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Epilogue The Return（第1页）

Epilogue:TheReturn

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‘Therereallyiswater!’ayoushoutedwithjoyoussurprise.Itwastrue;avastsurfaceofwaterstretchedoutbeforethem.Sparklingwavesshimmereduheduskyheavens.

TheMarshalremovedtheglovesofhisspacesuit.Withbothhands，hescoopedupshisvisor，hevee.Ashequicklyclosedhisvisain，hecalled，‘Hey，it’snottoosalty.’Whethelieutenantwasabouttoopenhisownvisor，hestoppedhim.‘You’llsufferdepressiohepositiomosphereisaottheproblem;thepoisonoussulphuripoheairhavealreadythi.However，theatmosphericpressureistoolow.Withoutavisor，itislikewhatbeingatthirtythousahe>

Ageneraldugihisfeet.‘Maybethere’ssomegrassseeds，’hesaid，smilingasheraisedhisheadtolookattheMarshal.

TheMarshalshookhishead.‘Beforethewar，thiswasthebottomoftheo.’

‘Wegohavealookat’snotfarfromhere.Maybewedsomethere，’thelieuteed.

‘Anywillhavebeenburntlongago，’someohasigh.

&hemsedthehorizoniheyweresurroundedbyanunbrokenountailybornbytheeheEarth.Theyweredarkbluemassifsmadeofbarermaspillingfrlowed，likebloodoozingfromthebodyofaslaian.

ThemagmariversoftheEarthbelowhadbur.

ThiswasEarth，twohuhirtyyearsafterthe>

&hewarhadehanonehundredpeopleaboardthetrolshiphadeioheretheywaitedfortheDevourertospitouttheEarth;thentheywouldreturheirwait，theirshiphadbeeasatellite，gtheplaofDevourerahi.Inallthattime，theDevourerEmpirehaddohingtoharassthem.

Owenty-fiveyearsafterthewar，theandship’ssensorspickedupthattheDevourerwasintheprocessofleavih.Irousedsomeofthoseiioheywoke，theDevourerhadalreadylefttheEarthandflowheEarthhadbeentraoawhollyalienworld，astra，perhapsbestdescribedasalumpofcharcoalfreshlyoutoftheoven.Theoshadalldisappeared，andthelandwasawebofmagmarivers.

ThepersohetrolshiplyuetheirhibernatioheirsensorsaheEarthtocool.Thiswaitlastedaury.

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&heyagainwokefromhibernation，theyfou，itsviolentgeologyhavihwasadesolate，yellowwastelahoughalllifehaddisappeared，therewasstillasparseatmosphere.Theyevendisnantsoftheosofold.

Sotheylaheshoreofsuahesizeofapre-wartallake.

Ablastofthunder，deafeninginthisthinatmosphere，roaredabovethemasthefamiliar，ofaDevourerEmpireshiplafarfromtheirowsgiganticdoorsopened，andFangstookhisfirsttstepsout，leaningheavilyonawalkingstickthesizeofapowerpole.

‘Ah，youarestillalive，sir!’theMarshalgreetedhim.‘Youmustbearoundfivehundrednow?’

‘HowcouldIlivethatlong?I，too，wentiion，thirtyyearsafterthewar.IhibersoIcouldseeyouagain，’Faed.

&heDevourernow?’theMarshalasked.

Faheskyaboveasheanswered.‘Youstillseeitatnight;itisbutadimstarnoassedJupiter’sorbit.’

‘Itisleavingthesolarsystem?’theMarshalqueried.

Fangsnodded.‘Iwillsetouttodaytofollowit.’

TheMarshalpausedbeforespeakiholdnow.’

Fangssadlynoddedhisgianthead.‘Old…’hesaid，hiswalkingsticktremblinginhishand.‘Theworld，iioEarth.

‘Asmallamoumosphereremains.ShouldwesiderthisanaertheDevourerEmpire?’theMarshalaskedquietly.

Fangsshookhishead.‘Ithasnothingtodowithmercy;itisy.’

&h’ssoldierslookedatFangsi.

‘Oh，inthiswartheDevourerEmpiresufferedaedwouhundredsofmillionsiears，’Fangsadmitted.‘Oure，too，sufferedcriticaldamage.Afterthewar，ittookusfiftyEarthyearsjusttopletepreliminaryrepairs，andowasdonecouldwebegiheEarth.Butwekourtimeinthesolarsystemwaslimited.Ifwedidime，acloudofiwouldflhtinthtpath.Ahelongwayround，wewouldlosesevehousandyearsonourwaytothear.Inthattime，thestar’sstatewouldhavealreadyged，bursthatwewishedtoe.BecauseofthiswehadtochewtheplaheSueandotpickthemgsexplained.

‘Thatfillsuswithgreatfortandhonour.’theMarshalsaid，lookingatthesoldierssurroundinghim.

‘Youaremostworthyofit.Ittrulywasagreatiellarwar.IhyannalsoftheDevourer’swars，ourswasoremarkablebattles!Tothisday，allthroughoutourworld，minstrelssingoftheepicatsoftheEarth’sssstated.

‘Wewouldsoohumanitywouldrememberthewar.So，howishumanity?’theMarshalqueried.

&heroximatelytwobillionhumaedtotheDevourerEmpire，abouthalfofallofhumanity，’FaivatingthelargesofhisportableputerwherepicturesoflifeontheDevourerappeared.Thesrevealedabeautifulgrasslandunderblueskies.roupofhappyhumanswassinginganddandatfirstitwasdifficulttodistinguishthegehesehumans.Theirskinwasasoft，subtlewhite，andtheywerealldressedinfine，gauzyclotheswithbeautifulwreathsofflowersohedistanakeoutamagle，clearlymodelledohingfromahfairytale.Itsvibrantadeitlookasifitweremadeofdchocolate.

Thecamera’slensdrewcltheMarshalacetostudythesepeople’sdetail.Hewassooelycedthattheyweretrulyhappy.Itwasanutterlycarefreehappial.Itremindedhimofthefewshortyearsofichildhoodjoythatpre-warhumanshadexperienced.