Elijah Belle fought tenaciously against the fear in her heart. Ever since he was summoned to Washington, and his caller told him calmly that he had a new mission, his sense of dread had grown stronger every day.This mood has been going on for two weeks or more. Just being called to Washington was enough to upset him.No one told him exactly what was going on, just telling him to go, which terrified him, and the fact that the travel dispatch stated that he had to fly back and forth horrified him even more. What was the urgency for him to fly?He was really scared.And flying—he was even more restless at the thought of airplanes.But this is just the beginning, and the feeling of uneasiness is easy to suppress.

After all, he had flown four times, even across America.Flying is not exactly a great experience, but at least Bailey is not completely ignorant of it. Besides, it's only an hour's flight from New York to Washington.The plane took off from New York's second runway and landed on Washington's fifth runway.He is much more at ease with these two runways, because these two runways are closed like all official runways, and only after the aircraft reaches the speed of lift-off will a gate be opened to allow the aircraft to enter the atmosphere. In addition, Bailey is also very clear that the cabin must be airtight, there will be no windows, and the lights are bright, the food is exquisite, and all kinds of necessities are available.The radio-controlled flight will be smooth, with little sense of movement after takeoff.

He explained it all to himself, and to his wife, Jessie, who was terrified because she had never flown before. Jessie said, "I don't like it when you fly, Elijah, it's so unnatural. Why don't you take the highway?" "Because it will take hours," Bailey said with a long face full of gloomy lines, "because I am a police officer and must follow the orders of my superiors. If I want to keep this C-6 position, it will Tell me to at least do it." There is no doubt about this. Finally got on the plane and sat down.He looked directly at the news tape in front of him, watching the news that was constantly playing on it.The city is proud of the service it offers, which includes news, features, humor, educational information, and sometimes fiction.It is reported that one day these tapes will be changed into film books.Because when passengers wear reading glasses, their vision is limited and they don't care about their surroundings.Bailey kept looking at the tape that was playing, which not only kept him distracted, but also made him appear polite.There were five other passengers on the plane (he had noticed this casually), all of whom were entitled to various degrees of fear and anxiety, depending on their personality and upbringing.

Bailey hated it when people harassed him when he was upset.Just like now, when he clings to the armrest of the chair, he doesn't want people to cast strange glances at his white knuckles, and he doesn't like people to see the sweat stains left by his hands after letting go of the armrest.He told himself: I am still in a closed place, this plane is a small city, a steel cave. But he couldn't lie to himself.His left side is nothing more than a two-centimeter thick steel plate. Although he can feel its presence on his elbow, there is nothing beyond the steel plate—— Uh, there's air!But that also means nothing.

Extending from this direction, there is a void of several thousand kilometers; extending from that direction, it is also a void of several thousand kilometers; and downward, it is a void of two or three kilometers. How he wished he could look straight down, see the sights he flew over, the tops of the buried cities—New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington.He imagined those low-hanging domes that he hadn't seen but that existed.Under the undulating dome, which is about one or two kilometers deep, are cities that spread out in all directions. The densely packed passages in the city are full of people, full of life.Inside, he thought, were apartments, community restaurants, factories, highways; everything seemed cozy and warm because of the presence of people.

Yet now he was in a tiny metal bullet, traveling through the void on indifferent and formless air. His hands were shaking.Bayley, forcing himself to stare at the tape, read a short passage. It's a short story about exploring the galaxy, and the hero is obviously an Earthling. Bailey clicked his tongue impatiently, but then he was a little taken aback by his rudeness of making noises, and immediately held his breath. But this story is really ridiculous. In order to cater to the tastes of naive people, it is assumed that earthlings can invade space.What are you kidding?Explore the galaxy?The Milky Way is basically closed to the people on Earth. The Milky Way has been occupied by the descendants of the people on Earth—people from other worlds several centuries ago.The first group of outsiders who arrived in the Milky Way found that comfortable paradise, and their descendants have long prohibited the earth people from immigrating there.These extraterrestrials imprisoned the earth and their earthling relatives, and the urban civilization of the earth itself made the earthlings shut themselves in the city with a wall of fear, and they were afraid of open spaces.Because of fear, they have even separated the range of human activities from robot farming and mining areas on their own planets.

