Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen The Renegade

Shamlin Jands has never been the cool-headed type, and a year of setbacks hasn't helped that.He cannot enjoy wine if the foundations of his head for thinking are shaken.In short, he was no Rudigan Abel. At this point, Chandz had just finished an angry rant—regardless of the state of the Trantor network, Sark should never have been allowed to kidnap and imprison members of the Bureau of Analysis—he said.And Abel just said calmly: "I think you'd better stay here tonight, doctor." Qiangzi replied to him coldly: "Don't worry about it." Abel said, "Of course, man, of course. But then again, even my men will be blown to death, don't you think Sack isn't bold enough? Something could happen to you before the end of the night. So let's Wait overnight to see what happens in the new day."

Janzi's protests had no effect.Abel remained calm and almost indifferent, and even suddenly began to pretend to be deaf.Chandzi had to compromise and let the embassy staff escort him to a dormitory in an almost forced and polite manner. He lay in bed, staring at the shimmering, picture-reflected roof (it was a copy of Leng Harden's "Battle of the Big Horns," which was not a bad copy), but he didn't feel sleepy.Then, he smelled a faint hypnotic breath, and fell asleep in an instant.Five minutes later, a powerful exhaust fan cleared the room of the anesthetic. At this time, the dose he inhaled was enough to maintain eight hours of healthy sleep.

Janz woke up in the cold morning, the sky was still gray. He blinked fiercely, and Abel was right in front of him: "What time is it?" "Six o'clock." "Space..." He looked around, a pair of thin legs protruding from the quilt, "You wake up really early." "I haven't slept." "what?" "I'm already feeling sleep deprived, really. And I don't respond to wake-up stimulants like I did when I was younger." Qiangzi got off the bed and said in a low voice, "Please wait a moment." He finished his grooming quickly and was back in his room shortly after, tightening the belt of his short-sleeved jacket and adjusting the magnetic seams.

"Well," he said, "you must have something to tell me, of course. Otherwise you wouldn't have stayed up all night and woke me up at six o'clock." "You're right, you're right." Abel sat on Janz's bed, raised his head and laughed, his laughter was sharp but quite self-made.Against his receding gums, his strong, yellowish plastic dentures looked out of place. "I beg your pardon, Janz," he said. "Something is wrong with me, and I'm a little dizzy from the drug-induced lucidity. I almost think I should persuade Trantor to send a younger ambassador to replace me."

With sarcasm and a hint of hope, Janz asked, "You found out that they didn't catch the space analyst?" "No, they got it. I'm sorry, but it's true. I'm happy because our intelligence network is safe." Qiangzi really wanted to say: "Fuck your mother's intelligence network!" But he finally held back. Abel continued: "There is no doubt that they know that Korov is our intelligence agent, and they may also know the other comrades in Florence. But those are small people, the Sarks know this, they have always To think that as long as these people are being watched, it is not worth taking further action at all."

"They killed one," Janz pointed out immediately. "No," retorted Abel, "the space analyst's partner disguised himself as a patrolman and did it." Qiangzi's eyes widened: "I don't understand." "It's a pretty complicated story. Would you like to have breakfast with me? I'm starving." While drinking coffee, Abel began to describe the events of the past thirty-six hours. Janzi was dumbfounded.He put down his coffee cup, only half-drank it, but never picked it up again. "Even if they chose to stow away on that spaceship, they might still go unnoticed. If you send someone to meet it when it lands..."

"Well, you know very well that modern spacecraft can detect excess body heat." "It can be overlooked. Instruments may be infallible, but people are different." "Wishful thinking. Listen, at the same time that spaceship was headed for Sark, according to several very reliable reports, the Fortune tycoon was in meetings with several other members of the Big Five. These intercontinental meetings are usually held very infrequently at As far away as the stars of the Milky Way. Is this a coincidence?" "An intercontinental meeting to discuss a space analyst?"

"Yes, it wasn't important to them, but our response made it worth a lot. The Bureau of Analysis spent nearly a year looking for this analyst with perseverance. You'd think they'd take it easy Do you see it?" "It's not the Analysis Bureau," Chandz insisted. "It's me. I've been doing it in an almost informal way." "Those tycoons don't know this, and wouldn't believe it if you told them. Besides, Trantor expressed interest." "At my request." "They don't understand that either, and they don't believe it."

Janz stood up, and the chair immediately moved away from the dining table automatically.He clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth on the carpet.He walked up and down, and from time to time glanced at Abel with a stern look. Abel poker-faced, began to drink his second cup of coffee. "How do you know all this?" Qiang Zi suddenly said. "Everything?" "Everything. When and how the space analyst smuggled in; how did the mayor escape. Are you trying to trick me?" "Dr. Janz..." "You have admitted that in addition to helping me, you also sent another group of men to pay attention to the whereabouts of the space analyst. Last night, you managed to keep me out of the matter safely, without any mistakes." Qianzi suddenly thought of that A burst of hypnosis.

