Chapter 18 Section five

The airship stopped a few hundred kilometers away from Hanga.The shape of Hanga is very strange: the bottom is flat, the sides and the top are round; three semicircular factories are located at the left and right ends and in the middle respectively. Seen from the outside, Hanga looks like three giants with a height of 60 to 70 kilometers. Hollow domed building.The roofs between the three factories are only eight to ten kilometers high. Hawkman, Nicole and Richard stepped out of the airship and saw a spaceship that looked like a starfish.Hawkman said that the ship had been reequipped and was ready for the next voyage.The starship, smaller than Rama, began to spin as soon as it emerged from Hanga's left hump, speeding up to ten revolutions per minute.It headed quickly to the left.

"Now there is only Rama left here," said the Hawkman. Richard was about to ask another question, but restrained himself.He had known from the trip here from Nord that the Hawkman had offered them all the information he could. "Rama is a challenge," Hawkman went on, "and we don't know when we'll be able to finish it." The airship headed towards the dome at Hangar's side, and at 5 o'clock, the lights on the surface of the dome began to flicker.Looking closer, Richard and Nicole saw some small doors that were open. "Put on your spacesuits, please," Hawkman said. "It's a huge project to design this huge, environment-changing place."

The airship was parked in a place similar to the transit center, and Nicole and Richard were both in space suits. "Can you hear me?" Hawkman asked, checking the communication system. "I can hear you." The voice came from Richard's spacesuit.Nicole and Richard looked at each other and smiled knowingly.At this time, they remembered the scene when they were the astronauts of the "Newton" together. Hawkman led them down a long, wide passage, and at the end turned right, past a door and onto a platform.Ten kilometers below this platform is a large-scale factory that anyone can hardly imagine.Nicole stared down, feeling weak all over.What they saw made Richard and Nicole dizzy.They turned their heads to look at each other, hoping to get an explanation for all this.

"It's grotesque," said Hawkman. "More than grotesque," thought Nicole.Grasping the railing with both hands for balance, she slowly lowered her gaze to the daunting spectacle. The factory beneath their feet contained the entire northern half of Rama, from the port where the Newton was parked to the end of the central plain by the Huizhu Sea.This factory is as big as the state of Rhode Island in the United States. The topography of the crater and basin to the north of Rama remains intact, and the overall crust has not changed much.Rama was on their right, within walking distance of the platform.There are twelve telescopes equipped beside the railing, each with a different configuration.With the help of binoculars, they saw the steps, corridors and three dragon skeletons they were familiar with; there were thirty thousand steps leading to the central plain of Rama on the dragon skeleton.

The other parts of the northern part of the Rama cylinder were dismantled piece by piece and scattered on the floor under their feet. Each piece was about six or seven square kilometers in size and neatly arranged in a straight line. From the telescope, Richard and Nicole also saw two vibrant areas on the central plain. Countless robots were busy in the factories under their feet. They didn't know what those robots were busy with.It is quite difficult for human beings to imagine how huge this project is. "I have brought you here to show you the whole picture first," said the Hawkman, "and then we will go down to the floor below, where you may see better."

Nicole and Richard stared at him blankly, and the Eagle Man smiled and continued: "If you look carefully, you will notice that there are two huge cleared areas on the central plain. One is on the shore of the column, and the other covers the Nearly all of the corridor areas. New construction will take place in these two areas. Other areas outside of these two areas will remain as you left them. We have a general engineering policy - only changes necessary to perform new tasks part." Richard's eyes widened. "Are you telling us that this spaceship is going to be reused multiple times, and that only some of the specified modifications are required for each mission?"

Hawkman nodded. "So, is it possible that that place with its many skyscrapers we call 'New York' was built by you to meet the needs of previous missions? Was it left there simply because it didn't need to be changed?" Hawkman ignored Richard's series of questions. He pointed to the northern part of the Central Plains and said, "That's where you'll live. We've just finished building the infrastructure there, including water, energy, sewers, and advanced environmental controls." .The rest of the design process is flexible, which is why I brought you here."

"What's that little igloo just south of the cleared area?" Richard asked.Lamarie's New York is just a relic of the past, which always puzzled Richard. "That's the control center," Hawkman replied, "all the equipment and instruments needed in your living area are stored there. Usually the control area is hidden under the living area and arranged in Rama's skeleton, but this time the designer It was decided to put it on the plain." "What's that huge area over there?" Nicole asked, pointing to the cleared area north of the Sea of ​​Cylindrical Sea.

"I can't tell you, it's not allowed," Hawkman replied. "Actually, I'm surprised enough that I'm allowed to show you around. Normally, our returning travelers are completely ignorant of where they live." beyond. We plan to arrange for each race to live in its own way." The construction of the second residential area must have adopted advanced technology, and they couldn't see anything inside from the outside. "Can you give us a hint as to who or what lives there?" Nicole asked. "Let's go," Ying Man shook his head and said firmly, "Let's go down."

