Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Artemisia watched as their distant figures became smaller and smaller, and finally climbed up the bare granite with difficulty and disappeared under the rock.Just as they were about to disappear, one of them turned around.She couldn't be sure who it was, but in an instant, she strengthened her resolve. When we parted, he didn't say anything.Not a word was said.She turned, with the sun and the rock behind her back, facing the narrow metal spaceship, and she felt alone, terribly alone, as alone as she had ever felt in her life. Perhaps that was what made her tremble.But if she admitted that it was more than the cold that made her shiver, it would be an admission of her own cowardice, which she could not bear.

She said grumpily, "Uncle Jill! Why don't you close the porthole? You're freezing to death." Although the spaceship heater was set to high, the thermometer read only 7°C. "My dear Atta," said Gilbrecht calmly, "if you insist on insisting on this eccentricity, wearing only this thin everywhere, you will catch a cold." However, he pressed a few buttons, With a few soft clicks, the airtight transition chamber was closed, and the portholes were inserted inwards into the gleaming spaceship hull, while all this was going on, the thick porthole glass became opaque due to the effect of polarization.The lights on the spacecraft turned on, the shadows disappeared, and the cabin was brightly lit.

Artemisia was sitting in the heavily padded driver's seat, unconsciously fingering the armrest.His hand is always on this armrest.Thinking of this, a small warm current ran through her whole body.She told herself that it was just the effect of the heater, which made the armrest slightly warm to the touch and comfortable to the touch.At this moment, the cold wind outside could no longer blow in. After a long time, she couldn't sit still.She should have gone with him!When this irrepressible thought flashed through her mind, she immediately corrected it by replacing the singular "he" with the plural "they."

She said, "Uncle Jill, why on earth did they have to build a radio transmitter?" Gilbret was deftly flipping a few controls on the vision board, and he raised his head. "Ok!" "We've been in touch with them since we were in outer space," she said. "We haven't seen anyone yet. What's the use of having a launch pad on the surface of a planet?" This remark annoyed Gilbret greatly. "Hey, we've got to try, dear. We've got to find the Rebel Planet." Then he muttered to himself, "We've got to try!" After a while, he said, "I can't find them."

"Who are you looking for?" "Byron and the Monarch. No matter how I adjust the mirrors outside, the ridge blocks my view. Can you see?" She saw nothing but sunlit rocks gleaming past. Then, Gilbret stopped the small gear transmission in his hand and said, "Anyway, this is the spaceship of the Lord of Lyngen." Artemisia glanced at the spaceship as quickly as she could.The spaceship stopped about a mile away, deep in the canyon.Under the sun's rays, the reflection of the spaceship's hull is dazzling.At the moment, it seemed to her that the real enemy was the ship, not the Tyranids.She suddenly had a very strong hope that it would be great if they had never been to Lingen; at that time, the three of them would still be in space, just the three of them.In those days, their life was very interesting, although it was not so comfortable, but for some reason, it was so harmonious and warm.And now, she's just trying to break his heart.Something made her hurt him, even though she would have liked to—

Gilbret said suddenly, "Look, what's he going to do?" Artemisia looked up at him.I saw a watery mist covering his whole body.It made her have to blink the tears in her eyes quickly to see him clearly. "Who?" "Ritzer. I think it's Richter. But he's certainly not here." Artemisia stared at the vision board. "Zoom in," she ordered. "Zoom at such a short distance?" Gilbret objected. "You'd see nothing. There's no way to keep it centered on the viewing panel." "Zoom in, Uncle Jill." Gilbret muttered and added the telescopic device, searching for the rock nodules that appeared extremely swollen on the visual panel due to the addition of the telescopic device.With the slightest touch of the controller, they flash across the visual panel before you even have time to look at them.In the blink of an eye, Richett's tall and blurry figure flashed past, and even this short moment was enough to recognize him.Gilbrecht looked desperately, found him, and allowed his image to linger on the vision board for a moment.Artemisia said, "Did you see that? He was armed."