Bailey thought bitterly: God, if we don't like this, we should try to change it instead of wasting time writing fairy tales! But there was nothing he could do, and he knew it. The plane landed.He and the other passengers got off the plane and left separately. Of course, it was impossible for them to even look at each other, which was the custom. Bailey checked his watch. He had a little time before taking the highway to the Justice Department, so he decided to freshen up.Fortunately, there is such a moment.The hustle and bustle of life, the huge cone of the airport, the corridors extending out from all levels of the city...everything he saw and every sound he heard gave him a feeling of being deeply enclosed in the city and a sense of security.Now, he just needs to take a shower and all his anxiety is gone.

He must obtain permission from the person in charge of local accommodation to use a private room in the community.He issued a business trip order, and the supervisor routinely stamped the permission letter, gave him a preferential personal room (the time of use was carefully listed on the permission letter to prevent abuse), and affixed a small piece of paper , indicating where it is located. Stepping onto the conveyor belt, Bailey was grateful.What a luxurious enjoyment it was when he jumped over the speed belts and approached the inner highway belt.He easily hopped onto the highway belt and chose a seat according to his rank.

It's not rush hour for traffic, so there are plenty of seats.When he arrived at the community private room, there were not many people there.The personal room he was assigned to use was neatly tidied up and contained a small laundry washing machine that worked well. He put his water ration to good use, and his clothes were washed and pressed.He thought he could handle the Justice Department, and surprisingly, he was even a little elated. Undersecretary Albert Minney was a neat man.He is not big, but his body is very strong, his hair is gray, his complexion is rosy, his body smells slightly of shaving lotion, and his whole body exudes a very clean breath.It all means that he is living well, enjoying the many rations of high-ranking executives.

Bailey couldn't help feeling dwarfed by his own paleness, emaciation, and shabbiness.His hands are too big, his eye sockets are too deep, and his whole body is rough. Minnie said enthusiastically, "Sit down, Bailey. How about a cigarette?" "I only smoke a pipe, sir." said Bailey, taking out his pipe.Minnie stuffed the cigar back into his pocket. Bailey immediately regretted it.One cigar is better than nothing, right?In fact, he quite liked the meeting ceremony.He has just been promoted from C-5 to C-6 recently, and the tobacco quota has increased accordingly, but he still feels that it is not enough to smoke.

