Chapter 21 Chapter 21 The time limit has passed

Deadline passed! light— Dim lights and hazy shadows—appearing and disappearing, then gradually concentrating. A face—two eyes looking at him— "Pola!" Alvadan suddenly woke up. "What time is it?" His fingers gripped her wrist tightly, causing her to shrink back involuntarily in pain. "After seven o'clock," she said quietly. "The deadline passed." He looked around frantically, and got up from the cot he was lying on, regardless of the burning pain in his joints.Schechter's slender figure, huddled in a chair, also looked up at this moment, giving a hasty nod sadly.

"It's all over, Alvardan." "Then Ennias—" "Ennias," said Schechter, "wouldn't take any chances. Isn't that strange?" He laughed a strange, rough, piercing laugh. "The three of us single-handedly discovered a big conspiracy to destroy mankind, and single-handedly caught the culprit and sent him to justice. It's really like a martial arts movie, isn't it right? The hero who conquers everything rushes to victory at the critical moment, which is normal The ending. It's just that our situation is different, and the play goes on, and we find that no one believes us. It doesn't happen in martial arts movies, does it, everything ends well there, doesn't it? It's strange—” The words change It became a hoarse, tearless sob.

Alvadan turned his head away, feeling very sad.Paula's eyes were like dark universes, wet with tears.Somehow, for a split second, he disappeared in it—they were universes, full of stars.Small, shiny metal boxes were hurtling toward these stars, devouring light-years, taking calculated, terrifying trajectories deep into space.These metal boxes will soon—maybe already—arrive, pierce the atmosphere, explode in an invisible, deadly rain of viruses— Uh, it's all over. There was no stopping it any longer. "Where's Schwartz?" he asked in a weak voice. But Paula just shook her head. "They never sent him back."

The door opened, and although Alvardan was prepared to face death, he was not yet indifferent to everything, so he raised his head with a momentary glint of hope on his face. But it was Ennias who came, and Alvardan immediately turned his face away. Ennias approached, and first glanced at father and daughter.But even at this moment, Schechter and Paula are primarily earth beings and have little to say to the Governor, though they know in their hearts that their future lives, short and painful as they are, will be greater than theirs. Short and painful. Ennias patted Alvardan on the shoulder lightly. "Dr. Alvardan?"

"Your Excellency?" Avadan said, imitating the other party's tone, rough and vicious. "It's past six o'clock." Ennias didn't sleep all night.Although he formally pardoned Boches, he was still unsure whether the accusers were completely insane—or mentally controlled.He keeps watching the soulless clock ticking away, killing the life of the galaxy second by second. "That's right," Alvardan said. "It's past six o'clock, and the stars are still shining." "And you still think you're right?" "My lord," said Alvadan, "within a few hours the first victims will die. They will go unnoticed. Mankind is dying every day. In a week millions will die. The recovery rate of people who are sick is equal to zero. And there is no cure. Several planets will issue an emergency appeal to put out the plague. Within two weeks, dozens of planets will participate in the emergency appeal, and several nearby regions will declare a state of emergency ...within a month, the entire galaxy will be wracked by the plague. Within two months, there will be less than twenty planets free from the infection. Within six months, the entire galaxy will be wiped out...First reports What will you do when it arrives?"

"Let me prophesy too. You'll send out reports that a plague may have started on Earth. It won't save anyone's life. You'll declare war on the 'Council of Ancients' on Earth. It won't save anyone's life either ...you could wipe Earthlings off the planet. It wouldn't save anyone's life...or you'd be a link between your friends and the Galactic Council or anyone alive in the Council. At that time you Perhaps to have the honor of giving what remains of the empire to Boches in exchange for antidotes, which it is hard to say are not likely to be sent to the right planet in the right amount at the right time to save a human being life."

Ennias smiled hesitantly. "Don't you think you're so exaggerated that it's a bit ridiculous?" "Oh, yes, I'm a dead man, and you're a corpse. But we're going to be devilishly cool and haughty, aren't we?" "If you take a nerve-whip and feel angry—" "Not at all," Alvardan replied sarcastically. "I'm used to it. I don't feel anything anymore." "Then I'll explain it to you as reasonably as I can. It's a terrible thing to do. It's hard enough to report it to the top, but it's just as hard to suppress it for no reason. Now The other two plaintiffs involved are Earthlings; only your voice is valued. Suppose you make a statement that you filed your charges just when- well, we can come up with some words to cover things up In the past, no mention of mind control."

"That's easy. Say I'm crazy, drunk, hypnotized, drugged, whatever." "Can you be reasonable, look, I tell you, you've been tricked," he whispered nervously. "You are a Sirian, how did you fall in love with a girl from Earth?" "what?" "Don't shout. I say—in your normal circumstances, would you adopt the local way of life? Would you consider such a thing?" He nodded slightly in Paula's direction, For a moment, Alvadan stared at him in surprise.Then, swiftly, one of his hands flew out, choking the throat of the highest imperial authority on Earth.Ennias's hands were frantically and futilely wringing each other's fingers.

Alvardan said: "Then, eh, you mean Miss Schechter? If so, I want you to treat her with respect, understand? Oh, go away. You won't live long anyway." Ennias gasped, "Dr. Alvardan, you should consider that you've been caught—" The door opened, and facing them was the Colonel. "Your Excellency, those earth mobs are back again." "What? Didn't this Borchis inform his colleagues that he was going to stay here for a week?" "He has informed, and he is still here, but the mob has come. We are going to open fire on them, and I advise you, as military commander, that we had better do so at once. Do you have any orders, my lord?" Your Mightiness?"

