Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

When the second dust fall occurred, Brian.Gately remained safe in Port Magellan. When Simon and Weir flew over the Bodie Pass and skimmed low over the coastal plain, they did something remarkable: they conceded defeat.The fourth year fled in all directions, Vail said; the burnt enclosure left no evidence, except for the charred remains of a bioreactor hidden in the basement;There was nothing in Finlay's stolen plane to bring charges against; and the four captives were clearly decoys, old even by fourth-year standards. So, when the plane flew over a canyon, and in the distance below, there was an oil tanker driving on the zigzag road of the canyon, and Brian said, are you going home?

Of course, we won't give up.We're going to continue what we've been doing for years: monitoring communications, using software that strategically monitors locations.Sooner or later something will be found.One less bioreactor now, if nothing else, at least seriously ruined someone's plan. For that, Brian asked, did people die? Who died?Brian, I don't remember anyone dying. ☆ So he finally returned to his residence in this multilingual city.He was alone in the house when the sky filled for the second time with the glowing remnants of an ancient and inexplicable machine.

He watched the local news reports with indifference.The newscasters use bizarre and unprecedented words, but Brian is unimpressed: it's just some kind of celestial junk, the fragments of a massive disintegration.Hypothetical intelligent beings built their intelligence agencies in the icy regions around and among countless stars. Of course, they were built in the hope that they would last forever, but anything made has a lifespan!The pyramids of Egypt were eroded by the wind, and the aqueducts of the Romans were broken into pieces of rubble.Therefore, after millions of years of normal use, the buildings of hypothetical intelligent creatures will inevitably disintegrate and become corrupted.

Grotesque monsters grew out of the falling dust, some of which he could see from the windows.A dozen meters past the road, where the Arabian business district has been reduced to a maze of souks and tea shops, a green pipe the size of a drainpipe twists and turns, as if blown by a strong wind. Get to the street, block the street. He played Liz's last call again in his mind.where is she nowEven Simon and Weir couldn't answer that question.She fled with the withdrawn fourth-years, a victim of her own mad sympathy.Free, perhaps, in a somewhat obnoxious sense of the word.She hasn't broken yet.Not crashing to the ground yet, like some ancient machine.

☆ Cleaning up dust this time took longer than the first time.Since it had happened twice, the people on TV asked a more pessimistic question: Is this the end of the story, or will it happen again?Would the fallout follow some exponential curve, each time stranger and more catastrophic, until Port Magellan was buried under what looked like a giant pile of children's toys? Part of Brian wanted to deny the possibility, and another part loved the possibility.After all, this is an alien planet, and we believe so easily that we can live there undisturbed and live our lives as if it were a second Earth.

Still the municipalities removed the remnants as methodically as ants, and re-established their lines of communication.Brian could no longer escape.He drove from his apartment down the dirt boulevard to the U.S. District, to the Port Magellan branch office of the Genetic Security Division in the consulate building. He walked past his office to the door of his immediate superior's office.Brian's immediate supervisor was the consular envoy named Larry.Dickson Howe, is a fifty-five-year-old professional who wants to succeed.His head was shaved and his eyes were so beautifully colored that they looked like they had been drawn in crayon.Di Senhao looked up at Brian and smiled slightly.Nice to see you back, Brian.

Finally home.The prodigal son turned back.Brian took out the envelope from his coat pocket and threw it on Disenhower's meticulous desk. What's this? you see. Inside the envelope were two identical photos of Peter.Keithberg had passed it on to him, the extra copy that Brian had made off the printer this morning.When Di Senhao opened the envelope, he immediately looked away. God!Di Senhao said, God!What am I looking at? Dead man, Brian thought.The dead, usually absent from church picnics and elegant offices.He sat down and explained Thomas.King, Simon, and Vail, the burning paddocks in the desert, and being held in Turk.The four hapless fourth-years found in Finlay's plane may or may not have been tortured in the process of extracting confessions.Several times, Disenhower wanted to interrupt him, but Brian kept talking, forcefully, and eloquently, and he couldn't stop him.

After he finished speaking, Di Senhao stared at him with his mouth open. Brian, this is really sad. That's a way of saying it, too, Brian thought. I mean, wow do you understand how lowly your position is here?You come to me and complain to me about Simon and Val, but I have nothing to do with them.The executive committee does things outside of the public mandate.You and I are not on this committee, Brian, and this group doesn't understand people like us.Getting into a relationship with a woman who is clearly in a deep relationship with a known 4th year can have worse consequences for you, and I hope you understand that.I've been asked about you, about your loyalty.I'm on your side, and I'm glad I did.Now you come to me and make these unsubstantiated statements and show me this kind of reference to a photo, this kind of nasty stuff.What do you want me to do?

I have no idea.Sad, complain, write a report. real?You really want me to do these things?Do you know what that means to both of us?Do you think that would make any difference?Do you think anything good will come out?Will anything change but us? Brian thought for a moment.He has no arguments against it.Maybe Dickenhower is right. He took out the second envelope from his coat and threw it on Di Senhao's desk.Di Senhao flinched immediately, and quickly retracted his hands to the edge of the desk.God, what is this? my resignation.Brian said.