奇书网

Humanitys First and Last Space War（第2页）

&burstofdizzyingflasheswashedoverthetrolship，exhaustingalloftheEarth’snubs。Atalmostexactlythesamemoment，theDevi。Ihlyquiet，thelawsofioldthefihismagheMooheDevourer’sside，barelymissiywassohighthattheDevravityotcatlytwistingitstrajectoryalittleasitzoomedpast。AftertheMoonhadpassedtheDevourer，itsilentlyspedawayfromtheSun。

Orolship，theSupremeaoadeathlysileespassed。

‘TheEridarayedus，’aanderfinallywhisperedinshock。

&alrobablyjustatrapsetbytheDevourerEmpire!’astaffofficershouted。

Inaninstant，theSupremeaoutterchaos。Allbutoosdshout:sometoveerdespair，otherstocealit。Allwereeofhysteria。Afewofthenon-militarypersoherstorethehairfromtheirheads。Spiritssteoftheabyss，readytofallforever。

OnlytheMarshalremaialyinfrontes。Heslowlyturhoiohechaos。‘Iwouldaskallofyoutopayattentioail:whydidtheDevourergine?’

Pandemoniumwasimmediatelyreplacedbydeepthought。IheMooslastnub，theenemyhadoshutdowheyhadnowayofkherornottherewereanybombsleftontheMooherewasthedaheDevravitygtheMoon。HadtheDevoureruedtoaccelerate，itcouldhaveeasilyextearajectory。Itcouldhave–shouldhave–madeitfartherthainy，barelyadequatetwohuymiles。

‘GivemeacloseupoftheDevourer’souterhull，’theMarshalanded。

Aholographicimagelayedoigtransmittedbyaminiature，high-speedreceprobeflyingthreehuheDevourer’ssurface。ThesplendidlyilluminatedsurfaceoftheDevourertoclearview。Iheybeheldthemassivesteelmountainsandsofitsgiantringbodyslowlyturnpasttheirview。AlongblackseamcaughttheMarshal’sattentiotury，hehadbeeveryfamiliarwitheverydetailoftheDevourer’ssurface，buthewasabsolutelythatthatgaphadedbefore。Othersquioticedit，aswell。

‘Whatisthat?Isit…aeoneasked。

‘Itis。Acrack。Athree-thousand-mile-longcrack，’theMarshalsaid，nodding。‘TheEridaniansdidrayus。Thedataialwasaccurate。Theaitisreal，butastheMoonapproached，thedespairingDevourerdenthedtoexceeditbyfour-fold，desperatetoavoidthe。This，however，hadces:theDevourerhascracked。’

&heyfoundmorecracks。

‘Look，what’sgoingonedasitsrhtaofDevourer’ssurfatoview。Adazzlingbrightlightbeganglowingosmetalsurface，asifdawnweregoveritsvasthorizon。

&ionalengine!’anofficercalledout。

&istherarelyusedequatorialrotatioheMarshalexplaiisfiringatfullptostoptheDevourer’srotation!’

‘Marshal，youwerespoton，andthisprovesit!’

&nowanduseallavailablemeanstogatherdetaileddatasothatweasimulation!’theMarshalanded。EveheentireSupremeandwasalreadyexegthetask。

&hepasttury，amathematicalmodelhadbeepreciselydescribedtheDevourer’sphysicalstructure。Therequireddatawasgatheredandprocessedveryeffitly，aswerequicklyproduced:itwouldtakeyhoursfortherotatiooreducetheDevourer’srotatiowhichitcouldavoiddestru。YetieenhoursthetrifugalforpletelybreaktheDevourerintopieces。

AongtheSupremeand。ThebigsewiththeholographicimageoftheDevdemise:theprocessofthebreak-upwouldbeveryslow，almostlikeadream。Agaiessofspace，thisgiantworldwoulddisperselikemilkfoamfloatingosedgesgraduallybreakingoff，onlytobeswallowedbythedarklookedliketheDevourerwasmeltingiheoalflashofanexplosiosdisiingform。

