Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Scientists

Dr. Shamlin Jands waited with impatience for a whole year, and the impatience did not abate with time, but just the opposite.However, he learned one thing this year, that is, the Sak State Council cannot be urged.Especially those officials are mostly immigrants from Florence, and they value their own dignity more than anything else. He once asked Old Abel, Ambassador of Trantor—he had lived in Sack so long that he had rooted even the soles of his boots—why did the Sacks allow their ministries to be run by them, if they despised them so much? Abel winked at him through the goblet of green wine.

"Policy, Chands," he said, "policy. It's practical genetics, practiced with the logic of the Sacks. Their own world is small and worthless; these Sacks matter only because they Controls an inexhaustible gold mine - Florenna. So every year they look for outstanding young people in the fields and towns of Florenna, and bring them back to Sark for training. The mediocre ones stay for They deal with papers and fill out forms; and those who are clever and able are sent back to Florenna to serve as prefects of villages and towns, as they call mayors." Dr. Chandez is a professional space analyst.He said he didn't quite understand what it all meant.

Abel pointed his old blunt index finger at him, and the green light passing through the goblet reflected on his ribbed nails, diluting the grayish-yellow color of the nails. He said: "You'll never be an administrator, don't ask me for a recommendation. Listen, the best men in Florenia wholeheartedly support Sack's policy, because they will be well looked after in their service; And if they're against Sark, the best they can do is be a normal Florentine again, but that's not good, my friend, not at all." Abel swallowed the wine in his glass, and continued: "Besides, the mayor and the clerks on Sark are not allowed to have children, otherwise they will lose their positions. Even if they have children with Florentine women. Of course It is even more impossible to marry a Sak. In this way, Florenna’s best genes are constantly being withdrawn from society, and over time, the entire Florenna will become a world of loggers and water collectors.”

"If this trend continues, they will not even be able to find a clerk one day, will they?" "Yes, let's wait and see." Today, Dr. Jands sits in an antechamber of Florentine Affairs, waiting impatiently to be cleared from checkpoint to checkpoint, while lower-ranking Florentine officials scurry through the bureaucratic maze. An elderly Florentine, who was no longer useful, came before him. "Dr. Jantz?" "yes." "follow me." In fact, he can be summoned by using the flashing number on the screen, and the fluorescent corridor hanging in mid-air is enough to guide him forward.However, where manpower is cheap, there is no need to replace manpower with technology.The "manpower" that Dr. Chands had in mind was exclusively male, and he had never seen a female in any of Sark's administrations.Most of the Florenian women remained on their own planets, with some exceptions who worked as maids, and they were also not allowed to have children.

The old man leading the way gestured for him to sit on a chair facing the desk of the "undersecretary secretary".The opponent's title is etched in a groove in the tabletop in luminous writing.Of course, no Florentine can hold more than a secretary, however much he actually manages.The undersecretaries and ministers of the Florentine Affairs Department must be Sacks. Although Dr. Chands may encounter these people in social situations, he knows that he will never see them in person in the office. Terrence looked at his fists and lowered his hands. The encrypted documents were read one by one, as if they contained the mysteries of the universe.The man was quite young, perhaps just out of school, and like all Florenians, he had very fair skin and very light hair.

Dr. Jands thought of the wonders of heredity.He himself came from the world of Liberia, and like all Liberians he had a dark complexion of a deep tan.Two worlds with such extreme skin tones like Liber or Florenna are very rare in the entire galaxy.Generally speaking, medium tones are the most prevalent. Some radical young anthropologists have advanced the idea that humans in a world like Liber's arose out of separate but consistent evolutionary processes.Older scholars have lashed out at any idea that species evolved to converge (and eventually even interbreed, as humans do on galactic worlds today).They insist that on the planet of origin—wherever it may be—mankind has been divided into many races of various colors.

This just pushes the question back into the distant past and doesn't offer any answers, so Janz finds neither explanation satisfactory.But even now, the question still pops up in his mind occasionally.In those undeveloped worlds, for some reason, there has been a legend of a conflict in ancient times.For example, in the myth of Liber, it is mentioned that there was a war between people of different skin colors, and a group of brown people who were defeated fled from their hometown. The myth believes that these people are the founders of Liber. Later, Dr. Johns left Liberty to study at the Bighorn Institute of Space Science and Technology, and then plunged into the professional field, forgetting all those fairy tales back then.Only once between then and now has he really wondered about it.It was one of the ancient worlds in the centaur sector that he happened to come to during his official business itinerary.The history of those worlds is measured in millennia, and their dialects are also extremely ancient, almost possibly the legendary lost English.In that language, there is a special term for dark-skinned people.

