Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

Although there are more than 90,000 identifiable objects in Earth's low orbit, space doesn't appear to be very crowded.After all, Earth's low orbit covers a huge swath of space.It completely surrounds the Earth and is about 32 kilometers thick.In orbit, an object with a certain flight trajectory, large size, and easy to find, such as a defunct automatic nuclear laser, and another object, such as a Heckley landing ship that is being lifted into space, are only a few meters away from each other. There is a possibility of two kilometers, which is very small at any time.But objects in orbit move with lightning speed.The above-mentioned laser can fly over a distance of 1.6 kilometers in only 1/34 of a second.Objects that are large and imperceptible are equally fast...and they are numerous...thousands of them are equally deadly.

The feeling of flying a flight simulator is completely different from driving a real landing ship.Lasander had to use his flying skills to the extreme.The only thing that kept them safe was that nothing too difficult happened to them.Taking off is easier than landing, the easiest thing in the world: you don't need to have a specific destination, just get up in the air. As soon as the landing craft took off, Sandy was crushed down on the huge squatting seat by a force, barely touching the controls specially designed for the Heckley.He knew what he was supposed to do, it was just too difficult.After they cleared the ground, he had to unbuckle his seat belt, lean forward on the folded armrests, and activate the magnetic thrusters.To do this, he had to work every muscle harder than ever before.Finally, he fell back, gasping for air.

Marge Li hurriedly asked from behind, "Sandy, what are you doing?" "I'm piloting this Hackley landing ship," he said proudly, "please don't leave your seat." "As if I could!" "Of course you can't do it now," he said, "but when we're at orbital speed, I'm going to cut drive. You've got to stay where you are." "Otherwise you'll shoot me." "Oh no, Margery, it's too late for you to stop me from taking off, isn't it? If you mess up now, you're likely to crash the landing ship, and we're both doomed."

She was quiet for a moment, panting.Then she raised her voice, calling over the roar of distant engines, "Are you really going to shoot me?" He didn't answer, just turned to her and smiled.She changed tactics. "What if I want to go to the bathroom?" "There's no bathroom on the Hackley Landing," he told her, "and you've got waste bags and sponges in the little room behind you to the right, if you really need it. But now I'm thinking—wow," he cried , because the landing ship suddenly dashed diagonally.He rubbed his bruised shoulder. "We must have avoided a big guy just now! In other words, we have entered the garbage layer. Hurry up!"

It took more than an hour for the landing craft to dodge through layers of trash.The spaceship kept flying, and the two of them were confined to their seats.They passed through the sky above the North Pole, where the density of dangerous objects was obviously lower than other places.Dangerous enough, though, and certainly a bumpy flight.From time to time, a man-made object that was too small to avoid hit the protective cover, and immediately turned into plasma particles and hit the ship heavily, making a frightening sound, and Margery couldn't help biting her lips tightly.Some of the impacts were terrifyingly loud...but the blue pressure alarm light on the control panel never came on, and there was no hissing of escaping gas.

The small ship's evasive maneuvers tossed them back and forth relentlessly.After escaping the most dangerous situation, even Lassander was dealing with the wounds on his body, while Margery couldn't help moaning in pain.Lassander calculated the vector from their current circumpolar orbit to the starship's equatorial orbit, and made some corrections. "I'm going to slow down, you can let yourself go now," he cried, squinting and suddenly interested to see a familiar face yelling silently on the pilot screen. "Thank you," Margerie yelled, "Who is watching us on the screen?"

Lysander studied the face. "This is Ching Tai Chi Law, but he's not looking at us, at least he can't see us because our transmission to the outside world is cut off. He looks very angry, doesn't he?" "What a surprise!" she snapped. "What are you going to do now?" Lysander leaned back in the wide seat, rubbing his bruises. "I'll tell you in a moment." "Damn, what the hell!" He looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm going to do what I want to do, and it's going to be a novelty that I haven't practiced much. First, I'm going to do what the Highkleighs have been asking me to do all my life. Then, I'll To do what you want me to do. So it's a new experience and there's a good chance I'll screw things up, but we've got to try anyway."

"Damn it, Lysander!" she cursed, and then changed her tone. "Please, Lysander, what is your plan?" "Well," he said reasonably, "the first thing is to determine the course to the Heckley ship, which means that there will be a lot of speed changes, so I have to proceed carefully. We don't have a lot of fuel reserves, no," he said. Shaking his head, he corrected, "This is not the first thing. The first thing is to find the spaceship." Just as she was about to speak, he politely concluded, "Dear Marge, please shut up. I want to focus on force."

This incident made Lassander concentrate his attention for a long time. He carefully searched the equatorial orbit across three time periods, and finally found the interstellar spaceship.He turned the magnifier until the image of the Heckley ship on the screen was very large, then activated the course calculator. Finally, he let out a long breath, reversed course slightly, and gave the landing craft a small drive. "It's doing pretty well," he announced. "We should be there in six hours. Oh, look, Margery! That giant antenna on the Heckley ship is building fast." "Very good." Margeley said briefly.

