down the street, and there was no sign of Siri anywhere. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" cried Mike suddenly, as if remembering something important. "Wait a minute." Then he died. died.Death in the true sense.brain death.His mouth was open, looking obscene, his eyeballs rolled back, leaving only the whites of his eyes, and after a minute, the blood stopped gushing out from the wound. In the next few seconds, I had a nervous breakdown and kept cursing God.I saw the Los Angeles flying over the fading fields of stars, and I knew that if I could get him aboard the Los Angeles in a few minutes, I could save him from death.I shouted loudly and roared at the stars, and the crowd ran away in fear. Finally I turned to Bertol. "You," I said. The young man stopped far away on the other side of the square, his face ashen, staring at me without saying a word. "You," I repeated.I picked up the laser pointer that had rolled to the ground, turned the power to the maximum, and walked to the place where Berthol and his friends were standing quietly. After a while, amidst the dizzying screams and scorched flesh, I became vaguely aware of Siri's skimmer docked in the crowded square, of the dust the airship was raising, of her The voice came, telling me to hurry over.We emerged from the light and madness, the cool wind blowing my sweat-soaked hair and blowing it around my neck. "Our destination is Fevasso," Sealy said. "Bertol is drunk. The Separatists are a small, violent group. No one will come to you for revenge. Before the council intervenes in the death investigation, You can stay with me." "No," I said, "stop. Just stop here." I pointed to a field not far from the city. Shirley protested vigorously, but stopped.I glanced at the boulder, made sure the pack was still there, and climbed out of the skimmer.Shirley leaned over the seat and held my head down to her lips. "Meiren, my dear." Her tongue was warm and unrestrained, but I didn't feel anything.My body is like numb.I took a few steps back and waved her goodbye.She combed her hair back and looked at me affectionately with green eyes filled with tears.Then the skimmer rose, turned, and sped south in the morning light. After a while, I suddenly wanted to shout.I sat on the rock and hugged my knees, but I still couldn't restrain myself and let out a few intermittent whimpers.Then I stood up and threw the laser pointer into the waves at my feet.I opened the backpack, grabbed the contents indiscriminately and threw them on the ground. Huo Ying's flying carpet was gone. I sat down again, exhausted, unable to laugh, cry, let alone walk.I sat there and the sun came up.Three hours later, I was still sitting there when the large black skimmer from the Ship Safety Agency came to a stop beside me. "Dad? Dad, it's getting late." I turned my head and saw my son Donnel standing behind me.He was wearing the blue and gold robes of the Council of Overlords, his bald head was glistening red, dripping with fine beads of sweat.Tony was only forty-three, but he looked much older than me. "Please, Father," he said.I nodded and stood up, brushing the grass and mud off my body.We walked to the front of the tomb together.The crowd was closer now.They moved restlessly, gravel rustling under their feet. "Can I go in with you, Father?" Tony asked. I pause to look at this aging stranger, my child.There was hardly a trace of Siri or me in him.His face looked friendly, ruddy, tense from the exciting day.I could feel the unabashed honesty in his body.For some honest people, intellect is not always satisfactory.I can't help but compare this man whose head is getting bald day by day but not very bright with Aaron. Aaron has dark curly hair and is used to silence and a faint sneer.But Aaron died thirty-three years ago, in a stupid war that had nothing to do with him. "No," I said, "I'll go in by myself. Thanks, Tony." He nodded and walked away.Pennants fluttered above the heads of the filing crowd.I turned my attention to the tomb. The entrance is sealed with a palm lock.I just need to touch it. For the past few minutes I have been indulging in a fantasy that will save me from a growing inner sadness and an outer set of self-inflicted troubles.Hillary isn't dead yet.In the final stages of her illness, she called in all the remaining doctors and a few technicians in the colony, and had them rebuild for her an ancient sleeping chamber that their ancestors had used on a seed ship two centuries earlier. of.Shirley just fell asleep.And, somehow, years of sleep had restored her youth.When I wake her up, she'll be the Siri I remember from my early days.We'll walk out into the sunlight together, and when the teleporter door opens, we'll be the first to walk in. "Father?" "Here we come." I took a few steps forward and stamped my hand on the door of the crypt.There was a small hum of an electric motor, and the white stone slab slid open.I ducked my head into Siri's grave.