Chapter 10 chapter Ten

Dai suddenly woke up from her sleep, trembling all over, and crawled to her mother's bed. "Hold me, Mom!" she cried in horror. "Hold me tight. I'm freezing to death." "What's the matter with you, child?" Lima asked, holding the child tightly, "You're not cold at all." "I'm cold! I was just looking for Mimi and something was chasing me." "Okay, it's all right now." Lima gently stroked the child's hair, comforting, "You just had a nightmare. It's all right now, with mom, it's all right."

"But Mimi's freezing. She's out there, dark, and there's a black monster chasing her." "Honey, don't make a fuss. Didn't Mimi stay at home? She was with a kind taxi driver. The driver also said that his family has a little sister who will help you take care of Mimi .Did you forget?" "I didn't forget. But, Mom, Mimi knew we couldn't go back, so she came to me. She was out on the ice, and the black monster was chasing her. She was dying." "Honey, it was just a dream, a nightmare. You gotta forget it." "But I can't forget. Mimi can't leave me."

Dai made a fuss like this for a long time, and finally fell asleep.But she cuddled tightly in her mother's arms and couldn't sleep well.Not long after, she screamed again. "Mimi! Mimi! When you hear what I say, hide quickly. Hide well, don't come out, I will come to you." The landing vehicle looks like a huge metal beetle, very strange in appearance, with eight long legs stretched out, supporting the shining steel shell carriage, with huge wheels under its feet.There is also a tall pole inserted above the head, and a high-power heat lamp is installed on the pole. The huge heat wave released by it can dispel the severe cold around the car.Anderson and Carlos assembled the landing vehicle in the airlock and drove down to the beach below for a test run.After several adjustments, Anderson announced that the assembly was successful.Glenn Gersh then appointed co-pilot Steinberg as expedition leader.

Joseph Steinberg, in his fifties, is slightly fat, with short gray hair, and his body is still strong and strong, which can be described as old and vigorous.When he arrived, he gathered everyone into the long, narrow main compartment in the center of the landing vehicle.The front of the main compartment is the driver's cab, and the rear is a row of separate individual bedrooms.On the wall of the carriage, there is a commoditized bed for people to sit and lie on.Everyone sat on the bed. "It should be said that this is a long-dead planet, but it is still full of mysteries and doubts." Steinberg said, "We may even encounter hostile objects. Of course, I hope not. In any case, for this planet It is very necessary to do a thorough exploration of the planet. I am very happy to participate in this operation with you. First, let's introduce ourselves one by one and get to know each other.

"Start with me. I had a military career as a space shuttle test pilot until Congress canceled that program. Then my father got old and broke, and I left the army and inherited the family business. My family is a contractor of the "Space Seeding Operation" organization, responsible for the construction of some special equipment for aerospace. Designing this landing vehicle is one of the businesses contracted by my family. Later, the "Space Seeding Operation" organization went bankrupt and was unable to pay for the construction of equipment , My family also went bankrupt after the completion of this landing vehicle. Captain Alter is an old friend of mine, and he invited me to participate in this space flight." Speaking of this, Steinberg pursed his lips , shook his head slightly, his longing was palpable, "When I mention this person, I feel sad. I really miss him."

Then, Cruz and Anderson also introduced themselves.Cruz's English has a heavy accent, and Carlos couldn't quite understand it, so he turned his head and looked at the starry sky outside the window.When Anderson opened his mouth, Carlos felt close and lovely.This red-haired Texas engineer can understand Carlos' native dialect (Chihuahua Spanish), but also has a bold and unrestrained personality, laughing at all risks and disasters, which is deeply loved by Carlos. "It's Carlos' turn now?" Steinberg nodded towards everyone, and while looking at Carlos, he said, "Mr. Glengersh wants to minimize the possible loss of personnel. The three of us are enough, but Anderson said that you have performed very well here and will be useful at that time, so he insists on bringing you along. If you insist on traveling with us, please talk about your strengths."

