Chapter 32 Section ten

Ellie is mesmerized by those china dolls.She picked up a little china doll in a blue tutu with admiration, and said to her brother, "Look at this, Ben. Somebody made this—someone made it themselves." "This is a replica." The Spanish clerk said, "The artist designed the prototype in the computer. Now the production process of this product is so detailed that experts can't tell the original from the replica." "Did you collect these on Earth?" Ellie asked, pointing to the porcelain statue on the table. "Yes." Mr. Murillo said proudly, "My wife and I have our own small shop. Ten years ago, we became obsessed with porcelain art, and since then we have become crazy collectors."

Mrs. Murillo, in her late fifties, emerged from the back room where she had been arranging her wares.She said: "Shortly after we were selected by the International Space Agency as residents, we made up our minds that no matter what the 'Nina' restricted passengers' luggage, we would bring all our collections here." Ben held up a dancing china doll just a few centimeters from his eyes, looked at it carefully, grinned and said, "Beautiful." "Thank you," said Mr. Murillo. "We hope that the Lowell Residence Station will form a collector's association. There are three or four passengers on the 'Neira' who also brought these things."

"Can I take a tour?" Allie asked. "We'll be very careful." "Do yourselves," said Mrs. Murillo. "Everything has finally settled down, and we plan to sell or exchange some of the reproductions. It's exhibition time." While Ellie and Ben pored over each piece, several others entered the store. The Murillos opened their business a few days ago, selling candles, pretty tissues and a few small groceries. "You're running out of time, Carlos," an American said to Mr. Murillo.It can be seen from his tone that they are all passengers on the "Nila".

"It's too easy for us, Travis," Mr. Murillo said. "For us, a small place will do." "We haven't settled down yet," Travis complained. "I want to live in this village, but Chessie and the kids can't find a house they like. Chessy still doesn't believe what the International Space Agency said. it is true." "I have to admit, it's hard to accept that this space station was built by aliens to observe us. It might be easier if there were some pictures from Nord. But why would they Are we lying?" "They've been lying, nobody mentioned this place to us the day before our rendezvous... Chessy thinks we're just taking part in an ISA experiment to create space settlements. She says we'll Live here for a while, then be transferred to the surface of Mars so they can compare the differences between the two settlements."

Mr. Murillo smiled: "Since leaving 'Nina', Ceci has been thinking about it, hasn't he?" He suddenly said with a serious face: "You know? Juanita and I also suspected But, especially after being here for a week we haven't seen any aliens. We spent two full days walking around and talking to other people. After investigation we think what ISA said is true: First everything here Too rare to be fake; Second, the woman named Walkerfield is very believable, she answered questions for two hours in the open session. Juanita and I were convinced by her answers, We didn't feel any conflict."

Travis shook his head and said, "I can't imagine what it's like to be asleep for 12 years." "Of course, it's hard for me to imagine. However, we did visit the hypnosis center where the Walkerfields stayed, and everything was exactly as Nicole described in the public meeting: the building was tall and grand, the beds and rooms Enough to accommodate all its occupants. Clearly, there is no way that NASA would build a machine so capacious to promise their lies." "perhaps you're right." "We've decided to try and get used to everything anyway. The living conditions here are nothing to fault, all the housing is top notch, and there's even a Lincoln robot helping Juanita and me with housework and shopping."

Ellie has been listening to their conversation.She remembers the day she asked her mother "Are I walking around the village with Instinct?" and her mother replied "Yes dear. If anyone recognizes you as the Walkerfields and asks you a question, don't talk to them." Be polite and go home. Admiral McMillan doesn't want us talking about our experience here to anyone who isn't at NASA right now." Ellie looked at the china doll and listened to the conversation between Murillo and Mr. Travis. She turned around and Ben was gone.Ellie tensed up. "What are you looking at, buddy?" A man's hoarse voice came from the store.

"Her hair is so--pretty-pretty," replied Ben.Standing in the aisle, he approached the man's wife, smiling and reaching for the woman's beautiful blond hair. "Can I pet it?" Ben asked. "Are you crazy? Of course not! Get out, get out now!" the man growled. "Jason, I think he's a little retarded." The woman said calmly, blocking her husband's hand that was about to push Ben. Ellie walked quickly to her brother, noticing that the man was angry, but she didn't know what to do.She tapped Ben on the shoulder. "Look, Ellie," repeated Ben excitedly. "Look at her pretty-pretty yellow-blond hair."

"Is this stupid pig your friend?" the tall man asked Allie. "This is my brother." Ellie answered with difficulty. "Okay, get him out of here...he molested my wife." "Sir," Ellie said bravely, "my brother meant no harm. He'd never seen such long yellow hair before." The man frowned in confusion, annoyed. "What?" he said, glancing at his wife. "What's wrong with these two? One is stupid, and the other..." "Are you two children of the Walkerfield family?" A woman's excited voice came from behind Ellie.

