Chapter 71 Chapter 70 "The American Bastille"

"Hello, hello!" The phone was cut off suddenly.Ding Jieqiong yelled into the microphone for a while, but to no avail.She went to the operator, but the lady just looked at her strangely and shook her head silently.She realized something, and after paying, she turned around and walked out of the telephone exchange, and got into her own car—it was an old black "Mercedes" sedan imported from Germany before the war, and it was actually an official car "allocated" by the base authorities. She spent very little money.She drove the car back to her residence.After the war, Alamos became more and more desolate, and the night was even more desolate and decaying. The street lights were dim and dim, there were few vehicles on the road, and pedestrians seemed to have disappeared.

Ding Jieqiong learned that Ling Yunzhu was the director of the Peking Research Institute from the Chinese short-wave broadcast by chance.The report said that the atomic bomb shocked the world and aroused great interest in China. The Peking Research Institute headed by Professor Ling Yunzhu added a research institute serving nuclear research, and opened or strengthened nuclear physics courses in major Chinese universities. etc.All these things made Ding Jieqiong very excited. After the "July 7th Incident", Ding Jieqiong and Ling Yunzhu and his wife were cut off.Now, she is desperate to get back in touch.In Alamos, scientists cannot make or receive long-distance calls from their residences.Private long-distance calls and overseas calls can only be made at the telephone exchange.So Ding Jieqiong drove the car to the telephone office.It took several hours to find Ling Yunzhu's house.Both parties were very happy, and they talked for an hour, and wanted to talk further.Ding Jieqiong forgot that this was at a telephone exchange, forgot that although the glass cage-like "soundproof room" was not actually soundproof, and especially forgot that Alamos was a place strictly controlled by "secret agents", anyway, she only cared about being happy and talking Yes, pouring into the microphone, telling everything she wanted to say and everything she knew, from "Committee U" to "Committee G," from atomic weapons to germ weapons.She said that she had finally finished her studies, and she must return to China and dedicate herself to the cause of making the motherland stronger; she said that China must have a strong industry and economy, a strong army, and the most advanced artillery and tanks in the world , warships, fighter planes and missiles, but also atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs!

Professor Ling Yunzhu replied emotionally: "Come back, Jieqiong!" Song Subo grabbed the receiver and asked, "Jieqiong, where is Su Guanlan?" topic.She wanted to inquire about Guanlan's whereabouts from her teacher and teacher's wife, and she also wanted to ask them to find Guanlan and send a message to Guanlan... Ding Jieqiong wiped away her tears and left the telephone office in a daze. After driving back to her residence, she immediately began to pack her luggage.Like all families, she had amassed so much "property" in just a few years at Alamos.Now that you decide to leave, most of your things have to be thrown away.The female scientist only brought the undeliverable letters to Guanlan—she counted them, a total of 187.She really wanted to take them back to China and hand them to Guanlan face to face.Each of these letters was very long, and they were all neatly folded and placed in the envelope. Even after she tied the letters tightly, there was still a big thick packet.Then, she selected five pots of bluegrass from all twenty-six pots, and brought some indispensable books, stationery, notebooks and daily necessities, including the signed copy of the English translation novel "Within the Four Seas" given to her by Pearl Buck. All Brothers", the "Mercedes-Benz" car is full; then take a nap, and it will be dawn.Ding Jieqiong did a little dressing, and left the residence in a "Benz" without saying hello to anyone.After all, she lived in Alamos for a few years, which was a very important and critical turning point in her life and in the world, so who should she say goodbye to?But who are you saying goodbye to? Most of the colleagues during the "Manhattan Project" had left this desert long ago; flew away……

