Chapter 10 Chapter nine

Quinn floated aboard the Mars Kirvan, with personal belongings and a change of underwear in the pillowcase hanging from his shoulder.He still has the scent of Clay's star mist from their heartbroken last farewell; his lips ache from the parting kiss Noel gave him; Jomo's eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, a burst of anxiety hit his heart. What if that horrible guy touches the aperture?Even if it doesn't go, how long can those old engines last?How likely is he to get the good engine and get the aperture on in time?He grabbed the life brake label and stopped thinking about his ignorant future.

“Dern, that’s it.” After the test, the technician laser-encoded the diagnostic data onto a sheet of stiff yellow plastic, which he then tossed at him. "Go to the launch bay and give this to the doctor's deputy." He waved Quinn to hurry. "The test results are better than most people, and 80% of them can return to the sun alive." This is scary enough, but compared to those who stay at the aperture station, the chances of surviving are much better, "Quin Dern?" The doctor's deputy glanced at the label, "Captain Brunn is on the list I saw your name on the Internet, and she wants to see you before injecting Lifesha."

The spacecraft is still docked at the launch site to load the reaction materials.Quinn walked towards the command module, looking at the spaceship to his heart's content.He marveled at the handrails, stairs, and lifts, while reminding him that he would soon lose the freedom of Jannott's feeble gravitational pull. Wearing a belt, Vera Brunn sat in a chair, with the flight control panel flashing in front of her.She looked slightly older than she appeared on the screen, with thinner hair and a broad, lined face that looked sullen.He handed her the life brake tag without saying a word, waiting for her to speak.

"Dern?" Her voice was hoarse like a man's. "The adopted son of the headman?" He nodded uneasily, wondering if she might throw him off the ship for that. "You voluntarily took the Life Shake?" She stared at him slyly with tired eyes. "why?" "I've always wanted to go to the side of the sun." Seeing her squinting her eyes, Quinn didn't seem to believe his words. "My mother is back there and I think my father is there too, I want to find them." Unaccustomed to Janenot's weak gravity, she tried to put the yellow label into a small charcoal cylinder on the control panel, but the label floated straight towards him. He grabbed the label and handed it to her again.She waved her hand, looked him up and down, and straightened his messy hair.

"I heard that you are a nuclear engineer?" "It's all just random learning." His heart began to thump. "Helping to run the engine refurbishment aboard the Capala." "I've heard about it." She frowned, as if a little suspicious. "But those engines are old antiques. You probably don't know much about these Kirvan series ships." "I can learn—" He held his breath, trying to appear calm. "If you need an engineer—" "We really need it." Seeing his urgent look, a smile flashed across her face. "After they told me Capala couldn't fly, I sent an engineer to check it out. He didn't come back, he just sent a message saying that Ulu told him that you are perfectly capable of taking his place."

"I would very much like to—" "Report to Masuda." She pointed to the door. "Maybe he can use you." Masuda, a thin, long-haired, smiling young man who didn't seem to speak English, glanced idly at the tag, chirped into the intercom, and motioned for Quinn to wait. meeting.The doctor's deputy came over and stuck a small thin disk into his ear. "This is a computer translator, the eighth generation of Wansheng. This little gadget can sometimes fool people, but you will get used to it soon." Masuda motioned him to the engine room. "Come in, Mr. Durn." He was still listening to Masuda's Japanese in one ear, and the sharp soprano voice of the machine translation was already echoing in the other ear. "The Honorable Mr. Durn--with all due respect--come and inspect the ion propulsion unit."

He gradually got used to the double noise interference.The engine in the house excited him.Some engines were so simple and elegant in design that he fell in love with them just by looking at them, and there were others that still puzzled him despite Masuda's explanation.Excited, he asked who designed these engines. Neither voice spoke. "Shosen? Is it Sosen?" "I don't know——" Masuda said with embarrassment. "Didn't know—dear Thorson." "He's in Kirwan's laboratory," Quinn continued, "research—" Masuda walked forward, pointing to the engine and said: "This is a two-cylinder fuel injection machine, and there is a centrifugal filter to purify the reaction substances .”