"Doctor, I spent the evening in constant contact with some of my intelligence agents," said Abel. "What I did and what I learned was, shall we say, classified. You must stay out of it, but No worries. The information I just told you was reported to me by my intelligence agent last night." "To know those things, you'd have to have spies working in the Sark government." "Well, of course." Qiangzi suddenly turned to Abel: "Oh, come on!" "You don't believe it? That's right, the stability of the Sark government and the loyalty of the Sark people are well-known in the galaxy. The reason is quite simple, because even the poorest Sark people are nobles compared with the Florentians. And it's okay to consider yourself a member of the ruling class, however far-fetched that may be.

"However, if you think about it, Sak is not like most people in the galaxy imagine, everyone is a billionaire. You have lived in Sak for a year, and you should understand this. Sak has 100% With a population of eighty, the standard of living is comparable to that of other worlds, and not much higher than that of Florenia. There are always some Saks who, when they are not full, will hate the minority who obviously enjoy the wealth , and is willing to use it for us. "For centuries, the Sark government has only regarded mutiny as the monopoly of Florenna, which is its greatest weakness, and they have forgotten to pay attention to their own interior." "These puny Sacks, if they exist, can't do you much," Chandz said. "Individually, they are useless, but combined, they can be useful tools for our other more important personnel. Even in the real ruling class of Sark, there are some people who deeply Bearing in mind the lessons of the past two centuries. They firmly believe that Trantor will eventually rule the entire galaxy, and I believe, this belief is quite correct. They even think that they may see the unity of the galaxy within their lifetimes, so they would rather fall on the side of the winner beforehand. .” Qiangzi made a disgusted expression: "You described interstellar politics as a very dirty game." "True, but fighting the dirty doesn't get rid of the dirty, and not every level is uniformly dirty. Think of the idealists; think of those undercover guys in the Sack government who served Trantor for nothing Not for their own future power, but because they sincerely believe that a unified galactic government can bring the greatest benefits to mankind, and only Trantor can establish such a government. There is such a person in the National Security Department of Sark , one of my best men. He's bringing the mayor here at this very moment." "You mean the man was arrested?" "Arrested by the Ministry of State Security, that's right. But the person who arrested him was not only a member of the Ministry of State Security, but also my subordinate." At this point, Abel frowned suddenly and became irritable. "From now on, this person's usefulness will be It’s not as good as before. Once he lied to the Ministry of State Security that the mayor had escaped, at best he would be punished with a demotion, and at worst he would become a prisoner. Sigh!” "What are you going to do now?" "I have no idea. In short, we must get the mayor. At present, I can only be sure that he will arrive at the space station, and what will happen after that..." Abel shrugged, the old, yellowed skin on his face was like sheepskin paper like. Finally he added: "The five big tycoons are also waiting for the mayor. They think he is in their hands. Nothing should happen to this person before he really falls into the hands of any of us." It's a pity that this sentence is not true. Strictly speaking, in all corners of the galaxy, all embassies in the outer world have extraterritorial jurisdiction, covering the embassy's location and adjacent areas.However, for ordinary embassies, this is tantamount to wishful thinking, unless the power of the home planet is strong enough.So, in reality, only Trantor can truly maintain the independence of its envoys. The Trantor embassy covered nearly a square mile, and within that area was patrolled at all times by armed men in Trantor uniforms and Trantor badges.No Sax was admitted unless invited; no Sax with arms was admitted.To be honest, if a Sak armored corps attacked it with all its strength, the personnel and weapons in the embassy could only resist for two or three hours at most. unleashed retaliatory force. So it was never violated. It could even maintain a direct physical connection with Trantor, without having to borrow Sack's terminal to get in and out. The boundary between "planetary space" and "free space" is a sphere a hundred miles away from the earth's surface, and a Trantor mothership is always hovering not far from the boundary.The mothership carries many small orbiting spacecraft, which are equipped with propulsion blades, and can fly through the atmosphere with a minimum of power.These orbiting spaceships can appear in the sky over Sak at any time, and then aim at the small air station in the embassy to dive and land (half of them go down with the trend, and half of them are driven by power). However, the orbiting craft currently appearing over the embassy terminal are neither Trantor's craft nor are they listed in the timetable.The small army in the hall immediately started preparing for battle without hesitation. A needle cannon aimed its trumpet-shaped muzzle at the sky, and the force field screen also rose. Radio communications rushed back and