The building of the "Military Warfare Research Office" was quiet inside and out, because it was Sunday.She is tired of this building! "They" seem to have forgotten her identity as a physicist and her repeated requests to go back to the laboratory and even to Berkeley, and let her stay here to study "intelligence".Now, Ding Jieqiong came to this building for the last time, leaving a letter of resignation and farewell, and the envelope contained the "discretionary license to contact military secrets" issued to her.People are not plants, how can they be ruthless.Up to now, Ding Jieqiong suddenly felt a kind of melancholy, a pang of sorrow.So, she drove the "Mercedes" around the big and small neighborhoods of Alamos before driving to Santa Fe.After another linger in New Mexico's capital city, head down the emerald-green Rio Grande, turn west in Albuquerque, the state's largest city, and zip down the flat, asphalt-paved interstate.The scenery along the way is typical of the American West: deserts dotted with drought-resistant plants, gentle hills made of red sandstone, neat and clean towns, slow-moving herds of cattle, and brown-skinned cowboys on horses. "Mercedes-Benz" went all the way west, west, after passing through Grants and Gallup, it finally approached the border between New Mexico and Arizona.After crossing Arizona, I came to the southern part of California, which is not far from Berkeley and Ding Jieqiong's home.

It was dark.Almost at the same time when the headlights of "Mercedes-Benz" illuminated the boundary marker and the black car drove into the Arizona border at high speed, two police cars painted in blue and white and sounding their sirens seemed to come out of nowhere , across the front.Ding Jieqiong had to stop the car, only to realize that several police cars were also surrounding him from behind and on the left and right.She guessed that the police must be after the fugitive.This sparsely populated wasteland is indeed often haunted by all kinds of fugitives. Therefore, the arrival of the police made her feel safe.Here, some police officers get out of the car and come to her, and she opens the door...

A police officer routinely showed his ID and walked around the "Mercedes-Benz", then pointed at the front and rear of the car and hummed, "What's going on?" "What's the matter?" Ding Jieqiong asked.She has driven this "Mercedes" in Alamos for several years, as far as Santa Fe, and has never had "anything"... "License," the officer spat out one word simply. Only then did Ding Jieqiong realize that the "Benz" had no license plate. "This car has never had a license plate." She said frankly. "Why?" the officer looked at her.

"Across Alamos, many cars don't have license plates," said the woman scientist. "Well, driver's license." The officer held out his right hand. "I don't have a driver's license either." Ding Jieqiong stuttered. "That is to say, you don't have any of the necessary documents to drive a car." The police officer frowned. "Alamos," another officer came up, "what Alamos? Where is it?" "It's a new town in New Mexico, west of Santa Fe." "Why don't we know about the new towns in New Mexico? Isn't there an endless desert to the west of Santa Fe?" The police officer's tone became severe. , there will never be a car without a license plate in any town in America."

The officer was right.This is indeed the case in law.Who made Ding Jieqiong stay in a place unknown to the world and without laws for so many years?Women scientists have nothing to say. "Ma'am, other identification documents." "I am Chinese." "passport." Ding Jieqiong has nothing to say!Of course, she could tell the whole story, but where to start?It won't work if you say it, how can you prove her statement? "I don't have a passport either." "No passport?" The officers became wary. "You can go to the Chinese Embassy in Washington or the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco..."

"We're not going anywhere," the policemen snapped, "and you must come with us!" Ding Jieqiong took a deep breath and remained silent. "Ma'am, from now on, please act according to our requirements." The female scientist found that several female police officers quietly appeared beside her.At the same time, a large van came out of the night and stopped aside.Two sloping panels are lowered behind the truck.A police officer drove the "Mercedes" along the ramp into the compartment of the large truck. Ding Jieqiong was vaguely aware that everything seemed to be "arranged" for her specially, including the indefinite stay in Alamos after the war, the "plane crash" of the two army officers who took away her passport and driver's license, and the "plane crash" with The sudden interruption of Professor Ling's call also included...

"Okay," Ding Jieqiong remained calm and reserved even though his heart was in a mess, "tell me your 'request'." "Now, please get in the car." A straight-faced female police officer gestured. The female professor was "invited" into the back seat of a police car, and two female police officers "protected" her on both sides.The convoy of five police cars and a van set off, but instead of continuing west, it turned back to Albuquerque.After staying here for a while, the van and the black "Mercedes" disappeared, the male police officers were all replaced by female police officers, and the five police cars became three, and then they sped northeast along the interstate. Arrived in New York two days later.