"Don't fire until I see Zirkis. Bring him here." He turned away. "Dr. Alvardan, I will settle accounts with you later." Boches came in, a smile on his face.He bowed solemnly to Ennias, who returned the salute with a slight nod of the head. "Look," said the governor rudely, "I hear your people are marching on Fort Dipon again in droves. It's not in accordance with our agreement... Hey, we don't want bloodshed, but we have patience. Limited. Can you send them away too peacefully?" "If it pleases me, Your Excellency." "If you're happy? You'd better be happy. The sooner the better."

"It's not that easy, Your Excellency!" At this moment the secretary smiled and held out an arm, and his voice was a kind of crazy mockery, which had been suppressed for too long, and was now happy to let it out as much as possible. "Fool! You waited so long, and deserved to die! Or live and be a slave, if that's your choice--but remember, it's a hard time." He spoke so wildly and viciously that it had no devastating effect on Ennias.Although this was undoubtedly the heaviest blow of his career, Ennias always maintained the calm of a professional diplomat.It's just that his face became paler, and his sunken eyes looked more tired. "So, out of caution, I caused so much damage? The virus story—is it true?" His voice was almost ecstatic, indifferent astonishment. "But Earth, yourself—you are all my hostages." "Not at all," came the triumphant answer immediately, "you and your world have become my hostages. The virus currently spreading in the universe will not save the earth from harm. Every garrison on this planet, There's enough virus to infiltrate the atmosphere, including Everest. Only we Earthlings have contagion. But how do you feel, Mr. Governor? Weak? Your throat is dry? Your hair is burning It won't be long, you know. You can only get the antidote from us." For some time Ennias was silent, his face haggard and incredibly haughty. Then he turned to Alvardan and said in a calm, well-bred tone: "Dr. Alvardan, I feel I must ask your pardon. I shouldn't doubt your life. Dr. Schechter, Miss Schechter— —I apologize to you.” Alvardan bared his teeth. "Thank you for your apology. It will help everyone a lot." "Your sarcasm is justified," said the Governor. "If you don't mind, I'm going back to Everest to die with my family. Compromise with this--man is of course out of the question. The Imperial Army on Earth, I'm sure, will be at Fulfilling their duties before dying, there are many Earthlings who will no doubt lead us to death... goodbye." "Wait! Wait! Don't go." Slowly, slowly, Ennias raised his head and looked towards the new voice. Slowly, slowly, Joseph Schwartz stepped across the threshold, frowning slightly, shaking his body wearily. The secretary tensed up and jumped back.He suddenly became wary and faced the man from the past era suspiciously. "No," he said through gritted teeth, "you can't get the secret of the antidote from me. Only some people have the antidote, only others have been trained to know how to use it. It's all safe, isn't it? You can do it, and the toxins of the virus will slowly kick in during this time." "They're really out of my reach right now," Schwartz admitted, "but the toxins won't have time to set in. You see, there are no toxins and no viruses to kill." The meaning of this sentence is difficult to understand.Alvardan felt a sudden suffocating thought rush into his mind.Was he being tricked?Was it all a great deception, in which both the secretary and himself had been deceived, and if so, why? But Ennias spoke. "Say it, hey. You mean it." "The meaning is not complicated," Schwartz said. "While we were here last night, I knew that just sitting and listening wasn't going to solve the problem. So I spent a long time searching the Secretary's mind carefully... I dared not be found by him. Then, at last, he asked to take me Out of the room. That's what I want, of course, and other things will be easy." "I paralyzed my guard and set out for the airfield myself. The fort was in a twenty-hour emergency. The plane was fully fueled and armed and ready to take off. The pilots were on standby, and I chose one—we Let's fly to Shenlu together." The secretary seemed to have something to say.His jaw twitched, but no sound came out. It was Schechter who spoke. "But you can't force a pilot to fly, Schwartz. You can at least make one walk." "Yes, it was against the other party's will. But I learned from Dr. Alvadan's mind how much the Sirians hate Earthlings-so I looked for a pilot born in the Sirius sector, and I found Klaw Lieutenant Dee." "Lieutenant Claudine?" Alvardan yelled. "Yes—oh, you know him. Yes, I see. You have a very clear mind." "I bet . . . go on, Schwartz." "This officer's hatred of the Earthlings is hard for me to comprehend, and I got into his head. He wanted to bomb them. He wanted to destroy them. It was just discipline that kept him from Depart immediately." "This kind of mind is different. As long as there is a little advice and a little encouragement, discipline can no longer restrain him. I don't even think he knows that I got on the plane with him." "How did you find Shen Lu?" Schechter asked quietly. "In my time," said Schwartz, "there was a city called St. Louis, which was at the confluence of two great rivers... We found Shenlu. Although at night, we could see the ocean of radiant energy There's a darkened patch of land in it—Dr. Schechter said that the temple is an isolated oasis in a radiation zone, normal soil. We drop a flare—at least that's my innermost suggestion—that The Pentagon was right below us. It matched the picture I had in my secretary's head... where the building used to be, now there was only a big hole, a hundred feet deep. It happened at three o'clock in the morning One o'clock. No viruses are emitted and the universe is clean." From the secretary's lips came a bestial howl--a piercing scream that seemed to come from a demon.He seemed to be trying to jump up with all his strength, and then - fell down. Thin foam trickled down from his lower lip. "I didn't touch him," Schwartz said softly.Then he stared thoughtfully at the fallen figure. "I was back before six o'clock, but I knew I'd have to wait till the deadline passed. Borches would yell. I've seen it in his mind, and I can only condemn him from his own mouth... . . . and now he's lying there."