Chapter 76 Chapter nine

"Hello, Meiren." Ciri floated in the darkness of the grave.Holograms aren't perfect; edge data is corrupted and hazy.But it is indeed Shirley—the last time I saw Shirley, the gray hair didn't look like it was trimmed, but it looked like someone had randomly snapped it with large scissors, the hairline was high, and the shadows on her cheeks were especially shaped sharp. "Hello, Meirun, my dear." "Hi, Shirley," I said.The door of the tomb is closed. "I'm sorry I can't last the seventh reunion with you, Meiren. But how much I miss it." Shirley paused, lowering her eyes to look at her hands.Motes of dust drifted past her body, and the image jumped slightly. "I've carefully planned what to say here," she went on, "and how to say it. To say something to argue with you. Or to tell you something to do. But I know How little they will be. What I want to say has been said, and you have heard it, and now there is nothing to say, and silence should be the most appropriate choice at the moment."

Siri's voice has become more attractive with age.It has the fullness and calming quality that can only be heard from those who know they will die soon.Siri opened her hands, and they disappeared beyond the edge of the image. "Meirun, dear, the days when we parted and reunited were so unimaginable. How beautiful and absurd is the mysterious force that binds us together. My heart beats for you every day. I really hate you A little. You are a mirror that never lies. I wish you could see your face every time we meet again for the first time! At least hide your shock... At least, even for me, you should Cover it up."

"But beneath your clumsy innocence, there's always been...how should I put it?... There's a sense, Meren. There's something incongruous in that childish and flippant pretension, which you've concealed." Pretty good. Probably out of concern for me. If not, maybe it's some kind of concern." "Mei Run, this diary has hundreds of entries...maybe thousands of entries...I have been recording since I was thirteen. After you read this, this record will be erased, but you You can read on. Goodbye, my love, farewell." I turned off the comlog and sat quietly for a minute.The voices of the crowd were isolated beyond the thick walls of the tomb and were all but inaudible.I took a deep breath and tapped the touch display with my fingertips again.

Shirley showed up.She is now forty-seven or eighteen years old.I immediately remembered when and where she recorded this image.I remember the cloak she wore, the little square around her neck, and the lock of hair that had slipped out of her locks and fell over her cheek.I remember everything about that day.It was the last day of our third reunion, with friends in the highlands of Nantenen.Tony was ten years old, and we tried to convince him to go skiing in the snow with us.He cried.Before the skimmer stopped, Siri turned and walked away from us.When Margaret came out quickly, we could see immediately in Shirley's face that something had happened.

Now, a face with the same expression was looking at me.She carelessly pulled back the disobedient lock of hair, her eyes were red, but she tried her best to suppress the emotion in her voice. "Meiren, they killed our son today. Aaron was only twenty-one years old and they killed him. You look so confused today, Meirun. You keep asking: 'How could such a mistake happen? ?' Although you don't know our son at all, I can see the disappointment on your face when we heard the bad news. It was no accident, Mei Run. No record will be left if nothing else is spared. Now, if you will never understand why I let a sentimental grotesque dominate my life, you must know this--it was no accident that killed Aaron. When the council police arrived he Was with the separatists. Even then he could have escaped. Together we had fabricated an alibi. The police would have believed him. He stayed."

"Today, Meren, you were lamented by what I said at the embassy to the public...to the mob.... Remember this, crew - when I say: 'This is not the time for you to show your anger and disgust' , that's what I wanted to say from the bottom of my heart. Not much, not much. Today is not the time. But that day will come. It will come. The contract cannot be obtained without effort in the last days, Meiren .But it’s not going to come easily now. Those who have forgotten that will be surprised when that day comes, but it will come.” The image gradually faded, and another image took its place, and at the instant of transition, the face of the twenty-six-year-old Siri was superimposed on the face of the older woman. "Meiren, I'm pregnant. I'm so happy. You've been away for five weeks and I miss you so much. You won't be back for ten years. But that's not all I want to say. Meirun, why didn't you Invite me to go with you? Although I can't go with you, I will be very happy if you invite me. But I am pregnant, Meiren. The doctor said it is a boy. I will tell him Your business, dear. Maybe one day you and he can set sail in the archipelago and listen to the sea people's songs, just like you and I have lived for the past few weeks. Maybe you will be able to understand their songs then Yes. Mei Run, I miss you. Please come back soon."

The hologram flickered and transformed again.This time it was a sixteen-year-old girl with a flushed face.Her long hair cascades over her bare shoulders and pajamas.She spoke emotionally, tears streaming down her face. "Crew Merren Asbik, I feel sorry for your friend - I really do - but you left without saying goodbye. I had planned how you would help us... How you and I helped us guys...but you didn't even say goodbye. I don't care what happened to you. I wish you were back in that stinking, overcrowded overlord's hive, rotting into mud , none of this has anything to do with me. In fact, Merren Asbik, I don't even want to see you anymore, even if they pay me. Goodbye."

