Chapter 16 Chapter 9 The Net of Heaven and Earth

The space station is located on the outskirts of this populous planetary capital. This kind of interstellar transportation hub always presents a unique busyness and magnificence in the galaxy.Many giant spacecraft are safely parked on the landing gear. If the timing is correct, you can see the spectacular footage of the spacecraft landing, and the scene of the launch is even more breathtaking.The power of the spacecraft is provided by the reaction of nuclear recombination, so the process of rising and falling is all silent. Ninety-five percent of the area of ​​the entire space station is the aforementioned take-off and landing area.All that was to be seen in those many square miles was the various spacecraft, aircrew and ground crews, and computers used by both spacecraft and crew.

Only in the range of the other five percent can the crowds be seen.The purpose of everyone coming to this transportation transfer station is just to go to another star.What is absolutely certain is that few of these throngs stop to contemplate the technologies that make up the entire space transportation network.Maybe some people would occasionally think that the metal bodies that are slowly falling in the distance, although they look very small, actually weigh several thousand tons.Each of these gigantic metal cylinders could accidentally lose contact with the navigational waves and crash half a mile from their intended landing site; perhaps just in time to penetrate the expansive glass roof of the terminal building, killing thousands of people tragically ——And their "wreckage" is probably just some thin organic gases and sulfides that have been crushed into powder.

In fact, due to the perfect security facilities today, such an accident is absolutely impossible.Only people with severe nervousness can have such worrying thoughts. So, what are they thinking?Don't forget one thing, this large group of people has a common purpose, and this purpose permeates the entire space station, forming a special atmosphere.Everyone lined up in rows, parents led their children, and their luggage was piled up neatly into hills—everyone wanted to reach their destination as soon as possible. Amongst the multitude of travelers who had no other thought than their destination, there arose a utterly alone mind, not knowing where to go, but more anxious than any one around to get out of here, to be elsewhere at once. go.Anywhere is fine!Or should I say, almost anywhere!

There is a thick tension here, an invisible pressure.Although she has no psychic powers and doesn't know how to touch the hearts of others, this atmosphere and pressure are enough to make her feel desperate. Is it just "enough"?Simply too much, too big, too strong.She felt that her whole body was immersed in despair, and her whole body was overwhelmed by despair. Argatia Darrel, now wearing someone else's clothes, standing on someone else's planet, is in a situation that should be someone else, and even her life is almost in someone else's hands.She longed to find a safe nest in her heart, but she couldn't even understand her own desire, she only knew that being exposed naked to this world is really the most dangerous.She wanted to find a hidden place—as far away as possible—preferably some untouched part of the universe where no one could find it.

Now she stood there, although she was only a little over fourteen years old, she felt as tired as an old woman in her eighties.But the fear in her heart made her as helpless as a child less than five years old. At least hundreds of travelers passed her by—literally, she felt like she touched everyone.Which of these strangers is a Second Foundation member?What stranger had to put her to death immediately because she harbored a secret she shouldn't know?Only she knows that secret, and only she knows the whereabouts of the second base. Just as she was about to scream out, she suddenly heard a thunderous voice.The scream froze in his throat as a silent pain.

"Hey, miss," the man behind said fiercely, "do you want to buy a ticket, or do you just want to stand in front of the ticket machine?" It wasn't until this moment that she realized that she was already standing in front of a ticket vending machine.The method of using this machine is quite simple. Just insert a high-denomination banknote into the coin feeding slot, wait until the banknote is sucked in, and then press the button marked with the destination, and the ticket vending machine will spit out a ticket , and get back the excess money automatically.This machine uses an electronic scanning device to identify the denomination of banknotes, so there is absolutely no chance of mistakes.No one needs to spend five minutes researching such an ordinary vending machine.

Arkadia hurriedly stuffed a two-hundred-dollar bill into the coin feeder, just in time to catch a glimpse of the button marked "Trantor".Trantor, she thought, the erstwhile capital of the dead empire—her own birthplace.She pressed the button without knowing it, but she didn't see any movement, only a row of red letters flashing continuously: 172.18... 172.18... 172.1 Eight…… That was the amount of money she still needed to make up, so she hurriedly stuffed another two hundred yuan in, and the machine immediately spit out a ticket.She immediately grabbed the ticket in her hand, and the change followed suit.

