Chapter 8 Chapter Eight The Lady

Samiya Fafu, who was exactly five feet tall, was trembling with fury every inch of her body.Every pound of her ninety-pound frame was sixteen ounces of rage. She walked around the room quickly, her black hair was coiled up high, her high heels added some height to her, and her pointed chin was shaking. "Oh, no!" she said, "he wouldn't do that to me, he couldn't do that to me. Captain!" Her high-pitched voice carried some authority.Captain Resty bowed in response: "Miss?" To any Florentine, Captain Resty was, of course, a "tycoon."The reason is simple, in the eyes of all Florens, every Sark is a tycoon.However, in the eyes of the Sak people, there are general tycoons and real tycoons.The captain is just an ordinary tycoon, Samiya, and Fa Fu is the real tycoon, or the female equivalent of this title, and there is no difference between the two.

"Miss?" he asked again. "I don't deserve to be manipulated anymore. I'm an adult, I'm my own master, and I choose to stay here," she said. The captain said cautiously: "Please understand, miss, this decision has nothing to do with me, and no one has asked for my opinion. I just follow orders, and it is a clear and decisive order." He fumbled with the copy of the order, not very vigorously.Twice earlier he had tried to present this evidence to her, but she had refused to accept it, as if she could go on denying it with confidence as long as she didn't see it.

She repeated what she said earlier: "I have no interest in the order you received." She turned around, and with a "ding" sound on her heels, she quickly distanced herself from him. He followed her and said softly: "This order includes the following instructions: If you don't want to come with me, please forgive me, I will have to escort you to the spaceship." She turned around suddenly: "How dare you!" "It's not that I dare," said the captain, "it's the man who ordered me. And I have to." She tried to be soft: "Captain, there is no real danger at all, believe me. This is ridiculous, it is crazy. This city is so peaceful, except that a patrolman was knocked unconscious in the library yesterday afternoon. Really of!"

"Early this morning, another policeman was killed, again as a result of the Florentine attack." It shook her, but her olive face fell, and the anger in her dark eyes remained. "What does this have to do with me? I'm not a patrolman." "Miss, the spaceship is preparing for launch and will leave soon, but you must be on it." "What about my work? My research? Do you understand...no, you don't understand at all." The captain did not speak.She turned her head, and the shiny suit made of copper thistle mixed with silver thread made her shoulders and upper arms extra warm and smooth.Captain Resty looked at her, besides the politeness and humility that ordinary Sark people should have for a lady, there was something more in his gaze.How could such a beautiful woman, he wondered, spend her time imitating the academic research of a university researcher?

Samiya herself also understands that her seriousness in academics makes her the object of ridicule, but she doesn't care.Those people always think that the noble lady of Sack should devote herself wholeheartedly to a luxurious social life, and finally act as an incubator, hatching exactly two future Sack tycoons. Female friends would always say to her, "Are you really writing a book, Samiya?" and then ask to see the manuscript, then burst into laughter. Males are worse.They always pretended to be generous and prejudiced, thinking that a glance at her, or an arm around her waist, would cure her of her academic delusions and turn her mind to what really mattered.

This kind of thing has started almost since she was sensible, because she has always had a soft spot for Ji Ting, and most people just take it for granted.Thistle!The king of the fabric, the queen of the fabric, the god of the fabric - there are no metaphors to describe it. As far as chemical composition goes, it's nothing more than some cellulose, a chemist can swear by it.However, after using all the instruments and theories, they still can't explain why the cellulose turns into thistle only in Florenna in the whole galaxy.That's a difference in physical state, they say.But if you ask them how the physical state of thistle is different from ordinary cellulose, they will be speechless.