"It's a great honor for me to be with you all," Carlos said excitedly. Even though Carlos was a dark, thin Chihuahua poor boy, Cruz and Anderson never underestimated him.But this Steinberg is a rigid Yankee with deep prejudices.If you want to get on this baby landing vehicle designed and manufactured by himself, if you want to win a place here, even if you just want to get a smile from him, you have to show your real skills, convince him, and make him feel that you are worth it. Carlos told everyone about his experience, half Spanish and half English, stuttering and impatient.He talked about his hometown "Golden Horn", about his computer skills, and about Ignacio, the hometown seaman.It was the well-informed sea traveler who told him how the quantum aircraft can fly faster than the speed of light and how to run through time, and it can fly to the end of the universe in just an instant.

"Do you know what kind of risk we're going to face?" Steinberg asked. "We don't know where we're going, and we might never come back." "I know, but I'm not afraid," Carlos replied.Board Chinese Sci-fi trumpet tied full Steinberg seemed to remember something, turned around and asked Anderson, "Is this person one of the... people involved in that incident?" "Yes, I was charged, but I didn't plant the bomb," Carlos replied. Steinberg still had doubts, and continued to ask Anderson: "I have the impression that his problem has been handed over to the captain just now, right?"

The situation at that time was as follows: After the landing vehicle was successfully assembled, Captain Steck, accompanied by Hinch, disembarked for inspection.He was neatly dressed, suave, and full of air, like a matador.That image reminded Carlos of Alfonso Madeira, a friend of Ignacio's, who once accompanied Ignacio to the "Golden Horn" to drink and have fun.Alfonso is a crafty rascal, fond of liquor and women.He stole an old account book from the local church, the handwriting was faded and illegible.He used those yellowed torn papers to make many maps, on which the directions of the abandoned gold mines in the "Golden Horn" were randomly marked, and then sold them to tourists from other places to earn money.He also bragged in the local tavern that he could persuade the Yankees that yellow baby poop could turn into gold.

It is a pity that the captain left Carlos' affairs aside and had no time to ask. "Carlos admitted that he did get on board with the help of members of the 'Equilibrium Society'." Anderson explained to Carlos, "But no fingerprints were found at the scene where the bomb was found, nor any other evidence. It can be shown that Carlos has something to do with the case. Besides, he understands computers and is a useful talent, and we need him." Hearing this, Cruz nodded. "Okay," Steinberg nodded to Carlos, "you can stay here." "Great! We'll make it to the lighthouse," Carlos exclaimed.