She picked up the change and was about to run away, but she felt that the person behind couldn't wait to squeeze forward.So she turned around in a hurry, passed in front of the man, and ran away without looking back. But she has nowhere to escape, it seems that everyone is her enemy. She raised her head and looked at the huge signs flashing in the air, but she was at a loss in her heart-"Stefani", "Anakryon", "Fermas", and even a "Terminal Star". "The words floated in the air.How she longed to go back there, but she dared not... In fact, she can rent a communicator for a little money.This kind of communicator can be placed in a leather bag, as long as the destination is entered in advance, it will send out a notification quarter of an hour before the spacecraft takes off.However, Argadia had no time to think of such a device because she felt threatened.

She looked at the left and right sides at the same time, but forgot to take into account the front, and accidentally collided with a soft belly.She immediately heard a scream, and then a groan, and her arm was grabbed by the opponent's palm.She desperately wanted to break free, but she couldn't exert any strength, and could only make a kitten-like cry in her throat. The man held her tightly, but made no further movements.After a while, she finally saw the scene in front of her.She mustered up the courage to stare at him. It was a short and skinny middle-aged man with thick white hair combed back neatly into a noble hairstyle, which seemed extremely out of proportion to his face.His face was so red and round that anyone could tell at a glance that he was a farmer.

"What's going on?" He finally opened his mouth, with a hint of curiosity in his tone, "You look scared." "I'm sorry," Argadia stammered, terrified, "I have to go, I'm so sorry." But the other party completely ignored what she said, and he said: "Be careful, little girl, don't lose the boat ticket." After speaking, he took the ticket from her pale fingers, and after looking at it, he showed obvious satisfaction. "I was right," he said, suddenly, in a bull's voice, "Mother!" A woman appeared immediately beside him, looking shorter, rounder, and rosier than he was.She was wrapping one finger around a strand of gray hair, trying to tuck it back under the outdated hat.

