Chapter 7 Chapter Six "Kiss Your Girl Goodbye!"

After Rick returned to the hotel where he was staying, he called Ann O'Barian. "Ann, are you okay?" Rick asked hoarsely. "My father and Mackey, are they injured? I just saw a terrible explosion in their direction. I don't know what happened. " "That explosion was scary!" Ann's voice was weak. "Rick, I don't know what it was. But we're all safe here. Whatever it was, it happened somewhere over Liberty Star. I just talked to Your father called. Now he's out there alone, but he says it's okay." "Next time you call him, please tell him I'll be with him soon." Rick thought of the spies who were eavesdropping on their call, and tried not to say too much, "Tomorrow, I can get out of here. As soon as I get my pass, I'll come home right away."

"Rick, that's great! We really need you—" Anna's faint, distant voice sounded happy at first, but then calmed down and became as cautious as his voice. We'll get the pass," Ann said, "Munchie will land at Port Burroughs tomorrow night to ship a batch of equipment, and you can come back with him." Rick tossed and turned that night.Lying in bed, he thought about his father and Mackey and their crude equipment on the Liberty Star, and about the ways he could help them develop an operationally safe CT chassis.He also kept flashing Karen Hood's frowning face and the bright light that suddenly disappeared.

Early the next morning, the phone rang and woke him up. "Drake, I'm sorry." It was Anders. "Can you come to the office?" The earthling didn't say much, but it was clear that he had something to ask him.Rick hurried to the Interstellar office building without even eating breakfast, and found Anders waiting for him.Anders was still wearing the same black suit he wore last night when he was out with Karen, and Rick knew he must have been up all night. "Good morning, Drake." Anders put a stack of papers into his briefcase, then looked up at Rick, his eyes tired and worried, "I think you heard about the light last night Bar?"

"I saw it, it was just—" "Do you know what that is?" "I think it's CT," Rick said. "How did you know?" "I don't know anything." Rick heard the anger in his voice, and couldn't help being jealous of Anders' calmness and self-control. "I just saw that light in the sky. It's too hot to be an atomic nucleus." change, and it disappears too quickly, unlike a nova that suddenly increases in brightness, as far as I know, there is only CT." "Don't get excited, Drake," Anders said with a childish smile on Rick's face that made Rick feel like a childish fool, "actually, that was CT. That's why I called you. As A CT engineer, maybe you can solve this mystery for us."

"I'm afraid I don't qualify as a CT engineer yet," Rick shrugged, "but it looked like a crash. Someone from the CT patrol must have fallen asleep to let it happen. You know where Did two planets collide?" "One of them is the CT planet that your father changed orbit last year." Anders' tired, bloodshot eyes glanced at Rick, then landed on a piece of paper he had left on his desk, " Its designation is HSMCT-445-N-812, and its diameter is 90 meters." Rick nodded. "What did it hit?" "That's the mystery." Anders blinked. "The CT patrol observed the explosion caused by your father and reported that the planet's new orbit was safe. Fortunately, when this time It was being monitored by the Guards Observation Room on Burroughs 1 when the explosion occurred. A young man watched it through the lens of a camera, and the flash not only destroyed the photosensitive plate, but nearly blinded his Eyes. Still, he managed to get a photo of nothing near the CT planet that could collide with it. How do you feel about that?" Anders asked.

"I don't think much of it," he replied. "The strangest thing to me is that the flash disappears suddenly and leaves no trace. I wonder if your young astronomer has taken more pictures?" Anders didn't answer right away, just looked at him, which made him squirm. "There are a few more," Anders finally said again. "These photos give us a new mystery. You know, the asteroid seems to have changed a bit now." "Naturally," Rick said, "most of it split up and turned into radiation." "Our people began to think so too." Anders nodded slowly, "They measured the amount of radiation, and from the data, the asteroid should be exhausted, but it's strange that it's not the case, and the photos show some Two pieces flew off, the larger of which appeared to be larger than the entire asteroid."

"Oh?" Rick stared at him. "Those pieces, are they still burning incandescently?" "Not at all, Rick," Anders said mildly. "Our people took their temperatures less than fifteen minutes after the flash disappeared, at twenty-one-hundred minutes past. The big fragment The temperature is about thirty degrees absolute, which is two hundred and forty degrees below zero." "That's impossible," Rick shook his head blankly. "Anything within 10,000 kilometers of that flash should be turned into steam." "Yes." Anders nodded, "but there, something must have happened. Now I need to find out what it is. I'm applying to investigate. If the Hood sends me a spaceship, I will I will investigate this matter to the bottom, and I will ask Vickers to arrange for you to go with me."