"I'm going to ask Tych Law when they can start receiving the signal." Lasander said cheerfully. "Ask, why don't you ask? He looks like he wants to talk to you." Lysander hesitated for a moment, and reluctantly pressed the button to enter the communication state. "Hi, Ching Tai Qi Luo," he said cheerfully, turning on the sound switch on the screen. "How are you?" Qing Taiqi Luo roared furiously in Haikeli language. "John William Washington, why do you do this? Why don't you do something right? It is time to sleep! You have delayed my rest! The senators order you to stop immediately this inappropriate and contrary instruction the behavior of!"

"Speak English," Lasander ordered, "and I want Margery to hear all our conversations." How could Taiqi Luo accept this request, and his thumbs were trembling with anger. "This is stupid and imprudent, Lysander! If you speak English, you will hear more than Margery Dapp!" "I told you, speak English!" "Oh, well," Ching Tai Chi Luo gave in angrily, "Then tell me! Why did you do this? Where is your gratitude to the Hekri who gave you life? We saved you! " Lysander shook his head firmly. "I don't think I owe you anything. You didn't do it for me. You did it for yourselves. And you kept the truth from me." "Lythander! You jeopardize the deliberate plans of the senators for the future generations of the Hekri. Think of the 73 million eggs that have yet to be born!" "Qing Taiqi," Lasander said sharply, "I'm thinking of the 73 million Haikeli who invaded the African continent." He deliberately omitted the respectful "Luo".The look of the old instructor disappeared, and he just said, "What are you talking about?" "I mean, you're going to invade Earth!" "No, it's not," Qing Taiqi Luo cried, "we are not 'invading' the earth, why do you use that word?" "And what do you call what you're going to do in Africa?" Qing Taiqi Luo looked around nervously, as if looking for the gaze of the earthling who shot him.He licked his lips and said, "We won't do any harm in Africa. There's a lot of space in Africa, and Earthlings don't use it either." "But this is their Earth, this is their planet. Shouldn't you ask them first?" "Lysander, why don't you talk with your head? What's the use of asking their permission before we even know if it's possible to live there? No, Lasander! This is not the time for you to question the decisions of the senators You still explain why you attacked four teammates and stole this landing ship without permission?" "Oh," said Lysander amusedly, "how did you know, Ching Taich Law?" "What do you think?" the instructor said harshly, "They have been telling me about this for the past hour. Your teammates were attacked by you despicably. As soon as they came to their senses, they immediately asked the earthlings to launch them for them. Signal. They haven't finished talking yet, there are still a few people on Earth, they also want you to go back!" Lysander blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected them to react so quickly. "Why don't they talk to me directly?" "Because there is no receiver on the landing ship to receive the earth signal, idiot!" Qing Taiqi Luo growled, "You don't believe me? Well, wait, I'll let you see for yourself." He leans away from the camera, snapping out a few orders in Haickley.After a while, the screen on the landing boat was divided into two parts in parallel. On the top was the face of Qingtaiqi Luo, and on the bottom was a large group of people—Boyle and several other earthlings, as well as Demi and Tanya, They all looked very angry.Also, they look a little different.Boyle appeared to have shorter hair than the last time he was seen, and one side of his cheek was burned and bandaged.Demi was also wrapped in bandages, with an even more angry and resentful expression.He scolded loudly: "Lysander, you are threatening our lives! If this earthling hadn't pulled me out of the exhaust vent before you hit full throttle, I would have died a long time ago!" "I'm sorry you both got burned," Lasander said politely, "but you seem to be all right." "You don't need to thank you for that," Hamilton Boyle croaked, "you'll be right back!" "I'm sorry," Lasander said, "I'm out of fuel, and I don't have the desire." "Lasander, then go back to the spaceship safely and directly," Qing Taiqi Luo begged, "We will accept you and will not hurt you!" "Damn you for doing that!" Boyle yelled. "You're just trying to hold Lieutenant Dapp hostage!" "The Haikeli people never take 'hostages'," Qing Taiqi Luo growled, "you are still imprisoning the four of us! We are not as keen on war as the people on Earth, and are so cruel!" "We are neither war-loving nor brutal!" Boyle said.Before he could finish, Lysander cut in on their conversation. "Boyle," he said, "did you tell Tych Law what you peaceful, suave people did to Polly?" Boyle was at a loss for words, he hesitated, glanced at the Haikeli next to him, and then said eagerly, "She's fine." "No," Lasander corrected, "she's no good. Boyle, you don't know how much you've done her." On the other half of the screen, Qing Taiqi Luo roared like thunder: "If you people on Earth dare to hurt a Haikeli..." "Please shut up," Lasander said softly, "Hippolyta's situation is not good at all, but she will get over it. Shut up, all of you, and I will tell you what to do." Do it. First—oh, hell," the angry voice grew louder.He reached out and turned the sound switch off. "Okay," he said comfortably to the silent screen, "you can hear me, but I can't hear a word you say, so shut up. I've been wondering if you Heckleys Maybe own a certain part of the earth, because the earth people don't agree. And you earth people, you can't drive the Haikeli people out of the solar system, because they can't do it. So the answer is obvious, you have to compromise with each other." He leaned