"Father," she said reproachfully, "why are you yelling in public? People think you're crazy. Do you think this is your farm?" "He's as rude as a bear," she added, smiling cheerfully at the blank Argadia. Then she changed to a stern tone and said, "Dad, let this girl go, what the hell are you doing?" "Papa" just waved the ticket in his hand to her, and then said to her, "Look, she's going to Trantor." "Mom" smiled immediately. "You're from Trantor? Let go of her arm, you hear, Dad." After finishing speaking, she put down the bulging suitcase, pressed Arcadia's shoulders lightly with both hands, and forced her to sit on the suitcase, and said, "Sit down and have a good rest." Rest your little feet. The benches are taken up by the slackers for sleep, and the spaceship won't take off in an hour. Are you from Trantor?" Arcadia took a deep breath and finally stopped struggling.She replied in a hoarse voice, "I was born there." "Mom" kept clapping her hands happily: "We have been here for a month, and we haven't met any fellow villagers. This is really great, your parents..." At this point, she raised her head and looked around for a while. "I didn't come with my parents," Argadia said cautiously. "You came here alone? A little girl like you?" "Mom" immediately showed an angry and distressed expression, "How could this happen?" "Mom," "Daddy" said to her, tugging at her sleeve, "I'm here to tell you that something's not quite right, and I think she's terrified." Although he lowered his voice on purpose, Arcadia could still hear him. Clearly. "She came running along - I kept looking at her - but her eyes weren't looking at the road at all. Before I could get out of the way, she bumped her head on me. You know what? I thought she must have something trouble." "Shut your mouth, Dad, you are in the middle of the road, anyone will bump into your belly." After she finished speaking, she sat down next to Argatia and creaked the suitcase.Then she put her arm around the girl's trembling shoulders and asked, "Are you running from someone, cutie? Just tell me, and I'll help you." Agatha stared into those kindly gray eyes and felt her lips quivering.They came from Trantor, she thought, and she could go with them, and they would help her stay in that world until she decided on her next move, and her next destination.But in her mind, there was another louder voice, reminding her of many disjointed facts—she couldn't remember what her mother looked like...she was fighting the entire universe single-handedly, and was almost exhausted...she just wanted to curl up into one A group, hiding in a pair of strong and gentle arms... If the mother is alive today, she can... can... She cried at last, for the first time that night.She cried like a baby, but also cried very comfortably.She tugged on "Mom"'s old-fashioned dress so hard that it got a lot wet.A pair of tender arms hugged her tightly all the time, and kept stroking her curly hair. "Dad" stood there, looking at the two of them at a loss, and the only thing he could do was to quickly take out his handkerchief. He fumbled around for a long time, and just as he took out his handkerchief, it was immediately snatched away by his "mother". "Mom" glared at him and signaled him not to talk any more.Many passengers passed by them, and everyone was just busy on their way, not paying attention to these three people at all, as if they didn't exist. Finally, Argadia finally stopped crying.She wiped her swollen eyes lightly with the handkerchief, and smiled faintly. "My God," she said softly, "I..." "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) y'know) and tell us what's wrong. Just wait and see and we'll help you out) Fix it, and everything will be fine." Argatiya struggled to gather her thoughts, trying to come up with an idea—she knew she couldn't tell them the truth, no one else: but she was too tired to make a seamless lie. So she had to say softly, "I feel better now." "Very well," said Mother, "now tell us what's your trouble. Did you do something wrong? Of course, whatever you do, we'll help you, but tell us the truth." "You're a countryman from Trantor, and we can help with anything," added "Father," impassionedly, "isn't it, Mother?" "Shut your mouth, Dad." This was "Mom"'s answer.Although her tone was so harsh, she was not angry at all. Agatha reached into her purse—although she had to change in a panic in Lady Carrie's boudoir just now, her own purse was still with her.She found what she was looking for and handed it to "Mom". "This is my document," she said timidly—it was a piece of shiny synthetic vellum, issued by the al-Qaeda ambassador on the day she arrived here, and it was countersigned by officials from Kargan .This document is large and ornate in style, and looks very eye-catching. "Mom" couldn't see why, so she had to hand it to "Dad"; "Dad" looked at it carefully, and then pouted involuntarily. He asked, "Are you from the base?" "Yes, but I was born on Trantor. You see it says..." "Aha, I guess so. Your name is Argadia, isn't it? That's a nice Trantorian name. But what about your uncle? It says you came with your uncle, and his name is Homir Moon." "He's under arrest," Argadia said in a mournful tone. "Arrested! Why?" The two shouted in unison.Then "Mom" added: "What did he do?" Argatia shook her head and replied, "I don't know, I'm just here for sightseeing. Uncle Houmil has something to ask Commander Stettin, but..." She didn't need to pretend to tremble at all, because she was really scared. "Father" was immediately in awe when he heard this: "Please see Commander Shi Tieting, um—your uncle must be a big shot." "I don't know what's