Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

Jane straightened her back. "But they didn't die!" She retorted quickly, "Uncle did say that he saw an engineer refining uranium ore, but he didn't say that he left him on the spaceship." "Maybe he doesn't want to be proud of it." Nick tried to soften his tone, "Of course, he didn't know that Drake and Mackey really refueled the spacecraft. They didn't tell this secret to others, they Probably tired of the official interrogation. And they also know what will happen to Interstellar if they find out about it." "You mean..." She was too stunned to speak.

Jenkins nodded silently: "Those two rock rats are not good at dealing with the people of Interstellar Corporation, but they know how to survive in space. Drake initially wanted to improvise a machine to extract McKee's bag of ore, but found That bit of ore is far from enough, and there are countless CT meteors ahead." "They can't use CT! Absolutely not in the ship's uranium reactor!" "Drake modified the reactor," he glanced at Jane's puzzled expression, "this job is not as difficult as you imagined. The reaction field can prevent extremely high-temperature nuclear substances from contacting other substances, and it can Attracting CT like uranium, Drake was concerned about what would happen after the reaction took place. He replaced the original connecting wires and retuned the current stabilizer to allow more energy into the reaction field coil. Although this It's not enough, but he has to take every chance he has to survive."

"Then, they really used CT as fuel?" Jane opened her eyes wide, she doubted this, and at the same time wanted to know more, "How did the CT meteor enter the reactor?" "Munchie got it in. There was a hole in the reaction chamber. While Drake was using a flashlight to clear the debris from the reactor, Mackey went out through the hole in his spacesuit and got back a piece of CT. Iron. Nobody ever did that." "Haven't you collected such things yourself?" "That's different. I need to use radar to determine the location of the meteor, then use a test gun to measure its composition, and finally use a very complicated tool to put it into the ore box. All Mackey's equipment is an electromagnet. It was connected to the battery in the spacesuit, and then it was his feeling. He went out of the hole and found a CT meteor that no one else could recognize clearly. With the help of the spacesuit's driving field, it slowed down its flight speed, Then it was slowly sucked into the reaction chamber with a magnet, and finally Drake captured it with the reaction field."

"Did they then add antimatter fuel to the reactor?" “Just a little airflow was enough. Controlling airflow was the single thing that bothered him the most at the time, Drake said later. You know, even if a person's breath touches CT, there will be a violent reaction like an atomic bomb explosion.Finally, he managed to drill a very small hole with great effort.The air comes out of the low-pressure cylinder and enters the reactor through the small hole. " "Then... is it useful?" "Of course, although the radiation leaked from the modified equipment is dangerous, it will not kill you immediately. Because there is not enough time to convert the reactor into a fully automatic equipment, Drake had to stand by the reactor and constantly adjust The pressure diaphragm that controls the airflow. Finally, the ship has power again.

The lifeboat had already run out of energy, and was floating at a distance of less than a hundred kilometers.Mackey sent a signal, but no one answered.Thankfully, it was a much smaller target compared to the ship and hadn't been hit by the meteor yet.Someone couldn't stand the long wait, and opened the Amidine potion.Mackey hooked it with a steel rope and dragged it out of the meteor cloud.Nine days later, they reached the Goddess of Dawn. "Goddess of Dawn?" Jane raised her head proudly, "Uncle is there to organize the asteroids to prevent the Jupiters from attacking!"

"Interstellar people's view of history." Nick retorted, "Actually, the asteroid people don't need organization at all. The war happened, the earth people got scared and withdrew, and they were left with no necessities and no army." protection, but they are used to taking care of themselves. The asteroids on the Aurora mistook the End of the World for a Jupiter battleship and were about to fire on it. After Mackey announced his identity, they sent a spaceship to rescue." There was a look of doubt in Jane's eyes: "If Drake and Mackey really used CT energy, why weren't they discovered at that time?"

"Their spacecraft did not land, and it is impossible to land." Jenkins explained, "There is air on the Dawn Goddess, and the reactor on the spacecraft is not sealed well. Any trace of air entering will blow the spacecraft into several pieces. Rescue is in It was carried out here, and the spaceship was abandoned. The shell of the spaceship is constantly emitting radiation, which is very dangerous. No one dares to go up and look." Jane nodded slowly, turned her head to look at the wall, and didn't speak for a while.She must have remembered that Goodbye Jane was just as dangerous.

"Aren't they all sick from the radiation?" Her voice was hoarse. "Drake is very sick." He nodded. "He's been around that leaking reactor for too long. Mackey may have developed some immunity, although he was also exposed to radiation. But he recovered quickly and gave Drake a blood transfusion. In the end, both of them were fine. Your uncle woke up from Amadin's coma, leaving Drake and Drake who were still recovering at the time. Mackey is gone..." Jane moved restlessly on the high stool. "Don't you believe him at all?" She raised her voice angrily, "Don't you believe that he left to organize the asteroids to fight against the Jupiters?"