"Lighthouse?" Anderson frowned, turning to Steinberg. "Unless we figure out the cause of that nameless light, we won't feel safe. But, until now, I still don't want that light It's a signal of some kind." In the high command cabin of the spaceship, the holographic monitoring screen shows everything outside the ship: on one side is the frozen beach, and the shore is covered with ice-topped cliffs; on the other side is the boundless ocean reflecting starlight, extending far away , disappeared into the dark horizon.Here, in front of all members of the expedition team, Glenn Gersh officially issued the departure order. "Keep in touch at all times," he instructed, "What we want is all information from the outside world. We must avoid all avoidable risks, collect as much information as possible, and come back alive." "Understood, sir," Steinberg replied. "Let's go." Everyone turned around and shook hands with Rima one by one to say goodbye.Rima came to discuss the expedition plan.At this moment, Carlos's heart was suddenly filled with jealousy.He is jealous of everyone who shakes Rima's hand.These lucky ones, God endowed them with culture and knowledge, made them have the capital to approach her, maybe some of them are still eager to win her love. Carlos is just jealous.As for the longing in my heart, I just suppressed it, and didn't even dare to think about it. Everyone left the spaceship one after another, entered the airlock, and prepared to board the car.Hinch waited alone in the airbag-like cabin.He is still the same, with a black beret on his head, a matted beard, and a fierce face.Although he had a close relationship with Steck, he was like a stranger with the others. "Here's the organic commander's order. I'll take over your leadership." As Steinberg approached, Hinch handed over a crumpled piece of paper.It was a smudged, scrawled note from Operation Space Seed, with Steck's signature on it. "Replace me?" Steinberg couldn't believe his ears.He blinked and looked at the note again: "Can you tell me the reason?" "Ask Steck," Hinch replied stiffly. The captain was not in the command module.Called to his cabin, but no one answered.Steinberg had to call a security guard to knock on his cabin door.Finally, Steck called back.As Steinberg listened, his face slowly became ugly. "Yes, sir," Steinberg replied lazily, "understood, sir." Finally, he hung up the phone, turned around, looked at Anderson with a very dejected expression, "our good captain, he Passed out. He said he put Hinch in charge of the expedition in order to get real information. However, I guess he didn't even trust Hinch completely. He didn't trust anyone." After speaking, Steinberg turned around and was about to leave the airlock.Cruz and Anderson hurriedly stood to attention and saluted him.He turned and shook hands with them one by one, shrugged Carlos, and returned to the spaceship through the airtight hatch.Hinch, carrying a bag, stood beside the landing vehicle, waiting impatiently. "Sir, Captain Steck has confirmed that you will command the expedition. What are your orders?" Anderson asked. "As you wish," Hinch muttered, "go ahead with the plan." As they got into the car, Cruz twisted the bag for Hinch, and suddenly heard the sound of bottles clinking in the bag, made a funny face at Anderson, and then led Hinch to his own bedroom in the back of the car.Xinqi got in, and then closed the curtain with his hands back. For Anderson and the others, this landing vehicle was a brand new thing, but they had practiced it repeatedly on the beach, and now they were able to drive it proficiently.Anderson lets Carlos drive.Carlos held the steering wheel, slowly drove the car out of the hatch, onto the ground, and then drove along the rocky slope of the beach to the ocean. "Go in the direction of the sun. Pay attention to driving on the right. Do you understand?" Anderson commanded from the side. "Understood, sir, keep to the right." Carlos was elated, and his tone changed a little. Anderson went to adjust the air generator, leaving Carlos alone in the cab.He pricked up his ears and listened as he breathed in the fresh air.He heard the hum of a turbine generator, the murmur of someone else's voice, the rustle of clothing as he moved.Also, there was no sound at all.Because there is no air in this silent world, and the sound lacks media for transmission. The high-power heat lamp outside the car was shining brightly, illuminating the ice surface with a radius of hundreds of meters, and nothing could be seen further away.Carlos turned off the dome light inside the car, allowing his eyes to slowly adjust to the natural starlight.At this moment, he saw a gray world, without any color except the monotonous and dull red light emitted by the heat lamp.The heat lamp dispelled the severe cold around them for them. Carlos leaned on the steering wheel, scanning the front.I saw that the ice surface was as pure as white bones, open and boundless; the ice surface was still covered with a thin layer of frost.Cruz said it was a layer of frozen argon and nitrogen, a remnant left over from the disappearance of the planet's atmosphere.Then he looked up at the majestic sky above the ice.There, clusters of stars are embedded in strange constellations, extremely bright.The stars he remembered seeing as a child in the mountains of Chihuahua had never been brighter.In this brand-new world, the ice fields, the stars, and the extinguished black sun constitute all material existence.Besides, nothing else. Against the backdrop of the starry sky, the dead dwarf star was just a round black blob that neither rose nor set, but just