The pilgrims arrive at Keats Spaceport on Hyperion and see it in a much different state from the last time some of them were there. It is now overrun with people trying to leave Hyperion to flee from the Shrike.
The consul is met by Theo, who appears to be an old friend, and was also a Consul until he was recently appointed acting Governer-General. He tries to convince the Consul to not go on the pilgrimage to the Time Tombs, warning him of the risks. He wishes for the Consul to instead take over the Governor-Generalship from him. The Consul refuses, insisting he must go on this pilgrimage.
While at a bar, the pilgrims meet an android that insists they leave right away on a barge that will bring them to the Time Tombs.
As they settle in for their six day journey, Fedmahn Kassad is the next to tell his story.
Kassad’s story begins with him being inserted as an archer by the Olympus Command School in a simulation of 14th century England. He is fighting in the English army against the French.
During the battle, Kassad breaks off to chase a French soldier, who is fleeing through the woods. After Kassad finally gets the better of the Frenchman, he is joined by a woman, who helps him finish the fight. The woman then initiates sex and disappears after, without ever saying a word to Kassad.
After the simulation, Kassad obsesses over the memory of the woman until years later she meets him in another simulation, in which they have sex again. This repeats over the course of several simulated battles throughout history, but in each instance, they never speak to one another.
Kassad quickly rises through the ranks and becomes famous for his actions in Qom-Riyadh against religious extremists who are holding Hegemony hostages.
Kassad then arrives at Bressia and begins to fight the Ousters who have invaded, but the battle drags on for months and reverts back to the days of the 20th century, rather than following the code of New Bushido that emphasizes protecting civilian lives, avoiding nuclear weapons and strategic bombing.
After 97 days of fighting, the Ousters finally leave Bressia, only to see Kassad wounded when an old trap explodes. Kassad is placed in a fugue state so he can be resuscitated.
Moments after Kassad awakes from this fugue state aboard the medical ship, it is attacked by Ousters, and Kassad needs to rescue himself from the wreckage.
Kassad fights through the Ouster troops and commandeers one of the Ouster squids.
After a harrowing plunge through the atmosphere, Kassad lands on Hyperion where he meets his dream woman, who now speaks to him, revealing that her name is Moneta and they are in the City of Poets.
Moneta takes Kassad to the Time Tombs to meet a Shrike called The Pain Lord. Here, she explains that the tombs are driven backward through time and reveals that her encounters with Kassad have been in his past and her future.
Using the Pain Lord’s ability to control the flow of time, Kassad is able to kill the enemy forces awaiting him. Kassad experiences an internal conflict around his sense of honor in killing the Ousters this way, but bloodlust seems to overcome him during the fight.
After the battle Moneta and Kassad have sex again during which Kassad experiences certain visions. Meanwhile, Moneta turns into a monstrous metallic creature, comprised of steel blades that lash at Kassad and wound him as he narrowly escapes.
Kassad is rescued and resuscitated almost two days later. After this, he resigns his commission and joins the anti-war protests, but it is too late.
Kassad finishes telling the pilgrims his story and Sol hWeintraub, the scholar, confirms that it is indeed possible for the Time Tombs to move backward in time. The Consul then questions Kassad about the victims he saw in a vision of the Shrike’s “killing tree”, noting that the victims would have to be from the future. He asks if any of the victims are the pilgrims, and Kassad says yes, but won’t reveal who.
Finally, Kassad vows that when he next sees Moneta and the Shrike, he will kill them.