"Just smoke! It's all right!" Minnie said.Bailey carefully took out a pinch of tobacco and stuffed it into the pipe while Minnie waited patiently like a fatherly man. Bailey looked down at the pipe: "Sir, no one has told me why I was called to Washington." "I know." Minny smiled slightly, "I'll tell you right now, you're temporarily changing your assignment." "Working outside New York City?" "To work far away." Bailey raised his eyebrows, looking thoughtful: "Sir, how long is the so-called temporary?" "I'm not sure either." Bailey is well aware of the pros and cons of being reassigned.If he is transferred to a foreign land as a temporary visitor, his living conditions will be better than those provided by his original rank.On the other hand, it was unlikely that Jessie and his son Bentley would be allowed to go with him.Of course, the two of them would be well taken care of in New York, but Bailey was a family man and he didn't like being separated from his family. In addition, transfer also means doing a special job.That's a good thing, but the responsibilities on his shoulders are much bigger than a normal detective, and it's likely to be uncomfortable.A few months earlier, Bailey had finished investigating the murder of an outsider outside New York City.He wouldn't be very happy if he was asked to do the same or a similar thing again. "Can you tell me where I'm going?" Bailey asked. "Also, can you explain the nature of this job and the ins and outs of the whole thing?" He wanted to estimate how far Minny meant "very far". Minnie seemed to be emphasizing the word "very far". Bailey kept asking himself, where is the new work base?Is it Calcutta?Sydney? Then he noticed Minnie lighting a cigar carefully. Bailey thought: My God!This guy seemed to have a hard time talking, as if he didn't want to talk. Minny took a puff on his cigar, watched the smoke coming out, and said, "The Ministry of Justice temporarily transfers you to Solari World for a business trip." Bai Lai was stunned for a while, the place name seemed familiar yet unfamiliar.Solari World... Solari World... Solari? He stood up and stretched his body tensely: "You mean, go to the outside world?" Minnie didn't look at him: "Yes." "Impossible!" said Belley. "The Outerworlders won't let Earthlings come to them." "Everything changes from case to case, Detective Bailey. There was a murder in Solari World." Bailey's lips moved, and he smiled involuntarily: "But this is not within our jurisdiction, is it?" "They asked for assistance." "Ask us to help? Ask the earth to help?" Bailey was not only puzzled, but unbelievable.The outer world has always looked down on the mother planet Earth, and always appears as a benefactor. Will it come to ask for help? "Are they asking for assistance from Earth?" he asked again. "It's really unusual," Minny admitted, "but it's what it is. They asked Earth to send a detective to the case. It was handled at the highest level of diplomacy." Bailey sat down heavily: "Why me? I'm forty-three years old, not young anymore. I have a wife and children, and I can't leave the earth." "It's not up to us, officer, they specifically named you." "I?" "NYPD plainclothes detective Elijah Belle, C-6. They know what they want, and you should know that." Bailey still stubbornly resisted: "I am not qualified for this job." "They think you're qualified. Apparently your handling of murders by outsiders has caught their attention." "They must have made a mistake, and the case I have taken must have been exaggerated." Minny shrugged: "Anyway, they want you to go, and we agreed to send you. Now you have been transferred. All the documents have been processed, and you must go. During your business trip, your wife You and your child will be taken care of at level C7, because your temporary rank is level C7 during the period when you are dismissed from your current position." He intentionally paused for a while before continuing, "If you successfully complete the task, you can keep your job forever. C level seven." It all came too fast to be possible.As far as Bailey was concerned, he couldn't live without Earth, didn't they know that? Then, he actually asked calmly in a tone that he found unnatural: "What type of murder was it? How is the situation now? Why can't they handle it themselves?" Minnie carefully moved the small things on the table and rearranged them, shaking his head: "I don't know anything about this murder case, I don't know the actual situation at all." "Then who knows the situation, sir? You don't want me to go there without knowing anything, do you?" Bailey made a panicked voice from the bottom of his heart: I can't leave the earth! "Nobody on Earth knows what's going on, the Solarians didn't tell us. So you better find out why this murder is so important that they're asking Earthlings to help. In other words, it's your job a part of." In a moment of impatience, Bailey blurted out: "What if I refuse?" In fact, he knew the answer without asking.He certainly knows what being fired means to him and his family. Minney didn't mention the dismissal.He said softly, "You can't refuse, this is your job, officer." "A mission like this? Working for a Solari? Fuck it!" "Work for us, Bailey, for ourselves." Minnea paused. "You also understand the status of people on Earth in the eyes of people from other worlds. I don't need to say more." Bailey understands, every person on earth understands.Although the combined population of the fifty outer worlds is far less than the population of the earth, their military strength is a hundred times stronger than that of the earth.These sparsely populated planets rely on positronic brain robot economies, so their individual productivity is thousands of times that of Earth.This power generated by an individual can affect his military strength, the standard of living and happiness of the planet's people, and other things. "The reason we're in this predicament," said Minney, "is that we don't know them at all, while the Outworlders know us. They send a lot of missions to Earth. But we, except We know nothing of the Outer Worlds beyond what they tell us. Earthlings have never been to any Outer Worlds. But now someone is going, and that's you." "I can't—" Bailey