floated where it was, in a motion that Cruz called "liberation": slowly It rises slightly, and slowly returns to its original position.The stars burned around it, neither changing color nor twinkling, for there was no atmosphere or cloud cover.A planet without an atmosphere remains exposed forever.This is a flat and endless white world, with no end in front and starting point in the back, only the faint traces left by the landing vehicle. What kind of light was that?Was it sent by aliens? As early as landing, this enigmatic question had been lingering in Carlos' mind, and he couldn't get rid of it.A sudden flash of light, in sequence from the deepest red to the darkest violet, encompasses every color of the full spectrum.Before people can figure out its true colors, it suddenly disappeared.It appeared to come from far away on the ice, roughly due east. That place was about 500 kilometers ahead, Anderson said.Cruz thought, it should be nearly 1,000 kilometers away.Radar imaging has shown that the ice around that bright light is also very bright, which seems to be caused by stronger reflections nearby.Perhaps a mountain on an island?Cruz observed it under a high-definition telescope, and saw that the unidentified object was tall and thin, unlike any natural hill. Could it be that the castles of the ice gods are not working? The so-called ice god was just a joke casually made by Anderson. Although everyone disagreed, they couldn't think of other more reasonable words.Besides the ice god, what else could it be?And that bright light came after the radar scan.Is that a warning?A warning from spiritual life? Will it happen again? Cruz came to the cab and took over from Carlos to drive.Carlos did not rest either. He climbed to the bubble chamber above the quartz dome and continued to observe.When he was sleepy and about to take a nap, he shook his head vigorously to stay awake and not let the observation work stop. Ice fields, stars, black sun.No new discoveries. Anderson came to the cab again, replacing Cruz.Cruz went to the kitchen shelf in the main car to get himself something to eat.He stirred some dry powder into a cup of boiling water to concoct a cup of bitters known as "synthetic coffee," then opened a packet of multidimensional wafers and ate them.Carlos also came to get food.He sliced ​​himself a cold bean-flavored pancake.This stuff doesn't taste good, it's kind of unpalatable.So he thought of the lamb enchiladas his mother loved to make.The two called Hinch while eating, and asked him if he was hungry and if he wanted to eat something. "Don't eat it! What junk food! I have it myself." Hinch hid in his bedroom and yelled through the curtain.Listen to the voice, it's a little vague.It turned out that he was eating the bottled food he had brought with him. Anderson parked the car and stepped back to eat.Carlos had slept for a few hours and started driving again.He watched while driving.Everything remains the same.Ice fields, stars, black sun.He was still sleepy and yawned from time to time.I couldn't bear it anymore, so I stood up, moved my numb hands, or got off the steering wheel, stretched, slapped my face hard a few times, and then sat down again.He grasped the steering wheel with both hands, blinked, and stared at the dark and flat horizon again. Huh, what is that? A small black dot stood out from the flat horizon.There is no seven-color light.distance?It could be far.Carlos rubbed his eyes vigorously and adjusted the direction of the car.Is it a mountain?Or another “Iceman” settlement?There are "Icemen" on the continental ice caps, are there also on the ocean?Who knows?Maybe the real "Iceman" lives here, sending colorful bright light signals to visitors from here.The more Carlos thought about it, the more serious the situation became, he became tense and his breathing quickened. Need to call the spaceship? "There is some kind of mysterious thing in the ocean. Although it doesn't seem to be harmful, I agree to investigate it thoroughly." Telegraph the ship immediately. If approaching the target, use as much caution as possible." Carlos reached for the radio, but stopped abruptly.He found that thing not far ahead.He drove slowly towards it.Finally, the heat lamp illuminates it.It turned out that it wasn't a giant building, but a lone big rock. For Carlos, however, the stone remained a mystery.Here is far away from the mainland, how did the stone fly here?He drove the car closer, and then he saw clearly that it was not a rock, but a piece of ice the size of a car, and the edges had been crushed.With the light of the heat lamp, he carefully inspected the surrounding ice, only to find some broken ice chips, which were shaken down when the big ice cubes fell, and nothing else.Carlos understood that it was an icy meteorite that fell a million or a billion years ago. The horizontal ice surface, the black sun, the endless night, the remnants of ancient cosmic movements, that's all.Also, nothing.The movement stops, the process ends.Carlos felt relieved a lot.He shrugged his shoulders, and drove on again, toward the right side of the black sun, toward the east.Under the feet is the eternal ice field, which has never thawed and will remain forever in the future; above the head is the eternal starry sky, frozen and embedded there, motionless.Being in such a world, Carlos blinked his tired and painful eyes from time to time, but his thoughts drifted back to his hometown, the "Golden Horn" in the mountains of Chihuahua. He thought of the market in his hometown, and the flat-roofed adobe houses around the market.Reminds me of the streets in the bazaar.On rainy