Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty-Five

Another day passed, and Jane still did not come. Jenkins lay quietly on the bed, keeping his eyes on the door, expecting her to appear.Dr. Urego came in softly and examined him again.Jenkins couldn't help asking: "Doctor, how long can I live?" "Don't ask me!" Urego watched the timid nurse apply the liquid medicine on his arm with a serious expression, "You will not be immortal until you continue to play CT. Your bleeding symptoms have disappeared , tissue damage is also healing.” "Huh?" Only then did he feel that his pain had almost disappeared, "You mean, I won't die?"

"Not this time." "But..." He looked at the doctor incredulously, "I think..." "When Harding's team brought you here, you were almost dead. Fortunately, you had already brought your special medicine—Mckey's blood." Jenkins shook his head puzzled. "I've never seen a case like this." Uurigo paused to inspect the liquid on his arm, and nodded with satisfaction. "I mean, Mackey's illness. When he had a high fever, I thought he was going to die. But the next day all symptoms disappeared and he was naturally immune."

"Because he's... different?" "Adaptive variation!" the doctor wrote in his medical records. "That's the answer, evolution. Biologists and philosophers argue endlessly about mechanism and teleology, but life does adapt constantly. A changed environment. Mackey is the result of generations of people struggling to survive in a rayed environment." "But..." Jenkins recalled the incident on the End of the World, "Did Mackey transfuse me with blood?" "Yes, 20cc of serum extracted from his blood has been injected into your veins. It can inhibit tissue destruction and stimulate regeneration. I have isolated a new hormone from his blood. It may form in the adrenal cortex But it doesn't matter. It's just a matter of time before it's synthesized." He looked at Jenkins triumphantly, "With that synthetic hormone, all people will have the same immunity as Mackey. We are going to overcome the persistent problem of CT radiation !"

Jenkins was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "What about the others? Drake and his son, can you save them?" "All but one, because that man is dead." Jenkins tried to ask the man's name, but was too frightened to speak. "That man is Keith. La Gerina. He's absorbed too many X-rays, and even Mackey's blood won't save him." Jenkins couldn't help but shudder when the shameful traitor deserved this ending: "Maybe I killed him with the test gun. I didn't shoot him, maybe he was too close to the ship." "No," said Vorego suddenly. "He was dying before he came here on that rebel ship. He admitted that he stole the CT machine tool from your Liberty Star laboratory and wanted to transport it to another place." He installed it in the CT arsenal on an asteroid, but there was an explosion, and the arsenal was blown up. He finally escaped by himself, but was exposed to radiation. When O’Baliang brought him here, I injected him with 80CC Serum, but it was too late, he died last night."

Day after day passed, and Jenkins waited for Jane, often falling asleep while waiting, waking up and waiting again.But she still didn't come.When he asked the nurses about Jane and the patients of Liberty Star, they all smiled and advised him not to worry, and gave him some hypnotics.The only thing he had to do now was to meditate and recuperate, and Dr. Urego didn't allow him to bother thinking about other things.Finally, the nurse allowed him to get out of bed.He hurriedly put on his clothes and slippers, and ran into the aisle looking for Mackey, the Drakes, and Anders.Those patients were all strangers, injured asteroids from the CT Intruder.

"The man from Liberty Star was discharged last week," a nurse told him. "Mr. Drake wanted to see you before he left. You were asleep and Dr. Urego wouldn't let him wake you up." He said. Slowly returning to the ward, thinking of his lost and regained health, he was extremely excited, but felt a little lonely. He really wanted to see the changes that energy freedom brought to people.At this time, Karen came. "I call every day to ask about your condition," she said, "but Dr. Urego said that you are always agitated by visitors and wouldn't let me see you. He didn't say yes until today."

