Chapter 22 Chapter 21

Five hours later, Jenkins steered the tugboat through meteor showers and space thunderstorms, preparing to land on the Liberty Star.There was a surge of triumphant joy in my heart. The human obstacle was finally conquered, and now it was only a matter of engineering technology.In this regard, he has received special training and is absolutely sure. "We've won—nearly won!" he said excitedly. "With any luck, the Brian Transmitter will be up and running before...before the managed fleet can stop us." He almost said it Fortunately, he stopped in time before he died.Jane did not answer, and he turned from the instrument to look at her, wondering why she was silent.There was no trace of triumph in her cautious eyes.She stood there, frowning at him with a mixture of confusion and disappointment.

Nick wanted to ask her why, but the landing of the spaceship was imminent, and he really had no time to worry about other things.No matter what her motivation was, and no matter whether she really reciprocated her love, she had saved herself and her dream of the fifth freedom twice after all.Being able to do this was enough for him to try his best to convince himself. The tugboat kept descending, and Jenkins carefully inspected where the laboratory was.Finally, he let out a long breath. Everything here remains the same, nothing has changed. Didn't join here to destroy devices that weren't built.The asteroid was protected not only by meteor swarms and drifting mines, but now by rays constantly emanating from contaminated stone and metal.He landed the tug on the landing pad above the lab, and the geiger on his wrist rang again.

He turned to Jane with concern, "I will remove the metal as soon as possible, and then you will drive the spaceship to the sky away from the radiation, and wait there for me to build the transmitter." "I can help you," she suggested quickly. "I'm a pretty good mechanic." He shook his head, puzzled by the suggestion.Because he decided right away that she wasn't a good mechanic, and she wasn't really willing to help.The reason for her reluctance to help was not just because she was afraid of isotope radiation, there seemed to be other reasons. "This job requires more than a good machinist," he said softly, "I'm going to machine those conductive alloys on a machine I've already prepared, and then install the finished wires and castings into a half-CT, half-matter machine Go up. I'm afraid you can't help." He glanced at the Geiger on her wrist, the pointer was approaching the red zone, "You can't stand too much radiation anymore."

"What about you, Nick?" There was deep concern in her eyes. "How much radiation can you take?" Nick's geiger had unwound, and the whining siren had stopped.Wind up the mainspring again and set the pointer back to zero.After a while, the green light flashed rapidly on the Geiger again.He just nodded silently. "The shorter-lived isotopes are pretty much gone, and the radiation is much less. In two days, I'll be able to build the transmitter. I can stay here for two days." "What about after that?" "The power plant is fully automatic," he said. "The fuel tanks are already full. The transmitter can run unattended for a period of time. That period is enough to test the success of Fifth Freedom."

"What are you going to do then?" He quickly looked away, not daring to look at the shocked and painful expression on Jane's face.He still couldn't tell about his impending death.There is so much to do and so little time right now.To manufacture transmitters and build power plants, he must protect his mental balance and not get involved in the whirlpool of emotions. "I'll call you to pick me up when I'm done. Now I have to unload those alloys." "Wait, Nick!" Her voice was sharp.Nick couldn't help but stop, "I want to talk to you." She said.

"We'll have a lot of time to talk when you pick me up on the ship." It was clearly a lie, but he was afraid to stay.Facing the beautiful and moving Jane, he was afraid that he would give up that arduous task.He continued walking towards the ladder, not daring to look back at her. "Nick," Jane said, running over and grabbing his arm, "tell me!" Her hands trembling, her grip tightening, her voice becoming hoarse, "You really want to make transmitters? " "Of course." Nick looked at her puzzled, "What do you think I'm going to do?"

"Anything else except this." She looked at his face carefully, and finally nodded slightly, "I know I was wrong." Her voice lowered, "I know too, you don't care anyway. Everyone wants to build it, even if they die." Nick still looked at her confused: "Didn't I always say that?" "But I didn't trust you before, Nick. Maybe it's because I'm so familiar with your uncle's ways." "What do you think I'm going to do?" "A far less stupid thing." There was admiration in her words, but sympathy in her eyes. "I thought you would act like Brian, or that you were working for him." He shook sadly. Shake your head.She didn't trust herself so much!