days, the streets are full of mud and ruts; on sunny days, there is a lot of traffic and the sky is full of dust.He thought of the small church that he and his mother used to go to.Reminds me of him in rags back then.How many winter mornings, he drove his father's flock of sheep and walked barefoot on the mountain road by the side of the village. The frost on the ground numb his feet and hurt his bones.At night, the sky was full of stars, but he and his flock were still walking on that mountain road, unable to return home.He wondered countless times, the stars all over the sky, shouldn't they be the pearls inlaid on the gate of heaven? He also thought of Mr. Ignacio who inspired his interest in exploring the mysteries of the stars.It was he who told Carlos that in the northern desert, a group of fearless people took the interstellar "God Bird" and flew over the magnificent gate of heaven to reach a richer world in search of a new life. "When I grow up, I will also learn to drive a spaceship." At that time, Carlos always liked to say this to the old man. "No, no, the stars in the sky don't welcome ignorant country boys." The old man always shook his head and answered. Carlos rejoiced secretly while thinking back.Fortunately for him, Lima, the lover of his dreams, never knew what he had experienced, the existence of the "Golden Horn", let alone the pain there, the stench of sewer sewage there, and no need to beat there. Dirty stinging flies, hear the hungry cries of babies there.If she knew the causes of poverty and suffering there, she would definitely condemn the people there for their incompetence and ridicule their ignorance... Wouldn't it be rude and disrespectful to speculate on her sweetheart like this? Carlos also thought of her son Kip, the sweet teenager.He found Carlos hiding on the ship before the launch of the spaceship, and found that his hands were covered in blood and his behavior was suspicious, but he still loyally kept the secret for him.Today, Kip has become her close friend, but her mother is still a reserved purebred white man who simply ignores his existence, Carlos.However, Carlos believes that one day, Rima will regard himself as a human being; he will also be able to make achievements, let her know that Carlos is also worthy of the ranks of pioneers in star exploration. He aspires to be good at what he does.Certainly. A violent jolt interrupted Carlos' thoughts and brought him back to reality.Looking up, the landing vehicle has come to a pile of boulders and rocks.Wherever the heat lights reach, there are huge ice and gravel.He rubbed his eyes vigorously, and through the dim starlight, he found that there were more and more boulders and rocks in the distance, and they became bigger and bigger until they formed a dense barrier on the horizon as far as he could see. Another more violent bump, the car body swayed and fell downwards. "Carlos! Hit what?" Cruz yelled from the main car. Carlos braked the car, carefully checked the situation below, and found that the car had fallen under an ice ridge about one meter high.The ice ridge is covered with frost, which is not easy to detect. "We fell under the ice ridge. I was careless and didn't notice it." Carlos pointed to the ice ridge and said to Anderson who was coming. "It's a crack." Anderson leaned behind Carlos, looked at it, and said, "The ice in this ocean has already frozen to the bottom. When an earthquake occurs, the ocean will break like a rock. This crack was caused by ancient earthquakes." Then , he observed the barrier in front of him again, and said, "I think it was formed by the boulders and rocks splashed by the meteor hitting the ocean. We can go around it. But..." He stopped suddenly and fell silent.Carlos looked very excited when he saw him looking forward, and his face that looked like a knife and ax was also radiated. "This is an unprecedented great expedition." Anderson turned to Cruz with a smile and said, "You know, I was originally a geologist, and then I switched to astrophysics because our earth has nothing new to study. Yes. Now we have a new planet, a whole new geological history waiting to be interpreted. That is to say, my specialty is coming in handy again." "What did you say just now? 'We have acquired a new planet'? Do you think it really belongs to us? Are you so confident?" Cruz stood beside him, staring at the far east, the mysterious colorful light appeared place. Anderson went down to inspect the nuclear generator. "It's my turn, you go to sleep for a while." Cruz reminded Carlos. Carlos went to the main car and climbed into his cot.Hinch's snoring came from the bedroom behind the curtain.The guy was fast asleep.But Carlos tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.The hometown "Golden Horn" in the dream is beautiful, but that is a fleeting scenery.Now, my body is actually in this "Ice God" world, and what I really feel is cold, dark and strange.He climbed up the bubble chamber again.Cruz had already turned north by car in search of a passage that bypassed the crater.The frosty ice surface became white and flat again, and the dark horizon appeared again. Ice fields, stars, black sun.Everything remains the same. Carlos sat in front of the instrument panel, staring at the vast starry sky ahead, thinking.Suddenly, the watch made a "beep-beep!" sound, reminding him that it was time to read the ice temperature data and fill in the driving log.He picked up the sextant and fixed the position of the landing vehicle according to the method Anderson taught him. On a blank map, he added a round black dot following the original dotted line.Then, he