Chapter 43 Chapter Forty-Three

Freemont said: "There is no need to stare at me like that, Dr. Sifner. You may not believe it, but here are all your friends." "Friend? You must think I'm a very gullible woman." "Not at all, and quite the opposite." "You invaded my laboratory and stole valuable research materials. You ordered your group of rampant superstitious believers to invade the observatory and destroy the instruments and equipment that astronomers use for basic research. Now, you have ordered Ecstasy, let Theremon carry out your orders, send him out to capture me, and make me your captive. And then you tell me I am among friends?"

Theremon said calmly: "I am not fascinated by the ecstasy, Sifna, and you are not a prisoner either." "Of course not, and the sunset, the fire, the destruction of civilization, all this is just a nightmare. An hour from now, I will wake up in my apartment in Salo City, and everything will go with me Same as sleeping." Theremon, facing her from the middle of the Freemont tent, thought she was more beautiful now than ever.Her eyes gleamed with anger, and her skin glowed.There was an extraordinary charm about her that he couldn't resist. However, this is definitely not the time to tell her that.

Freemont said: "As for stealing your clay, Dr. Sifner, I can only apologize to you. It was a disgraceful act of stealing, as I would have you believe, if you hadn't made it appear I would never act rashly if necessary." "I made it..." "It was you. You insisted on keeping them under your possession... When chaos was about to happen, you insisted on putting at risk the relics of the previous era, lost and irreparable, you understand, the university's The buildings will be completely destroyed. We understand that it is essential to keep them safe...Since you will not authorize me, we feel it necessary to take them over from you."

"It's the tablets I found. If I hadn't dug them up, you'd never have known they existed." "You're outrageous," said Fleming tactfully. "Once these tablets are discovered, they will be vital to our needs... the needs of humanity. We feel that the future of Kalgesh is more important than your future." The special interest in antiquities is more important. You will see that we have now fully translated the Tablets, making full use of the ancient sources we have at hand, and that they have greatly enhanced our understanding of the understanding of the extraordinary challenges of civilized life. Unfortunately, Dr. Madelin's translation was extremely superficial, but these Tablets provide an accurate and reliable version of the source, which has not been damaged by centuries of written changes, and those chronicles The annals come down to us in the form of the Apocalypse. The Apocalypse, I admit, is full of mysticism and allegory, suitable for propaganda purposes. Tom Bodo is two different manifestations of the stars thousands of years ago. The direct historical record of events, which records the attempts of the monks at the time to warn the masses of what was to come. We can now show that, throughout the prehistory and history of Kargesh, a small number of dedicated struggling to prepare the world for the chaos that kept befalling it. It was clear that the methods they used were not enough to solve the problem. Now we can finally learn from the mistakes of the past and save Kalgesh from the Another disaster."

Sifna turned to Theremon. "How well he spoke! He told me that my tablets would enable him to establish a more effective theocratic dictatorship than they hoped, and justify his theft of my tablets! Serimon, Seri Meng, why did you sell me like this? Why did you sell us? We're already half way to Amgundo by now, if..." Freeman said: "Dr. Siferna, I promise you will be able to reach Amgando tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon, all of us will arrive at Amgando." "What are you going to do?" she asked angrily, "shackle me and follow your marching party? Or tie me up and make me follow the dust of Mondial's chariot? "

The priest sighed. "If you like, Theremon, explain everything to her." "No," she said, her eyes twinkling, "you poor brainwashed bastard, I don't want to hear about all the inexplicable thoughts that this madman pumped into your head! I don't want to hear anything about you! Leave me alone .Lock me up if you like. Or let me go. I can't hurt you, can I? A woman against an army? Even if no one comes after me and frightens me, I Can't get out of this field!' Theremon held out his hand to her sadly. "No! Don't touch me! You make me sick! . . . But it's not your fault, is it? They've brainwashed you. You're going to do the same to me, aren't you, Freeman? You're going to force me Be a puppet. Well then I'll ask you to do me a favour, don't force me to wear religious robes. It's unbearable for me to walk around in those ridiculous things. If you have to, take it My soul, but dress as I please, will you? Will you, Fleming?"

The believer smiled slightly. "Perhaps I'd better leave you two alone. I know I'll get nowhere if I keep talking." Sifna yelled, "No, you damn thing, I don't want to be alone..." However, Freemont had stood up and left the tent quickly. Theremon turned to Sifna, who backed away from him as if he had the plague. He said tenderly, "I wasn't stunned by the ecstasy, Sifna, and they didn't brainwash me in any way." "Of course you would say that." "It is true, and I will prove it to you." She stared blankly at him coldly without making any answer.

After a while, he said calmly, "Sifna, I love you." "How long did it take the cultists to make up lines like that for you," she asked. He flinched. "No, no. I'm serious, Sifna. I've never said anything like that to anyone. But this is the first time I've been serious." "The old lines in the book." Sifna said with a mocking tone. "I think I deserve it. Theremon loves courting women, seduces women. Oh, well, just pretend I didn't say... no, no, I mean it, Sifna. The last few weeks To travel with you...to be with you day and night...I look at you all the time and think to myself, this is the woman I've been waiting for years, the woman I couldn't even imagine finding."

"It's touching, Theremon. The best way you can show your love is to grab me from behind so hard that it nearly breaks my arm, and turn me around to face Mondial. Right?" "Mondil does not exist, Sifna, there is no such a person." He saw at once, in her hostility, a gleam of surprise and curiosity. "what?" "He's just a mythical figure, an electronic composite designed to give him speeches on television. Nobody's ever seen him, has he? He's never been seen in public. Freeman made him into a A public spokesperson.Since Mondir is never seen in person, he can be on TV in 5 different countries at the same time, all over the world...no one is sure where he is, therefore, he can be shown at the same time .Fremont is the real boss of the flamers, he just pretended to be a public relations officer. In fact, he has been calling the shots for the past 10 years. Before him, there was a man named Bazzett, and now he Dead. Although Basset invented Mondial, it was Fremont who brought him to his present eminence."