"The Asteroids don't need anyone to lead, to organize." Jenkins remained stubborn. "After the Jupiter rebellion subsided, my uncle went to Leninsk to urge the new ruler of Jupiter to sign a non-aggression pact. Don't you believe this?" "He is trustworthy far more than that!" Jenkins sneered, "In Star Wars, he and other nobles of the interstellar company sacrificed countless lives and wasted endless financial resources. Isn't that also trustworthy? ?" "At least. They are loyal to the earth." Jane argued excitedly. "Many of them sacrificed their precious lives for the sake of Earth and the Interstellar Corporation. Uncle was severely irradiated during the Battle of Europa and has never really recovered. He has none of the legendary asteroid looters." The huge wealth that came from him. After retirement, he can only live on that little pension."

"I'm sorry." Seeing her angry look, Jenkins didn't want to make her angry anymore. "Our attitudes towards problems are always inconsistent. Maybe your uncle is really sincere about the Interstellar Company." "Our angles are different," she also nodded earnestly and admitted, "Maybe we will still be like this in the future." He paused, as if thinking of something, "Tell me again, how did Drake use CT?" "That's all I know. It's just the beginning of the story and there's no end yet. It will come when the Bryan transmitter is up and running, or when Drake and the rest of us are dead. .” He looked at her eagerly, “Do you understand now what we are going to do?”