Quinn had to follow him suspiciously, and finally Masuda turned to ask about the status of the Capala's engine. "Okay, Mr. Durn." Masouda raised her eyelids. "You've driven a scrap metal like that - our engines are so much easier here. You learn to repair and operate. On duty. Keep your nose clean. We forget life brakes." He said nothing, and handed a red-top computer to quinn.Quinn started the computer and saw a line of words appear on the screen. "Mark 9 Ion Thruster Operating Instructions. Edited by Olaf Thorsen, Sun 105." He couldn't help but glance up at Masuda in bewilderment.

"Suggestion, Mr. Durn." The voice of the machine translator was very high-pitched. "Study the engineering program and forget about the esteemed Olaf Thorsen." As he took off, he watched the aperture station on a monitor in the engine room.The jet illuminated a mess on the ice: an ancient caparra like a faded silver toy; The group of lights quickly faded away.That was the only home he ever had! He had a sore throat, staring intently at the aperture station as it slid away into the distance, faster and faster, and finally disappeared on the uneven horizon.Jannot also shrinks into a black dot, lost among the shining stars.Even with the Thorsen-designed engine, it would take four months to reach Codobosi.The spaceship became yet another prison, narrower than Jannott's.

The ride was uneventful, with the engine maintaining a constant push.He was responsible for the engine running normally and when nothing happened, he turned on the guidance program in the computer and imagined what he should do when he was on the other side of the sun. Although the thrust of the propeller is less than half of the earth's gravity, it has made him tired and uncomfortable. On the track at the Jannot Stadium, he once drove the bicycle into 2 or 3 without any discomfort, but it only worked every time. It lasts about an hour.He began to suspect that he could not bear the gravity of the earth.