"Jane makes me feel bad," he said. "I've been waiting for her to come and I never see her, and I'm worried about her. If you see her, you say—" "I won't see her." Karen's voice dropped.Nick then remembered that, to Karen, Jane was still an Earth spy trying to abolish energy freedom.She seemed eager to change the subject, and gave him a box, "Look at this." Nick took it without opening it; "I must see Jane," he went on, "even if she did fight us. Where is she? Do you know?" "While here she lived with Ann at O'Brien's," Karen's face darkened at the eager look on his face, "but she's gone." She grabbed Nick's arm again. , advised, "Better forget about her, Nick."

"Going away?" He shook his head sullenly, all the strength he had just developed disappeared in an instant, he only felt dizzy and couldn't stand upright.Karen hurriedly helped him sit down on the chair.He turned the box aimlessly. "Jane isn't as bad as you think," he said hoarsely. "I don't want to forget her. Do you know where she is?" "To Port Burroughs. She, Mr. Drake, and Mr. O'Brien were sent to testify at your uncle's trial." She realized that this was not a good way to say it, and quickly corrected herself, "Oh, it's Martin. .Mr. Bryan's trial."

"He's my uncle," Nick said quietly, "and I don't feel sorry for him. Don't forget, he was the one who first really came up with the Fifth Freedom, and he was the one who gave us the conductive alloys for the transmitters. .” He looked at her questioningly, “What will they do to him?” "The trial isn't over yet," Karen said. "Mr. O'Brien called me yesterday to ask about Ann and he said it wasn't good for Brian." Jenkins sat, staring blankly at the box.He didn't want Brian to be sentenced to death, but now Jane was the person he cared about the most, and he made up his mind to go to Port Burroughs to find her when his condition got better.Maybe she sees the changes that come with energy freedom and forgives herself.

