Mountains and seas have a home

Chapter 181

"Commander," Lin Cheng put on his earphones and looked up at the data on the screen, and reported in a low voice, "Xinghe and all the monitoring systems have been shut down. I heard the person on the coordinate system report this situation to the headquarters. We have to be careful."

The entire base was silent, no one made a sound, and the humming of the machines in the main control console disappeared as the galaxy was turned off.The cold wind took advantage of it, like an unfriendly guest, slapping the windows of the base indiscriminately, making a restless whine.The fog had thickened, and the sky was still dark.

"Well, don't worry about it if you don't encounter force or violence from outside. They don't dare to act rashly without the order of the General Administration. After all, I'm still here." Ji Yao watched the scene in the telescope, "The electrical signal is sent from here. It takes a lot of time to get to the headquarters, and one trip is enough for us to do everything we need to do. When you ask questions afterwards, you should know what to say. Lin Cheng, you should know what to say, right? "

Lin Cheng held the water glass in his left hand, the hot water in it slowly warmed his cold palm, like a piece of ice melting.He covered his mouth and coughed softly, then nodded, his fingers were shaking from the cold and coughing: "I know, Commander, I will take care of it."

After speaking, he quickly took off the earphones and threw them aside, clutching his chest and arching his back, coughing violently uncontrollably, one after another, getting worse and worse, the inhalation couldn't catch up with the exhalation, and finally the acid water in his stomach surged up with the cough.When the sergeant opened the door and walked in, he happened to meet Lin Cheng coming out in a hurry. He raised his eyelids and glanced at the sergeant. Without stopping, he fled into the bathroom in embarrassment. After closing the door, he leaned on the railing and began to vomit.

Recently, due to illness, Lin Cheng couldn't eat too much food. The cook cooked for him alone at the request of the doctor and delivered it himself, but it was often in vain.For several days, I coughed all night and all night, and my stomach fluctuated from hot to cold. When it was cold, I had cramps, and when it was hot, it was like a piece of iron rising and falling on the stomach wall.Sometimes the cough is so severe that the base of the tongue seems to be pulled by someone, and the acid water turns up and cannot be spit out, so it has to stop in the throat, and often spends a night quietly in this repeated torture .

Lin Cheng vomited while flushing the water, and he didn't feel a little more empty in his body until he vomited all the yellow bile.He stretched out his hands against the cold tiled wall, resting his head on the muscles of his upper arms, breathing in air amidst the sound of sickly panting, his chest aching from the cold invasion.

The vomit slowly flowed down the sewer, Lin Cheng glanced at it with drooping eyelashes, the thick brown-yellow color was mixed with dark green juice.He closed his eyes, reached out and pressed the flush button, and flushed down a pool of disgusting filth and bad luck, so that he felt better.

"Sir, you don't look well. You haven't been well recently. Is there really nothing wrong? What's wrong with you?" When Lin Cheng returned to the door of the monitoring station, the sergeant was still standing there with his head tilted. Wear the informal boat hat diagonally.

Lin Cheng raised his hand to wipe off the drops of water on his chin, his hands were red from the cold, and his fingers were a little swollen.He also realized this, swept the back of his hand lightly, and said indifferently: "Didn't you see a few doctors surrounded me for consultation a few days ago? I also lay down in Xinghe's medical diagnosis cabin. Guess the last What is the result of the diagnosis? Xinghe thinks I am healthy. I am not sick at all, I am very well, just a little trouble, I can deal with it. Compared with the trouble we are currently encountering, it is nothing worth mentioning .”

As he spoke, he walked sideways into the room, which had been invaded by seawater, and the seawater damaged many computers, including the signal transceiver on the top.Some exposed wires hang from the low ceiling in a porous web.For three or four days after the emergency drainage, the place was covered with damp and burnt smell, caused by an unexpected fire in the unfortunate northeast corner, which ruined the monitoring station's hope of getting heating, until the The metal wall and floor are still black now.

"But you have been coughing. You sleep next to me at night. I can hear your cough every night. It doesn't look like you are sick. I don't understand why the medical officer and Xinghe can't find out. I I don’t understand, there must be something wrong with the machine.”

Lin Cheng paused for a moment, then sat down on the chair, pulled the coat on the back of the chair over his shoulders, and said, "So my cough is so loud? I'm sorry to disturb your rest, Sergeant. I will pay attention .You don't have to worry about the rest, I'm fine."