Initially, she learned about people's ignorance from her nanny. "Why is it shining, Auntie?" "Because it's thistle, dear Mia." "Why don't other things shine like this, Auntie?" "It's not thistle, Mia." That's enough to explain everything.Three years ago, someone wrote a two-volume monograph on this topic.She had read it carefully and found that everything could be reduced to the explanation given by the nurse.Thistle is thistle because it is thistle; and other things are not thistle because they are not thistle. Of course, thistle itself does not sparkle, but properly spun, it can give off a metallic gleam in the sun, taking on many or all colors at once.And there is a treatment that gives its fibers the brilliance of diamonds.In addition, as long as it is slightly processed, it can withstand the high temperature of 600 degrees Celsius without any damage, and it hardly reacts with any chemical substances. The yarn spun from thistle fiber can be finer than the most delicate synthetic silk, and its The tensile strength is beyond the reach of any known alloy steel.

It is more versatile and versatile than any substance known to man.If it wasn't too expensive, it could replace glass, metal or plastic in countless industrial applications.In optical devices, it is the only material for reticles; in the process of making superatomic engines, it is used as a mold for casting fluid bells; and where the metal is too brittle or heavy, or both, it is used It is a substitute with light weight and long life. But these are only small-scale uses, because it is too expensive to use in large quantities.In fact, much of Florenian's thistle harvest was turned into cloth, which was then cut into some of the most beautiful garments in galactic history.Florenna manufactures fashions for the nobles of millions of worlds, so a thistle produced in only one world—Florenna—is of course a rare treasure.On average in each world, only twenty women might own a few dresses made of thistle; another two thousand might own a casual jacket, or a pair of gloves; Can watch eagerly from a distance.

A million worlds in the galaxy share a common saying about those who show off their vanities.In Galactic Standard, it's the only idiom that's not misunderstood everywhere, and that's: "To the point of blowing your nose with a thistle!" When Samiya was a little older, she asked her father. "What's a thistle, Dad?" "It's your food and clothing parents, Mia." "mine?" "It's not just yours, Mia, it's the bread and butter of the entire Sack." Of course it is!She could easily see why.Across the galaxy, there is no world that has not attempted to grow thistles in its soil.At first, anyone caught smuggling thistle seeds, no matter if they were natives of Florenia or outsiders, was sentenced to death by Sac.Even so, there are still people who risk their lives to successfully smuggle.It was not until centuries later that the Saks found that there was no need to prohibit it, and repealed that law.Today, anyone is welcome to buy thistle seed for the same price (based on weight) as woven thistle cloth, of course.

They could take it, because it turns out that thistles that grow everywhere in the galaxy except Florenna are just cellulose.Pure white, ordinary, fragile, useless, not even cotton. Is there something in the soil?Or did the Florenian sun have some special radiation?Or because of the bacterial structure in the Florenian biosphere?All possibilities have been tried.Someone took samples of Florenian soil; someone created an artificial arc that perfectly simulated the known spectrum of the Florenian sun; someone deliberately infected the soil of his planet with Florenian bacteria.But in the end thistles always grow into pure white, ordinary, fragile, useless plants.

