Chapter 4 Chapter Four

We slumber in our cardboard beds, aching from the gravity of the earth, sleepless nights and waking up stiff and hopeless.I wish we could go back to the moon immediately. "There must be a hole in the wall," Kathy tried to motivate us, "to let tourists in and out." The train is coming from the north.Behind the wall we walked north along a narrow path within it, our spirits slightly lifted by the heat of the activity.Around the corner, the railroad emerged from a tunnel, passed an iron bridge over a cliff interrupted by a stream, and entered our "cage" through a narrow archway in the fence.

"We have to cross that bridge," Pippi paused with difficulty, shaking his head towards the creek flowing among the rocky clumps below the valley. "The train will hit us on the rails." "We waited for it to just pass," Casey said. We lay in the gutter beside the tracks and waited until the locomotive burst through the mouth of the tunnel, steam horns screaming.The train rattled past us, the driver poked his head out to look at the Paine memorial ahead, and we climbed out of the gutter and raced across the bridge.We jumped off the rails at the tunnel entrance and rolled down a grassy slope.After recovering, we carried the wall on our backs and walked southwest, entering the open land.

The memorial descends slowly behind a wooded ridge, and finally we see only the domed observation room that Paine built on a replica of Tycho crater.We emerged from an open valley, sparsely wooded and here and there grazing animals I knew, wildebeest, gazelles, and a small herd of graceful impalas. "Thanks to old Kevin Defoe, Noah's Ark saved the Earth from another 'flood,'" Casey covered her eyes as a pair of ostriches ran away from us and across the clearing, " But where did the humans hide?" "Where is the water?" Pippi muttered, "I don't want a flood, I just need some water for us to drink."

We plodded through the lush grass until I saw a herd of elephants stepping out of the trees towards us.A huge adult elephant with huge white tusks walked in front, followed by six or seven baby elephants. It seemed that the mother was leading the baby to forage.They come straight towards us.I tried to run away, but Kathy just motioned us to move aside.They pass us slowly.Walk to drink in a pond we haven't discovered yet.After they left, we walked to the pond.Pippi was the first to rush up, bending over to scoop up a handful of water. "Don't drink!" - A child's voice sounded behind us, "Unclean water will harm you."

A little girl came running towards us from the woods where the elephant herd was.It was the first child we saw, in a snow-white blouse and blue skirt, her golden face half hidden behind a wide-brimmed hat tied at her chin with a scarlet ribbon, It looks very cute. "Hello," she said, stopping a few yards away, her big blue eyes full of curiosity, "are you one of those moon people?" "And strangers here," Kathy told her our names, "strangers in trouble." "You fooled the old spaceships," she accused us in a serious voice, "you shouldn't be here on Earth."

We stared at her dumbfounded: "How do you know?" "The spaceship notified my dad." We stood silently, unable to recover for a moment.The innocence on her face looked like a charming picture scroll, but it gave me a chill.Pippi took a few steps back carefully, but after a while, Casey calmed down and asked, "Who is your father?" "When you met him on the moon, you called him uncle," she said with pride on her face. "He was a very famous, very great man. He discovered the lunar ruins and rediscovered the forgotten history of mankind. He also reconstructed ancient buildings, which you can see around when the spaceship lands."

"I see," Kathy nodded, looking a little downcast, "I'm beginning to see what's going on." "We won't apologize," Pippi winked at her and took a deep breath, "We know so much about the moon, but now we're lost here, stuck in a world I can't understand. You know What does our future hold?" "My father is not sure either," she looked at the replica of the Tycho space station in the distance, "I have repeatedly asked him to take me to the moon, but he said that there is no suitable place for me on the space station." She looked away and looked at us again , "You must be very interested. My name is—"

She made a long string of rhythmic consonants and singing vowels, and when Pippi tried to imitate, she smiled at his failure. "Just call me Tering," she said. "It's easier for you." She turned to Pippi. "If you want a drink, follow me." We followed her back to the small circle of shadow cast by the nearest trees on the square of stones, and she motioned for us to sit down, opened the basket and found a bottle of water, poured a glass and handed it to Pippi.She watched happily as Pippi couldn't wait to drink the water and poured him another glass, then Kathy and me.

"I came out to look at the elephant herd," she told us. "I love elephants. I'm very grateful to you Moon people for preserving the tissue of the species, which has allowed most of the ancient life to survive." When she opened the basket, I caught a tantalizing scent.She saw that Pippi's eyes had been fixed on the basket. "I have brought some food to my friends in the forest," she said, "if you are hungry..." Pippi hurriedly said that we were all starving.She spread a white tablecloth on a rock and laid out what she had brought.I think those fruits are very similar to peaches, grapes, and pears, but they are very sweet and have a unique flavor.A small piece of fragrant brown cake melted in my mouth.We wolfed down all the food and she was delighted.

"Where are the others?" Pippi waved his arms towards the open field, "Don't you have any cities?" "Of course there are," she said, "but Dad says they're much smaller than what you built on prehistoric Earth." She pointed to the elephants. "We share this planet with other creatures. He said when When your own ecology is out of balance, you destroy it." "Maybe, but we didn't bring the meteor that hit the earth," Casey frowned again. "You're the only child we saw." "We don't have much space. We're immortal, you know."