Is the aperture station okay?Has Jason Cowan escaped the alien trap?Is that scary space object showing up again?Is the Kowanan over the sun, the Chen family and the Sheng clan still at war?He hadn't heard anything, but he knew there must be laser communication between the ship and Solar Command.Masuda and a taciturn blond girl named Lena Ladino took turns guarding the engine room with him.After get off work, they sleep in a room. They never talked about the Kovan technical department headed by Olaf Thorsen, never about the people on the other side of the sun, only about things in the engine room. The spaceship looked very empty.All the other retreating masses, including most of Carbone's men, were under the effects of Life Brake.There were no more than thirty crew members working on the job, they were busy with work, and most of them avoided him.Even when eating together, almost no one talks.They all have sun marks.Without the sun mark, he is nothing. Only Gene Carbon doesn't see it that way.On the second day of the flight, Carbon greeted him in the missile launch bay, and they had dinner together.Carbon gloomily says he has nothing to do and no friends on board.Brune had let him bring some precious wine and fruit aboard, and he asked Quinn to share these, and they often sat together at meals. Quinn felt more and more sorry for him.When he was sober he was pathetic and silent: but when he drank his inner torment would be revealed.More than once, he held Quinn tightly with trembling hands, his deep-set eyes almost pleading. "Don't lie to me, what happened to him?" Quinn didn't know how to answer. "My poor Leonard," his voice trembled hoarsely. "He's still alive, isn't he? He's a brave ambassador, living among friendly aliens from Aperture?" Quinn had to turn his head away. "Not a traitor!" Carbon grabbed his arm. "Tell me, what happened to my child?" "I have no way of knowing." Quinn tried to comfort him. "Unless we get the truth of the matter -- Jason won't tell the truth of the matter." Before arriving at the transfer station, Carbon was completely desperate.Bruen tried to find him something to do on the boat, but he didn't want to do anything.After the wine drank up, he asked to take Lifesha, but the doctor said he should not take it, so he made a big fuss and pestered Brunn to beg for mercy, so the doctors had to inject him with a small amount of Lifesha.He was lying in the infirmary, with Quinn sitting next to him. "Best trip, kid—" He squeezed Quinn's hand tremblingly. "If I don't wake up—" He couldn't wake up.At noon, the doctors reported that the main functions of his body had stopped. Brunn ordered the doctors to find a way to save him, but it was too late. On the day they arrived at the transfer station, Bruen called the entire crew to the processing cabin and held a funeral for the two of them. Nicholas Chen, the supervisory technician, also died under the force of life brake. Quinn didn't hear any official explanation, but people said that he injected himself with an overdose of life brake, which was suicide, maybe Because going back to the sun he's going to be in trouble for a lot of reasons. Bruen read the formally worded eulogy, praising Chen and Captain Carbon for their honorable sacrifices to the Cowan Tower and the holy Empire of the Sun.Bruhn's curt, bureaucratic accent sounded blunt and cold to Quinn.He suddenly felt a deep sadness for Carbon, and a strong sense of loss and fear intertwined in his heart.Although Chen and Carbon have completely different backgrounds, they are both victims of the dark and ignorant world of Aperture!The funeral reminded him of the disasters that still threatened Jannot. After the ceremony, Brunn took him aside. "Carbon is your friend." She took his hand as if to comfort him. Quinn rarely saw her with a heartbroken Carbon, so the emotion in her words surprised him. "You did your best." "Not to mention. He's not very useful anymore." There was a hint of hatred in her voice suddenly. "He's been drained." He didn't say anything, not understanding what she meant. "His life, and the life of his son, was sucked dry by a company that didn't care." She was about to turn and walk away. "Captain!" He quickly seized the opportunity. "Any news from you? Jannot? Commander Kirvan? And the guy I saw?" "No—'" She frowned at him and hesitated for a moment. "Oh, sort of. " She paused again, and said abruptly, "Come with me, Dern, I have something to tell you." She followed into her room, which was simply decorated, which was not commensurate with her position.She closed the door behind her. "No news from the stars." She stared at him, brushing back her thinning white hair with rough hands. "Not in the future. The relay link on the station has been cut off. Maybe it was the guy you saw who cut it off, but the censors will never allow people to whisper about it." "Janenot—" His voice choked up suddenly. "Have you been attacked?" "The Conqueror of Neptune was attacked," she replied. "No bones left. Nothing over there." "Did that monster attack?" "Anyway, there's something." She frowned even deeper. "It happened very quickly. We only got intermittent signals.They found a huge monster and rushed towards them quickly.They fired back, but the missiles they fired had no effect, and the signal was cut. "That's all I know." She gestured to the table. "let's eat together." It was an order, and he obeyed.The restaurant waiter brought a morsel of food.He thought wistfully of Janenot, who had no appetite at all, and she watched him in silence without eating, and then he began to wonder why she had invited him to dinner. "Would you like wine?" The waiter took his untouched