Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Two

"Emergency! Emergency!" The high-pitched loudspeaker screamed throughout Manglas, "The enemy spaceship has landed on the planet. Armed intruders have been found in area 8A. Prepare to resist, prepare to resist!" The glass aircraft landed on the ground. It shattered on the ground, and two mice twitched their noses angrily around the shards. "Fuck," muttered Frank Mouse, "it's just two pounds of nasty earth brains making all this trouble." He paced back and forth anxiously, pink eyes twinkling, beautiful white The fur stood on end due to static electricity.

"The only thing we can do at the moment," said Benji, musing as he twirled his beard, "is try to fake a question that sounds reasonable." "It's hard," said Frank.He thought for a moment, "How about this, 'What is yellow color and danger'?" Benji thought about it for a while. "Not good," he said, "doesn't match that answer." For a few seconds they fell silent. "There," said Benji, "'multiply seven by six, and what do you get'?" "No, no, it's too literal, too practical," said Frank, "and it won't interest the audience." .” So they started thinking again.

Frank said, "I have an idea. 'How many roads must a man walk'?" "Hey!" said Benji, "Ha, this one sounds promising!" He repeated the phrase several times. "Okay," he said, "that's great! Sounds meaningful without actually framing you in any concrete sense. 'How many roads must a man walk? 42.' Great. , That's great, it's sure to blindfold them. Frank, honey, we made it!" Excited, they danced a light dance. On the floor near them lay a couple of rather ugly people, all hit in the head with heavy design award awards.

Half a mile away, four people were looking for their way in a corridor.They came to a spacious open computer port and looked around frantically. "Where do you think the way out is, Zaphod?" asked Ford. "Just a wild guess, I said it's below." Zaphod said, slipping down between a row of computers and the wall.The others were about to follow when he was blocked by a flash of energy whose intensity could be selected from "kill" or "stun". The energy flash crackled in the air a few inches in front of him, and a small Pieces of the wall were scorched.

A voice came through the bullhorn: "Okay, Beeblebrox, stay there. You're surrounded by us." "Police!" whispered Zaphod, crouching and turning , "Would you like to take a guess, Ford?" "Well, this way," said Ford.So the four of them walked down the aisle between the two rows of computers. At the end of the aisle appeared a figure in heavy armor and a space suit, brandishing a menacing-looking assault energy gun. "We don't want to shoot you, Beeblebrox!" the man yelled. "Just what I want!" shouted Zaphod, ducking his head into the gap between the two data processors.

The others followed him and changed direction abruptly. "There were two of them," Trillian said. "We were cornered." Then they squeezed into the corner formed between a large computer and the wall. They held their breath and waited. Flashes of energy flickered in the air, and the two cops fired at them simultaneously. "Hey, they're shooting at us." Arthur huddled tightly. "I remember they said they didn't want to do it." "Yeah, I remember them saying that, too," echoed Ford. Zaphod stuck his head out and paused for a moment, risking it all.

"Hey," he yelled, "I remember you guys said you didn't want to shoot us!" and flinched back. They wait. After a while, a voice said, "It's not easy being a cop!" "What did he say?" Ford whispered in surprise. "He said it wasn't easy being a cop." "Oh, that's obviously his problem, isn't it?" "I thought so too." So Ford yelled, "Hey, listen! We're You have enough of your own problems, so I think we'll all find it a lot easier to solve if you stop imposing your own problems on us." Another silence, followed by a bullhorn. The voice sounded again.

"Hey, guys," said the voice, "you're not dealing with any dumbass with hair hanging over your forehead, little pig eyes, no ability to communicate, we're two highly intelligent people, Thoughtful. If you met us in your day-to-day interactions, you'd probably like us a lot! I'm not the type to come and shoot people for no reason, and then show them off in Star Patrol's shabby bar, There are people like this in the police, and I can name several examples! I'm one of those people who comes and shoots people for no reason, and then suffers for hours in front of their girlfriends afterwards!"

"Besides, I also write novels!" Another policeman cooperated quite tacitly, "Although I haven't published a single one so far, so I'd better warn you first, I'm in a bad mood right now!" Ford turned his eyes from the refuge Half of the nest is exposed. "Who are these two guys?" he said. "I don't know," said Zaphod, "I'd rather they keep shooting." "So, are you going to come out on your own," one of the cops called again, "or are we going to blow you out? "Which do you like yourself?" growled Ford.

A millisecond later, the air around them began to burn again.Wave after wave of energy flashes fired by the attack energy gun rushed towards the computer in front of them. This round of shooting lasted several seconds with an unbearable intensity. When it stopped, it took several seconds for the echo to completely dissipate. "Are you still there?" a policeman called. "Yes." They responded. "We don't really want to do that at all," said another officer. "We know," exclaimed Ford. "Now, listen, Beeblebrox, especially you!" "Why?" Zaphod called back.

"Because," cried the policeman, "this advice will be very wise, funny and kind! Now—or all of you come out and surrender, let us beat you up, and of course we won't go too far Yes, because you also know that we are firmly opposed to unnecessary violence; or we blow up the entire planet and take one or two that we don't like on the way back!" "But this is crazy!" Trillian exclaimed "You can't do that!" "Oh, no, of course we can," shouted a policeman. "Can we?" he asked the other one. "Oh, of course, we have to, no problem," replied another officer. "But why?" Cui Lien asked. "Because there's always something that has to be done, even if you're an enlightened and lenient cop who understands people's sensitivities and all that!" "I still don't trust these guys," grunted Ford, shaking head. At this point one cop shouts to the other, "Should we shoot again?" The heat and noise of this round are considerable.Gradually, the computer began to disintegrate, the front was almost melted, and large streams of metallic liquid flooded towards the place where they were squatting.They huddled back again, waiting for the end.