Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen Together

"...the mortgage papers for the house in Nantucket should be in the folder marked 'M' in the library. "Okay, that's all I can think of to get down to business. I'll spend the last two hours thinking about an old Victorian painting I saw as a kid - it must be almost 150 years old. I don't remember It's black and white or it's in colour, but I can't get over the emotion - don't laugh - it's called 'Last Letter Home.' Our great-grandfathers loved the sentimentality. “It shows the deck of a sailing ship in a hurricane—the sails have been swept away and the deck is flooded with sea water. In the background, the crew are fighting to save the ship; and prominently in the foreground, a young The sailor boy in the house is writing a note, and beside him lies a bottle that he hopes can float back to land.

"Although I was a child at that time, I also felt that he should fight with his companions on the boat instead of writing letters alone. However, this painting still touched me: I never thought that one day I would be like that Like young sailors. "Of course, I'm sure you'll see this message - I can't be of any help aboard the Leonov. In fact, I've been politely asked to try not to get in the way, so when I speak of this, My conscience is perfectly clean. "I'm sending it to the bridge, because in fifteen minutes we'll be out of communication, the dish up, and ready to batten down—another excellent sailor analogy for you! Jupiter has Covering the entire sky - I don't want to describe it or observe it for too long, because the shutters will be up in a few minutes. Anyway, the camera is much better than me at this.

"Goodbye my dearest, I love you all - especially Chris. When you receive this, it will be over, one way or another. Remember I did it all for our happiness All the best—goodbye." Floyd removed the audio chip, floated to the communications center, and handed it to Sasha Kovalev. "Be sure to send it before the communication stops," he said earnestly. "Don't worry," Sasha promised, "all the passages are still open, and we still have a good ten minutes left." He held out his hand. "If we meet again—ah, we'll be smiling! If not, that's a good parting." Floyd blinked.

"Shakespeare? I suppose so." "Yes, the farewell of Brutus and Cassius before the battle begins. Both Tanya and Vasily were concentrating on observing the position changes of the spacecraft, and only waved to Floyd, who had no choice but to retreat to his small cabin.He had said goodbye to the rest of the ship; there was nothing to do but wait.His sleeping bag hoisted into the ready position, ready for the return of gravity when the deceleration kicked in, and all he had to do was climb in— "Retract the antenna and open all the shields," said the intercom. "We'll feel the first brakes in five minutes. Everything's fine."

"I rarely use that word," Freud muttered to himself, "I think you mean 'nominal' (English is nominal, homonymous with normal normal.—Reviser's note)." He just come to this conclusion,