Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Miss' Dress

Byron's throat was getting parched.Had the two guards been unarmed, he knew and eagerly awaited the chance that neither of the guards would have been his match, and he would have given them both a good time.But, with nerve whips in their hands, he would inevitably have them threateningly swinging the whip at him even by raising his arm.He has been subdued in his heart, and has no other way but to resign himself to fate. Gilbret, however, said, "Let him take his cloak, soldier." Byron was taken aback. He quickly looked at the little Gilbreth, and his heart was no longer so self-absorbed.Because, he knew, he didn't have a cape at all.

The guard with the weapon shining outside clicked the heel of his shoe to show Gilbret his order.He pointed his whip gun at Byron and said, "Your lord's words. Get your cloak quickly, quick!" Byron backed away slowly and tremblingly.He retreated to the bookcase and squatted down, touching his non-existent cloak behind the chair.He pretended to look behind the chair with his fingers, while nervously waiting for Gilbret's action. From the guard's point of view, the vibe was just a weird thing with a knob.Gilbret touched the knob and flicked it lightly.It was nothing to them at all.Byron concentrated, staring nervously at the muzzle of the whip gun.His heart has been completely occupied by this whip gun.Of course, with anything else he must neither see nor hear (although he is looking and listening).

But how much longer? The armed guard said, "Is your cloak behind the chair? Stand up!" He took a step forward impatiently, then stopped again.Startled, he narrowed his eyes and looked warily to the left. Now or never.Byron stood up straight and swooped forward.He hugged the guard's knee tightly and pushed hard, and the guard fell heavily to the ground with a "slap".Byron's big hand firmly pressed down on the guard's hand, and gripped the nerve whip gun held in his hand. Another guard drew his weapon, but it was useless for the moment.His free hand flicked the air in front of him.

Gilbret laughed out loud. "Do you think something is at work, Farrier." "Can't see a thing," he grunted, and added, "Except for the whip gun I just grabbed." "Okay, then you go. They can't stop you now, because their hearts are filled with all kinds of sights and sounds that don't exist at all." Gilbret jumped out of a pile of chaotic bodies. Byron jerked his arm out, raised his fist, and gave the guy a hard blow under the ribs.The guard's face was contorted in pain, and his body curled up convulsively.Byron stood up, whip gun in hand. "Be careful." Gilbret shouted.

However, Byron was too late to turn around.A second guard was already on top of him, knocking him to the ground again.This time the attack was blind, and it was impossible to tell what the guard thought he had caught.However, one thing is certain: he has no idea what Byron is doing at the moment.His breathing was whirring in Byron's ears like a bellows, and he was still rumbling intermittently in his throat. Byron desperately wanted to use his captured weapon, but was terrified when he realized that there was a terror in those blank eyes that no one else could see. Byron straightened his legs and tried hard to remove the heavy pressure on his body, but he couldn't break free no matter what.Three times he felt the guard's whip strike his thigh hard, and he recoiled with pain at each blow.

At this time, the grunt in the guard's throat turned into words, and he yelled, "I'm going to catch you all!" On the trajectory of the high-energy particle beam fired by the whip gun, there flashed a gray beam of ionized light from the atmosphere. The cold light is almost invisible.Strips of cold light swept across a large area in the air, and beams of high-energy particles landed on Byron's feet. Byron seemed to be stepping into a pool of boiling lead.There seemed to be a large piece of granite on the foot, shaking on it, and it seemed to be bitten by a shark.In fact, the skin and flesh on the feet were intact, but the peripheral nerves that dominate pain perception were extensively and extremely stimulated.Even boiling lead never causes more unbearable pain.

Byron yelled loudly in pain, until his voice was hoarse and his whole body was limp.It didn't even occur to him that the melee was over.Everything is over, only the pain is tormenting him. But, though Byron didn't realize it, the guard's hand was already loose.A few minutes later, the young man managed to open his eyes, blinking away the tears in his eyes.He found the guard with his back against the wall, his hands feebly pushing something that didn't exist in front of him, giggling to himself.The first guard was still lying there sprawled, conscious but silent.His eyes stared at something that was moving irregularly, his body trembled a little, foam was spitting out from the corner of his mouth.

Barely getting to his feet, Byron limped over to the wall and knocked the guard against the wall to the ground with the butt of his whip gun.Then turn back and pick up the first one again.This one is also completely irresistible.He just rolled his eyes silently until he completely lost consciousness. Byron sat down again and inspected his injured foot.He took off the shoes and socks on his feet, and saw that the skin on his feet was not broken at all, he was stunned.He rubbed the foot, and the burning pain made him moan.He looked up at Gilbret.Gilbret had already put down the video receiver, and was rubbing his withered cheeks with the back of his hand.

"Thank you," said Byron, "your instrument helped me." Gilbret shrugged.He said, "More people will come here in a moment. You go to Artemisia's room. Go! Quick!" Byron understood his sensitivity.He pulled on his socks and tucked his shoes under his arm.He's got a whip gun.Now he also untied the second guard's gun and stuffed it in his belt indiscriminately. At the door, he suddenly remembered something, and he turned around and asked, "What did you show them, sir?" "I don't know. This is out of control. I just gave them all the power I can give them, and the rest depends on their own psychological changes. Please don't stand there anymore and talk. Take it to Artemis Did you go to the map in the West Asia room?"

