Chapter 53 Chapter 53 "The Holy Trinity"

Admiral O'Toole was the last to say goodbye to Walkerfield when he left the Newton for Rama.The General waited patiently while the others talked to Richard. Gallows Tabry said to his British friend: "Are you really sure you want to do this? You know, in a few hours, the committee will announce the time to leave Rama." Richard smiled at Gallows and said, "By then, I was on my way to Camp Beta, and technically I wasn't violating their orders." With Dr. Brown in charge of this operation, we want you to stay on board and not to go in again." "I've told you several times," said Richard forcefully, "that I have some very important personal matters unfinished at Lamarie. Also, as you know, I'm sure we'll There is nothing left to do. Once the decision to suspend the operation is confirmed, the rest of the important business is Earth's, and we need only be told when to disembark and return."

Otter Heilman said: "I remind you again, I will regard your behavior as disobeying orders, and I will file a lawsuit when I return to Earth..." "Save some snacks, Otter." Richard interrupted him calmly.Richard adjusted his spacesuit and prepared to put on his helmet. As usual, Frances has been behind the camera recording the scene.She had been strangely silent and seemed preoccupied since her private conversation with Richard hours before. General O'Toole walked up to Richard, held out his hand, and said, "Though we haven't been together long, I have great admiration for your work. Good luck. Don't take unnecessary risks."

Seeing the general's kind and warm smile, Richard was surprised.He had expected the American officer to persuade him not to go. "Rama is magnificent, General. It's like the Grand Canyon, the Alps, and the pyramids all rolled into one." "We've lost four of our partners," O'Toole replied. "I hope to see you back safe and sound. God bless you." Richard shook O'Toole's hand, put on his helmet, stepped into the airlock, and disappeared. Admiral Hellman accused General O'Toole, saying: "I am very disappointed in you, Michael. You have such tenderness for that young man that he would think you actually supported his move."

O'Toole turned his face and said to Admiral Hellman: "Walkerfield has courage and conviction, Otter. He is neither afraid of Rama nor the regulations of the International Space Agency. I appreciate his attitude." kind of confidence." "Ridiculous," replied Hellman, "Walkerfield is nothing but an insolent schoolboy. Do you know what he forgot in Rama? A pair of stupid, boring little parody Shakespearean characters." Robot! He just doesn't want to obey orders. He puts his own private business before orders." "He knows it in his own heart." Frances commented, and everyone in the room fell silent. "Richard is very smart. There may be reasons for him to go back to Rama that we don't know." Her voice was a little depressed.

"I just hope he can come back before dark as promised," Gallos said. "I don't know if I can bear the pain of losing another friend." The astronauts emerged from the public cabin and entered the hallway.Gallos, walking side by side with Frances, asked, "Where is Dr. Brown?" "He worked with Hiroshi Yamanaka and Elena to study the personnel arrangement for the return flight. Now we are short of manpower, and we must do a lot of cross-training before leaving." Frances laughed, "He even asked me if I could be a reserve pilot .can you imagine it?"

"That's easy." Gallos replied, "At this time, you can learn any technique." Hellman and O'Toole followed slowly behind them.When he came to the hall leading to the cabins of the team members, General O'Toole was about to go back to the room when Heilman called out: "Wait a minute, I have another thing to talk to you about. This damned Walker I almost forgot about it. Can you come into my office for a while?" Pointing to the code on the screen, Otter said, "Basically, this is a major change to the 'Trinity' program. It's not surprising. We know a lot more about Rama now, of course you will put them in a different place."

"But it was never planned to use all five bombs," O'Toole said. "The last two were intended to prevent a failed detonation. A megaton bomb would vaporize Rama entirely." .” Heilman sat back on his chair and said with a smile, "Exactly, it's like slaughtering chickens. I guess the generals below must be under a lot of pressure." "Why did they put two of the largest nuclear bombs in the access corridor of Rama? One is enough." "What if it doesn't explode for some reason? There must be one as a backup." Hellman leaned forward and said eagerly, "I think these changes clearly illustrate their intentions, and put the two nuclear bombs together." Put together to ensure that the structure of the ship is completely destroyed, making it completely incapacitated after the explosion; the other three are to ensure that every part of Rama is blown up. It is also important to make Ra Fragments of Ma quickly scattered away from Earth."

General O'Toole imagined that the huge spacecraft was wiped out without a trace by 5 nuclear bombs. This is not a pleasant sight. Fifteen years ago, he and 20 other COG officers flew to the South Pacific to watch the explosion of a 100,000-kiloton nuclear bomb.General O'Toole was very impressed by this observation. He recalled that the rising and spinning fireball became a mushroom cloud and rose over the South Pacific Ocean.When Heilman asked him a question, General O'Toole didn't catch him.He said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Otter, I was thinking of something else."