After he finished speaking, he turned his back and continued his work. The water in the glass next to him had already been completely cold. In such a cold environment as the monitoring platform, it only took half a minute for a glass of water to cool down.He was about to get up to pour hot water when a steaming kettle was handed over to him.

The sergeant straightened the boat cap on his head and said, "Don't you think it's too cold in the monitoring platform? The heating system was burned out a few days ago, and now no one wants to work here, only you Still here guarding the computer from freezing."

After Lin Cheng thanked the sergeant, he raised his hand to cover the kettle and took a sip, which made his frozen red fingers slightly warm.He took off his hat and brushed his broken hair back, and slowly exhaled a hot white breath: "I want to work for the commander, so I have to stay here."

"You can go to other places, such as the geological observatory, it's very warm there. Or you can go to the accommodation area, although the heating is not turned on, but it's better than here. You know, if you get sick here, It's hard to say."

"I know, Sergeant, you have a kind heart. You are the second one who cares about my illness at this time, besides the doctor." Lin Cheng sat in his seat without moving, and put on the earphone again, " But I won't leave here until the mission is complete."

He focused all his eyes on the screen in front of him, and his fingers began to flip over the keyboard again.A strand of hair hangs from behind his ears, lying on his shoulders, his red ears are wrapped in a scarf, faintly revealing the rich rouge color on the top.

Seeing that he was unmoved, the sergeant had to compromise.Standing behind Lin Cheng with a gun on his back, he stepped on his heels carefully and said, "You are a good officer, including our commander...you are all good officers. I am outside Guard, if you need me, call me."

After he finished speaking, he pursed his lips tightly, stood at attention with his fingers pressed against the seam of his trousers, took one last look at Lin Cheng's back, and then walked out the door, his boots slamming on the floor.Lin Cheng clutched a thin glass of water, trying in vain to warm his whole body.He felt like this glass of water was being eroded by the cold bit by bit. The cold knew his body's veins better than him. His heart and lungs seemed to be abandoned in the cold wilderness outside, and they were aching.

While Lin Cheng was guarding the lonely cold of the monitoring station, Ji Yao was guarding the silence of the whole room.Although the heating system of the main console was not damaged, in order to save fuel and energy, the power was turned to the minimum, just to make people feel less bone-piercing.

"The submarine has entered the visual range of the human eye, with a speed of 29 knots. I think it should slow down. The weapon system is turned off, and it seems that it is keeping its word. The distance is three kilometers. Commander, do you want to put down the mechanical arm and bayonet? A light signal?"

"Sentinel, light signal. Bottom mechanic, prepare to lower the robotic arm and movable bayonet to ensure that the submarine can be fixed. The bilge weapon system is open and on standby. Pay attention to the movement of the submarine. If there is any attack, sink it."

"receive."

The weapon systems in the lower cabin are arranged on both sides of the mechanical room, and the surroundings are closed. Only a few white lights are embedded on the top. The cabin is about the height of a person, and the pressure is on top of the head, making people afraid to stand upright.Several air vents were working at the same time, humming, all the machines in the cabin were running at full power, and the heat emitted was too late to be dissipated, and it was all accumulated, burning the skin hot.The executors waited for orders from above in such a hot and dark environment. They stood by the gun emplacements and unbuttoned their coats.

When the opening of the weapon system was heard, chaotic shouts erupted in the tomb-like silent cabin, the red light goggle lights turned on, and the executive who was sitting on the crossbar boringly counting cards was kicked on the ground. Butt: "Move it, slacker! Weapon systems open, hatches open! Come on! Boys! Let's show the Commander, we can do a good job! We can sink that damn sub with one shot, Let it go to the bottom of the sea and pray to God to save it!"

Immediately afterwards, the outer hatch opened, the gun mount vibrated, the pitch-black gun barrel stretched out, quickly shifted direction, and aimed at the target.The missile compartment below was also lifted up, revealing the eight anti-submarine missiles inside, two of which had entered the launch schedule.

After the cabin door was opened, the cold air surged in, and the hot air in the cabin disappeared instantly. The executives guarding the launch port had to put on cold-proof jackets immediately, and the sweat on their foreheads evaporated in a short while.The cold wind was howling outside, and large flakes of snow were blowing in from the launch port.

