Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen Key Physical Evidence: Tattoos

On the fourth day of the grand trial of Merchant Marlowe, the hall of the parliament was overcrowded, and the only member absent was muttering and cursing on the hospital bed for the head contusion that made him linger on the bed.The auditorium was filled up to the corridor on the top floor. These people either bought connections to buy inside, or forced their way in by force. The rest of the people gathered in the square outside the hall to watch the open-air three-dimensional broadcast. It took a lot of effort for Garanker to get his way into the chamber, relying on the police to make his way, and it took almost as much effort to get into Marlowe's seat.

Marlowe turned around and said with a sigh of relief: "Selton is on top, but you are exhausted. Are you all here?" "Here, it's all here." Jia'anke said, "I brought everything you asked for." "Very good. How are the people out there?" "Extremely fanatical." Gar'anke moved his body uncomfortably: "You should never have allowed a public trial at all. You should have stopped this matter long ago." "I don't want to do that." "Tales of a lynching have spread, and Myriel's men are on the outer planets—"

"I was going to ask you this, old Jia, he was instigating the clergy against me, wasn't he?" "Are you talking about him? He has arranged one of the most wonderful strategies ever seen. On the one hand, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he arranged to file a complaint under interstellar public law; on the other hand, as an eminent monk and archbishop, he encouraged fanatical believers— —” "Forget it, don't mention it. Remember last month, you threw me a quote from Han Ding? Let's show him that nuclear guns don't have eyes." The mayor took his seat, and the councilors stood up to pay tribute.

Marlowe whispered, "It's my turn today, sit back and watch the joke." The program of the day started immediately.Fifteen minutes later, Marlowe made his way through a hostile whisper to the empty seat in front of the mayor's seat.A beam of light shone on his body, so no matter the public TV in the urban area or the private TV in almost every household on Polar Star, a huge lonely and proud figure appeared at the same time, staring forward. He began calmly and methodically: "In order to save time, I first admit every fact in the indictment. The statement about the priest and the so-called mob is absolutely true."

There was a commotion in the meeting hall, and a mighty roar broke out in the auditorium.He waited patiently for everyone to quiet down. "However, the prosecution's account is missing, and I seek the right to supplement it in my own way. It may sound irrelevant at first, and I hope you will forgive me a little." Marlowe didn't even glance at the manuscript in front of him: "My narrative begins at the same time as the prosecution's, which is the day that Shahoran and Izzy dated me respectively. Everyone knows the process of the two meetings, and the content of the talks Also quoted at length, nothing to add - except my own little thoughts at the time.

"I can say that I am full of doubts, because what happened that day is so inexplicable. Two people, who were no more than nodding acquaintances to me at most, suddenly made unusual and even unbelievable suggestions to me. One, the mayor The secretary asked me to play the role of a secret agent in the government's top secret, and the nature and importance of the task have been explained to everyone before; secondly, a self-appointed political party leader asked me to run for a seat in the parliament. "Of course I would think that these people have ulterior motives. Shahorun's intentions are obvious. He doesn't trust me, and maybe he thinks that I sold nuclear weapons to the enemy and conspired to rebel. Maybe he is trying to force me to rebel—this is just I thought about it for myself. So, he would need someone of his own to be a spy with me on the mission. However, the idea didn't come to me until Izzy entered my mind.

"Think again: Izzy claims to have been a businessman before retiring from politics, yet I know nothing about his career, although I have seen a lot about it. What's more, despite Izzy's boast of being highly educated, he Never heard of the Sheldon crisis." Marlowe waited for everyone to chew on the meaning, and felt relieved, because at this moment there was silence for the first time since taking the stage, and there was even silence in the auditorium.The inhabitants of Pole Star saw this scene, while the people of the outer planets could only see the abridged version suitable for religious needs, and heard nothing about the Sheldon crisis.However, they will not miss the next attack.

Marlowe continued: "Who can in good conscience say that anyone who has received a higher education on the base is likely to be ignorant of the nature of the Sheldon crisis? There is only one educational institution on the base that would exclude Xie everything about the Project of History, and see him only as a semi-mythical wizard— "So I immediately understood that Izzy was definitely not a merchant, he was an old black priest summoned by the Holy Spirit; moreover, there is no doubt that he had pretended to lead a merchant party for three years, and he had been bought by Shahorun long ago.

"At that moment, I felt like I was groping in the dark. I don't know what Shahorun's plan was, but since he put the end of the rope to stretch me, it made him feel that I was not so easy to figure out. I guess Izzy was arranged by Shahoran to act as his unofficial guardian during the trip. Well, even if he set up the line, there must be other arrangements-so I may not be able to meet him in time. Discovery. Known enemies are relatively safe, so I invite Izzy to come with me, and he accepts. "This, Members, shows two things. First, Izzy is not my friend, as the prosecution would like you to believe, to come forward against me out of conscience; Second, to account for a certain act of mine when the priest, the one whom I murdered in the accusation, first appeared on board my ship--an act which was not mentioned, because no one Know."

There were chaotic whispers among the seats.Marlowe cleared his throat greatly, and continued: "When I first heard that there was a martyred priest on board, I felt really indescribable. I can hardly recall it. Basically, my mood was unstable and my thoughts were disordered; at first It was like a heavy blow to the head, thinking that this was a chess move by Shahoran, which was beyond my understanding and calculation; I panicked and was completely at a loss. "There's one more thing I can do: Teach Izzy to summon the Sheriff so I can get away from him for five minutes. While he's away, I'll set up a video recorder so I can make a record for later study. It's just a silver lining, absurd But seriously, hoping that the chaos at the time might sort things out after the fact.