"At what point do you think the Trinity program will start." "You mean we're actually going to do this?" O'Toole asked skeptically. "Of course." Heilman replied. "It's hard for me to believe we've come this far," O'Toole said quickly. "These bombs were carried only to prevent hostile actions by the Rama. Unprovoked attacks; advanced weapons beyond our defenses. It's a completely different situation now." The German general looked carefully at his American colleague and said: "No one thought that Rama would rush towards the earth, but if it didn't change its orbit, it would knock a huge hole in the surface of the earth and lift it up to cover the sky." dust; in a few years, the world's temperature will drop...at least that's what the experts say."

"But it doesn't make sense," O'Toole argued. "On the teleconference, you listen to all the speeches, and there aren't many sane people who think Lamarr is going to hit Earth." "Crash is just one of several possible disasters. If you were the boss, what would you do? Blowing up Rama is the surest way, no one misses the opportunity." Apparently, O'Toole was deeply shaken by the conversation.He found an excuse to leave Hellman and returned to his room.For the first time since Operation Newton began, O'Toole realized that there was a real possibility that he could be instructed to use the RQ code to activate the nuclear bomb.He had always believed that the nuclear bombs in the container behind the Newton's military cabin were nothing more than a placebo for terrified politicians.

Sitting in front of the computer screen in his room, a worried O'Toole remembered what Armando O'Bira had said.This person is a Mexican pacifist activist who once advocated the complete destruction of the COG's nuclear stockpile.He said: "Damascus and Rome are ready-made examples. As long as nuclear weapons exist, they may be used; only when they do not exist, can mankind not be trapped in a nuclear disaster that will never be restored." Richard Walkerfield did not come back after night fell on Rama. Because the communication relay station in the Beta camp had already stopped working during the hurricane, Richard was already out of the range of the radio when he walked halfway to the central plain.On his final phone call with Gallows Tabry, he was joking as usual. Gallos heard the sound coming from Lamari in the earphone getting smaller and weaker.He asked Richard what he would say to his admirer should he be swallowed by the "Galaxy." "Tell them I love Lamar, even if it seems a little silly," Richard called into the receiver. "What does that mean?" Otter Heilmann didn't understand.He just came to ask Gallus to study a technical problem with the Newton. "It doesn't matter," Gallos replied.He turned the chair around and slid forward, "What can I do for you now, Mr. Hellman?" Richard didn't come back, but at first, he didn't attract everyone's attention. It is believed that Walkerfield must be concentrating on something, such as repairing the communication station at Camp Beta, as Gallows said, and forgetting the time; of course, he didn't want to rush out after dark.But hours after dawn, he still hadn't returned, and an ominous feeling began to permeate among the team members. "I don't understand why everyone doesn't admit it: Walkerfield didn't come back, the thing that caught Gao An and De Jardin must have taken him too." While everyone was eating lunch quietly, Elena said Tuchayeva suddenly. "That's ridiculous," Gallos retorted. "Yes, you always said that. Even from the beginning, when General Posov was killed, when Wilson was cut to pieces by a giant crab, when De Jardin disappeared in an alley, you said that... " "Accidents!" cried Gallos, "it's all accidents!" "You're so stupid, Gallows." Elena also yelled at him, "You trust everyone and everything. We should let it go to hell before it happens again..." "Stop arguing, stop arguing." Seeing the two European astronauts arguing, David Brown stopped loudly. "Okay, everyone is a little excited now. But it's useless to blame each other." General O'Toole persuaded. "Is there anyone willing to follow me to find Richard?" Gallows asked emotionally. No one said anything. "No one is as crazy as you..." Elena whispered. "No!" interrupted Heilman, with a firm tone, "I told him that his actions were not authorized and that we would not go to him under any circumstances. In addition, Dr. Brown and the two pilots have told me , with the only remaining manpower, it is already very difficult to drive both ships back to Earth. According to their analysis and calculation, it will be very difficult even if Walkerfield returns. We can no longer take risks." There was a long silence at the table, all looking gloomy and worried. "After lunch, I have something to tell you." After a while, David Brown stood up and said, "but I think you need some good news now. We received orders an hour ago that the Newton will be on the We will leave here within 14 days, and there is still a little more than a week from now. During this period, in order to meet the technical needs of the return flight, we will conduct cross-training to ensure the normal work of the Newton.” Tuchayeva, Yamanaka Hiroshi and Sabatini all expressed their excitement and approval.Gallos asked: "Since we are not going back to Rama, why do we have to wait so long? We can get ready in three or four days." Dr. Brown replied: "I think our two officers have a special task to complete, which will take up most of the next three days; besides, someone must help them." He glanced at Ou. Ter Heilman, "Would you like to tell everyone now?" Heilman stood up from his chair and said loudly, "I still need to discuss the details with General O'Toole. Tomorrow morning, I will introduce the details to you." General O'Toole didn't need Otter Hellman to show him the telegram he had received twenty minutes earlier, he knew what it said.According to the agreement, the telegram has only one sentence: "Start the 'Trinity' program."