Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Return to Rama

"I can't believe what I've done," Nicole said to herself, as she loaded the last of the supplies onto the tank truck and hauled them to the top of the beta steps. Ramari was dark.In this incomparably vast space, the light seemed extraordinarily weak. The dream was so vivid and real.For five full minutes Nicole was completely bewildered.Even now, although two hours have passed, when she closes her eyes, she can still see her grandpa's face clearly and hear his mysterious groan. "I hope Richard doesn't wake up before I go," thought Nicole. "He can't understand this."

She returned to the tanker and made her way through Rama's shell one last time to the Newton.For thirty minutes the words of farewell had been swirling in her head, but at this very moment, at this last moment, Nicole was in a state of disarray. "Dear Michael, my dear Richard," she would begin, "Last night I had one of the strangest dreams of my life, the old chief of Sirover, my grandfather told Me, my destiny is linked with Rama." Nicole passed through the airlock and entered the Newton's control center.She sat down by the camera and cleared her throat. "This is ridiculous." When she turned on the light, she thought to herself, "I must have lost my mind." But the face of grandpa reappeared in front of her eyes again, driving away the last trace of wavering and doubt in her, and she calmed down.In a short while, she recorded her farewell words to her friends and lovers in one breath.

"I cannot express in a few words the importance of my great-grandfather and my African blood in my life here. Michael, Richard will tell you something about the Severo tribe on your way back to Earth. story. It is safe to say that I have never been misled by the old wizard. I know that the voice did not really appear, but more likely in my own subconscious mind, nevertheless, I decided to follow my grandfather's advice guidance. "I'm going to tell Rama by some means that the nuclear missiles are on their way. I don't know how to do that, but I've got some time to plan while I'm sailing across the Cylindrical Sea. I remember, Richard, you have said that the keyboard commands may be connected to a higher level...

"It's extremely difficult for me to say goodbye like this, and I want so much to hug you one last time. But if you wake up, you will never let me go back to Rama...I love you, Richard, for that You don't have the slightest doubt. I know it may not be possible, but I still look forward to, maybe one day, somewhere, we will meet again. I promise you, if I am lucky enough to give birth to our child, I will definitely continue Tell her or him the story of the bright, alert, sentimental father. "I have one last request. If any of you make it back to Earth and I never get back, please explain to my daughter what happened to me. Tell her all the stories that happened here, this dream, This vial, this hallucination, and the wonders I encountered as a child in Africa. Tell her I love her with all my heart."

Tears couldn't stop streaming down Nicole's face.She stood up and replayed it to make sure it was recorded; then she walked through the airlock, put the helmet on, sighed, and thought, "My God, I finally did this." In the dark, Nicole rode the chair lift down quickly.She was apprehensive about her return to Rama.It took a great effort to overcome her fear.She climbed into the rover and headed for the Sea of ​​Columns. At this time, she began to think about how to get in touch with Rama's control center. "I can illustrate with pictures," she said to herself, "or the precise language of science. I have learned a great deal from Richard."

Thinking of Richard, she couldn't help being filled with anxiety again: "He must think that I abandoned him, or what would he think?" Lonely days, when she couldn't confide her feelings to anyone.Once again she had a strong urge to turn away from Rama. A sudden light interrupted her contemplation.Dawn came again to Rama.As usual, Nicole was intoxicated by the scenery around her. "There is no place in the universe so magnificent as this place," she said to herself. Arriving at Camp Beta, she found the sailboat still well-packed at the bottom of the container.The shape of the boat is beautiful.The installation work made her temporarily put aside the complicated thoughts in her mind just now.She is not good at installing mechanical devices. It took 10 minutes and she couldn't assemble a large part. At this time, she was a little desperate.She remembered that one year on Christmas Eve, she and her father spent almost a whole night assembling a toy given to their daughter. "There should be a law that stores are only allowed to sell pre-packaged toys." She snickered as she set up the sailboat.

Nicole carried the hull down the steps and lowered it to the water's edge.She has all the main components installed.She knelt on the ground, concentrating on it, and didn't hear the footsteps two or three meters away.When she turned around and saw him beside her, she was shocked. She and Richard hugged and kissed tightly. "O'Toole's here too," he said, and immediately sat down to start fitting the sailboat. "First I explained to him that I would not leave without you. Without you, my life on earth would mean nothing. He said we were both crazy. But when I explained that we might be able to warn the Ramas He said that he would rather spend his last days with us than risk a lonely and miserable death in that boat."

"But I suppose you said it was safe to go back in that boat alone?" "Not entirely sure. The software is so screwed up it's a nightmare. You know, they're loaded in a panic, and they're never checked. Of course, O'Toole went away alone. It may be more likely to succeed than the two of us walking together... But don't forget, he will face serious problems after returning to Earth, and the military court trial is no joke." "I don't think O'Toole is afraid of some court-martial. He probably wants people to spare his family, but..." Shouts from a distance interrupted their conversation.General O'Toole waves from an approaching rover.

"But I don't understand," said Nicole, "how he came so fast? You couldn't have come on foot, could you?" Richard smiled: "Of course not. I left a signal source under the chair lift. As soon as I arrived at Camp Beta, I saw that you had taken the sailboat and parts away, so I let the rover automatically go back to pick him up." "It's yours," said Nicole, "if I've loaded up the boat and gone to sea during this time, will you be chasing me with your feet?" Richard looked at the hull lying on the water's edge below the cliff, and said, "Actually you've done better than I expected," he said in a teasing tone, "You might have another hour or two to get it done." gone."

Nicole beat him coquettishly, but he grabbed both hands.O'Toole was the only one of the three with sailing experience.Soon, they came to the middle of the sea.He told Richard to use an oar as a weapon in case the pair of "sharks" followed them. "It's not Marblehead or Great Bay Point," O'Toole said as he looked around, and the sailboat was galloping toward "New York," "but it's obviously an interesting sail." During the voyage, Richard tried to convince Nicole that those "sharks" would not bother them, saying: "After all, they did not attack Newton and his team when they sailed here for the first time. If there is any problem with the design of the ship If you don’t like anything, they have overthrown us long ago.”

But Nicole didn't believe him, and was still nervous: "How can you be sure?" Nicole asked, eyes uncomfortably fixed on the gray shadow beside their ship, "If they don't want to attack us, Why do you keep following us?" "Because our presence is a novelty, that's all." Richard replied.Even so, when a gray figure suddenly turned towards the boat, he immediately became tense and grabbed the oars tightly.The gray shadow passed under the boat and joined another "shark" on the other side.He breathed a sigh of relief, put down the oars, and said, "Look, I told you, don't worry, it's all right." When they came to the shore of "New York" not far from the steps, they moored the boat.O'Toole had never been to "New York," so he was curious about what he saw.Nicole gave him a short tour; Richard immediately went to the computer and got to work. When Nicole and the General came to the White Room, Richard had already made progress.Seeing them enter, Richard said, "My hypothesis was correct. I'm pretty sure they must have some sort of radar-like scanning device. Before I can locate them, can you guys think of any An easy way to convey our warning. Don't forget, the missiles are here in less than 24 hours." "Twenty-four hours?" Nicole thought. "Less than a day." She glanced at Richard, hard at the keyboard, and General O'Toole, watching the black objects scattered on the floor.For a moment a wave of terror overwhelmed the tender feeling she had always had in the midst of the two men. "Are we all going to die tomorrow?" she asked terrified.