"I have watched this video no less than 50 times. I brought it here today, right in front of everyone's eyes, and replayed it for the 51st time." The meeting hall suddenly boiled, and the auditorium was also clamoring.Five million families on Polestar, the emotional audience gathered in front of the TV, getting closer and closer.On the prosecution seat, Shahoran shook his head at the restless archbishop; Myrell stared straight at Marlowe's face, almost spitting fire. The middle of the hall was emptied, and the lights were dimmed. Ga'anke stood to the left of his seat, adjusted some control buttons, and then amidst the crisp clicking sound, a colorful three-dimensional, lifelike light image jumped out. The dazed priest who had been tortured stood between the adjutant and the squad leader, Marlowe's figure was waiting quietly, then the crew walked in in line, and Izzy escorted the team behind. Events unfolded one after another.Squad leaders were reprimanded, priests questioned.When the mob appeared, roars could be heard, and Priest Qiao patted the horse with a frantic expression.Marlow drew his gun, and the priest was dragged away, waving his hands wildly and cursing, a gleam of light flickered away. Before the curtain fell, all the officials were dumbfounded, Izzy covered his ears with trembling hands, and Marlowe put away the gun calmly. The lights were turned on again, but not many people returned to the empty space in the center of the hall. Marlowe's real body reappeared, and the story continued: "This incident, as you can see, is exactly as stated by the prosecution-but it is only superficial. I will briefly explain this, by the way, Throughout the incident, Izzy displayed emotions that clearly indicated his religious upbringing. "In a private conversation with Izzy later that same day, I pointed out certain irrational conditions. I asked him how the priest got there in the middle of nowhere where we were moored. What's more Or, how did such a large group of mobs come about because the nearest towns of a relatively large size are hundreds of miles away. The prosecution didn't care about these issues. "There are other things. For example, another doubtful point is that Joe Patron is too ostentatious. Risking his life to preach in Gao Rui, violating the laws of both the base and Gao Rui, but wearing a brand-new and distinctive military uniform to go there Parade, that's not quite right. The idea that came to my mind at the time was that this priest was bait thrown by the Grand Commander to force us to commit a completely illegal attack so that he could follow his example and destroy it logically. our ships, and kill us all. "The prosecution had anticipated my justification for my actions. They expected me to explain that my ship, crew and mission could not be wagered and sacrificed to cover a man who, whether we help or not, is dead anyway. Impossible people. Now they are whispering about the reputation of the base, the dignity that must be maintained in order to remain in power. "However, for some strange reasons, the prosecution completely avoided talking about Qiao's lover. They did not provide any relevant information, including the place of birth, education, or any records during his lifetime. To explain this question, It can also explain the irrationality I pointed out in the video that you have seen before; the two are related. "The reason why the prosecution didn't bring up the information about Joe's pat on the horse is that they couldn't come up with it at all! Everyone looked at the video and thought it was a fabrication, because Qiao's on the horse was a counterfeit, there was no such thing as Joe's on the horse! The whole trial was a sham. Make a laugh out of nothing!" Again, he had to wait for the noise to subside before he continued, "I'm going to show you a zoomed-in still from the video that will speak for itself. Please turn off the lights, Jack." The hall darkened, and the central void was once again filled with a pale and gloomy frozen picture.The officer of the Far Asterisk assumed a strangely stiff posture, Marlowe held the gun tightly in his straight palm, Joe, on his left, patted Martens, opened his mouth in the middle of shouting, turned his palm upside down, and his sleeve slid down his arm . In the hands of the priests, the flashy bright spots in the previous screenings are now definitely shining. "Please look carefully at the light in his palm!" Marlowe yelled in the dark, "Magnify that, Lao Jia!" The picture suddenly expanded, the priest was pulled into the center, and gradually the other parts disappeared, leaving only the giant shadow of the priest, then the arms, and finally only the huge, tense and blurred palms, filling the center of the hall . That light turned into a blur of flickering words: KSP. "That," Marlowe's voice boomed; "guys, it's a kind of tattoo. You can't see it in normal light, but under ultraviolet light—I'm indoors with full ultraviolet light for video—it will show up clearly. , I believe this is a primitive method of secret identification; but it works in Gory, because there is no ultraviolet light on the street. Even on our ship, it is detected by accident. "Perhaps some of you have already guessed what KSP stands for. Joe Pama knows a lot of ecclesiastical jargon, and he plays very well. Where and how he learned it, I can't say. But KSP stands for 'High Swiss Secret Police'." There was an uproar in the audience, and Marlowe had to roar loudly to drown out the noise of the roof falling. "I have the official documents brought by Gao Rui to prove it, and if necessary, I can disclose it to the parliament immediately! "Where has the prosecution's case gone now? They have repeatedly fabricated unreasonable associations, saying that I should stand up for the priest who broke the law, even at the expense of missions, loss of personnel ships, and my own life No hesitation, just to maintain the name of the base. "But for an imposter? "Should I give my precious life for a gory agent, perhaps a priest's robe and a full set of scripture spells borrowed from a southern Ontario refugee? Throwing me into a nasty, stupid trap—” Marlowe's hoarse cry was drowned out by the shouts of the crowd, and he was lifted aloft to the mayor's bench.through the window.He saw thousands of crazy people swarming into the Parliament Square. Marlow looked around to find Gaank's whereabouts, but it was too difficult to find someone among thousands of faces.Slowly, he became aware of a rhythmic repetitive cry, expanding from a small corner into a frenzied throbbing: "Marlowe - long live - Marlowe - long live! - Marlowe - long live! -"