Chapter 7 Chapter VII

During the first few million miles of the starship's journey away from Sargon, Thorby frowned, feeling that he had made a mistake. Soapy briefly loses consciousness from inhaling the foul smell of Verga leaves.When he woke up, he found himself in a small single room.Waking up is painful.Although the interior of the Sisu still maintains a standard gravity during the entire take-off process, he can still slightly feel the difference between the gravity inside the ship and the gravity on Jubul’s ground, and even detect the more subtle differences between the artificial gravity and the natural environment .In a daze, his body identified itself as being on a slave ship.For the first time in years, he was having nightmares.

Afterwards, after a long struggle with his tired, Verga-drowsy mind, the fear was finally overcome. Waking up, Soapy made sense of his surroundings and realized he was safe aboard the Sisu.He felt relieved, excited, because he was traveling, going somewhere.The sight of change and novelty had dispelled Thorby's grief at the loss of Baslim.He carefully watched everything around him. The small room was a cube, only about a foot longer and wider than Sobby.Soapy was lying on a shelf which filled half the room, on a very soft, extremely comfortable mattress, of a warm, smooth, springy material.He yawned and stretched himself, feeling very amazed in his heart: how can a businessman live so extravagantly?He jumped and stood on the ground.

The shelf bed raised noiselessly and slowly disappeared into the bulkhead.Soapy couldn't figure out how to open it again, so he left it alone.Anyway, he didn't need a bed at this time, he just wanted to look at his surroundings. When he woke up just now, there was only a faint light on the ceiling, but when he stood on the ground, the ceiling became brighter, and it has always maintained this brightness.Although the room was bright, Soapy could not find where the door was.Three vertical metal panels adorned the walls, any of which could have been a door, though there were no obvious finger grooves, buttons, or other familiar things.

He thought he might be locked in, but that was okay.He is used to living in caves or in squares, and has never suffered from claustrophobia or agoraphobia.Now he just wanted to find a door, but he was a little annoyed that he couldn't find it.He felt that even if the door was locked, Captain Krause would not have kept the door locked for long.But he just couldn't find where the door was. But Soapy found a pair of underpants and an undershirt on the countertop.He woke up naked, as he usually slept.He picked up the clothes, touched them carefully, and marveled at their magnificence.He remembered that most of the visitors wore this kind of clothes.Thinking of dressing so luxuriously, Soapy was stunned for a long time, and only had one concern: Isn't it impolite to use other people's clothes?

Then Thorby remembered that Captain Clausha had disliked him wearing a loincloth on board.By the way, the captain even planned to take him to a clothing store specially opened for visitors from extraterrestrials on Happy Street to buy clothes!The captain said that, yes. So Soapy concluded that the clothes must have been given to him, for him!His loincloth was gone, and the captain certainly didn't want him to show up on the Sisu naked.Soapy himself was not shy. Although there was a dress code in Jubul, it was limited to the upper class.But then again, most people don't pay attention to bare buttocks.

Soapy plucked up the courage to put on the suit, but found that the shorts were on the wrong side, and felt something was wrong, so he changed the side and put them on again.In fact, the undershirt is also reversed, but it is not so obvious. He thought he was wearing it correctly and did not wear it the other way around.After getting dressed, he really wanted to see what he looked like, but unfortunately there was no mirror in the room. This suit was work clothes bought from the ship's commissary, simple cut, pure pale green, and made of strong, cheap material.It has been worn by men and women of both sexes on many planets for centuries.However, he felt that even in his heyday, King Solomon, who was as rich as a country, was not as beautifully dressed as he is now!He straightened his clothes, wishing someone could see how handsome he was.After getting dressed, he couldn't wait to find the door again.

He did not find the door, but the door found him.His hand accidentally brushed over a metal plate of the bulkhead, and he felt a gust of wind. Turning around, he found that a metal plate was missing, and the door leading to the corridor opened automatically. Just then, a young man dressed like Soapy (who was delighted to discover that he was well-dressed) came towards Soapy along the curved corridor.Soapy went up to meet him and greeted him in Sargon. The man glanced at Soapy, and walked on as if no one else was there.Thorby blinked, bewildered, hurt in his pride.He looked at the receding figure, and called him loudly in Interlingua again.