"Vickers can't arrange for me to go with you," Rick declared. "You know, my contract expires today. I have decided not to renew my contract with the company." Anders narrowed his eyes, as if to say that he knew Rick would do this. "I've been thinking about what you're going to do after you leave the company." He still had that casual tone. "That's my business." "Don't get excited, Rick." Anders smiled and handed him a cigarette. "You may have noticed that my real mission as Hood's special assistant is to study the possibility of CT for military use."

"Yeah," Rick said bluntly, "and you know how I feel about that." "You have a pure heart." Anders smiled sarcastically, "but a pure heart can create cruel weapons. Our enemies are desperately developing CT missiles. We must hurry up and catch up with them." He got serious. "If money can change your mind, I can talk to Vickers." Rick just shook his head. "Then, I have to forget it." Anders waved his hand gracefully. "I am very sad to see a good engineer go astray, but I have other things to do." He grabbed his briefcase and hurried out of the office.

Rick stood there frowning, watching his back, thinking about the mystery.How could it be possible for a planet to burn up like the sun to light up space and then cool down to near-absolute-zero temperatures, and to remain nearly whole itself? Rick couldn't find the right answer - unless his father and Mackey and their secret experiments on the Liberty Star had something to do with it, and that was absolutely impossible.However, he couldn't help but feel worried, so he called the airport and asked if Mackey had arrived. "Not yet, sir," replied the man in the airport control room. "Mr. Mackey is scheduled to arrive here from Albania later tonight, but he hasn't called yet."

