Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

Arthur stuck out his belligerent lower lip and glared at the young man at the Chronicle with a fury which he could only restrain himself with all his might. "You're here? Forget what I said? You're so bold!" Theremon held out his hand to greet him, though he hoped in his heart that Arthur would accept it.But after a while, he stretched out Putting his hand down, he stood there looking at Arthur with a nonchalant look that made people angry. Arthur tried to control his emotions, and his voice trembled a little. "You have the audacity to show up in front of us tonight. I'm so surprised."

Benny stuck out his tongue from the corner, licked his dry lips, and said nervously, "Well, sir, after all..." "You asked him to come? You know I've banned..." "Sir, I..." "Sifra asked me to come," said Theremon. "She urged me to come, and I came at her invitation." "Sifra, Sifra? I don't understand she'd ask you. She just told me a few weeks ago that she thought you were an irresponsible fool. She said it through her teeth." Ah Ser looked around. "Where is she, by the way? Shouldn't she be there?" No one answered his question.Arthur turned to Biney and said, "You brought this reporter in, Biney. I wonder that you should do such a thing. This is not the time to disobey orders. The observatory is closed to reporters tonight, and to this special man." Reporter, the observatory has also been closed for quite some time. Get him out immediately."

"Dr. Arthur," said Theremon, "if you will let me explain why--" "I think, young man, what you're about to say now is as worthless as what you've been saying in your column for months. You've launched a campaign in the paper against the work of me and my colleagues. … We wanted to get everyone organized to deal with an apocalyptic catastrophe. You made my colleagues at the Observatory a laughing stock by attacking me personally." He picked up a copy of Salo City Chronicle on the table, and angrily shook it vigorously at Theremon. "Even a villain as notorious as you should think carefully about asking me to cover today's events for his paper. Of all journalists, you alone have the audacity! "

Arthur slammed the paper on the floor and strode to the window with his hands folded behind his back. "You can go now," he said sharply, over his shoulder. "Benny, let him out." Arthur's head throbbed.He knew he had to hold back his anger at this moment, and he couldn't allow anything to distract him from the catastrophe that was about to happen. He stared sullenly at the skyline of Salo City, trying to restore himself to the usual calm, the calm he should have on a night like today. Onas was sinking into the horizon, and in a few moments its brilliance would fade into the distant mist.Arthur watched its fall.

He knew that when he saw the sun again, he would not be a sane man. On the far edge of the horizon on the other side of the city, Sisar hung low in the sky, its icy white light visible.Sisar's brother, Tano, is nowhere to be seen... It has set and slipped quietly across the sky in the other hemisphere, soon to be able to enjoy the beauty of 5 suns in the sky... Caesar himself is also quickly disappearing from sight disappear.For a moment, it too will be gone. Arthur heard Beanie and Theremon whispering behind them. "Is that man still there?" Arthur asked knowingly. Beanie said, "Sir, I think you ought to hear what he has to say."

"You really think so? You think I should listen to him?" Arthur turned sharply, looking angry. "Oh, no, Beanie, no. He should listen to me!" He couldn't help it. The questioning gesture called the reporter to go over, but the reporter didn't intend to leave at all. "Come on, young man! I let you report." Theremon approached him slowly. Arthur pointed out with his hand. "Sisar is going to set... no, it's already set. In two or three minutes Onas will be gone too, and out of six suns only Dovim will be left in the sky. Do you see that?" There is no need to ask this question.Tonight the little sun is smaller than usual, smaller than at any other time in decades.But it hangs almost overhead, showering red light in a stunning way.As the brilliant light from Onas' sinking faded away, the land was stained an unnatural scarlet.

Arthur threw his head back, flushed in the Dovim sun. "In four hours," he said, "civilization as we know it. Will be over. That's because, you see, Dovim will be the only sun in the sky." He squinted his eyes, watching the horizon.The last yellow gleam of Onas was gone. "Look, there's only Dovim left. We've got four hours before it's all over. Get this out! But no one's going to read it." "But what if after four hours...even four more hours... nothing happens?" Serimon asked softly. "Don't worry about it. I assure you, a lot will happen."

"Maybe, but what if nothing happened?" Arthur suppressed his rising anger. "If you don't go, sir, and Beanie won't take you out, I'm going to call the school security. And... no, I won't allow rudeness on the last night of civilization. Here you go, young man. 5 minutes to say what you want to say. After 5 minutes, I will allow you to stay and watch the solar eclipse, or you can leave on your own initiative. Got it?" Theremon hesitated for a moment. "Understood." Arthur took his watch from his pocket. "5 minutes, let's get started."