"Do you think we're going to shoot?" one of the executives whispered to his partner, who was peering out at the ocean through the small window with pale eyeballs.

"I don't know, follow the command of the commander. I hope not to fire, God, we can only pray that the people on the submarine are kinder." The partner said, he took out a watch from his arms, and only There is a bare dial, but it is still faithfully remembering the time.He pressed the chronograph of his watch, then crossed himself and said a Latin prayer.

After reading the prayer, he spread his hands and said: "I start timing from the opening of the weapon system, every time until the end of closing the weapon system, so that I can know how much time each fire confrontation takes. In fact, many times I I don’t know who I’m fighting against, I just listen to the orders from above, adjust the parameters, turn the barrel, set the trajectory, and then send out the missiles one after another. I don’t even know who the enemy is, and the war broke out suddenly.”

"Do we still need to know who the enemy is? No. That's a matter for the superiors, and it's not our turn. Isn't that what war is like? It starts out of nowhere, and sometimes it's really hard to tell."

"The battle of the time bureau is even more unclear, because we don't know what time and space we will meet. For example, where we are now, who knows what kind of place it is. Remember the three-headed A giant snake? Oh, unimaginable."

"It's really unimaginable, but we haven't encountered any strange things since then. The fire-breathing monster hasn't appeared since then. I dare say it's not a serious thing. I hope it doesn't come to us. trouble."

"I don't even know how I got here, and I still haven't figured out why I came here. I can't do anything, I'm the No. 1 victim. I haven't slept well since I came here, It's fucking unbearable."

"Calm down, brother, we're here, what else can you do? We carry the hope of all mankind on our shoulders. Maybe we can get rid of the annoying title of second-class soldier after we go back."

"How long are you going to chat here?" the inspector said standing in front of them. "Shut up if you don't want to be punished! Don't pee your pants when the order to fire is issued later, private."

The lookout standing in front of the curved windshield turned his head and reported to Ji Yao. He pointed at one of them and said, "It's coming towards us, and it's still sailing on the water. The fog is too thick, so it's difficult to observe with the naked eye, but A vague shadow can already be seen."

Ji Yao got up and walked to the windshield, and took the telescope from the assistant to observe. The calm and vast sea was divided into fine strips by the current with different shades of gray, rushing towards the skyline, and the current came from the submarine. The white waves stirred up when the ice was broken.As the submarine gets closer and closer to the forecastle, it is the only single boat sailing on the sea. It uses its black ghostly hull and navigation lights that are more unpredictable than smoke to restore the long-lost poetry of the ancient sea.

"Biological scan data on board."

"There is only one person on the submarine, it is true, Commander, we have repeatedly confirmed it countless times." The executive next to him pulled out the paper from the exit of the printer and spread it out for Ji Yao, "Although it is unbelievable, it is indeed true. so."

"There are so many unbelievable things, this one is not bad." Ji Yao rolled up the paper after reading it, and sat down in his seat with a cane on his back. "When you come here, you can't think about things with ordinary thinking. We It's a whole new world."

A black shadow appeared in the thick fog, and the dark gray outline was blurred by the fog.The white-painted "Belloberg" on the forecastle seems to have turned into a flag, just like the battle flag raised by the army when the Poseidon set off, showing the vastness and rebelliousness of the sea.

Ji Yao waited quietly for the submarine to get closer. He clenched his fingers, enduring the excruciating pain on one side of his body, watching the black shadow in his field of vision become clearer and clearer, and finally approached.He was well-dressed in uniform, inside and out, and even the hat on his head was never crooked.On the stiff black cap wall is a silver eagle tree badge, and a silver frieze is decorated below it, indicating his status as a senior commander.

Zhu Min stuck the last needle tube into the box and pushed it aside.When he took off the rubber gloves on his hands, he realized that his fingers had become stiff.With the help of the executive, he put on the sheepskin gloves, and he moved his butt away from the chair after his stiff hands eased up.After stepping on his feet to recover his stiff body, he walked slowly to Ji Yao's side.

"What's the matter, Dr. Zhu? I'm fine now, I don't need treatment, so don't worry." Ji Yao glanced at Zhu Min and said, "Do you want to ask me about confinement? Oh, Dr. Zhu, You have to understand that rules are rules."