The man still didn't respond.Soapy wanted to try another language, but the man had gone away. Soapy shrugged his shoulders resignedly, thinking that a beggar shouldn't be offended over such a trifle, he just wanted to know. Twenty minutes later, Soapy found a lot.First, the Sisu was much bigger than he had imagined.He had never seen a starship for himself before, save for the confined space he had seen in the cabin of a slaver's ship.From a distance on the ground, the spacecraft parked in the Jubul spaceport seems to be very large, but it is not so large.Second, he was surprised to find that there were so many people on board.He used to know that the Sargon cargo ships that travel between the Nine Stars usually only have six or seven crew members.But here, in the first few minutes alone, he had met several times as many men, women, and children.Third, he was disheartened to find himself left out.None of the people on board paid any attention to him, nor did they answer him when he spoke to them.If you don't give way, they will come straight towards you.The closest thing to Soapy was a little girl, who watched him intently when he greeted her, until a woman came up and pulled her away.The woman didn't even look at Soapy.

Soby is used to this kind of indifference, which is the most common way for nobles to treat Soby's class.Nobles would not receive him. In their eyes, Soapy didn't seem to exist at all. Even if he gave alms, he just threw the money to the slave and left, and the slave gave the money to him.When he was in Jubul, Soapy did not feel aggrieved by this cold reception. On the contrary, because it had always been the case, he thought it was only natural.At that time, the arrogance of the nobleman did not make him feel lonely and depressed, because in the suffering life, he had many warm-hearted companions, so he didn't know what suffering was.

However, he would not have boarded the Sisu if he had known in advance that all his companions on the Sisu were as cruel as nobles.With or without the police pursuit, he will not come.But he never thought that the people here would treat each other coldly.After listening to Baslim's message, Captain Clauser treated him like a father, so Soapy took it for granted that all the crew on the Sisu would treat him like a captain, but he was greatly disappointed by what he saw. He wandered into a corridor made of steel plates, feeling like a ghost wandering among the living.So, in the end, he decided to go back to the small room where he woke up in frustration.But soon he lost his way and had to retreat from the road he thought was right.He did not go astray, and Baslim's teachings were not in vain.The problem was that the road had no recognizable features, so he wandered around again.Unfortunately, he realized now that, whether he could find his room or not, he would have to find out quickly where these people hid the bathroom, even if he had to grab someone and press him. .