forth, strong warnings traveling upward on pulses, anxious replies downstream. Lieutenant Camron looked back from the dashboard: "I don't understand. He claimed that if we didn't let him land, he would be shot out of the sky in two minutes. He said he was asking for political asylum." Captain Ilio had just walked in: "Of course. Then Zac would claim that we were meddling in our internal affairs, and if Trantor decided to let things escalate, you and I would be victims. Who the hell is this guy?" "No." The lieutenant was quite angry. "He said he must speak to the ambassador. Please give me instructions, Captain." The shortwave receiver blared and a hysterical voice said, "Is anyone there? I'm about to land, that's all. Really! I'm telling you, I can't wait any longer." The call ended with a squeak. The captain yelled, "Ah, I can hear that voice! Get him down! I take full responsibility!" The order was sent out.The gyrating craft descended vertically, faster than its normal maximum speed, the result of an unskilled and panicked pilot. The needle cannon is always on target. The captain made direct contact with Ambassador Abel, and the entire embassy immediately entered a state of emergency.Less than ten minutes after the orbiting spaceship landed, a group of Sark spaceships came over the embassy, ​​and they hovered intently for two hours before finally leaving. At this time they were having dinner together, including Abel, Janz and the unexpected guest.In this case, Abel still displays admirable poise, playing an uninquisitive host.For hours, he did not ask why one of the five biggest tycoons also needed political asylum. Qiangzi's patience was much worse. He lowered his voice and said to Abel, "What are you going to do with him?" Abel smiled back at him: "Do nothing, at least until I'm sure I have mastered the mayor. Before throwing the chips on the table, I need to know what kind of cards I'm holding. And since It was he who came to me, and waiting will make him more impatient than us." He was right.Twice the tycoon was about to start a conversation, but each time Abel simply said: "My dear tycoon! Of course it is not pleasant to talk about serious subjects on an empty stomach." He smiled gracefully and ordered his men to prepare dinner. During the meal, the tycoon tried again: "Can you imagine why I left Stingland?" "I can't think of any reason," admitted Abel, "that Tycoon Sting should be the prey of the Sark ship." Sting watched them cautiously.He was thinking in his mind, so his slender body and thin pale face were tense.His long hair was carefully tied into bundles of small bobby pins that would rub against each other and rustle whenever he turned his head, as if to draw attention to his disdain for what Sak was doing right now. Popular short haircuts.In addition, his skin and clothes exude a faint fragrance. Abel noticed Janz's slightly tightened lips, and saw the space analyst's hand quickly brushing his short, unkempt hair.He wondered how funny Janz's reaction would be if Sting showed up with a more typical look, with rouge on his cheeks and bronzed nails. "There was an intercontinental conference today," Sting said. "Really?" Abel pretended not to know. Next, he listened carefully to Sting's narration of the meeting, his expression didn't change at all. "We had twenty-four hours," Sting said angrily, "and now we've only got sixteen. Seriously!" "And you're X!" Janz finally yelled, becoming more and more fidgety as Sting told it, "You're X. You're here because he got you. Well, that's fine. Ah Bell, he can prove the identity of the space analyst, and we can use him to force the other party to hand over the man." Behind Janz's rich baritone voice, Sting's thin voice is barely audible: "Really! Oh, really, you're crazy. Stop! Let me talk and I'll tell you... Your Excellency, I can't remember the man's name." "He's Dr. Shamlin Chandz, the tycoon." "Well, Dr. Shamlin Chands. I've never met that guy in my life, whether he's an idiot or a space analyst or anything. Really! I've never heard anything so ridiculous. Of course I Not X, really! I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't use that stupid word. Think how anyone would believe Fafu's third-rate nonsense! Seriously!" Qiangzi still insisted: "Then why did you run away?" "Sak, isn't that obvious? Oh, I'd choke, really! Can't you see what Fafu's doing?" Abel interrupted softly: "If you want to explain, Tycoon, no one will interrupt you." "Well, thank you," he continued, with an air of damaged dignity, "I'm ignored by a few of them, because I don't see wasting time on papers, statistics, charts, and all that nonsense. What is the significance of the details. But, really, I would like to know, if the five big tycoons can't easily become real tycoons, what do they need the State Department for? "Although I don't like to work hard, you should know that doesn't mean I'm a fool. Really! Maybe everyone else is blind, but I can see that Fafu doesn't really care about that space analyst at all. I even Thinking that person doesn't exist at all, Fafu only thought of this idea a year ago, and he has been planning this matter since then. "He's playing us like idiots and idiots. And the rest of the guys are really like that, disgusting idiots! The 100% nonsense he said about idiots and space analysis was all set up by him. That I would never be surprised if the Florentine who is said to have killed a dozen patrolmen was just a feisty spy wearing a light-colored wig. Even if he was a real