Byron nodded and walked down the corridor. The hallway was empty.But he could not walk fast, for his feet limped badly at the thought of going fast. He looked at his watch and then remembered that somehow it hadn't been adjusted to the local Rhodia way of keeping time.The watch was still ticking the same Star Standard time as he had been on the ship.One hundred minutes is one hour and one thousand hours is one day in Star Standard Time.In this way, the number 876 that shone with reddish light on the cold metal surface is now meaningless. Still, the night must be deep, or at least the planet's sleep cycle (if they're not the same thing).Otherwise, the hall would never have been so empty, and the phosphorescent bas-reliefs on the walls would not have been left unattended.As he walked by, he accidentally touched a piece, which was a relief depicting the scene of the coronation ceremony.He discovered that the relief was actually a flat pattern.However, it gives the impression that it is completely protruding from the wall.

If he stopped to observe the artistic effect of the relief carefully at this moment, even for a moment, something would definitely go wrong.Thinking of this, he quickened his pace. The emptiness of the corridor made him think that it was another sign of Rhodia's decline.Now that he had become a rebel, he was more and more sensitive to all these signs of decline.As an independent power center, there should always be sentries and night watchmen in the palace. He checked Gilbret's crude map.Then turn right onto a wide curved ramp.This may have been the place where the coronation ceremony passed, but now everything is gone forever. He leaned on the door he found and pressed the photoelectric signal.The door opened a crack first, then flew wide open. "Come in, young man." Artemisia's voice came from the door.Byron stepped in sideways, and the door closed quickly and silently behind him.He looked at the girl and said nothing.His shirt was torn up to the shoulder, so that one sleeve was hanging there dangling back and forth.His clothes were covered with dirt and his face was bruised.Thinking of these, he felt depressed.He remembered that the shoes were still tucked under his arm.He threw the shoe on the ground, and with great difficulty got his foot into it. So he said, "Can I sit down?" He sat on the chair, and Artemisia followed and stood in front of him with a slightly sad face. "What's the matter? What's the matter with your foot?" "A little hurt," he replied curtly. "Are you planning to leave?" She said happily: "Then you take us away?" However, Byron was not very happy.Still feeling the tingling pain in his feet, he put them up and shook them, and said, "Listen, take me out to the spaceship, and I'm leaving this wretched planet. If you're going to come with me, then I'll take you with me." She frowned. "You don't seem very happy, got into a fight?" "Yes, there was a fight. It was with your father's guards. They wanted to arrest me for treason. You see, that's my right of asylum." "Oh! I'm sorry." "I'm also very sorry. No wonder so few Tyranids can dominate more than fifty planets. We fueled their arrogance. People like your father will do anything to keep power. They To forget the basic duties of an ordinary gentleman—oh, that's nothing!" "I said I was sorry, Lord Rancher." She called his title with a tone of disdain. "Please don't present yourself as my father's inquisitor. You don't know the whole truth." "I'm not interested in discussing it. Get out before more of your father's precious guards arrive. Well, I didn't mean to break your heart. Well, no more." Byron's curmudgeon wiped him off all apology.But, damn it, he had never been subjected to a high-energy particle beam from a nerve whip gun before, and it was really unpleasant to be beaten by such a particle beam.Besides, for God's sake, they owed him asylum.At least that much is owed. Artemisia was outraged.Of course, she wasn't angry with her father, but with this stunned boy.He was so young, in fact, almost a child.If she was not mistaken, she concluded that he was by no means much older than herself. The intercom rang, and she said sharply, "Please wait a moment, we're leaving." Gilbret's voice came from the intercom.His voice is low. "Ata? Is it peaceful in your place?" "He's here." She also replied in a low voice. "That's all right. Be quiet and listen to me. Don't leave your room. Leave him with you. A search is about to begin at the Palace. There is no way to stop this search. I'll use other ideas, though, In the meantime, be sure not to act rashly." Without waiting for a reply, he hung up the phone. "That's all," Byron said.He also heard the conversation just now. "Should I stay here and cause trouble for you? Or should I go out and turn myself in? I thought: there is no reason to expect asylum anywhere on Rhodia." She glared at him furiously, but suppressed her anger, and whispered, "Oh, shut up! You pugnacious fool." They glared at each other and refused to give in.Byron's pride was hurt.In a sense, he was also trying to do her a favour.She has no right to insult him. She said "I'm sorry".Turn your face away. "Nothing," he said coldly and insincerely, "you have the right to say that." "Don't make any more of your high-minded remarks about my father. You don't know how difficult it is to be a governor. No matter what you think, he's working for the benefit of his people." "Of course. He had to sell me to the Tyranids for the sake of his people, and that was obvious." "In a sense, yes. He's got to show them his loyalty. Otherwise, they'll depose him and rule Rhodia directly for themselves. Wouldn't that be better? " "If a nobleman can't even get asylum..." "Hey, you only know how to think about yourself. That's your fault." "I don't think it's a particular kind of selfishness not to want to die, at