Allie turned around in bewilderment: Mrs. Murillo was standing between the two children and the couple.Hearing the quarrel, she and her husband gathered around. "Yes ma'am," Allie said softly, "We are." "You mean you're from an alien?" the man named Jason asked. Ellie pushed Ben hard toward the door. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to cause trouble," Ellie said and Ben left the store. "That's weird," Ellie heard someone say as the door closed behind them. Nicole had another hard day.As she stood wearily in front of the mirror washing her face, Richard said in the bedroom: "Ellie and Ben had a bad time in the village. They didn't say anything to me."

Nicole spent 13 hours helping to accommodate the passengers on the "Nina". No matter how hard she and Kenji tried, they were still unable to meet people's requests, and they were overwhelmed by unexpected events.People were upset when they learned about the procedures for distributing food, living and working areas. Nicole hasn't had a good night's sleep for many days. Looking at the pile of luggage, she said to herself: "We must settle this group of passengers before the 'Santa Maria' arrives, and the 'Santa Maria' There could be more trouble." Nicole wiped her face with a towel and went into the bedroom.Richard was sitting on the bed in his pajamas when Nicole asked him, "How are you today?" "Yes, it's very interesting. The human engineer and the Einstein robot are gradually getting along." He stopped talking, and said, "Did you hear what I told you about Ellie and Ben?" Nicole sighed, knowing from Richard's tone that the matter was serious and she needed to talk to the child.Despite his fatigue, Nicole came out of the bedroom. Ellie has fallen asleep.Ben and Patrick share a room and are still awake.Nicole sat down beside her and took her son's hand. "Hi—Mum," Ben said. "Uncle Richard just told me that you and Ellie went to the village this afternoon," Nicole said to the eldest son. A look of pain flitted across Ben's face. "Yes, ma-mum," he said. "Ellie said they were recognized, and a new guy called them something." Patrick said across the way. "Is that so, dear?" Nicole asked, still holding his son's hand. The boy nodded slightly, looking at his mother silently.Suddenly he said, "What's a pig, Mom?" Ben had tears in his eyes. Nicole leaned on Ben's shoulder and asked softly, "Did anyone call you that today?" Ben nodded. "The word has no special meaning." Nicole tried her best to comfort her son. "A person can be called a pig if he is different or makes people feel unhappy. People will say this when they are not thinking. Call you The stupid pig was confused or upset by something in his life and he blurted it out because he didn't know you... did you do something to upset him?" "No, Mom. I just told him I like his women's yellow hair." Nicole figured out what happened in the china shop, and she reassured Ben, then went across the room when she saw he was okay, and kissed Patrick. "And what about you? Are you all right?" Nicole asked. Patrick said: "Basically good. I had a problem at the park and some new boys were playing basketball and they asked me to join. I was so bad, two boys laughed at me." Nicole held Patrick for a long time. "Patrick is a strong kid," Nicole thought as she walked back into the bedroom. "Even Patrick needs our support and encouragement." in the affairs of the parent, neglecting his own children. "Am I doing this right? I feel like I have an inescapable responsibility for everything here. I want New Eden to start...but my kids need me more. Can I handle this properly?" Nicole went softly into the bedroom, Richard was still awake.She told her husband about Ben. Richard said: "Sorry, I can't help him. Only a mother can do these things..." Before Richard had finished speaking, Nicole fell asleep, she was so tired.Richard shook her shoulders: "Nicole, there are some things we have to talk about. Sorry, we can't wait. Maybe we don't have time alone in the morning." She rolled over towards her husband and opened her eyes to look at him. "It's about Katie." Richard said, "I really need your help. There's a coming-of-age party tomorrow night for the youngsters, remember? Last week we promised Katie that she could go down with Patrick, but it wasn't time to go home. Too late. Tonight I saw her standing in front of the mirror in a new dress, which was short and revealing. I told her the dress was not suitable for an informal prom, and she threw a fit at me, insisting that I was 'monitored' her actions and said I was 'incorrigibly clueless' about fashion." "What did you say?" "I criticized her. She looked at me indifferently and said nothing. After a few minutes she left the room without saying a word. In the evening, she didn't eat with us, and she came home half an hour before you came back. There was a strong smell of smoke, beer. I tried to say something to her and she just said 'leave me alone' and slammed the door of her room." Lying beside Richard, Nicole thought quietly, "This is what I've been worrying about. She was like that as a kid. Katie is bright, but she's selfish and impulsive." Richard said: "I wanted to tell Katie she couldn't go to the prom tomorrow night but realized she's grown up anyway. She's 24 after all with the administrative office and we can't do that to kids. To her." "But emotionally and mentally, she may only be 14 years old." Nicole thought tossing and turning on the bed.Richard—telling Nicole about the troubles that Katie showed after the other first human entered Rama: "She doesn't care about anything, she just blindly takes risks and seeks excitement." Nicole remembered the day she had gone to the hospital with Katie, a week before the Nila arrived.Katie is fascinated by extremely complex medical devices and knows how