But why should there be a special name for black-skinned people?There are no special names for people with other characteristics, such as those with blue eyes, those with big ears, those with curly hair... The secretary's rigorous tone interrupted his meditation: "According to the records, you have been here to ask about the office." Dr. Qiangzi replied coldly: "I have indeed been here, Your Excellency." "But not recently." "No, not recently." "You're still looking for that space analyst who—" the secretary flipped through the files, "disappeared eleven months and thirteen days ago."

"That's right." "During this period," the secretary's voice was as dry as if he had squeezed out all the juice in the words, "there has been no whereabouts of this person, and there is no evidence that he has come to Sak territory." "According to the last report," said Dr. Janz, "he was in space close to Sark." The secretary raised his head, his light blue eyes stared at Dr. Qiangzi for a while, and then quickly lowered his eyes: "Maybe it's true, but this doesn't prove that he is in Sak." Can't prove it!Dr. Janzi pursed his lips tightly.That's what the Interstellar Space Analysis Bureau had been telling him for the past few months, and the replies had become increasingly casual.

No evidence, Dr. Jands; we feel you could spend your time on something more meaningful, Dr. Jands; the Agency assures that the search will continue, Dr. Jands... What they really mean is: Stop wasting our money, Chandz! As the Secretary has just carefully stated, this event began eleven months and thirteen days ago, SST. (The Secretary, of course, would not use local time for such a thing, and he would not make such a mistake.) He had landed in Sack two days later, on a routine inspection of the local office of the Bureau of Analysis.Unexpectedly, the result was—ah, it turned out to be like this.