"Did Freemont tell you all this?" "He told me some, the rest I guessed myself, and he confirmed it. He will show me the Mondial installation when we get back to Salo, and the Cultists plan to do it in a few weeks. The telecast will be resumed." "Well," Sifna said sharply, "found out that Mondel is a complete liar, so despicable and cunning that you made a firm decision to join Fremont's team on the spot. Your first mission will be To denounce me, so you caught me off guard by sneaking about, and you certainly got the people of Amgando at the hands of Freemont. Well done, Theremon."

"Fremont is on his way to Amgando, that's true," said Theremon, "but he doesn't intend to harm the people gathered there, he wants them to take office in the new government." "God Almighty, Theremon, do you believe..." "Yes, I believe, Sifna!" Selimon stretched out his hand, his fingers spread wide in agitation, "I'm just a reporter, but at least I have to admit that I'm not a reporter." Fool. Twenty years of journalism have at least made me a connoisseur of identifying characters. From the first time I met him, Fremont made a strange impression on me. Madman is the complete opposite, very complex, very cunning, very powerful. I have been talking to him for the last 8 hours. Tonight, no one is sleeping here. He has revealed his whole plan, and now he is showing me his Whole conspiracy. As a matter of discussion, will you admit that in eight hours of conversation, it is quite possible for me to be able to accurately grasp a person's psychology?" "Okay..." she said reluctantly. "Either he's completely sincere, Sifna, or he's the best actor in the world." "Maybe, he's both. That's still not enough for me to trust him." "Perhaps. But I believe, at least for now." "Go ahead." "Fremont was a very ruthless, almost rational man who believed that the only thing that really mattered was the survival of civilization. For, from their ancient teachings, verified by several cycles of historical records, he knew a great deal The most difficult thing for us to study in the past few years... Every two thousand years in the Kalgesh region, there will be a star appearing. The spectacle of the stars has such power that it will destroy the normal mind of ordinary people, even the strongest Some people's brains will also be deranged for days or weeks. He also said that when we return to Saro City, he would like to show you all their original materials." "Saluo City has been destroyed." "The part controlled by the cultists has not been destroyed. They absolutely guarantee that no one will set fire in any direction within a mile of their tower." "They're really capable," Sifna said. "They're all about efficiency. Freemont knows that in this time of utter madness, the best hope of getting things back to normal is religious totalitarianism. You and I both think that gods are just old fables, but Sifna, There are millions of people out there who, believe it or not, see things differently. When they do something they deem sinful, they always get upset because they fear God will punish them. And now, they absolutely Fear of God. They believe that the stars may return tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, so they bow their heads to God. "Well, these cultists claim that they have direct communication with the gods, and have various written passages to prove it. Like Alzanor, or the local bully, or the remnants of the former government in exile. , or any other, they are better qualified to form a government of generality. They are our best hope." "You're serious," Sifna said in surprise, "Fremont didn't give you ecstasy, Serimon. You came up with these things yourself!" "Look," he said, "Fremont has been looking forward to this moment all his life, knowing that his generation of believers has a mission to save the world. He has planned all the plans, and he is plotting to regain control of the large areas north and west of Salo City. land, and next he intends to govern the new provinces along the Great Southern Highway." "There's also a theocratic government that's going to sanction people like Beanie, Schelling and me because, well, we're all atheists, cynics and materialists in college." "Schelling is dead. Fleming told me his men found his body in a shabby house. He was apparently killed by a gang of anti-intellectual lunatics a few weeks ago." Sifna looked away, not daring to meet Theremon's eyes for a while.Then she glared at him even more angrily, and said, "You got it. First, Fremont sent his thugs and thugs into the Observatory... Arthur was killed, wasn't he? ... Then he got rid of the Poor Schelling, then all the rest of us will be..." "He's trying to protect the Observatory, Sifna." "He didn't do it right, did he?" "The situation is out of control. He wants to save all the scientists before the riots, but since he is going under the guise of a religious fanatic, he has no way of persuading them to listen to his advice, namely, to provide them with Permit for the Religious Sanctuary." "After the observatory was destroyed." "That wasn't his original intention. The whole world went crazy that night, and it didn't always go according to his plan." "You're really good at making excuses for him, Theremon." "Probably, but hear me out. He wants to work with the surviving university staff, and with the other sane and intellectuals gathered in Amgandor, to rebuild humanity with them." a treasure trove of knowledge. He...more precisely, or the hypothetical Mondial...will be governed by the government. The religious will rule and appease a restless, superstitious populace, at least for a generation or two People. Meanwhile, the University staff will help the Cultists gather and codify the knowledge they are trying to salvage, and together they will guide the world back to a rational state... as has happened many times before. But, Perhaps this time, they will be able to start preparations for the next solar eclipse a hundred years or so in advance and lead people safely through the worst period of unrest, period of general madness, arson and total destruction." "You believe all of this?" Sifna asked, her tone somewhat sharp and acerbic, "In your opinion, the rational course of action is when the Pyroists spread their poisonous, irrational totalitarian teachings throughout the world , will you stand aside and applaud? Or, even worse... join their forces?" "I hate the idea of ​​it," Theremon said suddenly.Sifna opened her eyes wide. "why……?" "Let's get out," he said. "It's almost daylight. Take my hand?" "Oh……" "When I tell you I love you, it's not just a line." She shrugged and said, "Don't mix private matters with business matters. This matter has nothing to do with it. Theremon...why do you want to bring two things together?!" "Come on," he said.