going on at all, but Commander Shi Tieting wants me to stay..." She remembered the last words of Lady Jiali, even though it was a play directed and acted by Jiali herself, now that Knowing that she's an expert on the subject, that story certainly lends a hand. She stopped on purpose, and "Mom" asked curiously, "Why do you want to stay?" "I don't understand either. He... he wanted to have dinner with me alone, but I said no, because I wanted Uncle Homir to join in. He gave me weird eyes and still grabbed my shoulder." Hearing this, "father" opened his mouth slightly, but "mother" suddenly became red-faced and furious.She said, "How old are you, Arcadia?" "Fourteen and a half years old, actually a little bit worse." "Mother" took a sharp breath, and then said, "That kind of man has never been struck by lightning, and the wild dogs in the street are better than him. You are running from him, dear child, aren't you?" Agatha nodded. So "Mom" said, "Dad, go to the information desk right away and ask when the spaceship to Trantor arrives. Hurry up!" But "Dad" just took a step, and stopped immediately.Because there was a deafening sound from above, it attracted at least five thousand pairs of eyes to look up in panic. "Guests," said a stern, grim, forceful voice, "a dangerous fugitive has infiltrated the space station. We have cordoned off the scene and are conducting a sweeping search. The search will be carried out expeditiously and in the most efficient manner. , during this period, no one will be allowed in or out, and there will be no spacecraft landing, so no one will miss the schedule. I repeat, no one will miss the schedule. The raster will be down soon , everyone is not allowed to leave their grid until the grating is lifted. If anyone violates it, we will be forced to use the nerve whip." The sound lasted for about a minute, and there was no other movement in the huge waiting building.At this time, even if the entire galaxy collapsed, Argadia would never dare to move a single hair. The so-called fugitive must be her. This is a conclusion that can be reached without thinking.But why... Carrie had instigated her escape, and Carrie was an agent of the Second Base, so why was she being hunted now?Did Carrie's move fail?Can Carrie possibly fail?Or was this part of the plan too, and she just couldn't understand the complex arrangement? She felt dizzy and almost jumped out, yelling that she surrendered, that she was willing to be taken by them, that she...she... Fortunately, "Mom" grabbed her wrist in time and said to her, "Quick! Quick! Before they start searching, let's hide in the women's toilet." Arkadia was at a loss, and just followed her blindly.They squeezed through countless stunned crowds, and at this moment the broadcast finally ended. Then, the grating begins to come down. "Father" opened his mouth wide and watched the whole process intently. He had heard of this kind of battle before and read about it in books and newspapers, but he had never experienced it himself.The so-called "grating" is a criss-cross optical network woven by radiation beams, dividing the space into many neat squares.Since the beam energy is very low, it will not cause any harm to the human body. Every time this kind of grating is used, it always falls slowly from the sky as usual, like a giant net covering the sky and covering the earth, which makes people have a terrifying illusion of being caught in a net of heaven and earth. The grating was fixed at waist height, forming an infinite grid of shimmering squares ten feet on a side. In the one hundred square feet that "Dad" was in, there happened to be no one else, but the surrounding squares were quite crowded.He felt that it was too conspicuous to be alone in a square, but he didn't dare to move without authorization.Because he knew that if he wanted to get into the crowd in other squares, he would definitely touch at least one light beam, and then the alarm bell would be triggered immediately, and the nerve whip would follow. He had to wait patiently. He glanced over the fearful crowd waiting silently, saw a commotion in the distance, and knew that it meant that the police were conducting an interrogation there.They will check one by one, and will not miss any one. After waiting for a long time, a police officer walked into his grid and carefully wrote the coordinates of this grid in the register. "Certificate!" "Dad" handed him the certificate, and the police officer quickly flipped through it with skillful techniques. "Your name is Prim Paffer, a Trantorian, and you've been in Kalgan for a month, and you're going back to Trantor now—answer me, won't you?" "Yes Yes." "What did you come to Kargan for?" "I'm a trade representative of our agricultural cooperative, and I'm here to discuss some business with the Kargan Department of Agriculture." "Well—your wife came with you? It says so on your papers. Where is she?" "I'm sorry, my wife is—" He pointed. "Hunter," the officer yelled.A short time later, another officer appeared beside him. The original police officer said in a sarcastic tone: "There is another woman hiding in the toilet here. The Milky Way is on the top. The place must be crowded by them-write down her name." The spouse column of the certificate. "Who else is with you?" "My niece." "There is no mention of her in the document." "We didn't come together in the first place." "Where is she now? Needless to say, I know, get his niece's name down too, Hunter. What's her name? Write it down: Agathia Pavel. You stay here, Pavo, we'll get those two women back." "Dad" felt as if it had been a long, long time before he saw "Mom" walking towards