Chapter 21 Chapter 21

Entering the headquarters building, Soapy found that there was a circle of reception rooms around the hall.He pushed his way through the crowd and into one of them.A contralto sounded in the room: "Please enter your name on the keyboard, and report the name of the department and office you want to meet into the microphone, and then tell the reason for your meeting when the light is on. Please note that after get off work, we only Do something urgent." Soapy typed "Thorby Baslim" into the machine, and reported that the appointment was with "X-Force." Soapy waited for the light to appear.At this time, the original voice appeared again on the tape: "Please enter your name on the keyboard, and tell the name of the department and office you want to meet with into the microphone..." But this time, just in the middle of speaking, the voice suddenly stopped. Yes, a man's voice followed: "Please tell me the department you're meeting with again."

"X-Force." "What's the matter?" "I want to look up my name in your file." Finally, another woman's monotonous voice was heard: "Follow the light above your head, don't be left behind." He followed the lights up the escalator, then down the chute, through an unmarked door, where an ununiformed man took him two more doors to another man in plain clothes .The man stood up and said, "Rudbeck, Rudbeck, I am Smith, the commander-in-chief of the regiment." "Please call me Thorby Baslim, sir, not Rudbeck." "Name doesn't matter, identity does. I'm not 'Smith,' either, but that's fine. Presumably you have an ID."

Soapy showed his ID card again. "You probably have my fingerprints?" "Your fingerprints saved here will come out in a moment. You don't mind pressing it again?" When taking Soapy's fingerprints, a file card appeared on the commander's desk.He put two fingerprints into the authenticator.Judging from his expression, it seemed that there was no one around him at all.It wasn't until the discriminator gave the green light that he began to greet Soapy. He said, "Well, Soby Baslim . . . Rudbeck. What can I do for you?" "Maybe there's something I can do for you?"

"yes?" "I've come here for two reasons," said Thorby. "I thought I could add something to Colonel Baslim's final report. Do you know who I'm talking about Baslim?" "I know him and admire him very much. Go on." "Besides, I want to go back to the Guard and then join X-Force." Thorby couldn't remember when the idea came to him, but he had already had it.Because this corps has Dad's original team and is also Dad's old army, and more importantly, it is to complete Dad's unfinished business. "Smith" said dumbfounded: "Huh? How could Rudbeck of Rudbeck have such an idea?"

"That's exactly what I've come to do." Soapy said a few words about what to do with his parents' real estate and how to arrange their legacy, "and that'll set me free. It's kind of inappropriate for an acting 3rd class gunner - no, I've been dismissed as a 3rd class because I got into a fight - to talk about X-Force. But I think I have some that you might use I know my countrymen... I mean, I know free traders, I can speak several languages, and I know how to behave in Nine Stars. I'm not an astronaut, I've only been to a few places, not many, but I Definitely traveled a few planets. Also, I saw Papa Baslim work. Maybe I can do some of his work."

"To do a job well, you have to love it. In many dynasties, if a man thought a job was menial, he didn't feel the need to do it because it would hurt his self-esteem." "But I want to! I was a slave, you know? That experience helps me understand what it's like to be a slave." "Perhaps. But it can also make you emotional. Besides, we're not just interested in buying and selling slaves. So, if someone comes and asks for a job, we don't do it right away. Instead, we ask He did what he was told to do, and he had to do it. We just used him and often let him do it until he couldn't do it. Also, you see, we have a high casualty rate in our troops."

"I absolutely submit to your assignment. It's just that I happened to think about the slave trade. Most people here seem to have no idea of ​​​​it." "Most of the things we do, the public is skeptical of. Can you expect those around you to believe in distant fantasy things? Remember, less than one percent of human beings have ever left themselves birth planet." "Yeah, I suppose so, but anyway, they just don't believe it." "This is not the biggest obstacle to our work. The Earth Alliance is a federation, not an empire. Earth is just a leader in a loose alliance of planets. What the National Guard can do and what it can do are completely different things. If you come here The goal is to see the abolition of slavery in your lifetime, so go back. At the most optimistic estimate, we need at least two centuries to achieve this goal. Even then, some planets that have not been discovered today may still be There is slavery. It is impossible to solve any problem once and for all, it can only be seen as an ongoing process.”

"I just want to know, can I help you?" "Don't know. Not because you said you were just a minion... In fact, we are all equal here. The X-Force is an idea, not a rigid organizational structure. If you were just Thorby Baslim, I would I believe you will be useful, even as a translator. But Rudbeck as Rudbeck... Well, I don’t know about that.” "But I told you just now, I was trying to take that hat off!" "Well, wait until you're not Rudbeck, Rudbeck. You're not here today to enlist, as you say, so how about the first reason? To Colonel Baslim Add something to the report?"

Soapy hesitated, then said: "Sir, my commanding officer, Colonel Brisby, told me that the old—Colonel Baslim has confirmed that some of the major starship manufacturing companies are involved in the slave trade." "Did he tell you?" "Yes, sir, you may consult Colonel Baslim's report." "No need, please go on." "Okay. . . was he reporting Rudbeck? In other words, was it Galactic Transportation?" Smith thought for a while and said, "Why do you ask me if your company is involved in the slave trade? You should tell me." Thorby frowned. "Is there a Galaxy Display here?"

"Across the corridor." "Can I use it?" "What's wrong?" The supreme commander of the wing led him through a secret passage and into a meeting room with a star-like stereoscopic display facing him.Thorby had never seen such a large display. Soapy had to ask "Smith" for advice, because the controls for the display were too complicated.After mastering the basics, he began to operate.Soapy frowned, and nervously re-marked the three-dimensional map drawn on the Galaxy monitor in his office with colors among the stars, without any explanation, while the commander next to him also watched silently.Soapy stepped back at last, and said, "That's all I know now."