He rashly crashed into a cabin, and was greeted by a woman's screams of anger.He backed out in a hurry, only to hear the door shut behind him with a "bang". Not long after, a man hurried over and said to him in Interlingua: "You wandering fellow, why are you causing trouble?" Hearing this, Soapy felt relieved.It's almost like a monastery here, undoubtedly the most indifferent place in the world, and it's almost more lonely to be here than to be alone.In this environment, even a reprimand is far better than nothing. "I'm lost," he said cautiously. "Why didn't you stay where you were?" "I don't know either, I think—excuse me, sir—I'm looking for a bathroom." "Oh, there it is, directly across from your bed." "My lord, I don't understand." "Well... I don't think you understand. I'm not 'Honorable Sir', I'm First Auxiliary Foreman, remember that. Come with me." He grabbed Thorby's arm and turned hastily to lead him out. Maze, stopped at the entrance of the corridor where Soapy lost his way, flicked his hand from top to bottom on a metal gap, and said, "This is your bedroom." Before he finished speaking, the wall panel slid away, revealing Come one door. The man turned around and did the same thing on the other side. "This is the single bathroom on the starboard side." The man said sarcastically, and Soapy was confused by these weird devices, he followed the man into his room in a daze, "Now you stay here, dinner delivered." "First Auxiliary Foreman, Sir?" "what?" "May I speak to Captain Clauser?" The man was startled. "Do you think the captain has nothing more important to do than chat?" "But……" The man was gone, and Soapy was talking to the steel plate. After a long time, a child finally brought the food, but judging from his expression and movements when he came in, it seemed that he just put a plate of something in an empty room.Afterwards, he brought other food and wanted to remove the first plate.Soapy could barely get his attention.Holding the plate tightly, he spoke to the child in Interlingua.Soapy saw that he understood what he was saying, but his answer was very short, just one word: "Flakey!" Soapy didn't understand the word, but he could feel the contemptuous tone. "Vlaki" refers to a small, odd-looking, half-scorpion-like scavenger.This kind of thing lived on Alpha Centauri III, one of the first planets that humans colonized, and was ugly, almost brainless, and with all kinds of disgusting habits.Only the near-starving will eat its flesh.Its hide is unpleasant to the touch and leaves a nasty stench on the fingers. Not only that, "Vlaki" has other meanings, which refer to planetary residents, people who cannot leave the planet, people who live on the land, people who have never been to space, people who are not my race, and people who are not even human. On, aliens, savages.In short, it is a word laced with contempt.In the ancient earth culture, the names of every animal were used as curses: such as pigs, mad dogs, big sows, old cows, sharks, maggots, etc., there are countless.In terms of insult, though, none of these terms are quite as vicious as "Flakey." It was a good thing Soapy didn't know what that meant, all he knew was that the kid looked down on him and didn't care about him--he knew that all along. After a while Soapy felt sleepy.Although he had already learned the gestures to open the door, he couldn't open the bed no matter what. No matter how he knocked, touched, grabbed, pressed, or combined all kinds of methods, he couldn't get the bed.He had to lie on the floor all night.The next morning, the meal was brought again, but he still couldn't keep the child from saying a few words, and he couldn't even make him scold him a few times.He passed several other boys and young men across the corridor.Others still ignored him, but he quietly saw a skill.He learned how to do laundry: a gadget "eats" into a piece of clothing, sits in it for a few minutes, then "vomits" it out, and the piece of clothing becomes new and clean.He is very happy.That day, he washed his beautiful new clothes three times.Other than that, he did nothing.That night, he slept on the ground for another night. He squatted on his bunk, thinking bitterly of his father, wishing he could still stay in Jubul.At this moment, he suddenly heard someone knocking on his door. "May I come in?" a voice asked, speaking in stiff, broken Sargon. "Come in!" promised Thorby eagerly, jumping up and opening the door.Standing in front of him was a smiling middle-aged woman. "Welcome, welcome," he said in Sargon, stepping aside. "Thank you for your kindness." She stammered, but quickly, "Do you speak Interlingua?" "Of course, ma'am." She blurted out, "Thank goodness I've pretty much forgotten my Sargon," speaking Galactic English, then switched to Interlingua and continued, "If you don't mind, can we talk in Interlingua?" "Yes, ma'am," replied Thorby in the same language, adding in Galactic English, "unless you prefer another language." She seemed taken aback. "How many languages ​​do you speak?" Soapy thought for a while, "Seven kinds, ma'am. There are still a few kinds that I only know a little bit, so I don't know how to know them." She was even more astonished when she heard this, and said slowly, "Perhaps I have made a mistake, but if I am wrong, please forgive my ignorance and correct my mistake. I heard that you are Jubul A beggar's son." "I am the son of Baslim the Lame," said Thorby proudly, "a licensed beggar under Sargon. My late father was a learned man, and throughout Liberty Square, His wisdom is known to all." "I take your word for it. Well... are all Jubul beggars multilingual?" "What, ma'am? No, most of them can only speak vulgar slang, but my father forbids me to speak vulgar language...except in certain