him.Argadia's hand was still tightly held by her, and the two policemen trailed behind them. A group of people walked into the square of "Dad", and one of the police officers asked, "Is this noisy old woman your wife?" "Yes, sir." "Dad" replied with a smile on his face. "Then you'd better warn her that if she keeps talking like that to First Citizen's police, she's going to get away with it." Then he puffed out his chest and said angrily, "Is this your niece?" "Yes, sir." "I want to see her papers." "Mom" stared straight at her husband, then shook her head slowly and resolutely. After being silent for a while, "Father" said with a forced smile, "I'm afraid it's hard to follow." "What do you mean you can't obey your orders?" The policeman suddenly stretched out his hand to him, and said fiercely, "Hurry up and hand it over." "We have diplomatic immunity." "Father" replied in a gentle tone. "What does that mean?" "As I said, I am a trade representative of our agricultural cooperative. The Kargan government recognizes me as a diplomatic officer. This is clearly written on the certificate. I have shown my certificate to you. Now I don't want to be harassed any more." The police officer seemed taken aback, and after a pause, he spoke again: "I have to see her ID, I am acting under orders." "Go away," "Mom" interrupted suddenly: "When we need to find you, we will naturally call you. You... you rascal." The officer pursed his lips, then turned his head and said, "Take a good look at them, Hunter, and I'll get the deputy captain." "You're going to break a leg!" "Mom" yelled behind him.Some people couldn't help laughing, but quickly shut their mouths. Now that the search was drawing to a close, there was an uneasy commotion among the crowd.Forty-five minutes had passed since the raster began to lower, which was clearly too long for the intended efficiency.Therefore, Vice-captain Di Ruiji hastily passed through the crowd and walked quickly in this direction. "Is that the girl?" he asked impatiently.Then he took a closer look at Argadia, and saw that she did fit the description in the order—so much trouble, just for such a child. He said, "Her ID, can you please give it to me?" "Daddy" replied, "I've explained..." "I understand what you just explained, but I'm sorry," said the vice-captain. "I was following orders, and there is no room for maneuver. If you want to protest after the fact, it's up to you. But now, if necessary , I must use force." There was a moment of silence, and the deputy captain waited patiently. Then "Papa" said suddenly in a hoarse voice, "Give me your papers, Arcadia." Argatia shook her head in fright, but "Papa" nodded to her and said, "Don't be afraid, give me the ID." She had no choice but to take out her ID and hand it to "Dad". "Dad" opened the certificate, read it carefully, and then handed it over.After the deputy captain took it, he also read it carefully, then raised his head, stared at Argatia for a long time, and finally closed the certificate with a "snap". "The papers are all in place," he said. "It's all right, everyone." After speaking, he led the team to leave.More than two minutes later, the light barriers in the space station were lifted, and at the same time, there was a broadcast from the head announcing that everything was back to normal.After the masses regained their freedom, the noisy voices immediately turned to boiling. Agatha asked, "Why...how..." "Father" said, "Shhh - don't say anything. We'd better get aboard, the spaceship should be here soon." They have a private cabin on board the spacecraft and a dedicated table in the dining room.Now two light-years away from Kalgen, Arcadia finally summoned up the courage to repeat the old story. She said: "But it's me they want, Mr. Paffer, and they must have a description of me and all kinds of details. Why did he let me go?" "Dad" was enjoying a piece of braised beef. He raised his head and showed a bright smile: "Well, Argatia, child, this is really simple. One person deals with agents and customers all day long, and has to Competing with other cooperatives, you can naturally learn a lot, and I have accumulated more than 20 years of experience. You know, boy, when the vice-captain opened your ID, he found a A five-hundred-dollar bill, folded into a tiny piece. Simple, isn't it?" "I'll pay you back...I mean it, I have a lot of money lying around." "Forget it," "Father" shook his head, a shy smile appeared on his broad face, and he said, "For my own compatriots..." So Argadia stopped insisting, but asked again: "But what if he takes the money, arrests me, and then charges me with bribery?" "Give up the five hundred yuan? I know these people better than you, little girl." But Argatia knew that he was too confident, at least for "those people", he definitely didn't know as much as she did.That night, she lay on the bed thinking about it over and over again, no matter how she thought about it, she still felt that something was wrong—the deputy captain who was ordered to hunt her down could never be bribed with a few hundred yuan.Unless this matter was also planned in advance, because they didn't want to catch her, but they deliberately tried their best. why?To be sure she will leave?Leaving Kalgan for Trantor?Were the two simple-minded, kind-hearted couples she met as helpless as she was, tools of the Second Foundation? They must be! But can you really be sure? How could she stand against them when all efforts seemed to be in vain?No matter what she did, it was possible that those terrible and omnipotent people had deliberately designed her to do it that way. But she must try to outwit her, must, must.must!