| [00:00.00]UNIT6 [00:16.07]The Pasture [00:17.70]Night settled, thick with the acrid [00:21.76]odors of gunpowder and blood. [00:24.16]No moon meant firing at [00:26.78]muzzle flashes, an inexact method [00:29.41]by which to combat one's foe, [00:32.37]but the enemy had no advantage either. [00:34.77]With artillery fire blanketing [00:37.94]the field of battle, Jack had [00:40.13]no opportunity to go to Mike's aid. [00:43.20]He poked his head over [00:45.39]the rim of the trench to [00:46.91]see if he could spot Mike's corpse. [00:49.22]He knew he was dead. [00:52.28]He had heard his scream [00:54.69]of pain when he was hit. [00:57.53]His agonized moans had grown [01:00.15]weaker and less frequent and finally [01:02.34]ceased about ten minutes ago. [01:05.52]The regiment had been under [01:09.02]heavy bombardment for two days, [01:11.20]without respite. He had been [01:14.71]too late to stop Mike [01:16.24]as he propelled himself out [01:18.20]of the foxhole and staggered [01:20.28]as he hit the muddy terrain. [01:22.58]In hindsight, he should have [01:25.86]seen it coming. Mike had [01:28.60]started to break yesterday. [01:30.57]He was becoming bizarre, talking [01:33.52]about his patriotic duty to [01:36.15]expel the enemy from these shores. [01:39.32]Paradoxically, just before he [01:42.27]hopped over the edge of the trench [01:44.24]he scorned the day he had [01:46.10]heeded the call to enlist. [01:48.73]It pained him to realize that [01:51.68]his one friend in this ungodly war [01:54.53]had betrayed him by dying. [01:57.60]Soldiers don't often make friends with [02:01.21]one another, knowing they might die. [02:03.94]He and Mike were different. [02:06.45]They had known each other [02:08.31]since they were children. [02:09.73]Mike was the best man when [02:11.81]Jack and Lily walked down [02:13.89]the aisle just a week before [02:15.86]they left the dock and crossed [02:17.61]the channel to engage the enemy. [02:20.57]Clouds tumbled and overlapped one another [02:24.50]as the wind began to freshen. [02:26.80]It was getting colder now. [02:29.65]The prospect of another night [02:31.84]of rain, or perhaps even snow, [02:34.57]made Jack quiver with dread. [02:37.63]Blood tinged water was beginning [02:40.70]to crust over with ice. [02:43.43]He could feel his toes and [02:45.51]fingers stiffen as the temperature dropped. [02:49.01]Maybe Mike was better off than he. [02:52.51]At least the cold wouldn't [02:54.37]bother him any more. [02:56.34]Suddenly, comets of light began [02:59.95]to streak across the night sky. [03:02.47]They were using flares! [03:05.10]The increased tempo of cannon fire [03:07.72]coming from the left flank, [03:09.69]shattering the earth around them, [03:11.98]could only mean the enemy [03:14.17]had sensed their weakness, and [03:16.47]was coming in for the kill. [03:18.44]They were heading straight [03:20.74]for the underbelly!Jack's rifle misfired. [03:25.11]The whole corps had been issued [03:27.74]new guns a few days before [03:29.49]this campaign had started. [03:31.68]It wasn't long before they discovered [03:34.74]that the alloy used in the barrels [03:36.93]couldn't endure prolonged firing, [03:39.23]causing the shell casings [03:40.87]to adhere in the bore. How could [03:45.13]he repel the enemy without a weapon? [03:47.32]Jack felt a stab of pain [03:50.82]in his right thigh. [03:52.79]The ground around him ruptured. [03:55.53]Jerking from side to side, [03:57.72]he tried to dodge falling rocks [03:59.36]and the clods of dirt [04:01.32]raining down upon him. [04:03.95]He slumped into a prone posture [04:06.14]as he felt himself shoved [04:08.33]from behind by an unknown force [04:11.07]that felt as if it might [04:13.03]have been a racing locomotive. [04:16.20]The last thing he heard, [04:18.83]before his world was overturned, [04:20.80]was a chorus of screams. [04:23.54]“Am I dead? Where am I? [04:27.80]Where is everybody?” Cognitively, [04:30.43]Jack realized he was still functioning [04:33.93]physiologically so that meant [04:36.67]he was still alive, but [04:38.30]for how long? He couldn't move. [04:41.48]Maybe the impact had fractured [04:44.65]his spine and he was paralyzed. [04:47.17]He tried，analytically，to assess [04:50.23]the damage incurred by moving [04:51.87]his limbs, one by one, [04:53.84]in a clockwise direction, [04:56.24]starting with his right arm. [04:58.87]Everything appeared able to be [05:01.50]mobilized but for some reason [05:03.58]he couldn't get up off the ground. [05:06.31]Everything went black again. [05:09.38]Jack led his horse by the reins [05:13.31]as they stepped onto the overpass [05:15.28]bridging the gap between the plateaus. [05:18.78]In the distance, he could see [05:21.52]a twelve point buck grazing [05:23.60]in the pasture, silhouetted against [05:26.66]the waning sunset. Out of nowhere, [05:30.05]a bull came charging across [05:32.35]the meadow toward him. He tried [05:35.63]to run but his feet [05:37.39]were pegged to the bridge. [05:39.24]Drifting in and out of consciousness, [05:42.97]Jack tried to make sense of [05:45.04]what had happened to him. [05:47.12]He seemed to be in a cavity [05:49.74]under the ground. The earth [05:52.48]was compacted on his legs [05:54.45]but he thought he might be [05:56.31]able to rotate his body enough [05:59.31]to make himself a little more comfortable. [06:01.69]Was that a shaft of light [06:04.76]he could see through the groove [06:06.18]between the fingers of his left [06:07.60]hand covering his eyes? [06:09.57]He groped to clear a tiny [06:12.42]bit more space for himself. [06:14.72]The shutters of his consciousness [06:16.90]closed again.The galaxy was [06:22.15]being probed by lunar modules shuttling [06:25.87]between Earth and the other planets. [06:28.28]As a member of a federation of geologists, [06:31.79]Jack and his team had to [06:33.75]follow the seam of ore [06:35.72]to its source, a pasture [06:37.58]on a distant asteroid. [06:39.44]Once again, Jack regained lucidity. [06:44.04]“Wow,” he thought, “that was [06:46.66]like a bad paperback novel [06:48.74]about astronomy!” He sniffed the air. [06:51.81]It was foul with the smell [06:54.43]of death but qualitatively [06:55.96]able to sustain life. [06:58.80]Why was it so quiet? [07:01.32]Was he deaf? Was the battle over? [07:04.05]Was everyone dead? The weight [07:07.12]on his legs was becoming oppressive. |
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