said. Minnie ignored him, and repeated again: "You will go. You are in a special situation. You are invited by them to do a job they have assigned to you. This is a great opportunity. You can put useful Data and intelligence brought back to Earth." Bailey looked at the deputy chief in front of him worriedly: "You mean, you want me to help the earth and be a spy?" "It has nothing to do with being a spy or not. You don't have to do anything more than what they tell you to do. Just keep your eyes open and your heart open to observe! When you return to Earth, there will naturally be experts who will analyze and explain you what was observed." "Crisis awareness?" Bailey said. "Why do you think so?" "It's very risky to send a person from the earth to the outer world. People from the outer world hate us, don't they? Even if I accept the invitation with great kindness, I may still cause interstellar incidents. In fact, as long as the earth government is willing, it must refuse It’s not easy for them? You can say that I’m sick. You know, people in the outside world are very afraid of sickness. If they really believed that I was sick, they wouldn’t ask me to go anyway.” "You—" said Minnie, "are you suggesting we try this trick?" "No. If the government sent me just to deal with people from outside the world, then I don't need to say that you should have thought of this a long time ago, or figured out a better way. So it is reasonable to infer that what is really important is to engage in espionage. If this is the case, then what you risk asking me to do is not as simple as 'open your eyes'." Bailey thought that Minny would fly into a rage, and even a little hoped that he would get angry, so as to reduce the pressure on himself.But Minny just smiled coldly: "You seem to see the point at a glance. However, I have expected you to have this ability." The undersecretary leaned closer to Bailey: "What I will tell you next, you must not discuss it with anyone, including other government officials-our sociologists have reached certain conclusions about the current situation in the galaxy .The fifty outer worlds are all sparsely populated, everything is robotized, the military is powerful, and everyone is healthy and long-lived. Our earth is overcrowded, technologically backward, and human life is not long, and it is still under their control. It's a very unstable situation." "Everything is unstable, and it has been for a long time, hasn't it?" "The momentum has already emerged, and we can only be in a safe state for a maximum of a hundred years. Although our generation can continue to be partial, our children will encounter this problem. When the situation evolves to the end, we will definitely become people from the outside world. They will not allow us to survive. Think about it, eight billion Earthlings hate Outerworlders." "The outsiders don't allow us to enter the galaxy, control our trade for their own benefit, instruct our government arbitrarily, despise us... don't they want the earth people to appreciate them?" Bailey said. "Yes, it is true. But the development of this situation has been finalized. Revolt, repression, revolt, repression. Sociologists say that within a century, the earth will be turned into an uninhabited planet by the outside world .” Bailey shifted restlessly.The conclusions drawn by sociologists and their computers cannot be disputed. "Well, if it's what you say, what do you want me to accomplish?" Bailey asked. "Bring us back the data. One of the great weaknesses of sociologists is that their predictions are not supported by data on the Outer Worlds. We can only rely on the information provided by the few Outer Worlds who have been sent here. Let's judge, so all we know is their strength, that's all. Fuck! They have robots, they are sparsely populated but they live long. But do they have any weaknesses, is there anything that can change the fate of the inevitable destruction of the earth , that we don’t know? Is there anything about them that we can use as a basis for our actions to increase our chances of surviving on Earth?” "Wouldn't it be better to send a sociologist, sir?" Minny shook his head: "If we can send whoever we like, we would have sent people there ten years ago when we first came to the above conclusion. This is the first time we have the opportunity to send people. They We also thought it would be appropriate to have a detective. A detective is also a sociologist, and a sociologist who acts from experience, otherwise he would not be a good detective. Your record proves that you are a good detective." "Thank you, sir," said Bailey formulaically. "What if I get into trouble?" Minny shrugged: "The job of the police is inherently dangerous." He waved his hand, expressing that he did not want to discuss this point again, "Anyway, you must go. The departure time has been decided, and the spaceship is waiting for you." Bailey's whole body froze: "Waiting for me? When am I leaving?" "Within two days." "Then I've got to go back to New York, my wife—" "We're going to see your wife. You know she can't know the nature of your job. We're going to tell her not to expect you to contact her." "This is so inhumane! I must see her, and I may never see her again in the future." Minnie replied, "That's inhumane. You go out to work every day and you can't be sure if she'll see you again? Officer Bailey, we all have to do our part." Bailey's pipe had been out for fifteen minutes without him noticing. No one could say anything more to him, no one knew anything about the murder, and the officials only urged him to hurry up and get ready to go.In the end, Bayley, still unable to believe this was the case, stood in front of a spaceship. The spacecraft looks like a giant cannon aimed at the sky.Bale was exposed, shivering from the air.The night surrounded him on all sides (and he was grateful for it), like black walls forming a black ceiling above his head.It was a cloudy day, and even though he had been to the planetarium, he was taken aback when he saw a bright star poking through a gap in the clouds. He looked curiously at the cluster of small flames far away, almost without fear.This star seems relatively close, and it doesn't seem so terrible, but