He met the local representative of the Bureau of Analysis, a thin young man.What impressed Dr. Janz the most was that he kept chewing some kind of rubber food produced by Sak Chemical. When the inspection was drawing to a close, the local representative suddenly remembered something.He pushed the contents of his mouth behind the latch and said, "There's a telegram from someone in the field, Dr. Jands. It's probably a trivial matter, and you know those people." That's the usual way of showing dismissiveness - you know those people too.A trace of anger flashed in Botu Qiangzi's heart.He was about to say that he was a "fielder" fifteen years ago, but then he remembered that he had only endured that job for two months.But it was precisely because of that anger that he read the telegram with extra seriousness. The telegram reads as follows: Please keep the pass coded line open to the Central Headquarters of the Bureau of Analysis and prepare to transmit a detailed telegram concerning an event of extreme importance.The entire galaxy will be affected.I'm about to land via a minimal path. The local representative found it quite interesting, and his mouth resumed rhythmic chewing vigorously. "Think about it, sir, 'the whole galaxy will be affected'. It's not easy for a field man to send such a message. After receiving this message, I contacted him once to see if I could get a message from him. Asked why, but I failed. He just kept saying that everyone's life is at risk on Florenia. You know, that means 500 million lives are at stake. He sounded crazy Hey, so frankly, I don't want to deal with that when he lands. What advice do you have?" Dr. Janz said, "Is there a record of your conversation?" "Yes, sir." After several minutes of searching, he finally found a piece of film. Dr. Janz played it through the reader and frowned: "This is a copy, isn't it?" "I'm sending the original to Sark's Interplanetary Transit Agency. I think he's in a bad state, and they'd better drive an ambulance to the landing site to pick him up." Dr. Janz suddenly felt a little impulsive and wanted to agree with the young man.By the time the lonely analyst in the depths of space finally completes his mission, it is likely that he is seriously deranged. Then he said, "Wait, from the tone of your voice, it looks like he hasn't landed yet." The local representative showed a surprised expression: "I think he has arrived, but I was not informed." "Okay, contact the Transportation Bureau and get the details. Whether he is mentally ill or not, we must have the details in our records." The next day, just before leaving Planet Sark, Dr. Janz came to the office for the final inspection.He also has to go to other worlds to do some business, and the schedule is a bit rushed.Before leaving, he turned back and asked again: "How is our field worker?" The local rep replied, "Oh, this... I was about to tell you that the DOT has no news of him. I sent his superatomic engine power samples over and they said his spaceship wasn't in near space at all. That guy Must have changed his mind about landing." Dr. Janzi decided to postpone the departure time by 24 hours.The next day he came to the Interplanetary Transportation Agency located in the planet's capital, Sak City.That was the first time he met Florentine bureaucrats, and they all answered him with a shake of the head.They did get a cable that an analyst from the Bureau of Analysis was about to land.Oh, yes, but no spacecraft landed. But it was an important matter, and Dr. Jands insisted that the man was very ill.Didn't they get the transcript of the phone call with him from the local representative of the Bureau of Analysis?They stared at him with wide eyes.call records?No one remembers receiving it.If the man was really sick, they could only express regret, but no Bureau spacecraft had actually landed, and no Bureau spacecraft had appeared anywhere near space. Dr. Johns returned to the hotel, thinking about it for a long time.The delayed departure time passed, so he simply called the hotel counter and asked to move to a suite that was more suitable for long-term stays.He then met with Trantor Ambassador Rudigan Abel. The next day he spent all day reading Sack history.When it came time to make an appointment with Abel, his heartbeat turned to an angry drumbeat.He won't give up easily, he knows it in his heart. The elderly ambassador regarded the meeting as a social visit and shook his hand up and down for a long time.Then the mechanical bartender was called in, and he was not allowed to discuss any business between the first two drinks.Chandz used the opportunity to chat about some useful topics, including asking about the Florentine-filled State Department, only to hear a brilliant explanation of Sack's practical genetics that made him even more irritated. In Chandz's later memories, Abel is always like that day.The deep-set eyes are half-closed under the protruding white eyebrows, the hooked nose lingers above the goblet from time to time, the sunken cheeks deepen the thinness of the face and body, and a bony finger is slowly tapping the beat, as if in time with a A silent piece of music. Janz began to describe the disappearance of the analyst, without embellishment and without vividness.Abel listened attentively, without interruption. After Janz finished speaking, Abel patted his lips and asked, "Let me ask you, do you know this missing person?" "do not know." "Haven't seen him?" "It's not easy for our field personnel to see." "Has he ever been delusional before this?" "According to the records of the Office of the Central Analysis Bureau, this is the first time - if those are really delusional." "What if?" The ambassador didn't pursue further, he asked instead, "Why are you looking for me?" "Seek assistance." "Obviously so, but what kind of assistance? What can I do?" "Let me explain. Sack's Interplanetary Transportation Agency has inspected near space for the engine power pattern of that spacecraft and found nothing. They won't lie about this—I don't mean Sack People are perfectly honest, but they never tell useless lies; and they must know that I can find out the truth in two or three hours." "Indeed, then what?" "Energy pattern tracking is bound to fail in two cases. First, the ship is no longer in near space because it has jumped to another part of the galaxy via hyperspace. Second, it is not in space at all because it has Landing on a planet. I don't believe our people ever made the leap, and even if his mention of the Florenian crisis and the galactic event was just a delusional dream of grandiosity, he would have come anyway. Sack makes a report without changing his mind and rushing away. I have fifteen years of experience in this kind of thing. If, in case his mind is ok, his account is true, then the seriousness of this matter Much less will he change his mind and leave near space." The old man Trantor raised a finger and waved it lightly: "Then your conclusion is that he is on Sark." "Exactly, so there are two possibilities. First, if he is indeed mentally ill, he could have landed anywhere