The story of thistle eggplant is always waiting to be discovered.Those tech reports, research papers, and even travel guides are never enough.For five years, Samiya had dreamed of writing a book about the thistle, the land that gave birth to it, and the people who grew it. It was a widely ridiculed dream, but her resolve never wavered.She insisted on a trip to Florence, where she would spend a season in the fields and a few months in the mills.She also wants to... What matters, though: is what she does now.She was ordered to return immediately. With an impulse that had always dominated everything she did, she suddenly had a decision.She could go back to Sark and continue to fight, she secretly promised herself that she would return to Florence within a week. She turned to the captain, and said in a dry tone, "When shall we set off, Captain?" Samiya stayed at the porthole and stared at Florenna until she couldn't see it.It was a green world that was like spring all the year round, much lovelier than Sack in terms of climate.She'd been looking forward to studying the natives; she didn't like the Florentines on Sark, a bunch of uninteresting men who never dared to look at her whenever she passed them, and always turned their backs immediately. She, because the law stipulates so.In their own world, however, the natives are a happy, carefree lot, according to unanimous reports.Of course, they have no sense of responsibility, like children, but they are very charming. Captain Resty interrupted her thoughts: "Miss, do you need to go back to your room to rest?" She raised her head and frowned: "What new orders have you received, Captain? Am I a prisoner?" "Of course not. It's just a precautionary measure. Before we took off, there were very few people on the launch site, which is quite unusual. I heard that there was another murder, and it was done by Florentians. Patrol detachments have entered the city to join in the pursuit of the murderer." "What does this have to do with me?" "As soon as I found out that the situation was wrong, I should have immediately sent my own people to protect you, in case someone else boarded the ship - I admit my negligence - now I am afraid that some unauthorized people have boarded the spaceship gone." "What are you doing on board?" "I don't know, but it will never be a good thing." "Your imagination is too rich, Captain." "I'm afraid that's not the case, miss. Just now, when we were at a planetary distance from Florence's sun, the energy meter didn't work, but now it has changed. In the emergency equipment storage room, there is indeed excessive heat radiation." "real?" The captain's thin, expressionless face faced her indifferently for a moment: "It's equivalent to the heat radiation emitted by two ordinary people," "Maybe someone forgot to turn off a certain heat source." "Our power supply has not been lost, miss. We will start checking soon, please go back to your room first." She nodded silently and left the cabin. Two minutes later, the calm voice of the captain came through the communication tube: "The emergency equipment storage room was broken into." If Merlyn Terrence could relax his tense nerves a little, he would easily, even gladly, go into hysterics.But can't.He was a little late getting back to the bakery, and by then they had already left.It was pure luck that he met them in the street.His next actions are already predetermined, and there is no room for choice.And the baker fell before him in a terrible state of death. Next, Yu Ke and Varona disappeared into the vortex of the crowd, and the air vehicle carrying the real patrolmen began to circle the sky like vultures.what can he do The first impulse was to chase Yuke, but he quickly dismissed this idea.It would do no good, he would never find them, and the chances of the patrol catching him were too great.So he hurried away in the other direction, heading for the bakery. His only chance lies with the Patrol itself.Peaceful days had passed for generations, and there had been no rebellion worth mentioning in Florence for at least two centuries.The mayor system was so successful (he grinned savagely at the thought), that since there was a mayor, the patrolmen have been nothing but routine duties.They lack the fine team chemistry that develops in difficult situations. That's why it's possible for him to walk into a police station early in the morning.In fact, his image must have been sent there, but apparently no one paid much attention.The patrolman on duty alone had a cold and resentful expression, asking Terrence to express his intentions.And Terrence gave him a plastic stick with a cross-section of two by four, which he twisted off the wall of a dilapidated house in the suburbs. He hit the policeman in the head with a plastic baton and took away the policeman's uniform and weapon.Anyway, his criminal record was so horrendous that he wasn't the least bit disturbed to find out that the patrolman was dead rather than unconscious. He is still at large, and the rusty patrol machine, creaking and turning slowly and inefficiently, has so far failed to catch up with him. Terrence returns to the bakery.The old assistant had been standing at the door trying to see what the commotion was about, but it was in vain.When he saw the terrifying silver and black uniform, he immediately uttered a strange cry, and retreated into the bakery at the same time. The mayor rushed to him, and twisted the man's flour-stained collar with his fat palm: "Where is the baker going?" The old man opened his mouth wide, but made no sound. The mayor added: "I killed a man two minutes ago, and I don't care about killing another." "Please, please... I don't know, sir..." "If you don't know, you will die." "He didn't tell me, he seems to have booked some tickets." "You eavesdropped, didn't