plate away. "Carben gave it to me, he won't have a problem if you drink some." The waiter brought her a cup of steaming black tea.She said that the tea was different, it was from Sri Lanka.She sipped her tea, then leaned over to him sternly. "Dern," she forced a smile. "Quinn, you have lost contact with your friends in Aperture, and you may never be able to. I can see that you have lost your soul. What are you going to do after Dakota?" For some reason, he began to like her. "I want to help them, to help Aperture Station." He saw her suspicious eyes. "I want to get the machines, learn to run the nuclear generators, and get back to the Aperture before they're alive!" She narrowed her sly eyes. "Do you think you have a chance?" "My mother was a scientist in Kirwan's lab, and her husband was Olaf Thorsen—" "The nuclear engineer?" Her expression changed. "Maybe you have a chance." "Over there to the sun—" He suddenly wanted to tell her what was in his heart. "It's always been the magical world I've longed for, and I've always hoped—" He couldn't help staring at her upper lip, where a few black beards grew sparsely.He looked at it for a while and decided not to mention his father. "Wanting to get my own sun sign - years ago, I passed the test my mother gave me." "That may be a little difficult." She shook her head gently. "Maybe it's harder than you think." "I know I need—need luck." He tried to even out his voice. "Need a friend." Her gray eyes were still studying him.He was not used to holding the wine glass, so he put it down gently. "Maybe I can help." Her broad face was still focused and cautious, and he stared intently at her beard. "I talked to Masuda, and he said you're a quick learner, and you're good enough." She nodded, almost smiling. "If you want, I can make an exception and let you work on the ship. This may be your best chance to get the sun mark." Although he was greatly moved in his heart, he still shook his head. "That will take many years, and Jannot can't afford to wait." "If you dream of taking a shortcut—" She looked directly at him, and her hoarse voice was filled with hatred again. "That means you still don't understand the side of the sun. Listen to me and tell me what the Sun Empire did to me." He didn't understand it all at once. "Compared to poor old Carbon, I'm lucky. But I also gave my life to Kowan and Empire of the Sun, and they lied to me." Beneath the beard, her thin lips twitched. "Yes, I made the captain, but I should have had a family. Noel—Noel should have been my daughter." She turned her head sharply. "I should have had a son." He didn't know what to say, so he took a sip of his wine and waited for her to turn his head. "I made a choice 30 years ago." She seemed annoyed, and her voice became sharper. "I chose Empire of the Sun - because I had great fantasies about it, because the early Kovan was so good. "They created the world!" A trace of anger flashed across her tense face. "They invented the Kewanlong line, set up a skynet, explored planets, and benefited mankind. "It's all over, Quinn, it's been a long time." She seemed impatient for him to understand what she meant. "The current giants only know how to guard the inheritance of their ancestors and fight like mad dogs. They are afraid of taking risks and unwilling to create, and they have long forgotten the traditions of their ancestors. "They've wasted my life because they didn't care. Well, Quinn, I've always wanted to land on planets, if you knew the word—" "I've heard people call you Mrs. Martian." She calmed down and gave him a wry smile. "We first chose Venus, which is very similar to Earth in many ways, except that it is too dry and hot. We considered stealing a cold moon from Saturn and crashing it into Venus. "In this way, new life on Venus will have water. At that time, genetic engineers have begun to design new life, these life will change the atmosphere, convert carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen, carbon for their bodies, and oxygen for their bodies. Higher animals breathe. "one thousand years later--" She bit her lip and stopped to take a sip of her tea. "Kovan can't see what's going to happen a thousand years from now. We have to abandon Venus and explore Mars instead. It seems easier, but Mars is pitifully small. I spent four years on the survey, and explored all over the crust of Mars." Drill holes, tap everywhere, analyze everything you see, work hard, endure it all! "It's been like this for 10 years. "I spent another 10 years surveying the two satellites of Saturn. They are small in size and far away from Saturn. They can be separated and guided into the orbit of Mars, providing Mars with water and large "Back to the sun, I used With more time to seek support for the program, I sought out Flight Command, the Committee of Thirty, and the Giant himself, to no avail. "Her face tensed even more. "They all shrugged and rejected me. Most of the reasons were so-called solar politics. They said that it would cost too much money to build ion thrusters, and the quality requirements were too high. They also said that they expected to earn money from Mars. Before returning a penny, the Sun Empire may have already encountered various disasters. " Her sullen face twitched. "My great dream. It was stifled just like that. We, Kowan, and the Sun Empire have all fallen into the vortex of corruption, and we have lost the courage of the nation, so I say that Jannot has no chance-- " "Jannot has a chance!" Quinn said. "Clay Knoll and the people who stayed there had the guts to do anything." "I hope so, Quinn—for you, and for them." There was emotion in her voice. "But