"You still missed some." The supreme commander added a few touches of yellow and red, and then spent a lot of time adding the six missing spaceships, "It's amazing to remember so much from memory alone. I see, you Including my own disappearance—the experience really helps to pique one's interest." He paused for a moment and said, "Well, Baslim, you just asked a question, Can I answer it now?" "As of now, I think Galactic Transport is involved in the slave trade! Not everyone, but a lot of key people involved. They provide ships, fuel and means of repairs, and possibly financial support." "Ok……" "The situation is marked here. Are there any other possible explanations?" "What do you think they'll say, if you accuse them of the slave trade..." "Not directly involved, at least I don't think so." "Only connected with the trade. First they'll say they've never heard of the slave trade, or that it's a nonsense rumour. Then they'll say, anyway, they're just It’s all about selling spaceships—if a husband cuts his wife’s face, should the owner of the knife be held accountable?” "These two things can't be compared." "They won't admit that there was a slave trade, they'll just say they didn't break the law, and they'll even admit that there might be slavery in some places. But why do you think these people lived light-years away from a What about unidentified evil things? They're right to say that, and you can't be sure, so they don't do it. Then some well-dressed answerer will come out and say, slavery isn't so bad, because A lot of people would be happier if they didn't have the responsibilities of a freedman than if they did. And they'd say that if they didn't sell the ship, someone else would. It's just a business." Soapy thought of those unknown little slaves like himself in the dark, crying in despair, fear, loneliness, and pain in the fetid cabins of slave ships.And these ships are likely to be manufactured by the company he now belongs to. "Give him a whip, and he won't have such mean thoughts!" "Yes, but whipping has been abolished here. Sometimes I also wonder whether we should reset whipping." The commander looked at the monitor and said, "I want to record these things, because some aspects have not been comprehensively Thank you for coming, if you have any other ideas, please come to me again. " Thorby realized that his desire to join the X-Force was not being taken seriously. "Commander Smith... Maybe I can do one more thing." "What's up?" "Before I join X-Force - if you allow me to join this force later - I can go out in my spaceship as Rudbeck's Rudbeck and check out the ones we marked in red along the way. place. Maybe I can get something that spies can't get to. What do you think?" "It's possible. But you also know that your father once went to various places to inspect, but his luck was not very good." "Smith" scratched his chin, "We can't explain the cause of the inspection accident. Until you live After returning, we realized that the accident was not a natural disaster. At that time, there were only three passengers and eight crew members on the spaceship, and the cargo carried was worthless. And then you'll do it." Soapy was taken aback. "what do you mean……" "I don't mean much. But bosses who go undercover to see if their employees are doing other jobs sometimes get caught, and your father was actually checking jobs." "Find out about the slave trade?" "I can't figure it out. Anyway, it's just an inspection in that area. I have to leave, but you must come to see me again...or give me a call, and I will send someone to you." "Commander Smith... If I want to talk, what aspects of this matter can I discuss with someone?" "Huh? Talk about anything. As long as you don't say it's the opinion of our troops or the National Guard. But even if you know it's true—" he shrugged, "who's going to believe you? If you talk to your colleagues Arousing your suspicion will cause them to strongly dislike you...Among those dissatisfaction, some are sincere, not evil intentions. What about others? If only I could know." It was late when Soapy came back, and Lyda was restless and curious.But she didn't show it, for fear of attracting others' attention, and the old aunt called to greet Rudbeck at this time, and planned to stay overnight.So it wasn't until the next day, when they visited the Aztec artifacts at the Cinco de Mayo Museum, that they talked about yesterday. Soapy relayed Gash's words to Leda in detail, and then talked about other things. "I would have liked to rejoin the Guard yesterday." "Sol!" "Oh, I'm not quitting, I have my reasons. Because the National Guard is the only organization that wants to stop the slave trade, and that's exactly why I can't enlist." Perceptions related to the slave trade. Her face turned pale. "Sol, this is the scariest thing I've ever heard. I can't believe it." "I also want to prove that this is not true, but the spaceship needs to be man-made and repaired. You also know that slave traders are not engineers, they are parasites." "I still don't believe there is such a thing as slavery." Soapy shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ten welts can only be believed." "Saul! You mean to say they beat you?" "I don't remember exactly, but the scars are still on my back." On the way home, Leda didn't say a word. Soapy had one more meeting with Barrister Gash, and then he and Lyda would go to the Yukon, accompanied by the old aunt, who was obliged to go with them.Garsh had several documents to be signed by Soby, and he was informed of two things: "The place of the first prosecution must be in Rudbeck, because that is the legal place of residence of your parents. The second thing is that I wrote in the old newspaper Some material was found on "yes?" "It was revealed in the materials that your grandfather did give you a large number of stocks, and this matter was even disclosed in the report on your birth celebration. The European Securities Times also listed the stocks by stock serial number. So This is also the weapon to fight back against them. I don't want to leak this information." "Everything is up to you." "I hope you don't stay in Rudbeck before the trial. This is my secret mailing address... As a last resort, you can call me directly. You also have to give me a contact method that will not attract others' attention. Soapy thought for a moment about any safe way of communicating under the watchful eyes of the security guards. "By the way, you or someone else, for example, find a young man and call Leda in code words, isn't it all right? Because people always call her, most of them are young men. After receiving your call , she will tell me, and then I will find a place to call you back." "Great idea. Then I'll have a young man contact her with the code: 'Do you know how many shopping days are left until Christmas?' That's it - see you in court." Gash grinned and said, "It's a good show. But it will cost you a lot of money. Good-bye."