circumstances, of course." "Of course." She blinked. "If only I could meet your father." "Thank you, ma'am. Please sit down. I'm ashamed, please sit on the ground... But please feel free, everything I own is yours." "Thank you." She sat on the ground, and Bisubi struggled.Soapy had sat cross-legged for dozens of hours while begging for food. Soapy wondered whether the door should be shut, or whether the lady--he had made her a noble lady, but she was so friendly that one could guess her status--whether Leave the door open on purpose.Now he is overwhelmed by customs and habits that are completely different from the past, facing a brand new situation, he is completely at a loss.So he solved the problem with his common sense, and asked, "Would you rather leave the door open or shut, ma'am?" "Huh? It doesn't matter. Oh, maybe you'd better leave it on. There are single men's rooms on the starboard side. I was put in the bachelor's room on the port side. But I have been given the right to keep pet dogs. I am A tolerated 'flaky'." She gave a wry smile at the last word. Soapy missed many key phrases, "A 'dog'? Is it a wolf-like animal?" She stared at him with wide eyes. "Did you never leave Jubul? You learned the language there?" "I've been in Jubul, Ma'am, except when I was a child. Excuse me for speaking badly. Or would you speak Interlingua?" "Oh, no. Your galactic English is very beautiful...a standard earth accent. My pronunciation is not pure, and the accent of my birthplace is too strong. I'm afraid I can't change it in this life. I have to work hard to make others understand It's me. Let me introduce myself. I'm not a businessman, but a PhD in anthropology, and they've allowed me to travel with the ship. My name is Margaret Mudd." Thorby bowed his head and put his hands together: "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Thorby, the son of Baslim." "Nice to meet you, Thorby. Please call me 'Margaret.' Titles are of no use here unless they are internal ship titles. Do you know what an anthropologist does?" "Well, I'm sorry, ma'am—Margaret." "It's an unusual title, but it's actually very simple. An anthropologist is a scientist who studies how people live together." Soapy looked at her suspiciously and said: "Is 'how people live together' a science?" "Sometimes I can't tell. Soapy, it's actually a complex science, because people seem to have the ability to devise endless ways of living together. Each one is different from the animals but has something in common with everyone else. There are only six types, three are related to our physique and body structure, and the other three are acquired. The differences in other aspects are extremely large. What a person does, what he believes, all his behavior habits and economic activities are all different. Very different from other people. An anthropologist is someone who studies these variables. Do you know what a 'variable' is?" "Well," Soapy said hesitantly, "is that the X in the equation?" "Exactly!" she agreed. "We're looking at the X in the human equation, and that's what we do. Right now, I'm studying the way of life on this free trade ship. How humans should behave, how To survive, their solutions to these most difficult problems are perhaps the most peculiar of any society in human history. This is a most unique group." At this point, she couldn't sit still on the ground and said, " Soapy, can I sit on a chair? I'm not as good as I used to be, I can't bend over and meditate anymore." At this, Soapy blushed. "Ma'am... I don't have a chair. I..." "You have one behind you, and I have one behind me." She stood up and touched the wall with her hand, a wall panel slid to one side, and an armchair with a seat cushion was revealed from the slid open space. Seeing Soapy's stunned look, she said, "Didn't they teach you?" She touched another wall, and another chair popped out. Soapy sat down cautiously.The chair seems to have figured out his pressure position and adjusted the stress-bearing part.It took Soapy a while to put his weight firmly on the cushion.Soapy laughed from ear to ear: "Ah!" "Do you know how to open a table?" "table?" "Gosh, they didn't tell you anything?" "Well... there used to be a bed here, but I lost it." Dr. Mudd muttered something, then said, "I should have thought of that sooner. Soapy, I admire these businessmen, and even like them. But they are sometimes the most arrogant, self-centered, self-righteous, Most uncooperative. I shouldn't criticize our hosts though. See." She reached out and touched the wall in two places at the same time, and the disappearing bed bounced off.There were two chairs on the ground, and there was almost no place to stand after the bed was opened. "I'd better put it away. You watch me do it." "Let me try it." She then showed Soapy all the other built-in items in the seemingly empty room: two chairs, a bed, and wardrobes.Only then did Soapy know that he had at least two sets of overalls, two pairs of soft space shoes, some small items (some of them very novel), bookshelves, tape racks (except for Sisu Law, other tape reels were empty) ), drinking water, bedside reading lights, an intercom, a clock, a mirror, a thermostat, and other little gadgets that Soapy didn't need. "What's that?" he asked finally. "That? Maybe it's the microphone leading into the Patriarch's cabin, but maybe it's just a decoration, and the real thing that works is hidden somewhere else. Don't worry, almost no one on this ship speaks Galactic English. Not only this ship, absolutely Most of the people on the ships don't speak Galactic English, they speak a 'secret language', which isn't really a secret, it's just Finnish. Every trade ship has its own language, an Earth language. Language. But there is a