started calling the ship. "This is Rima Valari, Glengersh's assistant." It was Rima's voice, the voice of the beauty.Sound like a person.Her beauty swayed before Carlos's eyes again, making him intoxicated, excited, and nervous. "Hello..." Carlos's native Spanish popped out, and he stopped immediately.Can't speak Spanish, which reminds her of that wild Mexican kid. "Carlos Montragon reports." Carlos changed his words. "Are there any abnormalities?" The other party asked brightly and concisely, his tone was gentle and polite, but he lacked a kind of emotion, a kind of emotion that Carlos couldn't desire but tormented his body and mind day and night. "Report, no abnormal situation." Carlos also tried to keep his answer short and clear, without emotion, "The current position is 471 kilometers east and 80 kilometers north of the spaceship. The reason for the north is to avoid a large pit on the way. Anderson It is believed that the crater is an impact crater, which was formed by a meteor hitting the ice surface of the planet. The temperature of the ice surface is 9 degrees Kelvin. The front is flat and open, and there are no abnormal scenes. There are no islands, mountains, or colorful lights." "Thank you, Mr. Montragon. I'll keep Mr. Glengersh informed. Anything else?" What else?He wanted to say hello to Kip, and Dee, the sweet little girl.She has the same bright hair as her mother, and she is always sad for her toy panda left on the earth.Carlos misses them.He wanted to tell Rima that even an uneducated country bumpkin still has human feelings. "Mr. Montragon, is there anything else?" Seeing that Carlos remained silent, the other party asked again. It was still a light, inquiring voice, without a hint of enthusiasm.Pure Yankee. "No. There's nothing left," Carlos replied. "Keep in touch. Glenn Gersh is very concerned about your situation. He needs a complete report." The other party finally said. With a "click", the signal was cut off. What was Carlos to her?Small peanuts.Except for her son, Kip, no purebred white man could have liked him.However, he still sat here without complaint or regret, searching the ice surface, caring about everything about her.He wondered over and over again with infinite concern: Can Rima's dream become a reality?Can her living environment construction plan be realized here?Is it possible to magically turn this death star into a human abode, a children's paradise?How can life survive at 9 degrees Kelvin?Who else but what Anderson dubbed "the ice god"? Could it be that this ice god really exists?Are they the masters of this planet? Time drags heavy steps, stepping past yesterday and stepping into today.Ahead, there is still a boundless ice field; the black sun under the "balance movement" slowly climbed higher.Radio contact with the ship is intermittently lost. "We've moved beyond the direct transmission and reception of radio signals," Anderson said. "Now, the signals we receive are reflected by third parties. I think there is a discontinuous space around this planet." The ring-shaped dust lane, which sometimes appears above us and sometimes breaks off. The signal we receive is reflected by it." They are getting farther and farther away from the spacecraft, 600 kilometers, 800 kilometers, 1000 kilometers.Cruz is ready to go back.The food brought - multidimensional wafers, bean flavored cakes, and synthetic drinks - was eaten and drunk.The front is a vast ice field, and the back is a long way.Everyone stood in the bubble room and watched, deeply feeling that the goal would be slim if they went on like this. "No hostile objects were found. It may be a mirage that we're after," Cruz said. "But you have to trust the radar, it won't catch wind and shadows." Anderson reminded him, "I told Hinch, keep going. He seems to be happy to drink here, and he doesn't want to go back. The clutches of old Sterker, Even Hinch was scared." "Carlos, are you awake?" Carlos was dozing alone in the bubble chamber when Cruz woke him up. "Aren't you awake now? What's the matter?" He sat in the chair, feeling dizzy. "Look at the situation ahead and call the spaceship once." Carlos looked up and looked around.His legs had become stiff from sitting for a long time.In the cab, Cruz slowed down.Carlos suddenly discovered that a few hundred meters ahead, on the ice field and under the starry sky, there was a rock-like thing standing impressively.Taking a closer look, it turned out to be a transparent ice wall more than ten meters high reflecting starlight, extending to the left and right sides and disappearing at the end of the eye. "God! What is that?" Carlos gasped in surprise and exclaimed. "Another geological fault. Anderson said that historically, this is an earthquake-prone area." Cruz said calmly. "Can you turn over?" Carlos asked. "You don't have to turn over, just climb to the side and see what's going on over there." Carlos continued to watch. Suddenly, a fiery scarlet point of light shot out of the ice like a nova rising.Then, the bright spot expands rapidly, becoming a flaming halo.Then, a bright orange bright spot burst out in the center of the scarlet halo, and it expanded rapidly, turning into an orange halo.In this way, green halos, blue halos, and so on are conjured in turn.These rings form a target-like pattern as high as the ice wall.The pattern stayed there without changing, and after about half a minute, the center of the halo began to darken, and finally the color faded, and everything disappeared. "It's the language of the local people," Cruz said mockingly over the intercom. "Welcome, stranger? Or 'emergency brakes,' ordering us to stop?"