Zhu Min was next to a pillar next to him, his upper body limply against the cold pillar, and his arms were loosely hugging the pillar.He shrank back, raised his eyes to look at Ji Yao's face, and said in a low voice, "No, Commander, I'm not here to say confinement, I understand the rules and discipline here, and I confess to my wrong behavior Honestly. I just wanted to say, you know, that submarine, we don't know what the hell it was, or who was on it... or anything. I just wanted to say that if we underestimate I can't guarantee that we won't be treated inhumanely. It's okay to die in battle, but if captured... Commander, it's not clear. "

Ji Yao listened to Zhu Min finish his sentence, but he didn't interrupt or take any other actions.Zhu Min blinked his eyes when he spoke, sometimes looking at Ji Yao, sometimes looking around at everyone in the room, his arms unnaturally rubbing along the smooth outline of the pillar.

His words made the silence of the master console even more negative.Ji Yao raised his eyelashes, pursed his lips tightly, and said nothing, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, which showed that he was thinking deeply about the meaning of Zhu Min's words.Without waiting for his answer, Zhu Min lowered his eyes and patted the pillar, then left Ji Yao's side.

The negative silence didn't last long, and the voice from the sentry post broke the gloomy atmosphere: "The submarine is slowly driving into the bayonet we put down, and the mechanical arm forced the submarine to stop and fixed it on the wheel platform. Commander , asking for instructions."

"Sound the whistle and start counting now. In 120 seconds, I want to see the captain and crew appear on the deck together. If no one comes out after 120 seconds, a bomb warning will be released. If there is any resistance to the attack, immediately Sink."

The sound of the flute sounded in a few seconds and spread into the low space of the weapon system in the bilge. The executives pressed the earphones tightly to ensure that they could respond as soon as the command was issued.They waited for the order to fire amidst the blare of whistles, whispered prayers, and snowflakes drifted in from the launch port and fell at their feet.

The submarine stayed on the wheel platform for a while, the propeller stopped, the reactor was shut down, and it was slowly cooling down.The navigation lights were flashing, and the water on the deck was flowing down the edge.Ji Yao stood in front of the windshield, surrounded by executive officers, and they were all watching the movement of the submarine.

When everyone was paying attention to the hatch cover of the submarine's podium, Ji Yao focused his attention on the life-saving bell on the forecastle of the submarine. His expression was very calm, but it could be seen that he was not relaxed.Ji Yao's eyes were always wet, just like the red fox that was always squatting on the high platform.He was born with affectionate eyebrows, moist eyes, and long eyebrows.But during his marching career, he had to bury this affection deeply in his heart, making everyone mistakenly think that he was unsmiling and hard-hearted, avoiding and respecting him neither far nor near, but he had no real affection.

Ji Yao probably only showed his passion to Fu Zhong, just like when he was naked in front of him, this passion was even more intense, it was like the fragrance from the depths of the bone marrow.He and Fu Zhong lived an idyllic life for a long time. They loved each other—commenting on a bowl of brown sugar glutinous rice at the same table; /naked/naked passion, sex/love in bed.

These are the past days. Before they entered the unnamed mountains, they had been living such bright days on the edge of danger and conspiracy.The boundary between dawn and dusk is clearer than the stars and the moon. Every morning is a scene that Ji Yao had seen in his dreams when he was a teenager. The sun is rising on the leaves, the birds are chirping, and when he wakes up, he is in Fu Zhong’s arms, or In his room, he could smell the aroma of the kitchen when he walked out the door.Joy never comes from vows of eternal love or earth-shattering, but from every gentle, ordinary but unforgettable moment.

While waiting for 120 seconds, Ji Yao suddenly remembered a lot of things, everything was related to Fu Zhong, and his shadow crossed mountains and mountains.The echo of the whistle resounded in his ears, and in the rippling sound, he understood the meaning of time paradoxically.

At 95 seconds, the top cover of the submarine opened.The people in the main control console held their breath, the people on guard raised their machine guns, and the people in the weapon system in the bilge sang "Victory" softly. At this time, prayers had lost their strength.