"Okay! First of all, I am reporting the upcoming events as an eyewitness, does it make any difference whether you agree or not? If your predictions are correct, my presence will not be against you... The world will end and there will be no newspapers tomorrow , I can't hurt you in any way. Conversely, what would happen if there were no eclipse? You people will be the most ridiculed people ever. Don't you think it is wise to let people with good intentions Are people going to handle this kind of ridicule?" Arthur snorted contemptuously: "You mean yourself?" "Of course!" Theremon casually sat down on the most comfortable chair in the room, crossing his legs, "The articles in my column can sometimes be rude and unreasonable, I agree, but whenever possible, I always try to Trust you. After all, Beanie was my friend and he was the first to tell me what happened here. When you think about it, at first I sympathized with your research. But... Please, Dr. Arthur, as the most Great scientist, how can you perfidiously deny the present

Is this century the age of reason over superstition, fact over fantasy, knowledge over blind fear?The Flames are a bunch of anachronistic nonsense, and the Book of Revelations is full of rambling 'foolishness'.Every literate person, every modern person, knows this.So, if some scientist pulls their hair out and tells us that these believers are spreading the truth, they're going to be pissed off, they're going to be pissed off, they're..." "That's not the case, young man." Arthur interrupted him. "We have some information provided by believers, but our research results have nothing mysterious about them. Facts are facts. It cannot be denied that what believers say The 'stupid talk' does have some basis in fact. . . . I can tell you bluntly, right now, the Flames hate us more than you do."

"I don't hate you, I just want to tell you: People are in a bad mood right now, they're angry." Arthur glanced at his lips with a mocking expression. "Let them get mad." "Okay! What about tomorrow?" "There will be no tomorrow." "But what if there was a tomorrow? Let's say there's a tomorrow ... Let's just pretend it's a debate. People's anger will explode and it could be very bad. After all, you know, in recent months, the whole The financial world has been depressed, and the stock market has plummeted three times. Sensitive investors really don't believe the end of the world is coming, but they speculate that other investors might, so the savvy sell their holdings before the panic sets in. Stocks... pass the panic on to other people, and then they buy the money and sell it when the market returns to normal and start a whole new cycle. What do you think has changed in the business world? John Pops doesn't believe you either, Still, there's not much point in buying new furniture now, is there? Better watch your wallet, or buy canned goods and ammo. Furniture, let's put that aside. "Dr. Arthur, you should understand. As long as this is over, the business people will kill you. They will say that the cranks... excuse me for saying this... those who wear the serious cloak of scientists, ideas Freakish people can disrupt the economy of the country at any time with just a few ridiculous predictions, so the country should prevent this from happening. This kind of fire will be kindled, doctor." Arthur stared nonchalantly at the columnist. 5 minutes is almost up. "And what advice do you have for helping the situation?" "Okay," Theremon said with a smile, "here's what I think: From tomorrow onwards, I'll be your unofficial PR representative. I mean I can find a way to calm down the anger you're going to face, with In the same way I will try to lighten the tension that surrounds the country...that's humor, sarcasm if necessary. I know, I know...it's going to hurt you guys. I admit it because I can only put You call it a bunch of rambling idiots, but if I can get people to laugh at you, they'll probably forget about being angry. In return, my only request is to be at the Observatory tonight for the whole thing Do an exclusive interview." Arthur said nothing, and Beanie couldn't help blurting out: "Sir, you can think about it. I know that we have considered various possibilities, but just in case, just in case, where is our theory or our calculations?" Something went wrong. What if..." The rest of the room whispered to each other, and it seemed to Arthur that they all agreed on the matter.God, is everyone against him?Arthur's expression became as if his mouth was filled with something bitter and he couldn't get it out. "Let you stay with us, and you'll be better off to tease us tomorrow? You must think me old-fashioned, young man." Theremon said: "But I have already explained that it does not make much difference if I stay here. If there is a solar eclipse, if darkness comes, I can only treat you with respect, and in the ensuing crisis, I will do my best to give You help; and if nothing unusual happens in the end, I will gladly oblige, and hope to protect you, Dr. Arthur, from those angry townspeople..." "Please let him stay, Dr. Arthur," said a new voice. Arthur looked around, but no one noticed Severa coming in. "I'm sorry I'm late. We had a little trouble at the archaeological office before we left, and..." She exchanged glances with Theremon, and said to Arthur, "Please don't think I'm trying to offend you. I know How bitter he is when he taunts us, but I have him here tonight so he can know straight away that we are right. He is... my guest, Doctor." Arthur closed his eyes and paused for a moment.Sephora's guest!It was too much.Why not invite Fleming too?Why not invite Mondial! But at this moment, he was in no mood to argue anymore.Time was ticking, and it was clear that no one else would mind having Thelimon here during the eclipse. Does it matter? Is there anything very important now? Arthur said resignedly: "Well, you can stay if you want. But in any case, restrain yourself and don't interfere with our work, understand? Try not to interfere with us. You must also remember that I am in charge here, no matter what I ask for your full respect and cooperation in what you said in your column...”