Chapter 38 Section VI

Nicole opened her eyes to find Richard sitting next to her with a cup of coffee in his hand. "You told us to wake you up at seven," he said. Nicole stood up and took the coffee in his hand: "Thank you, dear, why don't you let Lincoln..." "I want to make coffee for you myself. I know you don't like to be disturbed in the morning, but I still want to discuss it with you. There is new news from the Central Plains." Nicole sipped her coffee slowly and smiled at her husband: "What's the news?" "There were two more incidents of levee last night, and this week there have been 12 incidents. According to reports, our defense forces killed 3 levees who 'attacked' engineers."

"Did Ricky fight back?" "No. When the first shot was fired, they quickly returned to their living quarters through the hole... Like the day before yesterday, most of them ran away." "Do you still believe that they are remote observers, like the spider robots in Rama 1 and 2?" Richard nodded: "It is conceivable how they would guess us in this way... There is no need to fire at those unarmed creatures... We reacted hostilely, which is likely to lead to..." "I don't like this approach either." Nicole said softly, "but what can we do? The Senate has clearly authorized the exploration team."

Richard was about to say something when he saw Ben standing by the door.The young man grinned. "May I come in, mother?" "Of course, dear," Nicole replied, opening her arms. "Come here and give me a hug." Ben, much taller than the average boy, climbed into bed and hugged his mother. "Happy birthday, Ben," said Richard. "Thank you, Uncle Richard." "Are we going to have a picnic in Lion Dragon Forest today?" Ben asked slowly. "Go, of course." Mother replied, "We have a big party tonight." "Great," Ben said.

There is no school today on Saturday, so both Patrick and Ellie are up late.The family was watching "The Morning News" on TV when a Lincoln robot served them breakfast.The latest "Lake News" was on the TV, with comments from both candidates for Governor. E. McMillan was telling reporters: "We've been thinking this for weeks: We have to expand our defenses. Now that our military has finally improved, what we need is to go forward bravely." The last part of "Morning News" is an interview with the Director of Meteorology.The weather chief explained that the recent abnormally dry and windy weather was caused by "a computer program error". "For a week," she said, "we've been trying to get some rain and it just didn't work out. Of course we've got a sunny weekend for everyone... we're guaranteed rain next week."

"They don't know what they're doing," Richard said indignantly, turning off the TV. "They've got control of the weather system and they're creating chaos." "What's 'chaos,' Uncle Richard?" asked Ben. Richard hesitated for a moment and said: "I think the simplest definition is a program error. Mathematically, this word has a stricter meaning." At this point, Richard smiled: "I'm sorry, Ben, sometimes I seem too serious." Professionalized." Ben laughed. "I like it when you talk to me like a normal person," he said carefully. "And, sometimes—I do understand—sometimes."

Nicole was thinking about something while the Lincoln robot cleared the table.Ben went out to brush his teeth, and Nicole leaned over to her husband and asked, "Have you talked to Katie? She didn't answer the phone last afternoon or evening." Richard shook his head. "I'd be very sorry she wasn't coming to the party. . . I'm going to send Patrick to look for her this afternoon." Richard stood up and walked towards Nicole, held her hand and said, "What about you, Mrs. Walkerfield? Where do you arrange for yourself to rest and relax in your busy schedule? Today is the weekend."

"I went to the hospital in the morning to help, took Ellie and Ben out of here at ten o'clock, and had to stop at the courthouse on the way back - I haven't seen Monday's case yet. I have a short meeting with Kenji at two thirty. Three I'm starting my pathology lecture at . . . I'll be home at four-thirty." "Going home at 4:30? Enough time for Ben's birthday party? Really, honey, you need to slow down, you're not a robot after all." Nicole kissed her husband and said, "Why don't you talk about yourself? Aren't you working twenty or thirty hours straight on a new project?" She paused, suddenly serious: "It's all very important honey... I feel like we're in a life-or-death moment and I want to try to change that."

"You will, Nicole, you have great prestige and influence, but you have to give yourself some time." "It's too much of a luxury for me." Nicole said as he pushed open the door of Patrick's room. "Let's talk about it in a few years." They walked through the woods into a wide pasture, and squirrels and hares scurried about in front of them.On the other side of the pasture a young buck was feeding peacefully among the tall purple flowers and turned his head warily to watch Nicole, Ellie and Ben come towards it and leap into the forest. Nicole took out the map and looked at it: "Here, there should be some picnic tables on the right side of the pasture."