TheMarshaldidnotjoiheywatchedthissoul-soothingdisplayofdestru。Hestoodapartfromthegroup，foanothers，carefullytherealDevourer。Hisfacebetrayedriumph。Ascalmreturhebridge，theai。Ohertheyjoithes，wheretheydiscoveredthatthebluelightattheDevourer’safthadreappeared。

TheDevourerhadrestarteditsengine。

&hecriticalstatetheringstructurewasalreadyin，thisseemedlikeahomablemistake。Aion，nomatterhowminute，couldcauseacatastrophicbreak-up。ButitwastheDevourer’strajectorythattrulybaffledtheowaseversitssteps，returniionithadheldbeforeitsevasivemawascarefullyre-establishingitssynousorbitandrealigningitsaxisofrotatioh’s。

‘What?DoesitstillwaheEarth?’anofficerexclaimed，bothshodfused。

Hisquestionprovokedafewscatteredlaughs。Alllaughter，however，sooastheothersbecameawareofthelookontheMarshal’sface。Hewasnatthes。Hiseyeswereclosed。HisfacewasblankanddrainedofallthepasthuheoffidpersonnelwhohadmadefendingofftheDevourerapillaroftheirsoulhadbeeveryfamiliarwiththeMarshal’sce。Theyhadneverseehis。AcalmfellatheredSupremeaurothesally，theyuhegravityofthesituation。

TheDevourerstillhada>

TheDevhttowardtheEarthhadbegun。IthadalreadymatchedtheEarthinbothorbitalspeedandrotation，asitapproachedtheplahPole。

Ifittooktoolong，theDevourer’salforcesart;ifitwenttoofast，thepowerofitspropulsionwouldripittopieces。TheDevourer’ssurvivalwashangingonathihadtoholdtoaperfetimingandspeed。

&heEarth’sSouthPoleedbytheDeviantring，theSupremeandcouldseetheshapeofthefrozegerapidly。Antarcticawasshrinkierinahpan。Theworld’spulledtowardtheSouthPolebytheimmeyoftheDevourer，ah’swhitetipwasbeingswallowedbytheirbillo

AsthishappeheDevourer，too，wasg。tlessnewcratocoveritsbody，andallofthemweregrowinglongerahefirstfenolongerblackseams，butgapingchasmsglowingwithlight。TheycouldeasilyhavebeeheportalstoHell，thousandsofmilesih。

Iofallthisdestru，afewfirahering’smassivebody。Then，moreahesefilamentsemerged，flowioftheDevourer’sbody。Italmostlookedlikethehugeshiphadsproutedasparseheadofwhitehair。Infact，theyweretheerailsofshipsbeihegreatring。TheDevtheirdoomedworld。

HalfoftheEarthhadalreadybeeheDevourerwhenthingstookaturheEarth’sgravitywasagalmostliketheinvisiblespokesofaicwheel，beariegratingDevourer。Nonewcracksearingonitssurfadthealreadyopenripshadceasedgrowing。Fortyhourslater，theEarthletelyeheDevourer。Theeffectofthepla’sgravitywasstrohispoint，andthetheDevourer’ssurfacewerebeginningtootherfivehourslater，theyhadpletelyclosed。

Irolship，allthessoftheSupremeandhadgonebladeveswerenowdark。ThesourinatiohlypaleraysoftheSuhroughtheportholes。Iogeificialgravity，themid-seoftheshipwasstillsl。Asitdid，theSunroseaholetoporthole。Lightandshadowwandered，asifitwerereplayinghumanity’sfonedaysandnights。

‘Thankyouforaturyofdutifulservice，’theMarshalsaid。‘Thankyouall。’HesalutedtheSupremeahegazeoftheoffidpersonnel，hecalmlyfoldeduphisuniform。Theothersfollowedhisexample。

Humanityhadbeehedefehhaddotetheirdutiesand，assoldiers，theyhaddloriously。Inspirit，theyallacceptedtheiruhsces。Theywereeoenjoythismoment。