common 'secret' language in the spaceship civilization, which is simplified Church Latin. But this language is not used very much. The dialogue between free trade ships is all in Interlingua." Soapy was not paying attention.With her as his company, he was very happy just now, but now, what he thinks about is how other people treat him coldly. "Margaret...why don't they talk to the others?" "what?" "You're the first person to talk to me!" "Oh." She looked sad, "I should have seen this earlier, you were ignored by them." "Well...but they gave me food." "But not to you. Oh, poor boy! Soapy, they don't talk to you, because you're not their 'countrymen', and neither am I." "Don't they talk to you, too?" "Now they talk to me. But it's because the patriarch gave the order directly, and I waited a long time before they talked to me." She frowned. "There is no such thing as extreme Sectarian cultures are more sectarian than here! Every such culture has the same key word in the language, no matter how they say it, the word is 'citizens.' It means themselves, 'I and Wife, son and his daughter-in-law, just the four of us and no one else'. They isolate the four of themselves from everyone else, even denying that anyone else is human. You hear 'Flakey' the word?" "I heard it. I don't know what it means." "Flaki is a harmless and odious little animal. But when it comes to their mouth, it means 'stranger'." "Well, yes, I reckon the kid said 'Flacky,' which means I'm a stranger." "True, but it also means that you can never be anything else. It means that you and I are subhumans, and to them, outside the law—their law." Soapy was downcast. "Doesn't that mean I have to stay in this room and never talk to anyone?" "My God! I don't know that. But I'll talk to you." "Great, thank you!" "Let me think about what I've figured out during this time. Oh, they're not cruel, they're just stupid and narrow-minded. They never take your feelings into consideration. I'll tell the captain, I have an appointment with him, jump See you later." She looked at the watch on her ankle, "God, what time is it! I wanted to come here to talk to you about Juble, but I haven't even said a word about Juble. .May I come and talk to you about Juble later?" "That couldn't be better." "That's good. There's been a lot of research on this cultural group in Jubul, but I don't think it would be possible for any student to test the analyzes of it from your perspective. It was such a joy to know you were a professional beggar. " "What did you say?" "Son, the people who can live there and do research are VIPs from the local upper class. They can only see the life of some slaves on the surface, but they can't really experience the substance. Do you understand? " "I suppose so," added Soapy. "If you want to know about slaves, I can tell you that I was a slave." "You were a slave?" "Now I'm a free man. Well, I should have told you earlier," he said, a little uncomfortable, lest his new acquaintances should look down on him if they knew his lower class. "There's no reason you should have to tell me. But I'm so glad. For my discipline, Soapy, you're a darling! Well, I should be going now, it's too late. But in a little while." Can I see you again in a while?" "Ah? Of course, Margaret." He added sincerely, "I have nothing else to do." That night Thorby slept in his wonderful new bed.No one came to him the next morning, but he didn't feel bad because he had so many toys with him.He unfolded and folded all kinds of things, and was pleased to find that each gadget took up only a small space when folded.He came to the conclusion that it must be witchcraft.Baslim had told him that magic and witchcraft were utter nonsense, but his words hadn't convinced Soapy completely, and even if Pop knew everything, he still wouldn't believe it—these witchcraft and witchcraft were He has experienced it himself, how could it be all nonsense?There are many wizards in Jubul, and if there is no magic, why do they do it? Just as he was opening the bed for the sixth time, there was a strange whistling sound, which made him almost trip over the new shoes that he only took the courage to put on.This is the ship's alarm, calling all crew members to take their positions.It was a drill, but Soapy knew nothing about it.After finally settling the heart in his throat, he opened the door and looked out, only to see people running around at top speed. After a while, the corridor was empty.He went back to his room and waited, but also wondered what was going on outside.After a while, his sensitive ears noticed that the faint sound of the ventilation system had died away.He had no choice but to let it go.In fact, he was supposed to go to the innermost compartment with the children and other non-combatants, but he didn't understand that. So he stayed in the room, waiting. The siren sounded again, this time accompanied by the sound of horns representing various signals, and once again people came and went in the corridor, and wolves ran.After the alarm sounded for the third time, all the crew had completed various drills including emergency combat readiness, hull damage, power failure, air pollution, and radiation pollution.These are routine drills for a tense ship.Once the lights went out, and once the spacecraft cut through the artificial gravity field, Soapy got a taste of the sensory confusion of weightlessness. After a long period of time in this inexplicable farce, Soapy heard another signal, which was the order to cancel the exercise, and then the ventilation system also moved and resumed operation.During the exercise, no one came to him. The old woman who was in charge of managing those who did not participate in the exercise even counted the pets on board one by one, but she