She nodded. "Mr. Drake is just as brave and capable as my uncle, just in a different way. Energy freedom has always seemed to me like an idealized dream." Before Jenkins could express her disappointment, she continued, "Let's talk about something else. I want to know more things. For example, how is his work going?" Jenkins shook his head: "I don't know either. I heard the story just now from Rick and Ann, and they heard it from Rick's mother. Drake and Mackey, since that incident , and never talked about my affairs again." "But you must know something else." Jane pressed eagerly. "They were able to use CT energy to drive spaceships long before Star Wars. What has prevented them from building a real one to this day?" What about the power plant?" "On the one hand, it's money. CT research is expensive, and Drake doesn't have Brian's talent for trading ideas for money. On the other hand, there's time. With the money, it will take years to develop A whole new set of new CT technologies needed to build a power plant. At that time, the Brian transmitter had not yet been invented, and without these new technologies, even if a power plant was built, it would not be of much use. "After Star Wars, they spent years watching meteor swarms and placing indicators, and they made a small fortune. They were still with O'Brien, and Mackey rescued his men several times, and helped These people found a safe passage through the meteor swarm without being chased by the Earth spacecraft. Drake also built many emergency food synthesis plants, and it was by these factories that the asteroid survived the days of being blocked." "Since Drake can really use CT, why doesn't he make a CT weapon?" "Ann said that her father begged Drake for this matter. And a secret agent of an asteroid underground organization also made a similar request. However, Drake is very clear about what a CT war is, and he refused all of them." "Then why did he build it then?" she asked sharply, "It's what the raiders use now..." "Building those CT missiles. Not to attack other planets," Jenkins explained immediately, "just to defend Liberty Star. Brian later convinced him, in order to prevent others from sneaking into our laboratory. Made with our machine tools Arms to conquer all the planets, we do need those missiles." She stared at him sharply. "I see." She nodded casually. "Let's talk about the Liberty Star. Since when did they start doing experiments there?" Seeing her anxious expression that couldn't be concealed, Jenkins became a little suspicious again: "I'm new to high-level space, so I don't know this. But they have only owned this asteroid for a few years." "Five years ago, they took legal ownership of the Freedom Star. The following year, Drake was arrested for illegal research. At that time, the CT base and connector they developed were perfect, and the speed of progress was amazing. That's scary enough." She looked at him with a probing light, "Did they secretly work there a long time ago?" "Impossible." Nick shook his head thoughtfully. "Five years ago, Mr. Drake had just finished placing the indicator. Besides, he didn't want to violate the CT law." "But he's broken the law." "It's true." Nick admitted slowly, "Too many people are willing to give him too much money to develop CT weapons. He felt a crisis of war, so he started to manufacture the Brian transmitter, I want to finish it before the war breaks out. "Jane's eyes widened, as if she didn't believe it: "Just two years!There is no way Drake and Mackey could have built such a perfect automatic machine in such a short time! " "They have great help, people like Rick and Anders, and Ann, who knows almost as much about CT as Mackey. And Rick's wife, Karen." "Karen Hood?" There was a mocking tone in Jane's words, "I knew her when I was in Sun City. At that time, she hadn't followed her father, who was a member of the trusteeship committee, to the trusteeship area, let alone with Rick. .Drake married. A luxurious rich lady, what can she do?" "She's done a lot of things since being disinherited. She's familiar with StarCorp and has been Drake and Mackey's right-hand man on Port Burroughs until Brian replaced her. She's mastermind a lot of things behind the scenes , is also responsible for purchasing equipment for the Freedom Star, and convincing everyone that Drake is just developing a better indicator." Suspicion still hangs in her eyes: "A competent person, but I still don't believe They were able to do so much in such a short period of time. Without any CT tools, it was definitely difficult to create the original connectors and mounts." "It might be difficult." "Are you sure they didn't start doing CT research until they got to Liberty Star?" She leaned forward eagerly. "Did they have any other secret labs before that?" "I'm afraid not." Nick said slowly. He suddenly remembered a mystery that had never been solved in his heart, and couldn't help frowning, "I don't know why the progress of CT research is so fast. Drake never liked Others ask questions, but I ask Rick and Ann." "What did they say?" "Nothing." He thought for a moment, then added, "Although they are both very frank, they may know that there are some things that cannot be said casually." Jane jumped off the stool all at once. "What is it? Don't you know anything?" "Know a little. I've just made a wild guess based on a few vague clues, and maybe it's completely wrong. These things are incredible." "What clue?" She grabbed him, "Say it!" "I remember one time, when we happened to talk about the existence of CT life in the universe, we concluded beyond doubt that there was CT life, and it was on the CT planet that collided with Adonis." "Really?" She asked impatiently, "Any other clues?" "On the Liberty Star, I took a close look at how all the CT mounts and connectors were designed," Nick said slowly. "What's the matter?" "Well..." Nick frowned, with a puzzled look on his face, "they're just—just weird, not a design error, these machines work very well. They seem to represent a higher It’s an intellectual level. If you ask me to do design ideas, it will definitely be very different. They are a completely different way of thinking.” "McGee designed it?" Jane quickly reminded, "Since he is a mutant..." "You know, he's not an engineer, and even if he were, there wouldn't be that much difference in thinking." "Then... who made those machines?" She was full of curiosity. "I don't know. I saw something else." He stood up and looked at the wall behind her. Warning signs. Those are the tools Drake used for his first experiment, and they are still in good condition, but they are too crude and are no longer used.” "Just in the laboratory?" Jane couldn't believe it. “I also noticed a mushroom-shaped chassis in the middle of the machine, which surprisingly has a CT handle that is more delicately crafted than a material handle.” "You mean..." "I don't know," Nick said, "I also found one more thing, a connector for connecting the matter shaft to the CT fitting. It had a handle on it, but it wasn't designed for the size and shape of a human hand. ’” She shook her head slightly in disbelief. "It does look like a handle," Nick said softly, "but it's only suitable for a three-fingered hand. It's finely crafted, polished, and plated, but it's on the CT part of the connector, where nothing touches it." Everything is dangerous.” "Aren't you saying..." Jane was too scared to continue, "Aren't you saying that Drake and Mackey have some CT monsters to help?" Nick nodded slightly: "I think those things were created by the life on the CT planet that An said. Matter is to them what CT is to us. It is always a problem. When their planet hits Adonis They may have been working on matter while they were on the ship." “Are they still alive?” Jane’s face turned pale, and she was eager to know the answer, “Is there any one of them alive?” "I'm afraid not. That planetary collision happened a long time ago. According to the isotope radiation test results of the remaining debris, it was at least 100,000 years ago. Any kind of life, whether it is CT or matter, is impossible in that surviving the explosion. Moreover, in our physical world, CT life is unlikely to survive for a long time." "Is it possible that CT tools have existed for so long?" "Of course. You know, we don't bring dangerous CTs back to Earth, and for the same reason those CT beings don't bring matter back to their planets. All ships and laboratories, as long as they have matter in them They are all in the space away from the CT planet. When the CT planet broke into the solar system and collided with the Adonis planet, they survived and floated in space." He took a long breath, If anyone could find these things, it could only be Mackey. "It's terrible!" she whispered. "What else do you know?" That was all.As soon as he thought about it, the tragic scenes of imaginary CT life lost in the solar system came to his mind. He shook his head at Jane. How those strange tools came about is still a mystery, but the current plight of mankind is the most important thing to him. "That's all I know." He smiled weakly, "Maybe my guess was wrong at all, maybe that part on the connector isn't the handle at all, and even if it was, be able to hold it without any danger life ceased to exist long before man appeared." "Indeed." She stood with her back against the bridge, as if a little tired, "I'm afraid we have other more important things to do." "I've always wanted to tell you these things," Nick walked towards her nervously, "that's all I know about Drake and the meteors. Now, you believe that energy freedom is not a whimsical dream, right? " She nodded and laughed again: "You blow Drake as amazing as my uncle, don't I have enough sympathy for him?" Nick took a slow step back, as if hurt. "What's the matter, Nick?" She noticed his expression and laughed mockingly. "I know I'm not the same as Ann O'Brien and Karen Hood. I'm neither Not a space engineer, not an Interstellar heir, just a salaryman. But remember, I got you out of prison. I like you too, Nick, really." At this moment, her voice sounded extraordinarily sincere.Suddenly, she changed the subject, "What else do you want from me?" She is still a mystery.Maybe she really likes him, but she always seems to be hiding something from him.Whatever her motives, all her efforts to persuade him were in vain. Jane was still his enemy, holding an unshown trump card, trying to win a bet, exactly what that bet was, he did not yet know.He turned away wearily, adjusting the aircraft's instruments and correcting the robot pilot.