Chapter 56 Chapter 56 God's Revelation

General O'Toole remained in his room.An hour after failing to enter the password, Hellman knocked on the door and came in.After pretending to deal with O'Toole for a few words, the admiral couldn't wait to get to the point. "Are you still going to detonate the bomb?" O'Toole shook his head: "I planned to do that in the morning, Otter, but..." He felt that there was no need to say anything more. Heilman stood up and said: "I have ordered Hiroshi Yamanaka to transport two bombs to the passage of Rama, and they can be installed before dinner. If you change your mind, there is still time. The other three Mei will be ready before dark, too." He looked at O'Toole, then added after a moment, "I hope you get back to normal soon, Michael. Headquarters is getting impatient with what's going on here with us."

Two hours later, Frances arrived with her video camera.From her tone, O'Toole heard that his colleagues thought he was not intentional, but too nervous.He felt that no explanation was necessary. "I've told everyone not to connect the phone, so as not to disturb you." Frances said to him sympathetically, while looking at the layout of the room.Already she had images of an upcoming TV special in her mind. "Those phones kept ringing like crazy, especially after I passed on the show in the morning, it was unbelievable." She walked to his desk and observed the items placed on it. "Is this Saint Michael?" she asked, holding up the statuette.

O'Toole smiled reluctantly and said, "Yes, I guess you recognized him from the pattern of the cross." "You're right," Frances replied, "quite right...Look, Michael, you know what's going to happen? I hope this TV interview gets as good a picture of you as possible. I don't just want to show Your gentle and kind personality, you understand, I still want to let those beastly people below hear your thoughts and stories..." "Are they already yelling because I don't show up?" O'Toole asked. "Oh yes," she replied, "it's going to get worse. The later you detonate the bomb, the more people will curse you."

"Why bother?" O'Toole said with a wry smile, "I didn't commit any crimes, I just delayed the detonation of those bombs with amazing destructive power..." "They don't care about that!" retorted Frances. "It seems to them that you are not doing your duty to protect the people of the earth from being disturbed. They are too frightened to understand the ramblings." .They have been told that Rama will be destroyed, and now you refuse to end their nightmare." "Nightmare," O'Toole muttered. "That's what Boswell said..."

"What do you say about Boswell?" asked Frances. "Oh, nothing." He said, avoiding her probing eyes. "What else?" O'Toole became a little anxious. "Like I said, I want you to look better. Brush your hair and put on a neat uniform. I gotta put some makeup on you so you don't look broke of." She walked over to her desk and said, "We're going to put your family portrait together with Jesus and Saint Michael for a close-up shot. Think about what you want to say. Of course, I'm going to ask you Why wasn't the bomb activated this morning."

Frances came over, put her hand on O'Toole's shoulder, and said, "In my introduction, I would have said it was due to fatigue and stress. I don't want to teach you how to say it, but admit to being a little weak. , it might be better, especially in your country." General O'Toole felt uneasy as Frances prepared to shoot."Do I have to do it?" he asked, growing more and more uncomfortable as the female reporter furnished his room. "If you still want people to know that you're not a coward, I think you'd do well," she replied bluntly. Before dinner, Gallos came to see him.He said: "You did a good TV show with Frances." Obviously he was lying. "At least you raised some moral issues, which are worth thinking about."

"I'm impatient to bring up those philosophical chants," said O'Toole vexedly. "I should follow Frances's advice and attribute everything to physical fatigue." "I said, Michael," Gallows said, "what happened, let it go. I didn't come here to talk about today's events, I came to see if you could help me." "No need, Gallos, but I really appreciate your concern." The two were silent for a while, and finally, Gallos stood up and walked slowly towards the door. "What are you going to do now?" he asked calmly. "Wish I knew," O'Toole replied. "Looks like I can't come up with a plan."

The military modules of the Rama and Newton spacecraft continued to rush toward the earth together.With each passing Rama Day, the threat looms.A catastrophic impact would have occurred if the giant, fast-moving cylinder hadn't changed its orbit.According to preliminary estimates, the impact point will be in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, not far from the city of Madurai.Physicists predict what might happen every night on the network's news programs.Everyone talked and speculated in horror every night at dinner.Fear is flooding the globe like a tidal wave. Michael O'Toole has been targeted by the news media around the world.Frances is right that the American general has become the focus of people's anger.It was even proposed that he be tried by a court-martial aboard the Newton for his refusal to carry out orders.His life's achievements and selfless qualities are forgotten.His wife was also forced to leave her Boston home and take refuge with a friend in Maine.

The general was also troubled by his own indecision.He knew that not detonating the bomb was causing irreparable damage to his family and career.But every time he believed he was ready to carry out an order, there was always a loud voice in his ear: "No!" In a televised interview the day before the science module departed Rama to return to Earth, O'Toole had a glimmer of hope in a conversation he had with Frances.At that time, when she asked some sharp questions and asked him why Rama still hadn't shown any signs of change in the orbit of colliding with the earth, the general's eyes suddenly lit up and he cheered up.Remind her: If you want to enter an orbit around the planet, the atmosphere is the most effective brake, then the kinetic energy will be dissipated in the atmosphere as heat energy.But when Frances asked him to elaborate on how Lamarr would adapt to the aerodynamic requirements, O'Toole didn't answer, just stared at her distractedly.