She turned away before the projection faded out.The tomb was dimly lit now, but the sound continued for a moment.There was a small chuckle and Siri's voice - I couldn't tell how old it was - the last words. "Goodbye, Mei Run, farewell." "Farewell," I said, turning off the touch display with a tap of my fingertip. I squinted and came out of the tomb, and the crowd parted automatically.My poor timing skills disrupted the normal flow of the ritual, and the smile on my face for a moment provoked angry murmurs.Loudspeakers carried the majestic speeches of the official ceremony all the way to our summit. "...to usher in a new era of cooperation," the ambassador's powerful voice echoed in the valley.

I put the box on the grass and took out the Huoying Flying Carpet.The flying carpet gradually unfolded, and the crowd crowded over to watch.The blanket was faded, but the flight control wires still shone like new copper.I sat in the middle of the flying carpet, lifted up the heavy boxes and put them behind me. "...When time and space are no longer an obstacle, more opportunities will follow." I tapped the flying device, and the Huoying flying carpet rose four meters, floating in the air, and the crowd receded.Now I can see farther beyond the top of the tomb.The islands are returning, and the Equatorial archipelago is taking shape.

I saw them, by the hundreds, coming in the breeze from the barren south. "It is a great honor to be able to close the circuit for you here, Maui Colony, welcome you to join the big family of human overlords." The ceremony's communication laser pulses were thrown toward the zenith like a thin line.There was a burst of applause, and the band started playing.I squinted my eyes and looked up, just in time to see a newly erupting nova.In that microsecond, I sort of knew what was going on. Within a few microseconds, the teleporter was activated.In a few microseconds, space-time is no longer an obstacle.Then the tide-like pull of the artificial singularity triggered the thermite charges I placed outside the containment field.We couldn't see the slight explosion, but a second later, the expanding Schwartzshire radiation began to devour the outer shell of the containment field, swallowing thirty-six tons of fragile dodecahedral matter, expanding rapidly, gobbling Swallow thousands of kilometers of space around.It was visible--and quite a spectacle--like a small nova shining white against a clear blue sky.

The band stopped playing.The crowd screamed and ran for cover.There's no reason you need to do this.As the teleporter continued to disintegrate on its own, a burst of X-rays erupted from it, but not intense enough to destroy Maui's affluent environment.This was followed by streaks of plasma beams, which also became visible as Los Angeles gradually widened the distance between itself and the rapidly decaying small black hole.The wind picks up and the waves get rougher.There will be rare tides tonight. I wanted to say something profound but I couldn't come up with anything.Besides, the crowd was not in the mood to listen to me.I heard screams and shouts, mixed with cheers of surprise. I tapped the flying device, and the Huoying Flying Carpet accelerated over the cliff and floated over the harbor.A Thomas hawk, gliding lazily in the midday updraft, flapped its wings in panic when it saw me approaching. "Let them come!" I yelled at the fleeing eagle, "Let them come! I'm almost thirty-five, I'm not alone anymore, if they dare, let them come!" I lowered my fist and yelled laugh.The wind blew through my hair, cooling the sweat off my chest and arms. It was much cooler now, and I began to look around, making the destination of the most remote island my itinerary.I looked forward, at the other people.I even wanted to speak to the seafolk and tell them it was time and that the sharks were coming to Maui at last. Then, when the war is won and the world is theirs, I will tell them her story.I'll sing to them the song Siri on and off. The streamer from the distant battle sky still shines.Everything is silent, only the sound of the breeze gliding across the cliff.The crowd sat close together, leaning forward, looking at the old comlog, as if waiting for it to continue. It's over.The Consul picked up the minidisk and pocketed it. Saul Winterberg rubbed the sleeping child's back and said to the consul, "Obviously you're not Merren Asbik." "I'm not," the Consul said. "Meren Asbik was killed in the rebellion. Shirley's rebellion." "How do you have this record?" asked Father Hoyt.The priest's expression was full of pain, but underneath, it was clear that he was moved. "This incredible record..." "He gave it to me," said the Consul, "and he was killed in the Battle of the Archipelago a few weeks later." The Consul looked at the confused faces before him. "I'm their grandson," he said, "Healy and Merren's grandson. My father . Served as the first chairman of the Home Rule Council. Then he was elected as a councilor and served for life. I was only nine years old when I went to the hills to visit Shili's grave that day. Then one day, Asbik came to our island at night. , took me aside and told me not to join their ranks - I was twenty years old - to be eligible to join the rebellion and fight." "If you join, will you participate in combat?" Braun Lamia asked. "Oh, yes. Probably all dead. Like a third of the men and a fifth of the women. Like all the dolphins and most of the islands, though the Overlord tried to Much to keep them intact." "It's a touching story," Saul Winterberg said, "but why did you come here? Why do you make a pilgrimage to the Shrike?" "I'm not done yet," said the Consul. "Listen."