Richard and Nicole walked away from the binoculars, glanced at the whole picture of their living quarters, and followed Hawkman into the hallway. Five minutes later, they stopped in front of an elevator. "Sit down and fasten your seat belts," said their guide. "It's pretty fast." The oval elevator accelerated rapidly, and within two minutes they came to a sudden stop on the factory floor below. "The speed of this elevator is 300 kilometers per hour, isn't it?" Richard said after thinking for a while. "It's like this in an emergency," Hawkman replied.

They followed Hawkman out of the elevator.The factory is astonishingly large, and it is even more astonishing than Rama.Nicole and Richard recalled the thrill of sitting on the chair lift overlooking the Sea of ​​Columns in Lamarie.Now they feel it again, and stronger than ever. They stepped out of the elevator and stood on the balcony outside the residential area, and Rama's bracket appeared in front of them. Richard estimated its thickness and said to Nicole, "It's about 200 meters thick." It wasn't until today that they finally found the answer they wanted to know when they entered Rama. "What's in the brackets under our quarters?" Nicole asked. Hawkman held up three of her four fingers, indicating that her question was third-level information.Nicole and Richard smiled knowingly. "Will you come with us?" Nicole asked. "Back to your solar system? No, I can't," Hawkman replied, "but I admit it would be very interesting." Hawkman led them into a busier area.Many robots are building a large round shuttle-shaped structure about sixty meters high. "This is a liquid recycling factory," Hawkman said. "All the liquids in your living quarters will end up here through the sewer. The purified water flows back to the living quarters, and other chemical components are retained for future use. This liquid factory It will be completely sealed and indestructible. It will use technology far beyond your level of development." The Hawkman took them upstairs into the living quarters and showed them around without stopping.Everywhere they went, they witnessed shocking scenes.Then Hawkman ordered a robot to take them to a nearby place for a visit, without giving them the slightest chance to breathe. "What on earth are you going to have us do here?" Nicole couldn't help asking when Hawkman was about to show them another part of their new home a few hours later. "Nothing specific," Eagle replied, "this will be the only time you will visit Rama. We want you to get a feel for the size of your There is a 1:2000 scale model, and the rest of the work will be done there." Hawkman looked at Nicole and Richard, "Please let me know when you are willing to leave here." Nicole sat down on a gray box and looked around.The number and variety of robots alone was enough to make her dizzy.From the moment she stepped onto the factory platform, she couldn't believe her eyes.She held out her hand to her husband. "I should have researched what I saw, honey. But I'm so confused here." "Me too," Richard said. "I thought nothing would surprise us more than Rama, but this factory is alive and well in front of us. It's amazing." "As soon as I walked in here, I wondered what the factory that made the Rama alien spacecraft would look like. Imagine the assembly line that made the Nord." Nichol said. Richard smiled and said, "Take a step back. If Nord is really a machine, it must be a more advanced machine than Rama. Maybe Rama was designed here. I guess Rama is controlled by Nord, but What on earth creates and controls the Nord? Is it the result of the evolution of a creature? Does that creature exist in any way we can comprehend? Does it transform into the form, substance, or content of other creatures? Does it create these Is the purpose of the wondrous machine to show its colossal power?" Richard said, sitting down beside his wife: "It's all too complicated for me, I've had enough...let's get back to the kids." Nicole leaned over and stroked him. "You're a very clever man, Richard, Walkerfield." She said, "You know? That's one reason I love you." A large robot that looked like a forklift wobbled past not far from them, carrying coiled sheet metal. Richard shook his head suspiciously. "Thank you, dear." After a pause, he added, "You know I love you too." They stood up to greet the Hawkman and wanted to leave.The next night they returned to their apartment in Nord's residential model area.Nicole and Richard lay awake in bed. "What's the matter, dear?" Nicole asked. "Is there anything wrong?" "I felt dizzy for a while today," Richard said. "It lasted about three hours." "My God!" Nicole sat up from the bed in shock, "Now? Are you better now? Do you want me to get an analyzer to test your physical condition." Richard shook his head: "No, your instrument never sees my problem. This time I was really worried, I was so sick during that time, I could barely move, and I couldn't help you and the children. I scared." "What caused this?" "Same as usual. I was thinking about our trip to Hanga, especially the other settlement. I accidentally remembered something related to my past when I was unconscious, and then I suddenly felt confused and dizzy. You know ? I barely knew you for the first five minutes?" "Oh, dear, I'm so sorry," said Nicole. "It's as if something is monitoring my thoughts. Once my brain touches a clear memory, it's as if something is warning me." Both Richard and Nicole were silent. "As soon as I close my eyes, I can see those robots running around in Lamarie," Nicole said. "me too." "Also, it's hard for me to believe it's real. I thought it was in a dream or a movie." Nicole laughed. "We've been living an unbelievably strange life for fourteen years. yes?" "Of course," replied Richard, lying down again, "God knows what more novelty awaits us!"