"How's Albania?" He looked up, looking at Karen with disbelief. "Did the Fifth Freedom bring some changes? Like we expected?" "Yes." She nodded slowly, "Of course, you can't expect it to change people overnight. I always feel that Mr. Drake is too optimistic, but no pessimist would think of using CT Meteors." He nodded.People are not always perfect, and the progress of the whole human race can only be relative.Even among the space engineers hailed as creators of the new age, there were people like Brian and La Gerina, who were no better than the generals, politicians, and financiers that Brian so often mocked.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Karen continued quickly. "Indeed, you can already see some changes, though not as quickly or as much as Mr. Drake expected." "What has changed?" "Obanya is alive again." Her face lit up. "Now, the asteroids can do more than they dreamed. People are already repairing the machines on the uranium mine. Brian The electricity output from the transmitter runs all the machines, mining iron, copper, and tungsten that were not worth mining before, and purifying and processing various metals. Rick and I plan to build a new factory to produce more reverse gravity device to terraform more asteroids." "Is Rick still here?" he asked quickly. "I want to see him." But she shook her head. "He's all right, Mackey's blood made him well again. He's gone back to Liberty Star with Anders and Mackey to see how the Brian Transmitter is doing. He suddenly became alert: "Is something wrong with the CT laboratory?" "Why don't you take a look at what's in that box?" She smiled mysteriously. "Ann wanted me to bring flowers, but Rick and Anders said you'd prefer this." He eagerly opened the box, which contained a small light bulb and an oddly shaped bauble.He didn't understand what it was for a while, so he lowered his head to study the wires and other components on it. Suddenly, he held his breath. "Brian's receiver!" His hands were shaking with excitement, and he could hardly hold the thing. "Does it really work?" "Try it." He eagerly screwed the bulb into the plastic socket.The light came on, and the small light was enough for him to see the endless energy flowing from the meteor cluster. Karen got up to leave. "Dr. Urrigo told me not to bother you." She explained, "I have to go back to Ann's too. She hasn't been in a good mood since Anders left." "Then come and see me tomorrow," he begged, "and find out about my uncle and Jane for me." "Okay." She promised.He saw the sarcasm flashing in her eyes when he mentioned Jane again. It was very late when she came the next day. "I'm sorry, Nick." She smiled wearily when she saw the impatient look on his face, "I want to go earlier, but I can't leave. I stayed with Ann all night and didn't sleep." "Is she all right?" "An hour ago, little Paul. O'Brien. Anders was born. Both he and Anders are fine and asleep now." "Great!" he whispered. "It's very good." She looked at the small lamp that was still on on the bedside table, "I have been paying attention to the changes that have taken place in people, and the biggest changes will probably happen to children like Ann's children." Nick, puzzled, listened to her go on. "You can already see the changes in the children, they are better adapted to this new world. You can hear how eager and happy they are from their laughter. They are all busy making all kinds of gadgets. Using CT energy, and eagerly asking various questions about this energy, thinking about how to use it when they grow up. The adults are panicked, the workers are afraid of losing their jobs, and the businessmen are afraid that the CT energy will decrease. Price, they don't know how to face the Fifth Freedom." Karen's eyes fell on his face again. "Ann's kid will grow up to be as good as Drake wants," he said softly. "He won't be tortured by desires and fears like most of us, he'll be kinder, stronger, and better. brave." Jenkins nodded heavily, wishing he could see Jane, who would change her mind if she saw what the Fifth Freedom had done for people.But the idea was like a silly dream, that she belonged to the old StarCorp world, and probably always would. "Mrs. Rick Drake?" a nurse called from the door. "I have your number. From Port Burroughs. Go to my office." Karen hurried out. She was gone for a long time, and Nick guessed what the news would be, and he tried to convince himself that if Brian was sentenced to death, he deserved it.Again, he thought hopefully, that if in this new world Brian might have escaped the human-bending, mind-shattering pressures that brought him to this tragic end, the freedom of energy might allow him to grow into a truly great person. Karen finally came back, flushed with excitement. "O'Brien is calling," she said breathlessly, "to ask about Ann and his little grandson." "Any news about the trial?" "It's over. There is more important news. Mr. Drake has been talking with the new high-level committee, and he is preparing to work out a plan to establish a backup CT power plant. A total of nine will be established, and each large planet will be responsible for two , the asteroid will be in charge of one, and you and Anders will be in charge of building two power plants for Earth." Her eyes sparkled with excitement: "Isn't that exciting?" "That would make the energy field safer," he agreed, "from machine breakdowns and other societal contingencies, and at the same time, it would make plotting impossible for people like my uncle." She looked at him carefully: "are you unhappy?" "I'm very happy. I'm anxious to build the new power plant, but first..." He wanted to talk to Jane first, to see if she had changed her mind, but he could see the sarcasm in Karen's eyes when he heard him mention Jane. .He stopped talking. Karen remained standing, waiting for him to speak. "First, I have to go to my uncle," he corrected. "Even though he is a liar, he has done a lot for me. I understand what changed him. Our new freedom will make the child less like him. That twisted, turned indifferent. No matter what bad things he did, I still love him. I want to be able to..." He suddenly saw Karen's strange expression, and