The female scientist was arrested in this way and lost her personal freedom.However, she was never used "tools" along the way; every time she stopped at a place, she was closely guarded, but her food and lodging was good; even the female police officers seemed to have been selected, and they were all well-trained and polite. He is polite and even looks handsome.Strangely, this arrest did not carry out any judicial formalities; during the whole process of escorting her, both male and female police officers only called her "Madam" or "Ms." ", as if neither knew nor wanted to know her name and identity... Three police cars and female officers left after delivering Jieqiong Ding to a federal detention facility on the South Side of Manhattan.This is a detention center specially used to detain important criminals awaiting trial.They arranged a clean and comfortable cell for the female scientist, and they still didn’t use “instruments” on her, and didn’t let her change into a prison uniform; they delivered her meals and several newspapers every day, and the supply of tea and coffee was adequate. Take a walk in a small enclosed garden next to the cell.No one was ever questioned, no forms were filled out, no judicial formalities were performed.Ding Jieqiong used to read newspapers and news, but never understood what "disappearance" was all about.How could a living person "disappear", how could he suddenly disappear from society for no reason?Now, she can "understand"... More than a month later, Ding Jieqiong was taken to Toombs Prison in New York.Known as the "American Bastille", it specializes in detaining prisoners sentenced to long-term imprisonment and life imprisonment, as well as death row prisoners who are appealing; there is also an execution room on the third floor to execute executions of death row prisoners. The day Ding Jieqiong first arrived in Toombs Prison, Betty, a tall and fat female prison guard nicknamed "Rhinoceros", escorted her up several floors.Both sides of the aisle are lined with "pigeon cages" made of steel grids. Each cell is only a few square meters, poorly ventilated, dirty, and smelly. "Rhino" said that by race, nine out of ten criminals here are black; by gender, one in ten criminals is a woman.The criminals also wore shackles and bruises, some had their teeth knocked out or their mouths slit, and their heads were stitched or bandaged. "Rhino" said that they were all suicidal or hurtful guys, and the injuries on their bodies were the result of fighting each other... Ding Jieqiong thought that this was a "visit" deliberately arranged for her.When she was in a bad mood and had a headache and wanted to vomit, fortunately, she reached the eleventh floor.This place suddenly opened up, which was completely different from other floors. It was clean and bright, with fresh air. It was not a "cage" but a set of suites, and each suite only lived for one prisoner.The facilities here are complete, very comfortable, with good food and toilets, and every few prisoners can share a gymnasium, movie room and reading room.According to "Rhinoceros", with approval, prisoners can still meet relatives and friends here, and even spend a good night with their lovers!In short, this place is not like a prison cell, but like a hotel; only the iron bars outside the windows of each room and the surveillance holes on each door silently remind that this is indeed a prison.Prisoners living on the eleventh floor must be serious criminals, must have some special status, and must cooperate with the authorities—this is the only way they can enjoy preferential treatment.Therefore, it is also called "privileged room", or "informative room". Ding Jieqiong is a woman, a professor, who has lived in a beautiful campus and a remote base for a long time; she never dreamed that one day she would be with the detention center, "Bastille", "privileged room" or "informative room" Classes place to connect!She felt deeply depressed and painful, but she couldn't think about it, so she could only endure the arrangement of fate temporarily. One morning after the "American Bastille" was imprisoned for two months, "Rhinoceros" opened the cell door and said to Ding Jieqiong, "Please, I will have your first interrogation today." The interrogation room is also on the eleventh floor, but the atmosphere is not strict, it looks like an elegantly decorated living room.There are pictures on the wall, potted flowers along the wall, two rows of brown leather sofas facing each other in the middle of the room, and a coffee table in front of each row of sofas.In the middle of one row of sofas sat an elderly man about sixty-five years old, and on the sofa next to him was a woman who looked like a secretary in her twenties. Ding Jieqiong stepped into the room.The old man and the young woman watched her without getting up or offering her a seat.The female professor looked around and sat down in the seat directly opposite the elder; she leaned back, put her left leg on her right leg, and folded her hands on her left knee.There was already