Chapter 21 Chapter Twenty

"Isn't it? We asked them to admit us, and they wouldn't." "Manny, I have to apologize. You remember Adam Selene's speculation about our chances of success before we left home." We never use the word "Mike" even though Stu isn't listening.To be on the safe side, we'll use "Adam Selene". "Of course I remember! Fifty-thirds. When we got to Earth, down to one hundredth. What do you think it is now? One thousandth?" "Every few days I get new speculations...that's why I want to apologize to you. The last one was before we left, and it included speculations that hadn't been confirmed at the time: We must be able to leave Earth, get home safely, or at least one of us will make it out, which is why Comrade Stu is sent back to the moon, because he has the ability of Earthlings to defy gravity. In fact, the original prediction was that all three of us would die. Later, after a combination of various factors, it was finally calculated that the three of us could survive the disaster, a total of eight conjectures. Do you dare to bet with me, what is the last conjecture? Let me give you a hint: you are too pessimistic!"

"Um... no, damn it! Tell me!" "The odds are now one to seventeen...and the odds have been increasing every day for a month. I can't tell you all that." I was so surprised, so happy, almost ecstatic—and suddenly aggrieved. "What do you mean, why can't you tell me? Professor, if you don't believe me, just expel me from the decision-making level and appoint Stu." "Listen to me, boy. If anything happened to any of us—you, me, and Wyoming, he'd take our place. On Earth I couldn't tell you, but now I can. It's not because We don't trust you, but because you are not an actor and can't act. The purpose of convincing you about us is to make them recognize us as independent, so that you can play your role more realistically."

"Just tell me the truth now!" "Manny oh Manny, we've got to fight and lose on all occasions." "I'm already a big boy, don't you feel relieved?" "Listen to me, Manny. Keeping you in the dark for a while has greatly increased our chances of success. You can check with Adam on that. Comrade, that committee is too small, that chairman is too smart, they might There is a considerable risk, especially on the first day, that we will come up with compromises that we can live with. It would be nice if we could present our demands in the General Assembly of the United Nations. There is no way that a General Assembly with so many people can come up with anything intelligent. decision. But we failed to do so. All I could do was confront the committee, insult my dignity, and attack them personally. My goal was to get them to bring us at least one unreasonable Require."

"I don't think I can understand this kind of high-level strategy." "Maybe. But our talents complement each other perfectly. Manny, you must want to see the moon liberated?" "I hope very much, you know." "Earthlings can defeat us, you know that too." "Yes, I really don't see why you're talking to the committee like that—" "Please listen to me. They can impose their will on us, and our only chance is to weaken their will, which is why we must go to Earth. Divide them, make them have different opinions. The most important thing in Chinese history A strategic general once said: Weaken the will of the opponent, 'A soldier who surrenders without fighting is the one who is good.' This is our ultimate goal and our most urgent danger. Imagine if on that day they proposed Tempting compromises were made, such as: not the Warden but the Governor, who is likely to be one of us, to run our moon; local self-government; being a representative to the United Nations General Assembly; paying high prices for catapults and food, if increased Reissue bonuses for food shipments; deny the Holt administration; apologize for the rapes and killings, and compensate the victims' families in cash. Do you think we can accept such compromise terms? You say we can compromise like this , go home?"

"They didn't offer those conditions as you said." "At noon on the first day, the chairman was ready to make a similar compromise. The committee at that time listened to him. He proposed a price to us. After bargaining, a compromise is entirely possible. Assuming that the points I just raised are reached Agreement, will the family accept it?" "Well... maybe." "Think of the hopeless predictions we made before we left home. I'm afraid it's more than 'maybe.' Substantially addressing our predicted future catastrophe on the moon. So I deflected the possibility by deflecting the subject by offending them by being uncooperative on an irrelevant issue. Manny, you and I both know— — and Adam knows that — the export of grain must be banned, and there is no other way to save the moon from disaster. But can you imagine a farmer who grows wheat for a living fighting to ban the export of grain?"

"No. I wonder if I can get news from the moon and see what they think about the food embargo?" "There will be no news. Adam's arrangements for the matter are: no announcements will be made on Moon-Earth until we get home. Grain sales are still going on, and the catapult pods are still on their way to Bombay." "But you tell them our food shipments will stop immediately." "It was a threat, not a formal decision that was morally binding. A few more hauls won't matter, we need time. We couldn't get everyone to support us, we only got the support of a small number of people. The majority is still hesitating - temporary hesitation. There are still a few who are against us - especially the farmers who sell their food for a living, they only care about the price of wheat and never care about politics. They complain, but accept it Government vouchers, I just hope to have equivalent face value in the future. So once we announce the suspension of food transportation, they will definitely oppose it strongly. According to Adam’s plan, before we announce the suspension of food transportation, we must obtain the support of the majority.”