there's so much you need to do. There's no sun sign—" She shook her head, running rough fingers through her hair.He saw that there seemed to be some tears in her dim eyes. "I want to ask my mother for help." "If she's in Kirwan, I might be able to find her for you." "Thank you, Captain—" "Captain!" She laughed bitterly, grabbed his hand and held it tightly, at that moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but she suddenly shook his hand away. "Quinn, I will do my best to help you." She seemed to be unable to bear the thrust of the spaceship, slowly stood up from the chair, shook hands with him vigorously, and nodded to let him leave. After passing the transfer station, the spacecraft began to slow down.He stared at the monitor and saw the sun getting brighter and brighter day by day, until it finally grew into a disc with a visible shape.Next to the sun, he also saw Jupiter and Saturn as black dots.Skynet was a day away, and Bruin's voice screeched over the intercom, telling him to hurry to the cockpit.Brunn's face was very serious when he saw him. "The news is bad, Quinn, I called the Kirwan Lab to ask about your mother, and they told me that she had passed away." The queen was in a good mood, and the heat in her body was rekindled. She flew forward to find a suitable den.The vicinity of the new nest must be rich in metals, so there is no place to find food after the baby is born. Of course, the new nest had to be safe, spacious, and hard enough metal to arm the tunnel she was about to dig.And keep away from all enemies, and if there are enemies, they must be small enough that the warriors among her children can repel them. The great outer planets were of no use to her, but one drew her to stop, filling her heart with longing for a home far away.The planet is surrounded by a large group of erratic satellites, its surface is golden and rich, and a hurricane belt is formed from the center, surrounded by circles of shiny flying matter. She couldn't refuse such a beautiful view, so she spread her wings and flew to a snow-covered satellite.The gravitational waves in the small circle gently rippled, intoxicating her, and reminding her of those happy childhood days in her hometown.The moon orbits an iron asteroid, which in turn orbits another, more spectacular larger planet formed from icy circles. She filled her flight sac, and lingered there for a while, until a raging hunger urged her toward the inner planets of the star.These planets are rich in various radiant metals, but their sweetness is somewhat spoiled by a harmful energy pollution. It was the noise of little mosquitoes, and their hoarse voices made her extremely uncomfortable. One day, her noble sons would wipe them out, but for now, she could only bear it.So she turned around, looking for an undamaged asteroid. On the outskirts of the star, she finally found such an asteroid.It is made of a solid mass of nickel-iron that was struck by a protoplanetary splitting charged core early in the system's formation. It was big enough to hold her new nest, far enough away to hear the humming of the ugly gnomes, and rich in metal that she could eat by herself until the babies were born. Standing on the asteroid's iron cliff, she paused to survey the planets around it.The third one is the most attractive, with a strong metallic smell on the surface, it must be the metal mined by those little mosquitoes.A pleasant smell of spices traversed the equator, and metal dust could be seen everywhere, rushing out of the atmosphere and drifting into space. She bit their toy bunkers, must they be shaking with anger?These arrogant little bugs!Would they have the guts to attack her?She opened her eyes and looked at their spaceships, some small metal shells, which might only interest her young son, but inside were soft, huddled little mosquitoes that were disgusting to eat, and not full at all. . They're nothing but a bunch of nasty scum! She lowered her tail and touched the asteroid. It was safe and hard, just like her home.She chose a wide, flat spot and started digging the tunnel entrance, and built metal blocks into the wall to hide the protective den.Before starting to dig the food room, she carefully drilled out of the tunnel to see that the unpleasant electronic smell hadn't abated, but the little mosquitoes hadn't come close either.They were so stupid and so self-important that they were unaware of her presence, and she imagined that when the sons attacked them, they must have gone into a rage--while an object flew closer and closer! Objects were coming not from the direction of the planets, but from behind her, from the direction of her home star.For a moment she thought with delight that it was another noble prince of her kind, impatient to woo her unborn daughter.However, no, it doesn't signal anything of the kind. Another little gnat, in yet another dwarf-like spaceship!Maybe it was the ignorant bugs she met at the edge of the aperture that came after her.They were still far away, but she hoped they were attacking.She wished for such a fun game. Her bunker and her guards will stand ready. She turned around and went down the tunnel, happily continuing to dig. The Revelator: A self-proclaimed prophet of the Trinity, a white-bearded psychic who appears on illegal radio stations.He tampered with ancient books, concocted it into the "People's Enlightenment Scripture", and launched a holy war against the demon-possessed Kewan family.Those who die for this holy war, he declares, will enjoy eternal happiness and well-being in the Garden of Eden of the People.He began to appear in the solar year 88, and his presence ended when Skynet crashed.