"No." "Tell you, he is carrying a long-range bombardment gun!" She stood up, ran to the closet, and quickly tore off the clothes on her body. "Ata! What are you doing?" She was ripping the lining off another spacesuit. "I'm going up there. Richter is following them. Don't you understand? The Lord of Ringen is not out to set up a radio station. This is a trap for Byron." Panting, she pulled the thick and rough space suit The liner pulls on itself. "Stop it! You are thinking wildly." However, she stared blankly at Gilbret, her face was extremely thin, without a trace of blood.She should have seen long ago how Richter took the fool's fancy.The excitable fool!Ritzett flattered his father, told him what a great man the Widemoth rancher had been, and Byron was at once captivated by him, and all his actions were governed entirely by the feeling of missing his father.How can a man be at the mercy of his biased thoughts to such an extent?

"I don't know which one is the controller for the airlock. Turn it on," she said. "Ata, you can't leave the ship. You don't know where they are." "I'll find them. Open the transition chamber." Gilbret shook his head. However, a gun holster was attached to her stripped spacesuit.She said, "Look at this, Uncle Jill. I swear I'll let you taste it." Gilbret saw the muzzle of a particle-velocity nerve whip gun pointed at him viciously.He forced a smile. "Wait, don't shoot yet!" "Open the transition chamber!" she gasped.

Artemisia opened the transition chamber.She walked out of the cabin, braved the cold wind, walked between the rocks deep and shallow, and then climbed up the ridge again.Blood welled up her cheeks.She was at fault as much as he was, she flirted with Lord Lingen Star in front of him just for her own stupid pride.Now it seems that how stupid this is, she is more and more aware of the character of this monarch.He was so cold, almost cold-blooded, vulgar and rude.She shuddered a little with disgust. She climbed to the top of the mountain, and there was nothing in front of her.Without saying a word, she continued walking forward with the nerve whip gun in her hand.

Along the way, neither Byron nor the king of Lingen star spoke.At this moment, they came to an open area.After thousands of years of weathering, the rock is full of cracks.Ahead of them was an ancient fault, the end of which had collapsed into a sheer cliff about a hundred feet deep. Byron walked cautiously to the front of the fault, looking down from a height and looking far into the distance.The cliff slopes outward from bottom to top, and the ground is full of steep boulders.With the passage of time and the rare heavy rain, boulders have fallen everywhere, and there is no end in sight. "Looks like," he said, "this planet doesn't look like much hope, Jondee."