"I'm sorry, Nick. I don't like your uncle's type. Initially, I concluded that you were either helping him with a so-called 'political project' or planning your own deception. The first time you left Earth to go to Freedom I thought you were a spy sent by him when you were on Tor, and you were safe from the attack on Liberty Star, so I guess you must have been involved in planning it; when you robbed your uncle on Tor, I concluded that you It was a plot of its own. I know now that I misjudged you. You must forgive me." "It's okay." He didn't dare to look at that beautiful face.He knew that he should hurry up and unload the alloy, build the power plant, and finish that daunting task, but he couldn't help but stop and ask, "Since you think of me as that kind of person, why are you risking your life to help me? "

"There are several reasons, Nick," she said softly. "I don't have enough evidence to say you're a liar. And I like you so much that I can't bear to see you killed by Jupiter spies. And, I believe in the Star Corporation, just As much as you believe in energy freedom." When he heard the emotional tone of the tube when he said he liked him, he could hardly hold back his emotional impulse.However, the rest of his life is no longer worthy of those romantic stories. "The principles of the Interstellar Corporation and the freedom of energy are fundamentally opposed." He tried to calm down and reminded her, "This reason is not convincing." Unable to stay with her anymore, he turned to the ladder again, "You take We'll talk about that later."

"Let's talk now." She took his arm calmly. "I don't want you to kill yourself, Nick. I don't want you to make those transmitters, at least not right now. Why don't you wait? Wait until the radiation Weaken, wait until others can help?" "You know why." Nick snapped free of her hand. "I don't know what trick you're playing, but I have a war to stop." "Then I'll talk about my trick, if you want to call it that." He must have hurt her when he wrenched her hand free.Now, she was standing there, rubbing her hands cautiously, and looking at him pleadingly: "Just give me a few minutes, Nick. I've heard your side of the story, and you should listen to mine."