From under the opened top cover, the crown of a hat first emerges, then the hat wall, and then the human face under the brim.No age can be seen, but the wrinkles at the corners of his mouth suggest that he is not young.The man walked out of the roof with the help of a ladder and stood on the deck, holding a long metal box in his hand. His tall stature attracted everyone's attention immediately.A pure black woolen coat wrapped his elegant and well-proportioned body, with a belt tied around his waist and a silver metal buckle at the front.With neat cuffs and no buttons undone, he was putting on gray woolen gloves for himself.The bitter sea breeze tore the hem of his coat apart, and his whole body was like a black flag.

He raised his head and stared at the base suspended in mid-air, and then looked over the railing of the base to the sky.He squinted his eyes, as if he didn't quite adapt to the outside light, a mist soon formed in his eyes, reflecting the cloudy haze and clouds in the sky.

Looking down from the windshield, Ji Yao could only see a thin figure, but couldn't see his appearance clearly.Galaxy is not turned on, so identification cannot be performed. After the 120-second whistle was over, he was still the only one on the deck. He stood there with the strong wind blowing, exuding a lonely and melancholy aura.The kind of loneliness that one can fall into at the first sight, drifts on the sea surface by the wind, turns into wisps of light smoke, and silences the hoarse singing of seabirds.

"Remove all weapons from your body, let your crew take hostages and all go on deck. Repeat, take off all weapons from your body, let your crew take hostages and all go on deck."

The man heard the radio, paused briefly, put the box at his feet, and raised his hands.He made a few gestures, and the sentry reported to Ji Yao: "He said he was the only one on the boat, and the hostages were not there, they were elsewhere."

Ji Yao leaned on the railing under the windshield, looked down coldly at the man standing on the submarine deck below, and silently tapped his shoes.Someone noticed that his fingers holding the cane were trembling, the arc of his jaw became sharp because of the tension, and his eye sockets were red.

Everyone was waiting for him to speak, and the wind outside was also waiting for him to speak.Finally, Ji Yao touched the floor with his cane, and ordered: "Send someone down to bring him up, confiscate his weapon, and bring him to the office to meet me. Colonel Yue, take someone into the submarine for inspection, and bring it into our weapon system control." Next. If you encounter an attack, you are allowed to fire, and you are allowed to kill."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked through the crowd to leave the main console. Zhu Min was afraid that something might happen to him, so he hurriedly followed him with his suitcase.When Zhu Min opened the door of the commander's office, the cold that hit his face made him shiver.Ji Yao turned on the light, stood under a beam of dim light, facing a Tang knife on the table.The handle of the knife is chiseled in gold, and the curvature of the blade resembles a woman's newly painted willow eyebrows.He stood there staring at the knife for a long time, as if he was remembering someone's past through it, with a long shadow running down the ground behind him.

Colonel Yue led a team of executives into the submarine. The man didn't stop him, and he didn't speak. He just glanced at it lightly, then turned his head and followed the man up the winding gangway.He never spoke, remained silent, and the brim of his hat was pressed above his eyebrows, covering most of his expression.It makes him look more and more like a flag, or rather the flag looks more like him.

Entering the locked gate of the base, the executive guards inside pointed their guns at his chest, and their hats were studded with the silver badge of the executive department.The man descended the last step without haste, and when his boots hit the floor he stopped and took off his hat.

The hair is neatly combed and orderly, without the feeling of mess and mess as imagined, on the contrary, it is more handsome than these executives.He held the hat in his hand, glanced around the muzzle of the gun, then lowered his eyes and lightly threw the hat on the side table.When the man glanced at the muzzle of the gun, the executioners all noticed that his left eyebrow was a neat broken eyebrow, broken at the end of the depressed eyebrow, which was obviously intentional; The tear mole also fell into the eyes of everyone.

The hat on the side was discarded, and the silver badge was also inlaid on the hat wall, but instead of the mighty eagle tree on the commander's head, it was the wings spread out to both sides, with a golden border flower on the bottom.

The man loosened his scarf with a calm demeanor, turning a blind eye to these muzzles. His calm demeanor was like driving home late at night, changing his clothes easily after entering the door, and burying himself in a dry quilt to dream about after taking a shower. .The icy loneliness in his body quietly permeated into the air inside the base, as if the coldness of everything outside had been condensed, bursting out from him alone.

"Where's your chief?" This was the first time the man spoke. As soon as he opened his mouth, he felt the boundless wilderness open up in front of his eyes, and the cold wind stirred up sand and dust falling in the distance.His voice was low, as if he had been born hoarse, but not so uncomfortable.