didn't notice that he, Flaki, was missing. As soon as the exercise was over, Soapy was taken to the patriarch. A man opened the door of his room, grabbed him by the shoulders, and escorted him out.Soapy endured a few steps, and finally resisted.He's had enough of being mad at these people. In order to survive, he once practiced some messy boxing in Juerbubo, but none of them were formal.Unfortunately, the other party has received an equally grim but much more scientific training in a school.Soapy received a heavy blow and was forced to the bulkhead, and his left wrist was in danger of being twisted at any time. "Don't mess around!" "Don't try to push me around!" "I said, 'Don't mess around.' You're going to see the Patriarch. Don't mess with me, Vlakki. Or I'll put your head in your mouth." "I'm going to see Captain Clauser!" The man let go of his hand and said, "You will see him. But now the patriarch orders you to go... The patriarch doesn't wait for anyone. Now, do you want to go there honestly, or will I move you there piece by piece?" Soapy chose to be honest.The heavy pressure on the wrist joint and the strangulation of a ganglion between the metacarpal bones are very convincing.After a few decks, he was pushed through an open door. "Patriarch, Flaki is here." "Thank you, Third Deck Captain. You can go." Soapy could understand only one word, "Flakey."He stood up and took a look, and found that this room was many times larger than his own room. The most conspicuous thing in the room was the big bed that took up a lot of space, but it was the short figure on the bed who dominated the room.On one side of the bed stood Captain Krause quietly, on the other side was a woman who was about the same age as the captain. Because of her age, the old woman sitting on the bed was a bit shriveled, but she exuded a kind of authority.She was gorgeously dressed, except for the thin turban that covered her thinning hair, and for money, Thorby had never seen so much money on any occasion.But Soapy saw none of it, only her fierce sunken eyes.She looked at Soapy and said, "That's the man! My son, I expect a lot of trouble," she said to the captain in Finnish. "Mother, this message cannot be fabricated randomly." She snorted. Captain Krause continued humbly but obstinately: "Listen to the message for yourself, Mother." Turning to Soapy in Interlingua, "tell your father's message again." Soapy did not know why he was asked to repeat the message again, but he obeyed at once.He was relieved to see his father's friend again, so he recited the message from beginning to end.When the old woman heard that he had finished reciting, she turned to Captain Krause and said, "Who is this boy? A Vladimir! He can speak our language!" "No, mother, he doesn't understand a word. It's Baslim's voice." She looked back at Thorby again, and said something to him in Finnish.Thorby looked at Captain Clauser in bewilderment."Let him repeat it again," she said. The captain conveyed the mother's meaning.Soapy was perplexed, but obediently repeated it.When Soapy recited, the old woman lay quietly, and the others stood beside her.She frowned, scowling.Finally, he said in a hoarse voice: "The debt must be repaid!" "That's exactly what I thought, mother." "But why did we get the lottery?" she said angrily.The captain said nothing.She calmed down a lot, and then said: "The message is true. I thought it must be a nonsense. If I had known that you were going to bring him on board, I would have refused. But, eldest son, although you It's stupid, but you're right: the debt has to be paid." Her son still didn't say a word, and she said angrily, "Huh? Speak up! How do you want to pay this debt?" "I've been thinking about this, mother," said Krause slowly, "and Baslim has asked us to take care of this child only for a limited time . . . until we can entrust him to a Confederate ship. .How long will it take? A year or two. There may indeed be some problems. But we have a precedent after all - that female Vladge. The family accepted her - reluctantly accepted, but now it has She's used to it, and even likes her. If the mother helps the child in the same way..." "nonsense!" "But mother, we have this obligation. The debt must be..." "Shut up!" Krause kept his mouth shut. She continued to speak calmly: "Didn't you hear what Baslim entrusted to you--'I beg you to help him and discipline him like me.' What's the relationship between Baslim and this Fraki?" "Well, Baslim said he was his adopted son. I thought..." "You didn't even think about it. If you took Baslim's place, what would you become? Is there any other way to explain this message?" Krause looked troubled.The old man continued: "Our Sisu's debts are always paid in full, never half, and never short of money. It must be paid in full. This Fraki must be adopted to you." The captain's face was suddenly blank.Another woman who had been doing small things beside her also put down the tray in her hand. The captain said: "Mom, what will happen at home..." "I am home!" She turned around suddenly and said to the woman next to her, "Daughter-in-law, call my older daughters." "Yes, mother-in-law." She curtseyed and left. The patriarch stared at the roof of the cabin for a long while, as if a smile suddenly broke out. "It's not all bad, eldest son. With this, what's going to happen at the next reunion of fellow countrymen?" "Well, they'll thank us." "Thanks for not being able to buy the cargo," she said, licking her thin lips. "People will owe a debt to the Sisu, and the status of the ships will change. We have nothing to lose." Slowly, Krause smiled. "You have always had a quick mind, mother." "Fortunately for the Sisu. Take the Volaki boy down and get him ready. This has to be done quickly."