on the planet instead of a space station. He may be in a state of partial amnesia now, Wandering around ill. It's very rare - even for field personnel, but it has happened before. Usually, in such cases, the memory loss is only temporary. When they recover, the first thing the patient remembers is Details about the work, not any personal memories. After all, the space analyst's work is his life. It is very common for amnesiacs to wander into a public library and look up materials on space analysis , and was found." "I get it. So, you want me to put you in touch with the Librarians Bureau and report to you if this happens." "No, because I don't expect there to be any trouble with this. I'm going to ask that a few standard reference books on space analysis be listed as restricted, and that anyone who asks about them and can't prove they're a Sax will be Leave them for questioning. The authorities will agree to this because they know, or some of their superiors will know, that such a plan is futile." "why?" "Because," Chandz said quickly now, as if caught in a quivering rage, "I'm sure our men have landed at the Sack City space station as he planned, and may be immediately attacked by Sack The authorities imprisoned, even killed — whether he was sane or not. But I will also pursue this.” Abel put down his almost empty glass: "Are you kidding me? Killed?" "Do I look like I'm joking? How did you describe the Sarks to me less than half an hour ago? Their life, prosperity, and power depend on their control of Florenia. For the past twenty-four hours I What did the books I read tell me? The thistle fields in Florencia were Sark's fortune. And now a man—sane or not, it doesn't matter—has claimed a stake The massacres across the galaxy put the lives of Florenians, men, women, and children at risk. Look at the last call log of our space analyst." Abel picked up the strip of film that Janz dropped on his lap, and the reader that Janz held up in front of him.He looked down slowly, his old eyes on the eyepiece, staring and blinking. "There's not much information in it." "Of course not. He said there was a crisis, that it was urgent, that's all. But it should never have been sent to the Sak people in the first place. Even if this person is wrong, how can the Sak government allow him to spread his heart everywhere?" Crazy idea - let's call it crazy - to make everyone in the galaxy known? If you don't consider the panic that may be caused in Florenna, and the impact on the production of thistle fiber, at least worry about Sark and Fernando. The dirty inside story of Lorena's political relationship will be fully exposed to the eyes of the entire galaxy. Think about it, they only need to deal with one person to avoid all the consequences, because they know that I cannot take this call record alone. Take action. Under such circumstances, will Sac not make such a murderous move? The group of genetic experimenters you mentioned will never hesitate." "Then what do you expect me to do? I must tell you, I still don't know." Abel seemed unimpressed. "Find out if they killed him." Janz said sullenly, "You must have an espionage organization here, we don't have to argue about that. I've been around the galaxy long enough to be past political adolescence. In my While you're using the library as an excuse to distract them, you help me get to the bottom of it. Once you find out they're the real culprits, I want Trantor to do one thing, and that's to let every government anywhere in the galaxy know , whoever killed the Bureau of Analysis must not go unpunished." Thus ended his first meeting with Abel. Chandez was right about one thing, the Sark officials were very cooperative in arranging for the library to cooperate, and even quite approved of this approach. However, he seemed to be right only about this one.Months passed, and Abel's intelligence agents could not find the whereabouts of the missing person anywhere in Sark, let alone whether he was dead or alive. For more than eleven months, the situation has not changed.Janz was almost beginning to think it was time to call it quits; he had almost decided to wait at most this last month.At this moment, things had a breakthrough.That is not the credit of Abel, but from the "scarecrow" he set up himself, but has been almost forgotten by him now.A report from the Sack Public Library prompted Chandz to come to the Florentine Affairs Department and sit across from a Florentine official. The secretary had made up his mind about the case, and the papers had been closed. He raised his head: "well, what can I do for you?" Chandz stated precisely: "Yesterday at 4:22 p.m., I received a notice that a person was placed on hold for me at the Sack Public Library's Florentine branch. standard reference in analysis, and he is not from Sack. I heard no further from that." He raised the volume to prevent the secretary from answering the call, and continued: "The hotel where I stayed has a public receiver that can receive Supervision news reports. At 5:05 yesterday afternoon, the report mentioned that in the Sack Public Library A member of the Florentine patrol was knocked unconscious in the Florentine branch, and three Florentines are wanted in connection with the atrocity. This report was not repeated in subsequent news feeds . "And I am quite sure that the two reports are connected; I am also quite sure that the man I want has been arrested by a patrol. I have asked permission to go to Florence, but it has been refused. I have used the Aether contacted the Florentine authorities asking them to send the man to Sark, but also received no reply. Now I have personally come to the Florentine Affairs Department to ask you to take action on this matter. Or let I'll go, or let him come." The secretary said in a dead voice: "The Sak government cannot accept an ultimatum from the Bureau of Analysis officials. My superiors have warned me that you may ask about these matters, and have indicated which facts I should let you know. That The man who was reported to have inquired about the restricted books, and his two companions, a town mayor and a Florenese woman, did commit the assault you mentioned, and were sought by the patrol. However, they were not arrested." Janzi suddenly felt a painful disappointment, and he didn't even bother to try to hide it: "They escaped?" "Not really, they hid in a bakery owned by a guy named Matt Klov." Qiangzi's eyes widened: "You let them stay inside?" "Recently, have you met with His Excellency Ludigan Abel?" "What does this have to do with him..." "According to our intelligence, you are often seen at the Trantor embassy." "I haven't seen the ambassador for a week." "Then I suggest that you go and see him. We allow those criminals to hide safely in Korov's shop out of respect for our delicate interstellar relationship with Trantor. I have been instructed by my superiors to let you know if necessary." , that Korov—you may not be surprised—" At this point, the pale face showed what seemed to be a sneer, "Our Ministry of National Security has long known that he is a Trantor spy."