back, nodded solemnly, and looked at the faces on the screen.At least they're all quiet now, though the facial expressions of the Earthlings, and the way Ching-Teki Law twiddles his thumbs, suggest that they're still pissed off. Marge Li behind her asked tentatively, "Lasander, how can we compromise?" "There is only one way I can think of," said Lassander, "to give the Heckley another planet. Mars." He turned his head and gave Margery a pleasant look, "You see, this method is very easy Bar?" Margerie stood up, walked over to him, and stared down at him.He looked back at her calmly. "Are you serious?" she asked.He nodded, and she objected, "But no one can live on Mars." "Oh, but they can," he said to the screen, and to Margery, "it's just a matter of energy. The Hekleites can send microwaves to Mars as easily as they can to Earth. They can send their spacecraft Moored in an orbit around Mars, colonization begins." "But... what if they don't want to?" "We've got to start trusting each other, Margery," he said eagerly, "and we can swap observers, or rather, hostages. Send a few hundred Earthlings aboard the Heckley spaceship, and when they're on Mars, Then reassign there. At the same time, leave a few hundred Hekleys on Earth. These people can serve as what you call 'ambassadors', and if any side plays tricks, they will know immediately." He shook his head, "I It's been thought through and it's doable. It will take a while, maybe 50 years, after we clean up the mess on Earth and make Mars habitable. But everything will go in the right direction Development, don’t you understand? Every year, things will get better instead of worse.” He approached Marge Li with a smile, kissed her quickly, and returned to the screen. "Now," he breathed a sigh of relief, and turned on the voice switch, "let's see what our friends think about it." Qing Taiqi Luo was the first to fire. "John William Washington," he cried, "who are you to give orders to the senators? They never give in to pressure! You're making us punch ourselves in the mouth!" Hamilton Boyle also yelled: "Lythander, you are not qualified to make such a decision! Forget it! The Highkleys have proved that they are not worthy of our trust!" "It's the earthlings who are lying!" Qing Taiqi Luo shouted. "Oh, stop," Lasander said wearily, "I said that those 'ambassadors' are set up to prevent this, otherwise you will definitely lie and deceive each other." He nodded decisively, "Of course you do this kind of thing Experts. Both of you have lied to me so much that I now don't believe anything you say." Boyle eagerly told Lasander from his half of the screen, "We're not really lying to you..." Lysander laughed roughly. "It's not really a lie," he imitated Boyle's tone, "it's a lie too! Boyle, I know you're lying, I know, Earthlings are easy and good at deceiving people, look at myself How quickly you learn." "But you're not..." Boyle stopped suddenly.Inside the spaceship, Marzhili covered her mouth with her hand. Lysander looked at her, then back to the screen. "I know, there are still lies that haven't been exposed," he said sullenly. "What is it, Qing Taiqi Luo?" The tall Hikri twitched his thumbs uneasily. "Ask your earth woman, not me," he muttered in Hekri. "I'm asking you! Say it in English!" "You don't want me to say it in English," Qingtaiqi Luo said earnestly, "you have to trust me on this." "I don't care, you speak in English! You didn't find my surviving parents in the ship, did you? I wasn't born to an American woman. There were only Russians in the ship, and both were men!" Qing Taiqi Luo said in a soft voice, "That's right, Lasander. And, both of them are dead, and have been dead for a while, because there is no air in the spaceship. There is not much tissue left that can grow and develop." cells, which we can use." Lysander was terrified, but persisted.It was scary to hear the truth for himself, but since that underwater incident, he had expected something like this. "You mean," he croaked, "I'm a Heckley. You genetically altered me, don't you?" But Qing Taiqi Luo shook his chin in denial: "No, Lasander, you are not from Heckley." Behind him, sitting there almost forgotten, Margery whispered, "No, Lysander, you're not even a Heckley." Lysander had heard Margerie Dapp in various tones, but never in this way.He turned his head and searched her face with his eyes. "Really? You know?" he said hoarsely. She nodded, sad and tender. "We've known since we checked your cell samples - first checked your faeces, we re-routed your toilet sewers. Then it was the samples they took in the hospital, and your sperm... " "No one has collected my sperm!" She forced a smile. "Someone did it, Sandy dear. It was me." He blushed even under the circumstances.She continued: "As soon as they start looking at your DNA, there's a certain part of it that doesn't have human traits. Naturally, we compared it with a sample of cells taken from Aubier's body, It's not the DNA of the Heckley, although it's closer. It's not the same as the DNA of the eagle bees we caught. Oh, we really can't figure out what it is. However, we have other cells sample……" "There can't be another sample of cells! No other living thing from the fly!" he screamed. She shook her head. "Lasander, I didn't say it was alive. The remaining tissue samples are leftover food scraps from Polly and the other Hekleites. It's the meat." She said the last words painfully. He stared at her with wide eyes in disbelief, then turned to the screen. "Please tell me, Qing Taiqi Luo," he begged. His instructor said in a heavy tone: "It's true, Lasander. We have to use other sources of DNA. It is very difficult to perform genetic fission to retain as many Earth-human characteristics as possible-and, moreover, a A surrogate mother came to give birth to you. Lassander, you were born from Husik's womb."