Ben was on his knees watching the bees gathering honey among the golden flowers. "Bee," he said with a laugh, "bees make honey in the hive." They found a table and spread a tablecloth.The Lincoln robot had prepared sandwiches for them, which were Ben's favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.They also brought fresh oranges and grapes from St. Michael's Orchard.Just as they were about to eat lunch, another family walked into the ranch, and Ben waved excitedly to them. "Those people don't know it's my birthday," Ben said. "But we know," Ellie said, raising a lemonade in her hand, "Congratulations, brother, happy birthday."

At this time, a dark cloud floated over their heads, and the bright pasture immediately dimmed. "This kind of cloud is rare," Nicole said to Allie. After a while, the dark clouds drifted away, and the flowers and plants on the pasture were bathed in bright sunlight again. "Want pudding?" Nicole asked Ben. "Let's make a game first." Ben took the basketball out of his bag and tossed Ellie a glove. "Let's go!" he said.The siblings ran into the ranch. Two kids were throwing softballs to each other.Nicole packed up the leftovers and was about to go play with the kids when the receiver on her wrist blared an alarm.

Nicole pressed the receive button, and a TV picture appeared on the digital display.She turned up the volume so that she could hear what Kenji was saying. "I'm sorry to bother you, Nicole." Kenji said, "There is an emergency, and a family member wants to sue a rape case immediately. This is a very sensitive case, within the scope of your trial, I think it should be dealt with immediately ,... I don't want to say more online." "I'll be there in half an hour," Nicole answered. Ben was disappointed to hear that the picnic was ending early.Ellie tells her mother she can play with Ben a little longer and promises nothing will happen.Before leaving the ranch, Nicole gave Ellie the map of Shilong Forest.Another large cloud floated in the sky, and immediately covered the artificial sun in New Eden. Patrick is torn when there's no sign of anyone living in Katie's apartment.Where was he going to find Katie?None of his college friends lived in Vegas.Patrick was in trouble. He called Max Puckett from the payphone.Max gave Patrick the names, addresses, and phone numbers of three friends he knew who lived in Vegas. "You know what I mean? None of these people would be able to invite you to dinner with your parents at your house," Max said with a smile. "But they are kind-hearted and might be able to help you find your sister." Patrick knew only one of the women, Samatha Porter, whose house was only a few hundred meters from the phone booth.It was noon now, and Samantha opened the door for Patrick in her pajamas. "I saw it on the monitor, I think it was you, Mr. Patrick O'Toole," she said with a charming smile. Patrick nodded, not knowing what to say, and rubbed his feet back and forth on the ground. "Miss Potter," he said at last, plucking up the courage, "I have a question..." "You're too young to have any problems." Sha Masha interrupted him, smiling happily, "Why don't you come in and let's have a good talk?" Patrick blushed. "No ma'am," he said, "I don't have that kind of problem . . . I just can't find my sister Katie, and I thought maybe you could help me." Masha was about to usher Patrick into the house when she turned sharply to look at the young man. "That's why you came to me?" She smiled and shook her head, "It's so disappointing, I thought you came here for fun, so we can tell everyone whether you are an alien or not people." Patrick still stood there awkwardly.After a while, Sha Masha shrugged and said: "I think Katie lives in the palace most of the time, go to the club and ask Shirley, she will tell you how to find your sister." "Yes, yes, Mr. Kobayashi, I understand." Nichol sat in the office and said to the Japanese gentleman, "I can understand your current mood, please believe that I will handle this matter fairly." She sent the man to the waiting room, where his wife was sitting with her eyes swollen from crying.Their 16-year-old daughter, Kiko, is undergoing a full medical checkup at New Eden Hospital.The girl was hit and suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries. After talking with the Kobayashis, Nicole hung up on Dr. Turner. "The girl had fresh semen in her body," the doctor said. "She had lumps all over her body. She was raped and she had a total mental breakdown." Nicole sighed, and Kiko named Pedro Martinez, the young man who performed with Ellie on the same stage at school. "He's a rapist, is that possible?" Nicole turned her chair to the computer desk and connected to the community database. Pedro Martínez