to use each one like a genius.When Nicole suggested that Katie could study medicine and work in a hospital when university started, a young woman laughed: "Are you kidding me? I can't think of anything more boring, especially in a After having new humans." Nicole sighed resignedly and said to herself, "Richard and I can do nothing but care and love her, but she stubbornly ignores us and considers all our knowledge and experience worthless. " There was silence in the bedroom.Nicole leaned over and kissed Richard. "I'll talk to Katie about the dress tomorrow, but I don't think it will help." The dance was held in the school gymnasium. Patrick sat in a folding chair by the wall, sipped his soda, and looked at his watch.The slow melody came to an end, and 12 couples of dancing men and women stopped slowly. Katie and Olaf Larsen, a tall Swedish boy, kissed each other and walked towards Patrick arm in arm. Olaf Larsen's father was a clerk under Commander MacMillan. Katie came up to Patrick and said, "Olaf and I are going out for a cigarette and some whiskey. Can you come with us?" "It's getting late, Katie," Patrick replied. "We said we'd be home by half past twelve." The Swede patted Patrick on the back proudly and said, "Come on, little brother, take it easy. Your sister and I are having a good time." Olaf was drunk, flushed from alcohol and dancing.He pointed to the crowd and said, "Look, that plump red-haired girl in a white dress, her name is Pai Si, is a hot commodity. She's been waiting for you to ask her to dance all night. Shall I introduce you?" Patrick shook his head: "Katie, I want to go, I've been sitting here patiently waiting for you..." "Another half an hour, little brother," Katie interrupted him. "I'll go out for a while, come back and do a couple more tunes, and then we'll go, shall we?" She kissed Patrick on the cheek and walked with Olaf towards the gate. A strong dance music was playing on the stereo, and Patrick was fascinated to watch the young dancers on the dance floor swaying with the strong rhythm of the music. "Don't you want to dance?" a man came up and asked him. "No," Patrick said, "I never skipped." The young man gave him a strange look, then smiled: "Of course, you are a child of the Walkerfield family. Hi, my name is Brian Wallhui, from Wisconsin in the middle of the United States. My parents are To build a university..." Patrick had only spoken to Katie since arriving at the dance a few hours earlier.He was delighted to meet Brian, shook hands with his new friend, and struck up a pleasant conversation. The 20-year-old Brian, an only child, had completed half of the university's computer engineering courses before being selected for the "Lowell" project. He became very interested in Patrick's experience. They got to know each other quickly. "Tell me, does 'Nord' really exist? Was it fabricated by ISA?" Brian asked Patrick. "'Nord' does exist," Patrick replied, forgetting that he shouldn't be discussing such things in this setting. "My dad said it was an outer space programming station." Brian laughed: "Is it really a triangular object created by a super-species unknown to humans? Is its purpose to help these super-intelligent beings study other beings traveling in space? Ah, this is what I heard The most amazing story I've ever had. Everything your mother told in the public meeting was unbelievable, but I have to admit that the existence of the Rama spaceship and the advanced level of technology of the robots make your mother's story believable." "Everything my mother says is true," Patrick said, "and some of the most unbelievable stories have been kept from you. For example, my mother's relationship with a bubble-breathing, long-winged eel creature Conversation, and..." Patrick stopped suddenly, remembering Nicole's warning. Brian was literally fascinated. "A winged eel?" he said. "How does your mother know what it says?" Patrick looked at his watch: "I'm sorry Brian, I'm here with my sister and I have to find her..." "Is that the girl in the red miniskirt?" Patrick nodded. Brian put his arm on Patrick's shoulder and said, "Let me give you some advice. You should talk to her. She acts like a very flirtatious woman." "That's the way Katie is," Patrick defended his sister. "She's never been around anyone but her family." "I'm sorry," Brian shrugged. "Of course, it's none of my business... Well, why don't you call me sometime? I enjoyed our conversation." Patrick said goodbye to Brian and headed for the door. Katie was standing on the playground with three men, one of whom was Olaf Larsen.They smoke and laugh, a bottle of wine is passed back and forth between their hands.While drinking, they talked about some low-level and vulgar topics.A young man named Andrew tentatively touched Katie's buttocks, and Katie laughed and knocked his hand off.At this moment, Katie saw her brother walking towards her. "Come over here, little brother," cried Katie. "It's a good thing to drink." Patrick walked toward them, and the three men who were next to Katie took a few steps back.Though thin and underdeveloped, Patrick's frame loomed large in the dim light. "I'm going home, Katie," said Patrick, standing next to his sister, shoving the bottle out of his hand. "I think it's time for you to come back with me." Andrew smiled and said sarcastically: "Larson, look at your dance partner, and even bring a little brother as a bodyguard." With anger in Katie's eyes, she took another sip of her wine, handed the bottle to Olaf, then rushed forward, hugged Andrew tightly, and kissed him madly. Patrick was embarrassed, and Olaf and the other men were whistling and screaming. A minute later, Katie pushed Andrew away, turned her head and said, "Let's go, Patrick." She stared at Andrew with a smile and said, "That's enough for you all night."