Florentine, it must be enough. Fafu paid him to do it. "It's not impossible for Fufu to do that kind of thing, really! He'll use the locals against his countrymen, that's the kind of guy he is. "Anyway, apparently he's trying to use this as an excuse to destroy us guys so he can become Sack's dictator. Don't you think that's obvious? "There is no X at all. Tomorrow, unless someone stops him, Fafu will use the sub-ether to spread all the conspiracies and declare a state of emergency, and then he will establish himself as the leader. In our Sark, it has been five hundred years There's no leader left, but that won't stop Fa Fu. He won't hesitate to bury the system, really! "It's only my intention to stop him, that's why I have to go. Had I stayed in Stingland, I would have been under house arrest. "After today's meeting, I immediately checked my private air station. Do you know the result? It has been taken over by his people! This obviously does not take the autonomy of the continents seriously. This is a scoundrel's behavior Well, really! Luckily, Fafu is not very smart, although he is insidious. He thought that some of us might try to leave this planet, so he sent people to monitor the various space stations. However—” At this point, he revealed With a sly smile, and a faint chuckle, "He didn't expect to monitor the orbiter station. "Perhaps he thought we'd be safe nowhere on this planet. But I thought of the Trantor embassy, ​​which outshine the others. They're such a nuisance, especially Bot. You know Bot Huh? This guy is so rough and horrible, downright dirty. He's always sneering at me like there's something wrong with being clean and smelling good." He put his fingertips on the tip of his nose and sucked lightly. Qiangzi moved uneasily on the seat, with a look of disrespect, Abel reached out and gently pressed his wrist. "Tycoon Sting, you left your family behind, did you think that Fafu would threaten you with this?" Abel said. "I can't send every cute baby into my gyro," he blushed a little, "Fafu dare not touch them. Besides, I will return to Sting mainland tomorrow." "How to go back?" Abel asked. Sting looked at him in great surprise, his thin lips parted: "I am proposing an alliance, Your Excellency. You can't pretend that Trantor has no interest in Sack; of course you will tell Fafu, Any attempt to change the Sak system will inevitably lead to Trantor's intervention." "I just don't see how this can be done, even though I think my government would support it," Abel said. "Why can't it be done?" Sting asked angrily, "If Fafu were allowed to control the entire thistle trade, he would raise prices, ask for leased land to speed up shipments, and make various other demands." "Isn't the price controlled by the five of you?" Sting leaned back heavily in his chair. "Oh, really! I don't know every detail. The next thing you're going to ask me about the data, my God, you're as bad as Potter." Then he returned to normal, chuckling, "Of course, I'm just Kissing you. I mean, without Fafu getting in the way, Trantor could have made a deal with the rest of us. In return for your help, we'll give Trantor special treatment, even a little trade profit." "And how do we prevent this interference from developing into a galactic war?" "Oh, really, can't you see that? That's as clear as daylight. You're not invaders, you're just preventing a civil war in Sark, lest the thistle trade be disrupted. I'll claim I'm asking you for help, then It's a far cry from an invasion, and the whole galaxy is on your side. Of course, if Trantor profited from it afterwards, ha, no one else's business. Seriously!" Abel held his bony fingers together and examined it carefully: "I can't believe you really want to join Trantor's camp." A strong hatred quickly flashed across Sting's originally slightly smiling face: "I'd rather Trantor than get rich!" Abel said: "I don't like threats of violence, can we wait a little bit to make things clearer..." "No, no!" cried Sting, "can't wait a day. Seriously! Now, now, if you don't get tough, it's too late. Once the deadline is over, he's going to be on the ropes, and he won't be back for a while." Shame on the old face. If you help me now, the people of Sting mainland will support me, and the other three of the five big tycoons will join me. Even if you just wait another day, Fafu's propaganda offensive will start, and I will be To smear as an apostate. Really! Me! Me! A renegades! He'll use every anti-Trantor stereotype he can stir up, and you know, I don't mean to offend, but that's big." "If we ask him to let us meet the space analyst, is there a possibility?" "What good does that do? He'll play both hands. He'll tell us that the Florentine idiot is a space analyst, but he'll tell you that the space analyst is a Florentine idiot. You don't know this guy, He's so good!" As Abel thought about this, he hummed a song in a low voice, and tapped the time with his fingers.Then he said, "You know what? The mayor is already in our town." "What mayor?" "The one who killed several patrolmen and a Sak." "Oh! Really! Fafu is about to take over the entire Sac, do you think he will care about that?" "I think he will. The point is not that the mayor is in our hands, but how he is in our hands, you understand? I think, Tycoon, Fafu will listen to me and be very humble." Qiangzi had known Abel for so long, and for the first time felt that the calmness in the old man's voice had diminished, replaced by contentment, almost the joy of victory.