"Once I've built the transmitter, you can talk as long as you want." "That's too late." Her voice trembled. "A machine can prevent war? I doubt it. But I'm sure that the endless energy will definitely destroy the interstellar company. I want to say that I About yourself and the company, just before you beat us." Tears flashed in her eyes, and Nick couldn't bear it anymore: "Say it." "Thanks, Nick. Ever since you told your story, I've been thinking about Drake and the meteors. Then I ran into Ann and Karen, and I couldn't help thinking about them too. I can understand that the asteroids are hosting The injustice received in the government, I am also in favor of restoring their freedom. But from the perspective of Star Corporation, there is another side to the matter." "I was born into a Star Corp family," she said, puffing out her chest proudly, "Nick, you don't know what that means. Your uncle and all the asteroids think we're all bad guys. Of course we There are bad people, but not all are bad! That's what I want you to understand!" He tried not to think about the urgent task and listened patiently.He looked at Jane with an innocent look.Of course, she doesn't look bad at all. "My family is not rich," she said. "My grandfather was a director of the company and saved some money. But my father used the money to invest, and most of the projects lost money. I don't want to marry just for the money. Others, so I went to the trusteeship to work and support myself. I still have some interstellar company shares, which are more valuable than money." She seemed to notice his impatience. "You don't understand that. We've owned those shares for almost two hundred years. I grew up realizing that they're not just property, they're a duty, a duty to make human beings use their energies more rationally. You Do you understand?" He nodded painfully: "I understand. You were born into a declining noble family. Although you are not rich, you are still afraid that CT energy will turn your poor little world upside down!" Anger burst out of Jane's eyes. "It is true, but more importantly, CT energy will destroy human civilization. We StarCorp are not as stupid and greedy as our political enemies make out, Nick.Consider that for nearly two hundred years we have maintained stability in space and powered all planets with nuclear power.Our depletion of fissile metals has practically become a liability. ’ Nick shook his head in disbelief. "Look at CT energy from our point of view," Jane continued, "Energy will generate political and military power. Some people will abuse energy and bring endless disasters to mankind. In World War III, Atomic energy destroyed almost all of humanity. Later in Star Wars, those stupid people broke our long-held peace. Atomic energy destroyed almost all planets. And now, our order has just been restored, and CT energy has A new, more dangerous threat." "Peacekeeping?" Jenkins sneered. "Ban CT for peaceful use, you're forcing people to use it for war!" "Wait a minute, Nick!" Jane showed no sign of weakness, "Let's look at the logical consequences of your precious fifth freedom for a moment. After ten years of endless energy that people have used, all the equipment is now rusted and abandoned, and The energy demand of each planet has increased hundreds of times. Don't you understand the danger? Those who control the Bryan transmitter have grasped the only lifeline of human civilization, and will eventually lead to a new dictatorship." She sneered, "Is that your dream of freedom?" "It won't be," said Nick. "Mr. Drake has anticipated such dangers and has found a way to deal with them." "How to solve it?" Jian's words were sharp, "Can he change human nature?" It is not necessary to change human nature to solve the danger you mentioned.The energy field can be recharged from several dispersed transmitters at the same time.As long as a series of backup power plants are established in space and engineers from different planets are in charge, the freedom of energy can be guaranteed from being attacked and destroyed by dictators. "But that's only a short-term protective measure." Nick continued, "Drake believes that greed, cowardice, duplicity and other bad things in human nature can be corrected through the fifth freedom. He said that poverty is usually caused by energy. It is caused by scarcity, while dictatorship is the result of competition for energy. He hopes that energy freedom can build a better world without war and tyranny." "Drake is so stupid!" Jane shook her head impatiently, "You too Same, Nick. You are all excellent space engineers, but you don’t have nearly two hundred years of experience in managing all the planets of our interstellar company. Human civilization cannot be as simple as making machines. There are too many things you don’t know. I’m afraid your dream will come true no! "Human nature is explosive, Nick, as dangerous as a CT. An individual needs discipline to be a good director, a competent engineer. Just as nuclear reactors need cadmium safety discs, human civilization needs interstellar corporations." Stabilizing effect. Without Star Corporation, the entire world would cease to exist. Do you understand?" Nick still shook his head: "I don't understand." "But you must understand!" Anger made her voice sharper, "We have maintained peace for more than a hundred years by controlling nuclear energy. Once the energy is out of control, another Star War is inevitable. Once we have Knowing that Drake and others began to study CT, they began to prepare for emergencies. That's the real reason I came to the trusteeship." Jenkins looked at her in disbelief, waiting for her to continue. "Brian is a dangerous man, ambitious and talented, but unfortunately he does not have the responsible spirit of the StarCorporate family. Since he wrote that book, the company directors have closely monitored his work. Wait until he forms CT Corporation I was sent to work at the time, to report to the directors what he was really up to, and, if necessary, to stop and sabotage his plans to prevent the energy from being lost from our grasp and start Star Wars again." Jane to Jenkins Turning a blind eye with a look of disbelief, he continued to explain: "My father has no sons. Our family's shares in the company are my responsibility, and the company's tasks naturally fall on my shoulders. I voluntarily request to perform this task. Now I Still want to keep going.” "You're a spy!" Jenkins was in agony. "That's why you pretended to help me? To spy on me?" "'Spy' isn't a good word," she straightened up proudly. "I'm indeed an Interstellar detective." Suddenly, her eyes dimmed. "Remember the first time we met? When I I fell in love with you. I was devastated to find out that you were Brian's nephew. Now, you understand why I ignored you at that time?" Jenkins nodded, looking at her gentle face, he could hardly hold back the tide of emotion.He tried his best to grasp his belief in the fifth freedom to calm down the impulse of emotion: "I'm not a liar. Maybe my uncle is. But I believe in energy freedom, I must create a transmitter, you can't stop me!" Jane couldn’t help taking a step back, as if stabbed by his blunt words. "I can't?" she said softly, "Why don't you think about it from my perspective? Are you determined to use it to destroy Interstellar Corporation and human freedom?" "I think I'm right. I'm going to make a transmitter if I can!" "I just want you to wait," Jane walked towards him again, with pleading eyes, "help me find out about this fake war. I want to know something from you. Maybe when things become clear, you You will naturally understand why people need Interstellar Corporation." "Fake war?" Jenkins looked at her in surprise, "Thousands of people were killed and it's called a fake war?" "No one declared war," she reminded. "Except for the asteroid underground, there were no major military forces involved. A real war would have killed millions, not thousands! The whole thing was kind of weird. If you just wait a little longer, you'll help me find the truth. We might be able to save StarCorp in time." She held him back anxiously, "Can't you wait, Nick?" “I’m so sorry, Jane.” He was afraid of touching those warm hands, and took a step back, “I can’t wait any longer.” "Why, Nick?" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Why?" Because he didn't have much time left, he had a hard time refraining from speaking.He was afraid of wasting another minute, afraid of feelings that would disturb his peace of mind. "I don't dare to wait," he made up a reason that sounded less painful. "The attackers haven't been identified yet. They may be busy making more and more dangerous CT weapons! I dare not Wait any longer." Nick pushed her hand away.She seemed to say something, but she just shrugged helplessly, tears rolling down her pale cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you," Nick's voice was thick and hard, "don't lie to me by pretending to be hurt, you can't stop me no matter what!" Afterwards, his voice softened, "It's better to put You stay on the ship so you can avoid the radiation. You'll come pick me up after I've built the transmitter.Can you swear that you won't bother me on the way, and won't leave me behind? " "Trust me." She seemed to calm down. "If you want to live, you'd better keep those promises," Nick said sternly. "All our equipment is protected from damage. Besides, they're half CT, half physical. You can't be safe." Through the thunderstorms and meteor showers around the Star of Liberty." "Thanks, Nick." He heard the choke in her voice, "I'll wait for you." He couldn't help but give her a hug, but enough time had been wasted.So he turned quickly and walked towards the ladder. "The nearest layer of space mines is in orbit a hundred kilometers away," he suddenly remembered, and shouted back worriedly, "they have radios on them to detonate the detonators. It's best to stay within 30 kilometers of the mine layer and wait for me." !" "I will, be careful, Nick!" Jane's hoarse voice came over.