I listened carefully, hoping she would tell us how to find or build a shelter, but everything I heard made our new world even stranger. Kathy stared at her. "Why don't you die?" "That's hard to explain," she paused, as if trying to give an answer we could understand, "Daddy said I should tell you that since the clones came back to live on the abandoned Earth, we've transformed ourselves, we've changed My own genes invented 'Nelloro'." "Nelloro?" She paused again, looking at the elephant wandering in the distance. "My dad calls them artificial symbionts. They're tiny things that live in our bodies like bacteria, but do us no harm. They're made of organisms, diamonds, and gold, and they move in the blood , repair or replace damaged cells, and regenerate lost organs. They work together with our nerve cells and brain cells." We forgot to eat and stared blankly at her.This innocent little girl in a simple skirt, baggy blouse, and slack hat suddenly became so frightening that I shuddered.She reached out and put her hand on mine. "Dad says I should call them microcyborgs, half machine, half creature. They're electronic devices that can be programmed to store digital information. They emit harmonious pulses that create their own electrical waves in the brain, Turn your whole body into a radio antenna. Sitting here talking to you, and I can talk to Dad at the same time." She smiled up at me, and squeezed my hand tightly with her slender fingers. "Mr Duncan, please don't be afraid of me, I know we look very different, I'm a weird creature to you, but I will never hurt you." She looked so alluring, I wanted to hold her in my arms, but my awe had turned to fear.We all recoiled from her and sat wordlessly until hunger drove us on to the pile of fruit and cake again.As we ate, Pippi started asking questions. where does she live "On that hill," she nodded westward, but I didn't know which one she was referring to. "My dad picked a spot overlooking the memorial." Is she going to school? "School?" The word seemed to confuse her for a moment, then she shook her head, "We don't need the kind of school in the prehistoric world. Dad said its purpose is to develop the brains of young people, the 'Nelloro' inside us Can be programmed and reprogrammed in due time, loading any required information without difficulty, which is how I learned your English." She smiled into his bewildered face and picked up a round purple berry. "However, our bodies still need exercise," she daintily wiped her lips with a white napkin. "We form social groups, play games together or do some skill exercises. Flying around; skiing on high mountain tops when it snows is my favorite; I have also dived under coral reefs to observe the underwater landscape; I also enjoy music, art, theater, and all kinds of creative play.” "This must be very interesting," Pippi's eyes widened, "much more interesting than our life in the moon tunnel." His face suddenly sank, "I hope your father won't send us back there." "Even if he wanted to, he couldn't." She teased his spring-loaded boots. "He's done the final excavation. The lunar ruins are closed and protected for years to come, off-limits to all. .” "Then how is he going to arrange us?" "Does he have to intervene?" She looked a little annoyed, looking at the space station vault on the crater in the distance, "He said he didn't prepare a place for you, but there is a replica of your space station in Tycho. .If you want, I think real people can replace fake ones." "Pretend we're back on the moon?" Casey said solemnly. "I don't agree." "If you don't want to..." She stopped, tilted her head as if listening to something, and then.She began to gather the jug and the remaining fruit, stuffing them back into the basket.Pippi anxiously asked what had happened. "My mother," she shook her head, her brows furrowed, "she's calling me home." "Please wait!" Kathy begged her. "Can't you stay a little longer? You're the only friend we've ever found. We don't know what to do without you." "I wish I could help you guys, but mom is worried about me." "I think you're still in danger here," he said, glancing down the valley. "We saw a lion. You really shouldn't be here alone." "That lion," she shook her head, "I know it. It's a good friend of mine. It's strong, fierce and agile." She was lost in recollection, "I also know that Bengal tiger. It's hiding in the bushes because he is afraid of humans. I told him we would never hurt him. Once he let me ride on his back while chasing a gazelle, which was a real thrill.” Her voice became serious. "I'm glad the gazelle escaped. Although the tiger was starving and disappointed, I forgave him as much as I could because I knew he had to hunt for food, like all lions and jaguars. To survive, they The other animals have to be killed. Mom says it's the law of nature, and it's absolutely necessary. Too many herbivores will destroy the grasslands and eventually starve themselves." We stared at her suspiciously again. "How did you tame that tiger?" "I think 'Nelloro' helped me understand its thoughts, just like the way I communicate with you. It knows that I respect it and that we are good friends. It will fight people to protect me, even with you fight." "Your mother is afraid of us?" She picked up the basket, walked with hesitation, frowned, and looked uneasy. "Nelloro—" she said hesitantly, "I trust you, but Nairoro—" She stopped again, "I thought you said 'Nelloro' was good." "That's the problem," she hesitated, her expression flickering. "Mother said you didn't have 'Nelloro', she couldn't read your minds. When she spoke to you, you couldn't hear her. She said you didn't Belongs here because you're not one of us. What she's worried about—she's afraid of you." Kathy was silent, and glanced at her sadly, "I'm sorry I have to leave in a hurry," she solemnly bowed slightly to each of us, shaking our hands, "It's a pity that you don't have 'Nelloro', but My mom is so anxious again, I have to say goodbye." "Please tell your dad—" Kathy couldn't help but say. "He knows," she said. "He's sorry you're here." She left with her basket, turned and waved to us, the shadow of her wide-brimmed hat covering part of her face.I thought she was about to say something, but after a while, she left. "It's so beautiful!" Kathy murmured to herself. "When she grows up, she will be another Mona." Looking back at monuments replicated from ancient Earth and the space station gleaming on Tycho crater, I see a black-maned lion striding across a valley to a pond where elephants drink.Three smaller lionesses followed.None of them were our friends, and I shivered.