you? What else did you hear?" "He mentioned Wortex once, and I think he booked spaceship tickets." Terrence pushed him away. He had to wait, had to wait until the situation outside got better.That said, he had to take a risk, because the real cops might come to the bakery. But not too long, not too long.He guessed what his original partner would do—of course he was unpredictable, but Varona was a smart girl.Judging from the way they escaped, they must have regarded him as a real patrolman, and Varona's judgment, of course, was that the only way to ensure their safety was to continue to escape along the route arranged by the baker. The baker had booked their tickets for them, and a spaceship was waiting, presumably they would go there. And he had to get ahead of them. In today's situation, there is no way out, and everything else is not important.If he lost his fool, if he lost this potential weapon against the Sark tyrant, his own life would be but a small loss. So when he left, he didn't have any worries in his heart.Although it was broad daylight; although the two flying cars were close in sight; although the patrolman must know by now that they were looking for a guy in a patrol uniform. Terrence knew which space station to go to.There is only one such space station on this planet.Uptown has a dozen small stations for private space yachts; and there are hundreds of cargo stations all over the planet for ugly space freighters to carry bales of thistle cloth to Sark and back to the machines with simple consumables.Of the many air terminals, only one was open to ordinary travelers, including poorer Saks, Florentine officials, and the few foreigners who managed to get permission to visit Florenia. The Florentine standing at the entrance gate greeted Terrence with high-spirited eyes, and the air station that had been stripped of patrols was gradually becoming unbearable for him. "Hello, sir," he said, with sly eagerness in his voice.After all, several patrolmen have been killed: "The city is really lively, isn't it?" Terrence ignored it.He had pulled down the brim of his curved hat and buttoned the top button of his short-sleeved uniform. "Did two people who were going to Wortex enter the terminal just now, a man and a woman?" he snapped. The man was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, and then said in a much more serious tone, "Yes, sir. About half an hour ago, maybe not that long." He flushed suddenly, "They have anything to do with those things ... Sir, there is no problem with their travel tickets, and I will not let foreigners pass without legal documents." Terrence didn't answer.Legal documents!The baker managed to get it all together overnight.Galaxy, he wondered, just how deep was Trantor's infiltration of the Sark administration? "What names do they use?" "Jarez Barney and Hansa Barney." "Is their spaceship gone? Quick answer!" "No—yes, sir." "Which port?" "No. 17." Terrence forced himself not to run, but his steps were almost as good as running.If there was a real patrolman nearby, this hasty, undignified trot would have been his last free movement. In the main airlock of that spacecraft stood an astronaut in the uniform of an officer. Terrence gasped slightly: "Have Jaris Barney and Hansa Barney boarded the ship yet?" "No, they didn't come," the astronaut said calmly.He was a Sack, so to him a patrolman was just a man in uniform. "Have you a message for them?" Terrence's patience finally broke: "They didn't board the ship?" "That's right. And we're not going to wait, we're going to leave on time whether those two are on board or not." Terrence turned around and left. He returned to the checkpoint booth again: "Are they gone?" "Going away? Who is it, sir?" "The Barneys, the two who went to Wortex, they weren't on that ship. Did they leave?" "No, sir, not as far as I know." "Will you go out from other checkpoints?" "There's no other way out, sir, and this is the only way out." "Check it out, you idiot!" Customs officers held up the talking tube in a state of panic.Never before had a patrolman spoken to him so angrily, and he feared that there would be endless trouble. Two minutes later, he put down the talking tube: "No one is leaving, sir." Terrence glared at him.Under his black police cap, his light-colored hair was soaked and clung to his head, and beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. "Did any spacecraft leave the station after they came in?" he asked. The customs officer checked the timetable: "There is a regular space passenger ship 'Endowment'." He went on and on, eager to win the favor of the angry patrolman with the information he provided unsolicited: "The 'Endouce' was on a special mission to bring back Lady Samiya Fafu from Florence Sack." As for the sophisticated eavesdropping method he used to detect this "confidential report", he did not give a detailed explanation. But to Terrence, none of that mattered now. He backed away slowly.When all impossibilities have been ruled out, what remains, however implausible, must be fact.Yuke and Varona were in the space station and were not arrested, otherwise the customs officers must have known; they were not loitering in the station, otherwise they must have been arrested by now; they did not board the space to Wortex The ship, that ship has not yet left the launch site.The only spaceship to leave was Endeavor, so Yuke and Varona must be there, whether they were smuggled or taken captive. It doesn't make any difference whether you are a smuggler or a captive.If they try to smuggle, they will soon become captives.Only a Florentine peasant girl and a brain-destroyed idiot would not understand that modern spaceships are no means of smuggling. With so many spaceships, they chose the one that carried the rich tycoon's daughter. Fafu tycoon!