O'Toole walked out of the room and into the dining room.This was the last dinner Brown, Sabatini, Taburi, and Tugyeva had before leaving Rama to return to Earth.The appearance of the general spoiled the atmosphere of the dinner.Elena showed extreme displeasure with him, berating him violently and refusing to dine at his table; David Brown deliberately babbled about the experiments he had built in Texas for the "big crabs" he caught room, ignored him at all; only Frances and Gallos remained friendly.So after dinner General O'Toole went straight back to the room without saying goodbye as usual.The next morning, less than an hour after the science module had left, O'Toole found Heilman and wanted to have a long talk.

"So, you finally changed your mind?" Heilman said excitedly, "Wow! It's not too late. There are still 12 days left. If you hurry up, you can blow it up on the penultimate day." "I'm trying my best, Otter, but not right now," O'Toole replied. "I've been thinking about the whole thing very carefully. Now I want to do two things. One, talk to the Pope; Go into Rama and see for yourself." Dejected by O'Toole's answer, Heilman cursed, "Damn it. If it's still like this, we might..." "You won't understand, Otter." The American general kept staring at his colleague. "It's best, unless something unexpected happens. After I talk to the Pope or investigate Rama, I may immediately Enter my password." "Are you sure?" Heilman asked. "I promise you," O'Toole replied. In his telegram to the Pope, General O'Toole did not reveal his feelings, knowing that someone must be listening to his communications.But none of this mattered anymore. The only thought in his mind was: when the nuclear bomb was activated, his conscience must be peaceful and innocent. He waited patiently for a call back.Pope John Paul V finally appeared on the screen, still sitting in the Vatican office where he had received O'Toole last time, holding an electronic notebook in his hand. "I have been praying for you, my child," the pope said in perfect English, "especially during this last week, when you are full of doubts. I cannot tell you what to do, I know There are no more things than you. We can only pray for the wisdom of God, and hope that he can give you a clear answer." The pope's letter was long and talked a lot, encouraging him to make his own judgment.O'Toole said to himself, "Yeah, you can't expect God's word from someone blowing a trumpet and snare drum." O'Toole was extremely shocked by everything about Lamar. He didn't expect that he would have such a strong emotional impulse.Maybe it's because Ramana's huge structure is incomparable to any human construction; maybe it's also because he has been imprisoned in the small space of the Newton, and suddenly coming to this vast space has strengthened his strength. feelings.In short, when he entered this grand and spacious spaceship alone, he was immediately overwhelmed by its huge and magnificent structure. O'Toole couldn't describe how he felt.Those awe-inspiring sights tightened his throat and brought tears to his eyes.For the first time, he landed on a chairlift, onto the Central Plains.The land of Rama is vast and wide, and the six strip-shaped lamps emit soft and bright light, illuminating the whole Rama brightly.Standing by the rover, he gazed through the binoculars across the Sea of ​​Columns at the mysterious skyscrapers in the city of "New York".Many times, he stared blankly, just like all previous astronauts did when they first saw the city of "New York".Huge pinnacles and buttresses jut from the southern bowl. O'Toole was filled with awe and admiration.He even felt more thrilling at this moment than when he first entered an old European Catholic cathedral. He spent the night at Camp Beta in the tent hut left by his former team members.He found the note that Richard left two weeks ago, and immediately wanted to drive a motorboat across the sea to "New York" to find it.However, he finally restrained himself, he must complete the main task of his visit here. Rama, he said to himself, was a magnificent achievement, but its magnificence and grandeur should not be a factor in his judgment of whether to detonate.Will everything in front of him change his conclusion?No.He answered himself very reluctantly.When the lights in Rama's cylinder came back on, O'Toole was confident that he would activate the bomb before the next Rama's twilight. But he still hesitated, delayed.He drove the rover along the coast of the Sea of ​​Cylindrical Sea, observed the street scene of "New York" from different angles, and looked at the towering cliffs across the sea. Passing by Camp Beta for the last time, he decided to look for some belongings left behind by the other team members in their hasty retreat.After the baptism of the hurricane, there is not much left here.However, in some corners, he still found a little souvenir. O'Toole had a good night's sleep before driving back to the foot of the chairlift.It was not until he was at the bottom of the steps that he realized clearly the full significance of what he was about to do when he returned to the Newton.O'Toole knelt down and said one last prayer before going up. After ascending less than 500 meters, he turned around again to take a bird's-eye view of the interior of Rama, and thought sadly: "It won't be long before all of this will be reduced to ashes and become a man-made furnace as red as the sun." He looked at the sky above the city of "New York", and suddenly found that there was a moving black spot in the sky of Rama. O'Toole raised the binoculars with trembling hands.Within seconds, he had captured the black dot.He adjusted the focus, and the black spots turned into three, which were three birds flying in formation in the sky.O'Toole blinked vigorously, the scene remained unchanged, it was indeed 3 birds soaring in the sky of Rama! General O'Toole's heart was filled with joy, and he followed the birds through his binoculars, crying out with joy, until the birds were no longer to be seen.Afterwards, O'Toole felt that the half-hour ride to the top of the Alpha Steps on the chair lift seemed like an eternity. The American general immediately climbed into another chair lift and descended again.He was desperate to see the birds again.He thought excitedly: "If I can manage to take some pictures, I can prove to people that there is still some life living in this incredible world." If necessary, he intends to drive to the Column Sea again. When there were still 2,000 meters above the ground, General O'Toole was still searching the sky for those birds in vain while descending.Finding nothing, he couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.But when the chair lift stopped on the ground and he put down the binoculars, he was stunned and couldn't speak a word.Richard and Nicole stood side by side by the chair lift. General O'Toole hugged them hard, tears of joy streamed down his cheeks; he knelt on the land of Rama, and excitedly repeated and thanked: "My dear God, dear God... "