The executive pinned his gun and said, "In the office, I'll take you to see him. You'd better be honest and don't play tricks."

Sitting under the lamp, Ji Yao spread out the folder, and took out a blank form from it. Zhu Min sat in the corner on the other side, crossed his legs, and was crookedly recording something on the table next to him.Just as Ji Yao unscrewed the pen, a report came from outside the door, and several figures moved in.

Zhu Min drooped the corners of his mouth, raised his eyelids to watch the person walk in, and tapped the cap of the pen with his hand, making a clicking sound.He pulled his coat tight, shrunk his neck in the scarf, and continued to bury himself in the paper full of numbers in front of him as if bored.

"commander."

The executive carrying the box typed a report, opened the box and pushed it in front of Ji Yao.There was another knife lying on the black flannel inside, it was slightly shorter than the one on the knife holder by Ji Yao's hand, but the shape was the same, and even the gold chisels on the handle were exactly the same pair.Ji Yao remembers it very clearly, and no one can remember it better than him—before Fu Zhong went down the well, he stuck the short knife into the hidden buckle on his back with his own hands, and told him to reply in time when he received the message.

Ji Yao didn't show any mood swings about this, he just stayed on the knife for a while, and even for a short while, he didn't show any emotion.He put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, the pastel shades embroidered on his clothes.

"Where's the hostage?" After the executive exited the room, Ji Yao leaned on the back of the chair and asked. He put his hands in front of him, raised his chin and stared at the face of the man in front of him.He took off his hat, revealing his neat forehead, the reddish eye sockets were blocked by shadows, and the bridge of his nose stood upright in the light.

"Not here, somewhere else." The man's voice caused Zhu Min to raise his head again. The doctor who was lucky enough to be an observer propped his chin up, watching Ji Yao's interrogation boredly, twitching his toes.

"I ask you where he is! Which direction, which coordinates! Don't be stupid, don't you know how to answer the question?" Ji Yao slammed his fist on the table, and his emotions and tone burst out, causing Zhu Min to tiptoe trembling.The pen was shaken, rolled sideways, and stopped on the edge of the hat.

The man stood in front of the table with his hands down. The coat on his body was obviously the uniform of the Time Bureau, but the badges on the chest and shoulders were removed, making him look dull and dull.Tucked into his collar is a warm light gray camel's hair scarf, which sets off his face even more than Falconet's sculpture.

He confronted Ji Yao for a few seconds, but he didn't get angry because of Ji Yao's stern questioning. Instead, he narrated in the same tone as before: "At the bottom of the sea, that's my base. He didn't die, he was very happy there. Safety."

"how to prove?"

A small metal badge was taken out of his pocket by the man and placed in front of Ji Yao, the light illuminated the engraved number on the badge: "EDGA, his name is Fu Zhong, it is a name that can't help but miss .His serial number is 0578, right? It shouldn’t be wrong. And this knife, he was almost dead and he was holding it tightly in his hand all the time. It took me a lot of effort to peel the knife out of his fingers. As for You should be very familiar with where the knife came from. Don't worry, if he dies, I don't need to come to you. Don't play dumb, Commander, you know I'm not lying, and you know who I am .”

Ji Yao reached out and hooked the badge, the number on the badge already explained everything.This is the badge that the executors carry with them when they go out on missions, and it is used for identification.He rubbed his breastplate for a while, and his lowered eyebrows and eyes showed an imperceptible emotion different from outsiders.Putting the sign into the drawer, Ji Yao leaned forward, from dark to light, exposing his entire face to the light.

His appearance must be under the light to fully reveal his astonishing masculinity and beauty. This kind of beauty is different from that of women. It is completely different and full of vigor, but at the same time it can exude unique tenderness.The long eyebrows inherited from his mother are framed on the brow bone, and the facial features benefited from his father make his face surprisingly similar to the man in front of him.

"Ji Songlin. Oh, it's very rude to call him by his first name like this. But how should I call you? Prisoner of war? Mr. Ji? Or the one who was long forgotten when I was 17 years old..." Ji Yao stared into the man's eyes, and the ending stopped on the tip of her tongue, as if she was spinning around with an ice cube in her mouth, and finally turned into a sandy and dusty sigh, "Father?"