While waiting for Mackey, Rick tried to reassure himself and continue finishing the report for Anders.But the exploding CT planet still haunted his mind like a mystery, and he could neither think of a solution nor stop himself from thinking about it.He was sitting motionless at his desk, deep in thought, when Karen's voice came from behind him. "Rick, can I come in?" Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, as if she too hadn't closed her eyes all night.Rick walked over and pulled a chair for her to sit down, but she shook her head. "Rick, Paul called me just now." Karen stood beside him, fiddling with a handkerchief blankly in his hand, "He said that you are really planning to leave Interstellar." Karen was short of breath and flushed.Rick smelled faintly of fine perfume.She was so cute and genuinely sad that maybe he made the wrong decision.However, he suddenly caught a glimpse of the big diamond ring on her right hand and the small spaceship inlaid on the ring. "I resigned." His voice was cold. "Haven't we already decided not to quarrel about it?" "I didn't want to say anything more, but that crazy CT planet exploded again." Karen's snow-white fingers twisted the silk hand tighter, "Paul didn't know what happened. But he Worried, we are all worried, afraid of the same thing happening on more important planets. We must find the truth. Paul said you are the best CT engineer he knows, we need your help. Both Earth and Star Corporation Need you, that's what I'm here for. " Rick felt a little pain in his heart. "It's useless, Karen." He winked at her uneasily. "I tried hard to be an Earthling, largely because of you. I failed, and I'm now planning to go back to my own birth Earth—those asteroids went up. I'm sorry, Karen, but I've tried." Karen's lips trembled slightly, and her voice was low as a whisper. "Rick, I don't understand what you're thinking. You've done a great job in StarCraft, Uncle Austin likes you very much, and Vickers is going to double your annual salary. Paul also said that as long as you change your mind now, you There must be a bright future." "I'm sober." Rick said as calmly as possible. "I came here last year and wanted to be a real space engineer. I dreamed of transforming these asteroids into beautiful homes where people could live and work in peace. At that time, I It was foolish to even believe that your amazing company would really help me realize my dreams. Now, I realize that's not the case at all!" "That's not true!" Karen brushed a strand of hair from her face, "You're not fair, Rick." Her trembling voice made Rick feel a little guilty, "The Interstellar Corporation needs you so much, needs us all, now Our enemies are plotting to use force against us. There are some people in the company who are selfish and greedy, but there are more loyal and brave people who can die for the company. I hope you will be as loyal as them." She stood there, looking at him with wet eyes, angry but hopeful.Rick shrugged sadly, because he knew she couldn't understand him. "You need to fight for StarCorp," he said disappointedly, "because you're part of it. I'm not." He took her hand, and added, "I'm sorry, Karen. I really tried tried to become an Earthling, but it all failed." Karen withdrew her cold hand, turned and left.Rick thought she was going to run out of the house quickly, and he couldn't help but take a big step forward to keep up with her. "Wait a minute, Karen. I'm thinking - can I see you one more time before I leave the company? Let's go to lunch, say." Karen stopped at the door. "We're just bickering together. And, I'm going to have dinner with Paul." But then, she turned and walked back to him.She had wiped away the tears, but her eyes were still so anxious, "Rick, wouldn't you like to stay a few more weeks? Can't you really help him investigate this latest explosion?" "I'm sorry, Karen." Rick shook his head. "Munchie will be here today, and I'm going back with him." "I'm scared, Rick." Karen's pain shook Rick's determination, "What happened is a threat to both the Earth and the Interstellar Corporation, and that asteroid seems to have broken all known laws of science. Paul said that it follows some unknown law, and this unknown law, Paul said that those who master it will gain a terrible power." Her eyes sparkle. "Aren't you aware of the danger? Uncle Austin said we have to fight to protect ourselves against a vicious attack by other forces or secretly launched by the Free Space Party of the Asteroids. If Paul can find a spaceship, you Don't you want to go with him?" Rick wanted to go with him, the mystery of the exploded but unheated planet still intrigued him, and Karen's request was so hard to refuse.Karen saw his hesitation, and couldn't help showing hope again on her face, but it woke Rick up. "No, Karen." Rick tried to ignore her hurt look, "Now I'm going to be a rock rat. Even if I knew about that unknown law, I wouldn't sell it to StarCorp. " "Traitor!" Karen sobbed the word and ran away. Rick sat down heavily at his desk, trying to make sense of himself.He said to himself that after all you can't have everything you want.But his sanity soon faltered.Karen's painful appearance made him uneasy, and he regretted that he had spoken too sharply. He was about to make a phone call to apologize to her when the phone rang. "Mr. Rick Drake?" Rick recognized the operator's voice, "Mr. Robo Mackey is calling you from the 'Goodbye Jane' spaceship, would you answer? Three minutes Nine dollars." Rick hastily agreed. "Well, sir, please wait a minute. It will be a few minutes, because Mr. Mackey is forty million kilometers to the south-west." "Forty million kilometers—" Rick paused—but how could that be?This shows that Mackey is still far away from Albania and Liberty Star, almost close to the place where the CT planet exploded this time.He thought uncomfortably that Mackey and his father might have had something to do with the mysterious explosion.Also, Mackey should know how unwise it is to make this call, it is far away from his route to Port Burroughs, and there are so many spies listening. Mackey's voice sounded anxious, and Rick felt his voice trill with excitement, "Something's wrong! I left Albania with only bad news for you. Your father is deflated, He doesn't want to set up any more metallurgical labs, I think you know what I mean. He told me to tell you to stay with Interstellar. But something happened on the way, and things are looking better now." Rick sat up straight. "I can't tell you the details right now," Mackey said hastily. "I'll berth at Port Burroughs at 21:10 tomorrow night. You'd better pack your bags and kiss your beloved girl goodbye, we There is something to do." Rick held his breath in disbelief.Mackey was forty million kilometers away.It would have taken his battered ship about a week to cover the distance, so how could Mackey dock at Burroughs tomorrow night? "You'll see why I can't tell you everything now," Mackey went on, "and you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but you know what an operationally safe chassis means for a metallurgical experiment. There is a model of the chassis on the remains of the CT asteroid's last explosion. What we have to do now is to get that model before everyone else, including Colonel 'Ann'." Rick shook his head helplessly.There must be plenty of spies eavesdropping on their calls by now, and it's bound to lead to a frenzied scramble for McGee to mention the chassis model so openly.Mackey is also a little too honest. "Things are going to be tough, but you have to have the courage to get it done and not give up." Mackey was still talking. "Remember, the latest will be the earliest, and the earliest will be the latest. Don't Worry, that chassis is waiting for us. We will definitely encounter many strange problems, but I have reason to believe that we will solve them one by one in the end." When the three-minute call time was up, Mackey hurriedly ended his conversation, "Better not talk back." The operator asked, "Sir, do you want to call back?" "No, no answer." Rick said vaguely.