least not to die inexplicably. Before I die, I'll have to fight them a few times. My father fought them." He knew he was starting to boast. up.But, that's what she pushed him to do. She said, "What good does your father do?" "No good, I suppose. He's been murdered." Artemisia was very upset. "I keep saying I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Right now, I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm sick of it." Then, self-defensively, she said, "You know." "Okay then, let's start from scratch." He tried to smile.Anyway, the feeling in his feet is better now. To lighten the mood, she said, "You're not really a nuisance." Byron felt clumsy and speechless. "Oh, that……" Then, he didn't go on.Artemisia covered her mouth with her hand.The heads of the two suddenly turned towards the door. On the semi-elastic plastic floor of the corridor outside the door, there was suddenly the soft sound of many feet stepping in neat steps, most of which gradually faded away.But there was a soft, disciplined heel smack from outside the door, followed by the beep of the night signal. Gilbret had to do it quickly.First he had to hide the video receiver.It was the first time he thought of a better place to store the video recorder.Damn Hinrik made up his mind so fast this time, he couldn't wait for dawn.He has to go fast.There is no time to wait, and maybe there will never be another chance. So he summoned the captain of the guard.He could not claim to know nothing about two unconscious guards and a fleeing criminal. The captain of the guard was stern.He got the two unconscious guards out and turned to Gilbret. "My lord. I don't quite understand from what you say," he said. "That's all you see," Gilbret said. "They came for someone and the young man resisted. He ran away, God knows where he went." "It won't take much time, my lord," said the captain of the guard. "Tonight an important person is coming to the palace. Therefore, the guards are guarding day and night. He can't escape, and we will tighten the net from the inside. But he is How do you run away? My soldiers carry weapons and he has bare hands." "He came with such ferocity, it was like a tiger descending a mountain. He jumped out of this chair. I was hiding behind the chair at that time." "My lord, I am sorry that you did not think of helping my soldiers in the struggle against this accused traitor." Gilbret looked at him contemptuously. "How interesting, Mr. Captain. If your soldiers, who are superior in numbers and weapons, still want me to help, then I think it's time for you to recruit some new recruits for yourself." "Well then: we're going to search the palace to find him, and see if he can do it again." "I'll go with you, Mr. Captain." This time the captain of the guard felt surprised.He said: "I advise you not to go. You know, my lord, it might be dangerous." No one had ever spoken like that to a member of the Hinriad family.Gilbrecht is well aware of this.But he just smiled, his thin face lined with lines. "I know," he said, "but sometimes I think it's fun to be dangerous." It took five minutes for the guards to assemble.While alone in the room, Gilbreth spoke to Artemisia. The little night signal beeped, and Byron and Artemisia stood there motionless like clay figurines.The annunciator rang again, and there was a cautious knock on the door, mingled with Gilbret's voice. "Let me try, Mr. Captain," said the voice.Then he raised his voice and called out. "Artemisia!" Byron felt the boulder fall and grinned.He took a step forward, but the girl suddenly covered his mouth with her hand."Wait a minute, Uncle Jill," she called out, pointing furiously at the wall. Byron just stared blankly.Nothing on the walls.Artemisia grimaced and walked past him quickly.As soon as her hand was on the wall, part of it slid soundlessly aside, revealing a dressing room.She beckoned Byron with her lips to "Get in!" Meanwhile, her hands fumbled for the ornamental pin on her right shoulder.Her gown has a vertical seam.The seams are tightly closed by the force field and can hardly be seen.Let go of the pin, and the small force field disappears, and the seam opens.So she took off the dress. Passing where the wall was just now, Byron turned his head.As the walls closed, he saw her hastily drape a white fur blouse over her shoulders.The scarlet dress was curled up on a chair. He looked around, wondering if they might search Artemisia's room.If there were a search at all, he would be left completely alone.There was no other way out of the dressing-room than the way in.And there was no more secluded hiding place in the dressing room. A row of pajamas hung on one wall.There was an extremely faint flash of light in the air in front of the pajamas.His hand had no trouble pushing through the flash, only a slight tingle where the flash passed his wrist.Still, all the tiny flash needs to be blocked is dust to keep the space behind the flash clean and sterile. He might be able to hide behind a woman's dress.And now he is doing exactly that.He had beaten two guards down, and had come here with Gilbret's help.However, since he came here, he could only compromise and hide behind the woman's dress.To be exact, it was actually the back of a lady's dress. Out of step with the mood, he regretted not turning around sooner before the door closed behind him.She is graceful and graceful, and she is indeed extraordinary.Thinking back to the moment just now, he lost his temper like a child and made a fuss, which was ridiculous.Naturally, she would not blame her father for his faults. Now, all he could do was stare straight at the empty wall and sit and wait.Wait for the sound of footsteps in the room; wait for the walls to come back; wait for the whip gun to be pointed at him again, this time without the aid of the VIDEO. He waited with a nerve whip gun in each hand.