a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her. There were only three people in the huge house.Apart from an old man about sixty-five years old and a young woman who looked like a secretary, there was only the "guest" Ding Jieqiong.The atmosphere created in this way is very relaxed.The straight-line distance between Ding Jieqiong and the old man was only three or four meters, and even with sharp eyes, she could clearly see the white hair and deep wrinkles on the other's face.The old man is tall, with a thin and big mouth, a high and wide nose, hale and hearty, calm and stable, and looks quite dignified and dignified; but his skin is loose and his head is bald, leaving only half of the back of his head with a sparse yellow and white circle hair.However, this appearance also makes him appear more amiable... The two sides looked at each other for more than ten seconds.Finally, the old man spoke first, with a kind expression and a hoarse voice, but he spoke clearly: "You are Professor Ding Jieqiong?" Women Scientists Surprised!Because the old man speaks pure Chinese. For many years in the United States, Ding Jieqiong seldom had the opportunity to speak Chinese; especially in the past few years in Alamos, she could not hear or speak Chinese at all.Regularly listening to radio broadcasts from China has become a way for her not to forget her "mother tongue".Therefore, at this moment, in this kind of place, suddenly hearing someone speak Chinese, and it is a standard "Mandarin", not only made her feel friendly, but even made her feel confused!After a full minute or so, she calmed down a little after expending a lot of effort, nodded, and replied in Chinese: "Yes, Ding Jieqiong." "Do you know where this is?" He still spoke Chinese.Subsequent conversations have also been conducted in Chinese. "Toombs Prison. America's 'Bastille.'" "Do you know why you were brought here?" "It's not because my car doesn't have a license plate, and it's not because I don't have a passport driver's license." "Yes, it's really not for these." "Then why?" "That's exactly the question I put to you." "I thought I had met a kidnapper." "Kidnapper," the old man smiled slightly, "will the kidnapper send you to the official prison?" "In the United States, kidnappers and officials are sometimes two in one." "Stop bickering!" The old man smiled again. "In any case, neither 'kidnappers' nor 'officials' have caused you to be mistreated or even treated in a manner that is not polite." "Put good people in jail, not abuse but 'polite'?" "How should I say it?" The old man paused for a while, "The fact is that you are in trouble, a lot of trouble; next, you may also encounter danger, including life-threatening danger. Therefore, we have to take some protection and precautions for you Measures. One of the measures is to get you into a place like this. Yes, this is a prison, Toombs Prison, but the eleventh floor is not..." "The eleventh floor is not a prison, what is it?" "Didn't they tell you that the eleventh floor is the 'Privilege Room'." "Also known as the 'tattoo room.'" "Perhaps. But you've been here two months, have you been persuaded or forced to 'snitch'?" "Stop bickering!" Ding Jieqiong also smiled, "Sir, you are here on order; in that case, I think it's best to get to the point of the interrogation as soon as possible." "There was no 'interrogation' of you. There will never be any." "'Rhino' said, first interrogation of me today." "Rhino, who is the Rhino?" "The female prison guard guarding me." "With this nickname, you can't listen to her. You should listen to me." "It's not an interrogation, what is it?" "It's a conversation." The old man slowed down his tone, choosing the appropriate words and vocabulary in Chinese, "It's a conversation between friends, it's a heart-to-heart talk, it's a heart-to-heart conversation, it's 'cutting the candles at the west window together', it's 'midnight." It’s “empty front seat”, it’s “I only feel sorry for my talent”, it’s “Why meet each other before”, and so on. Facts in the future will prove that it’s not too much to say.” "Okay, let's talk. I'm in trouble, a lot of trouble; and I may be in danger, including life-threatening. Excuse me, what crime have I committed to face such serious trouble and danger?" The old man stared at Ding Jieqiong silently.After a long time, he took out a document, put on his glasses, and said word by word: "Professor, I would like to take this opportunity to point out two points to you: First, according to the Seven Hundred and Ninety-fourth Title of the Eighteenth of the United States Code Article 1, there is no statute of limitations on the judicial prosecution of those who transmit secret information to foreign powers; 2, according to the Anti-Espionage Act of 1917, accomplices in espionage activities can be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison or the death penalty.” "What do you mean by these?" Ding Jieqiong looked at the other party as if challenging. "That's what I read from the law," said the old man, taking off his glasses. "Yes, I