the planet that controls the aliens of the galaxy revolves around it.It was like the sun, he thought, only the sun was closer to the earth, and the sun was now shining on the other side of the earth. Suddenly, it occurred to him that the earth was just a stone ball surrounded by a layer of water vapor and marsh gas, exposed to the void.Cities half-hidden beneath the surface of the earth, clinging precariously between rock and air.He felt a tingling all over his body. Of course, this spaceship is a means of transportation for people from outside the world, and the interstellar trade is completely in the hands of people from outside the world.Now, Bale stood alone outside the city, sanitized and, by outsider standards, safe to board the spaceship.Still, the outsiders on the spaceship sent a robot to pick him up, thinking he was carrying a hundred different germs.Bailey is resistant to these germs originating in hot cities, but those outsiders who pay attention to eugenics and live in greenhouses cannot withstand the invasion of these germs. The robot stood in the dark, eyes glowing dull red.He said, "Are you Sergeant Elijah Bailey?" "Yes." Bailey answered succinctly.He felt as if the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end.Any earthling would be outraged to see a robot doing a human job.Even though he had partnered with a robot named R. Daniel Oliva on a case of murdering people from other worlds, he still couldn't let go of the robot.Things were different that time, and Daniel was a— "Follow me, please," said the robot.A white light shines on the walkway leading to the spaceship. Bailey followed him.He stepped on the escalator, boarded the spaceship, walked through several passages, and walked into a cabin. The robot said to him, "This is your room, Officer Bailey. Please stay here until you reach your destination." Bailey thought: Well, seal me up, keep me safe here from the outside world, good. The passages he had just walked through were empty.Now, there may be several robots disinfecting these passages, and the robot that came into contact with him may go to the sterilizing bath soon. The robot said: "There are toilet facilities here, we will provide food, and there are some things for you to read. The switch of the cabin window is controlled by this control panel. Currently, the cabin window is closed. If you want to see the scenery of space—" Bailey said anxiously: "It's okay, machine boy, just like this, let it be closed." He called this robot "Jizai" after the habit of people on earth for robots, and he had no objection to this robot.Of course, he couldn't object, he was bound by the laws of robotics and his reactions were limited. The droid bent his metal body, bowed with ludicrous seriousness, and left the cabin. Baley was left alone in his cabin, and he seized the opportunity to inspect the spaceship.It's at least slightly better than an airplane.In the plane, he will see the whole cabin, he will see the whole space.But the spaceship is huge, with aisles, compartments, cabins, like a small city.Bailey can almost breathe with ease. Then the cabin lights came on and the metallic voice of a robot blared over the speakers, clearly instructing him to take protective measures to keep him safe as the spacecraft accelerated for liftoff. He felt a burst of rear thrust, the safety net tightened, the hydraulic system retracted slightly, and the roar of the proton micro-battery-powered jet engine faintly came from a distance.The spaceship burst through the atmosphere with a hissing sound.The hiss became thinner and sharper.After an hour, the hiss finally completely disappeared. They went into space. Bailey seemed to be numb, feeling that everything was so unreal.He told himself that every second, the distance between him and the city and Jessie increased by thousands of kilometers, but he was numb and felt nothing. On the second day (or the third day? He could only infer the time based on the number of times he ate and slept), he suddenly felt his whole body turned from the inside out.The eerie feeling was short-lived.Bailey knew that this was a strange, almost mystical transfer that occurred when a spacecraft jumped from one point in space through hyperspace to another point many light-years away. Every time the spaceship travels for a certain distance, it makes a jump, jumps through time and space, travels for another distance, and makes another jump.It just keeps jumping time and space and galloping forward. Bailey told himself that now he was several light-years away, tens of light-years away, or even hundreds of thousands of light-years away. He didn't know how many light-years it actually was.He bet no one on Earth knew where Solari World was in space.They are too ignorant, every human being on earth is too ignorant. He felt infinitely alone. Finally, Bailey noticed that the spaceship was beginning to slow down.At this moment, the robot that received him before came in. He carefully looked at the safety net belt on Bailey's body with his gloomy red eyes, and efficiently tightened a screw cap on the cabin, and quickly turned the hydraulic pressure The system checks again. The robot said: "We will land in three hours, please stay in this cabin. Someone will escort you out and take you to the place where you are staying." "Wait a minute!" Bailey asked nervously. "What time are we landing today?" He was strapped with safety nets and felt a little helpless. Immediately the robot replied, "It's Galactic Standard Time—" "Local time, machine boy, I'm asking about local time, my God!" The robot continued to speak smoothly: "There are 28.35 galactic standard hours in a day in Solari World. Each Solari hour is divided into ten minutes, and each hour has one hundred millihours. We are scheduled to arrive at the airport The time is five minutes and twenty millihours." Bailey really hated the robot, hated him for being unreasonable, hated him for being dull.He forced him to ask more bluntly, to reveal his weakness. With nothing to do, Bailey had no choice but to do so.He asked decisively, "Is that daylight?" The robot finally replied, "Yes, sir," and left. daytime!He was going to be on the surface of an unprotected planet in broad daylight!