Escobar...born May 25, 2228 in Malagua, Nicaragua...Mother Maria Escobar, maid; housework, often unemployed...Father, probably It's Ramon Martinez with six younger siblings...rape...2243...model prisoner... After reading the information on the computer twice, Nicole called Pedro into the office and asked him to sit down.Pedro stared at the floor without looking up.A Lincoln robot stood in the corner, carefully recording everything that was being said. "Pedro." Nicole called his name tenderly, but the young man didn't answer and didn't lift his head. "Pedro Martinez." Nicole raised his voice and called his name again, "Did you know that you were accused of raping Kiko last night? I don't think I need to explain to you that you know how serious this is. Now you have the opportunity to contest her charges." Pedro remained silent.Nicole continued: "In New Eden, our judicial system may be different from yours in Nicaragua. Here, criminal cases are not formally prosecuted until the judge has verified all the facts, which is why I want to talk to you. conversation." After a long silence, the young man muttered something without raising his head. "What?" asked Nicole. "She lied." Pedro's voice was a little louder, "I don't know why, but Kiko is indeed lying." "Would you like to tell me what happened?" "What difference does it make? No one will believe me." "Pedro, listen to me...if, after investigation, my court concludes that there is not enough grounds to prosecute, your case can be dismissed...of course this requires a serious investigation, which means you must have Tell me with a grain of salt what happened and answer some key questions." Pedro Martinez looked up at Judge Nicole Walkerfield with sad eyes before saying calmly: "Kiko did make love to me last night...but that was her idea... She thought it must be exciting in the forest..." The young man stopped and looked down at the floor. "Have you ever had sex with Kiko before?" Nicole asked after a pause. "Only once—a long, long time ago." "Pedro, did you... hit her last night?" Tears streamed from Pedro's eyes. "I didn't hit her," he said passionately, "I never hurt her..." As Pedro spoke, there was a muffled voice in the distance. "What's that sound?" said Nicole strangely. "Like thunder," Pedro replied. Thunder can also be heard around the village of Hanko.Patrick was sitting in a luxurious suite at the Nakamura Palace, talking to his sister Katie.Katie wore an expensive blue silk dress. Patrick looked annoyed: "Are you telling me you don't even want to try to go to Ben's birthday party tonight? What am I supposed to tell mom?" "Tell her whatever you want," Katie said, putting a cigarette in her mouth. "Tell her you can't find me." She lit the cigarette with a gold lighter and blew a smoke ring at her brother. .Patrick fanned the smoke coming his way. "Come on, little brother," said Katie, laughing. "It's not going to kill you." "Of course, not right away," Patrick replied. "Look, Patrick," Katie said, standing up and looking around the luxury suite, "Ben's an idiot, an imbecile. I've never been close to him. He won't even realize I'm there unless someone reminds him .” "You're wrong, Katie! He's smarter than you think, and he asks you all the time." "It's useless, little brother. You're just trying to make me feel guilty about saying this... Look, I'm not going. I mean, if it's just you, Ellie, and Ben, I'd consider it. Although Ellie's 'wonderful ' speech made my heart ache, but you know what I'm like around my mother? She's been working on my case." "Mommy cares about you, Katie." Katie burst out into a nervous laugh, puffed off her cigarette, and said, "Of course she cares about me, Patrick . Patrick stood up to go outside. "You don't have to go now," Katie said. "Why don't you stay longer? I'll get dressed and we'll go to the club... remember? We used to have so much fun." Katie went to the bedroom. "Are you on drugs?" Patrick asked suddenly. Katie stopped and looked at her brother. "Who wants to know that?" she said defiantly. "Is it you or Nicole de Jardin, the astronaut, the doctor, the magistrate, the judge?" "I want to know," Patrick said quietly. Katie walked over, put her hand on Patrick's cheek and said, "I'm your sister, I love you, and nothing else matters." Dark clouds gather over the Lion Dragon Forest.The wind made the leaves "squeak".Ellie's hair was also tousled by the wind and floated behind her head.There was thunder and lightning over the forest, and a storm was coming.Ben was a little scared, Ellie pulled him to her side and said to him: "According to the map, we can walk out of the forest after walking another kilometer." "How far?" Ben asked. "If you walk fast, you can walk out in ten minutes." The wind