have participated in the 'Scientists' Uprising' and the 'Association of Conscience and Responsibility'." Ding Jieqiong said loudly, "This is my right! I will participate as long as I have the opportunity in the future." "Oh, is that all?" The old man gestured.Ding Jieqiong saw that the female secretary turned on a wire recorder on the coffee table.Soon, the conversation between Ding Jieqiong and Ling Yunzhu came from the tape recorder, interspersed with Song Subo's voice—it was more than two months ago, Ding Jieqiong had a conversation with Ling Yunzhu and his wife at the Alamos telephone office.Now, on the speaker of the tape recorder, the female professor poured out everything she wanted to say and everything she knew, from "Committee U" to "Committee G", from atomic weapons to bacteriological weapons, and about her eagerness to return to China and China has the most powerful army in the world, and it is eagerly hoped that China will have the largest quantity and best quality of artillery, tanks, warships, fighter planes and missiles in the world, and it is especially hoped that China will also have atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs... After playing for only a few minutes, the tape recorder stopped abruptly. "The following, I think, don't play it. At that time, if the phone hadn't been cut off in time, I really don't know what else you would have said." The old man said, and made another gesture, "Here, and— —” Ding Jieqiong leaned on the sofa, pale and silent.She thought, yes, the philosopher is right, women are emotional animals, and women are first dominated by emotions; even highly rationalized women are no exception!Look, just look at her, Ding Jieqiong, she misses the motherland so much, always thinking about going back to the country, what to do for the motherland, and what to do more; but she didn't do anything, she didn't do a single thing, but she was already confused It hit the muzzle of the Americans! The female secretary opened a bulging black leather bag, took out many things from it and piled them on the coffee table... "One hundred and eighty-seven letters." The old man stared at the female professor, "Is this number correct?" Ding Jieqiong remained silent, but sweat was dripping from his forehead. "Professor," the old man looked at him, "are you nervous?" "No, I'm just ashamed of your meanness." "why?" "These are all I wrote to my lover..." "We don't interfere with your love. We only pay attention to the part of these letters that involves the national security of the United States." The old man looked at the female professor intently, "Love letters are only about love, why are they talking about politics, atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, and 'Manhattan? Engineering' work process and internal organization, talk about W base and X base, talk about the layout and production process of Y base, Alamos, talk about the global strategy and nuclear policy of the United States?" "Have you forgotten, I also talked about the US developing germ weapons!" The old man didn't say anything, he seemed to be at a loss for words for a while.As early as the Geneva Conference in 1925, the "Agreement on the Prohibition of the Use of Chemical Weapons" was signed, which clearly stated that "the use of biological weapons such as bacteria is prohibited" in war.The United States is one of the signatories to the "Agreement". "What I wrote was a private letter. Everything in the letter was written for myself." Ding Jieqiong greeted the other party, "And you know, these letters cannot be mailed, and they cannot be taken out of the United States." "No," the old man interrupted the female professor, "it is possible for them to be sent out of the country by microfilm or steganography or through stowaways." "Where are the microfilms, cryptography, or stowaways?" "You don't need microfilm, secret letters, or stowaways." The old man said firmly, "Professor, you have amazing talents, including an extraordinary memory. In North America, and even in the entire Western Hemisphere, you can recite pi to the decimal point Of the 1,307 people, you are the only one." Ding Jieqiong opened his eyes wide. "We never underestimated you, Professor." The old man said calmly, still speaking clearly, "You will engrave all the secrets you have in your brain and bring them back to China or wherever you want to go." "Tell me, sir." Ding Jieqiong was silent for a long time, switched his right leg to his left, moved his body slightly, and asked, "How do you plan to use the United States Code and the 1917 Anti-Espionage Act against me?" ?” "No, you are wrong, Professor." The old man smiled again, "Not only do we not intend to punish you, but we want to thank you and treat you better." The female scientist raised her eyebrows and looked directly at the other party again. "Your letters have helped us obtain a lot of important evidence." "What evidence?" "Yes, about Dr. Olmhorse, for example—we always thought he was brilliant and devoted to America..." The female scientist cried out, "Ah, Aum!"