"How long will it take? One year, or two years?" "Two days, three days, or four days. We're going to carefully extract some from that 'five-year plan' Pengru, and some from your recordings—especially the threat of that bastard, and you Harsh under arrest in Kentucky—" "Don't mention it! I'd rather forget about it." The professor smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Well—" I said, somewhat unhappily, "well, if that works." "This is more useful than any data on natural resources." The spacecraft went straight into orbit.The cyborg didn't even do anything to circle the orbit, which made us miserable.The spacecraft was light and flexible, and it slowed down when it was less than 2.5 kilometers away from the destination. Nineteen seconds later, we landed in Johnson City.I'm fine, but I feel tightness in my chest, like a boulder is crushing my heart.It took me a while to catch my breath, happy to be back to my original weight.But it almost killed the professor.Mike later told me that our pilot refused to hand over control to him.Considering that the professor was on board, Mike had planned to land the spacecraft at a low acceleration so that even the eggs would not be broken.But the cyborg may also have his reasons for doing so. Low-acceleration landings are very wasteful, so the "Lotus-Skylark" almost landed forcibly.

We have no time to care about these, because the final landing seems to have killed the professor.I was still out of breath, which Stu found out.Stimulant, artificial respiration, massage.He finally opened his eyelids, looked at us, and smiled. "Home." He whispered. Before leaving, we were going to let him rest for twenty minutes.He looked as if he were dead, and he was just short of hearing the angel's call.The captain was filling the tank, anxious to get rid of us and return to Earth with the passengers.The Dutchman didn't say a word to us all the way. I think he must regret that he took this business because he was greedy for money, and almost lost his life.

Wyo was already in the cabin, and she came to meet us in her pressurized suit.Stu had never seen her in a pressurized suit, and certainly not with her blonde hair.He didn't recognize her anymore. Despite the pressure suit, I gave her a hug. Stu stood by, waiting for me to introduce them.But the "stranger" in the pressurized suit hugged him—he was astonished. I heard Wyoh's soft voice: "Manny, my helmet!" I quickly opened her helmet.She shook her curls and grinned. "Stu, nice to meet you? You don't know me anymore?" A smile slowly appeared on his face, as slowly as dawn came. "My God, miss! I'm so glad to see you!"

"Honey, I'll always be your Wyoh. Didn't Manny tell you I'm blonde again?" "Yes, he told me. But it's not the same as seeing it with his own eyes!" "You'll get used to it." She paused, bowed her head, kissed the professor, giggled at him, then stood up, helmet off, and embraced me, welcoming me home.We both wept with joy, even though we were separated by this nasty dress.Then she turned around and started kissing Stu. He flinched back slightly.She paused. "Stu, do I have to welcome you with brown make-up?" Stu glanced at me before kissing her.Wyoh welcomed him as much as he welcomed me.

It was only later that I understood why he behaved so strangely.As much as Stu wanted to be a Moonman, he wasn't quite there yet.He felt that it was inappropriate for Wyoh to be married.In fact, what does it matter if you get married or not?Of course, it's really wrong to do this on Earth, and Stu hasn't really understood that Lady Moon is his own woman.The poor fellow was afraid that he would irritate me by doing so! We put the pressurized suit on for the professor, put it on ourselves, and with the cannon under my arm, we left the cabin.After entering the basement and locking the door, we took off our pressurized suits.I was flattered to see Wyo in the pressurized suit in the red dress I had given her long ago, even crumpled.She flicked her skirt, and the hem immediately stretched out. There were forty people standing in a row along the wall in the immigration house, looking like newly arrived exiles.They were all wearing pressurized suits and helmets.They are Earthlings going home, some tourists stuck here and a few scientists.They will not be allowed to wear pressurized suits, they must be taken off before boarding the ship.I looked at them and thought of the cyborg pilot.Except for three chairs, there was nothing in the "Skylark" equipped.These people can only lie on the deck of the spacecraft to withstand the pressure of take-off, and if the captain is not careful, they may be crushed to a pulp. I mentioned this to Stu. "Don't worry," he said. "Captain Loos has foam cushions on board. He won't let them get hurt. They're all right. He's the one who saved his life."