howled, and Ellie's voice seemed very thin in the wind.She held onto Ben's hand tightly, and the brother and sister walked side by side on the mountain road. Suddenly, a thunderbolt split a tree in front of them, and a thick branch stood in front of them.When the branch fell, it hit Ben in the back, and Ben staggered and fell on the mountain road.His head was buried in the green grass around the roots of the tree.The roar of thunder was deafening. Ben lay on the ground for a while, trying to figure out what was going on, before he finally stood up. "Ellie!" he called, surprised to see his sister lying on the other side of the mountain road with her eyes closed. "Ellie!" screamed Ben, crawling to her side, grabbing her arm and shaking it slightly.Ellie's eyes were still closed, and there was a lump the size of an orange next to her right eye. "What—what am I supposed to do?" cried Ben.At the same time, he smelled a strong burnt smell.He looked up at the tree above: the flames were rushing from one branch to another by the wind.There was another bolt of lightning, and Ben saw a bigger flame ahead, moving towards the branches on either side of him and Ellie.Ben panicked and didn't know what to do. He put his sister in his arms and patted her face gently: "Ellie, please, please, wake up." Ellie still didn't respond.The flames around them spread wildly, and it seemed that the forest was about to be surrounded by raging fire. Terrified, Ben tried to pick Ellie up, but staggered and fell again. "No, no, no!" he stood up, yelled loudly, and bent down again, trying to put Ellie on his back. The billowing smoke became more and more intense. Ben carried Ellie away from the fire and walked hard on the way down the mountain.By the time we got to the ranch, Ben was exhausted.He put Ellie gently on a table and sat down on a stool.The fire on the north side of the ranch was completely out of control, spreading and consuming like crazy. "What do I do now?" Ben said to himself, his eyes lingering on the map stuck in Ellie's pocket. "This can help me." He took out the map and looked at it, but he couldn't understand anything on it, and Ben started to panic again. "Ben, relax yourself." He seemed to hear his mother's reassuring voice, "This is just a small difficulty, you can overcome it. The map is a very important thing. It tells us the direction... The first thing you have to do One thing is to get directions so you can know what's up there. Look, that's right! Most of the times, the direction up there is called North, okay. Here's a map of the Forest of Lions and Dragons..." Ben spreads out the map so that all the letters face up.At this time, there were thunder and lightning, and the wind direction also changed. The irritating and choking smoke was blown into his lungs. He coughed and struggled to read the words on the map. He seemed to hear his mother's voice again—"It's okay if you don't know the words at first. Look at each letter of the alphabet, and then read it aloud. Read it slowly, and put the sound of all the letters together, so that there is a words you understand." Ben glanced at Ellie lying on the table and said, "Wake up, Ellie. Wake up, I need your help." Whatever his name was, Ellie was still lying there motionless. Ben hunched over, trying to concentrate.He read aloud all the letters on the map with difficulty and repeatedly, until he confirmed that the green block on the map was the pasture where he was sitting now. "Walk the white lines!" he said to himself. "There are three white lines that lead to the green." Ben looked up and counted the three paths he saw, feeling fairly confident.At this time, another gust of wind blew, and the sparks mixed with the wind ignited the trees on the south side of the pasture.Ben reacted quickly: "I have to get out of here." He put Ellie on his back again. Ben now knew that the direction the fire was burning was north on the map, which was the direction of Hanko Village.He looked at the map in his hand again, and said to himself, "I must follow this white line to the end." Another tree caught fire above him, and Ben was knocked down by a falling branch and rolled down. Mountain.His sister was on top of him, and the life-saving map was still clenched in his hand.Ben got up and walked on.Every ten steps, he would stop and look at the map to make sure he was heading in the right direction.Finally came to a fork in the road, Ben carefully put Ellie on the ground, pointed to the white line on the map, and drew along the white line.A minute later, he opened his mouth and smiled, and carried his sister on his back and walked along the path leading to Positalo village.There was thunder and lightning in the sky, and it rained heavily in Shilong Forest.