became frightened: "Can't we appeal ?” He then asked in a low voice, “He was not executed, right?” "I haven't told you yet!" She laughed suddenly, "There will be no appeal, he has been acquitted. " "Has he been released? Nick looked at her in disbelief. "What about the things he did?" " "He should have been punished, but he had a good lawyer. The government came into power because of the new liberties, and Gast seized on that and made the most of it. He took a copy of Endless Energy as evidence and spent spent half a day in court talking about some of these chapters, and then asked the judge if they were going to put the founders of the Fifth Freedom in harm's way, and they retracted all the charges." "I'm glad to hear he's been released," Jenkins said, "but I wonder what he's going to do in this new world with all his wealth gone. He's going to have to get used to it. Difficulties." "No. Judging from what Jane said, it's impossible." "what happened?" "He's already forming a new company, Poseidon Co., Ltd. It will be responsible for installing anti-gravity devices and developing Neptune's satellites. The new senior commissioners and even the judges who tried him have signed up to buy company shares. Jane said he You have also been issued the privilege to purchase bulk stocks." Jenkins couldn't help asking, "When did you call Jane?" "Just now." Karen laughed at his eagerness. "Mr. O'Barian called from your uncle's office. Jane is there. I know that Jane will continue to work in this new company. Me and O'Barian After Liang finished talking, he called Jane. She said hello." "As soon as I get out of the hospital, I'll go back to Port Burroughs," Nick stood up impatiently, "I want to meet her before he leaves for Neptune," he glanced at Karen, "I like her, Even if you don't like it." "You're wrong," Karen said. "I had a good talk with her. She told me about your dispute over building the transmitter, and how she learned about Ann and the other asteroids here. , and found that they have the same dignity as the people on Earth, and she even said that the Fifth Freedom is better than she expected. I think she is very satisfied with this method of liberating the asteroid people." Karen nodded, "She is better than me Think much better." "I'm going to call her right away." He ran towards the door impulsively, and Karen grabbed him: "It's too late now, Port Burroughs has turned out of the beam receiving area, and before I put down the phone, the beam came out." It's broken." "Then I'll have to wait," he said anxiously, "when can I call her tomorrow?" Karen hesitated for a moment and shook her head: "I'm not sure if she will talk to you. Before the light beam cut off, I wanted to call you to answer the phone, but she refused. She said she was leaving the office and there was no time." .” "Oh, where is she going?" "She said she was going to do errands for your uncle. The new company bought back the Adonis for the first expedition and rebuilt it with Bryan receivers. Your uncle is anxious to leave immediately, before the others arrive. To get the title there, she was in a hurry to finish all the arrangements, and she said she would go with your uncle." "To Neptune?" He couldn't help raising his voice, "Why doesn't she want to talk to me?" "She didn't really say she didn't want to. I think I know how she feels, that she's ashamed of having done all that spy work, embarrassed that she tried to destroy the Fifth Freedom and didn't succeed, and that she now thinks you're treating her It's not much use anymore, she's running away from you." "That little idiot! Orrego said he'd let me out of the hospital tomorrow. I'm going to find her. If I can't find her, I'm going to Neptune." Karen shook her head solemnly: "It's better to break up," she advised, "Jane is still from the Star Corporation, and even if she wants to change, she will never be from Asteroids. I know this, Nick, because I also come from a Star Corp family." "Aren't you nice, Karen," Nick smiled warmly at her, "Jane will too." "Are you sure? You really need her?" "I love her, Karen," Nick said gravely. "I need her, and I need her more because she's from Star Corp." Karen gave him a puzzled look. "We still have a lot of work to do, and she can help us get it done. I'm starting to understand that our new world is not a perfect paradise, that sometimes things go wrong, and that there are many others like my uncle, Gast, and Some of the directors of Interstellar need to be watched." "What will they do?" "They may act the way the old world taught them, collude with people for their own benefit, and go to war. These people will never really understand that people have enough energy now. Even the Poseidon project seems to me Kind of weird." "what do you mean?" "That satellite is moving backwards, which is enough to show that it does not belong to the solar system. Also, every expedition team to Neptune has gone to nowhere. People like Brian may guess that Neptune is A CT planet that broke into the solar system. Perhaps planning a new CT research project for some kind of benefit of its own." Karen grabbed his arm nervously: "You mean the CT weapon? He's going to start another CT war?" Jenkins shook his head: "I only know that he needs long-term monitoring. He and Gast and many other people who learned how to live before the energy is free. The work of those who know them. If our guard is let down, they will destroy our new world." Karen looked at him and said, "Jane was trying to tell me something like this before the beam phone was cut off. I didn't quite understand what she meant, but now I do. She also foresees the same danger, and maybe that's why she continues to worry about it." The reason your uncle works, depends on what he's going to do." He smiled into Nick's hopeful face, "I'm sure Jane will get better, Nick." The nurse came again and called her away, and Anders Liberty Star Beam anxiously wanted to know the news of Ann and his son on the phone. Nick sat alone, dreaming of tomorrow.Utopian dreams may never come true, but he's still alive, and he has to find Jane. There was a more difficult task waiting for them, and that was what he really needed.