The monarch of Lingen star didn't seem to be as curious about his surroundings as Byron.He wasn't on the edge of the fault at all."It's a place we looked for before we got on this planet. It fits our needs," he said. At least, that's what you want, Byron thought.He found a place to sit off the edge of the cliff, listened to the faint hiss of the carbon dioxide cylinder, and waited for a while. Then, he said very calmly: "How are you going to explain to your men when you get back on your spaceship, Johndy? Or, let me guess, what do you think?" The Lord of Lingen Star was opening the box with two handles they brought. Hearing this, he stopped, straightened up, and said, "What did you say?" Byron felt the cold wind numb his face.Rubbing his nose with his gloved hand, he undid the high-grade foam liner that covered his body.The gusty wind blew and rattled the lining. He said, "I mean, what are you doing here?" "I'm not here to waste my time talking, Farrier, to set up a radio station." "You didn't come to build a radio station. Why did you build a radio station? We tried to establish contact with them in space, and as a result, the radio signals we sent disappeared like a stone, and there was no news. What reason do you expect to build a radio station on the ground? Bigger gains? The problem isn't that radio waves don't get through the upper ionosphere, because we've tried that with sub-ether radio waves, too, and got nowhere. None of us are any particular radio experts. Well, Jondee, What are you doing here anyway?" The Lord of Lingen Star sat down opposite Byron.One hand flapped the suitcase leisurely. "Since you have such great suspicion in your heart, why did you come here?" "Get to the bottom of the matter. Richter, your man, told me you were planning this trip, and advised me to come with you. I believe you want him to tell me to come with you, and I will understand you Never received wireless telegrams behind my back. That's fair enough, except I don't think you'll get any wireless telegrams. But I got him to talk me out of it, and come here with you." "Find out the truth?" Jondy said mockingly. "Exactly. I can already guess what the truth is." "Then, tell me so that I too can find out the truth." "You came to kill me. It's just you and me here. There's a precipice in front of you. Anyone who falls will die. There will be no traces of deliberate violence; there will be no blasted limbs. ; nor would it conjure the use of any weapons. Back on the spaceship, you can make up a sweet and sad story that I've stumbled and fallen to my death. You'll probably bring a party back to bring my body back , hold a grand funeral for me. It will all be done touchingly, and my life is in your hands." "You believe that to be the case, and you're still here?" "I expected your move, so you can't scare me. Neither of us is armed. I doubt that you can subdue me with muscle strength alone." Byron opened his nostrils and panted After a while of breathing, his right arm slowly bent due to excitement. But Jondee laughed, "Since you're not going to die now, let's talk about radio." "No, not yet. I'm not done yet. I want you to admit that you tried to kill me." "Well, do you insist that I play a good part in an improvisation of your own making? How could it occur to you to force me to do so? Do you mean to beat me to death? Understand, Byron. You I'm still young, and I deliberately don't do anything wrong, just because of this, considering your reputation and status. However, I have to admit that so far, you have caused me more trouble than you have helped me Much more." "That's right. Because I didn't follow your wishes, I'm still alive!" "If you mean the risk you took on Rhodia, then I have already explained this issue, so I don't need to explain it again." Byron stood up. "Your explanation is imprecise. It's full of holes from the start." "Really?" "Really! Stand up and listen to me, or I'll drag you up." The monarch stood up, his eyes narrowed. "I advise you not to attempt to resort to force, young man." "Listen." Byron's voice was loud, his coat still open in the breeze, but he ignored it. "You said that you sent me to Rhodia to risk my death, just to imply that the governor of Rhodia participated in the anti-Tyran conspiracy." "That's still true." "That was obviously a lie. You meant my death. From the very beginning, you told me who I was to the captain of the Rhodian starship. You said, trust me to get permission to meet Hinrik, That reason is untenable." "If I were going to kill you, Farrier, I could put a real radiation bomb in your house." "Obviously, it would be better to kill me with the hands of the Tyranids." "I could have killed you in space the first time I boarded the Relentless." "That's probably true. You brought your bombardment gun and pointed it at me at one point. You assumed I was on the ship, but you didn't tell your soldiers that. When Richter contacted you, he saw When it came to me, you no longer had a chance to strike. At that time, you made a mistake. You told me that you had told your subordinates that I might be on the "Relentless", but, later After a while, Richett told me, you didn't say that. Didn't you order your men to be more serious about the outright lies you told them, Jondee?" Jondy's face, pale with cold, seemed even paler. "Yes, since you framed me for lying, I should kill you now. But what kept me from pulling my finger on the trigger before Ritzett appeared on the vision board and saw you?" "Politics, Jondee. Artemisia o' Hinriad is on the ship, and she's a bigger target than me at the moment. I expect you to change your plans soon. Killing me in front of her would be a mess." Your scheme." "So, I fell in love with her so quickly?" "Love! If it's the Hinriad girl involved, why not? You didn't waste a moment. At first, you tried to get her on your ship, but that didn't work. So, you Just tell me that Xinrik betrayed my father." He paused, and then said: "That's it, I lost her, you can safely and boldly carry out the plan to kill me, don't worry that doing so will make you lose your heart. Inheritance of the Riad family." Jondee sighed and said, "Farrier, it's cold and getting colder. I believe the sun's going down. You're a real slob, and I'm sick of it. Before we finish this nonsense , can you tell me why I am so interested in trying to kill you? What is the reason? If your obvious paranoia makes you feel the need to find a reason, tell me." "That's the same reason you killed my father." "what?" "Do you think that as soon as you say that Xinrik is a traitor, I will immediately believe it? If Xinrik is not famous for his cowardice, he might be a traitor. Don't you think my father is so stupid? Such an incorrigible degree! Is it possible for him to misunderstand Hinrik to such an extent that he is not that kind of person at all? If he does not know Hinrik's reputation, then, when he sees him, he will see him completely. An incorrigible puppet, did it take five minutes? Is my father so stupid that he would tell him everything that might be used to support his charges of treason? No, Jondee. Betray my father The person must be the person he trusts." Jondy took a step back, kicking the suitcase aside.He braced himself to withstand the attack and said, "I understand your shameless insinuation." Byron was shivering, but not from the cold. "Your people love my father, Jondee. They love him too much. A prince cannot bear to have another contend for his dominion. You do everything you can to keep him from being your competitor. So next, you have to do everything you can." Make it impossible for me to live. Then I can neither take his place nor avenge him." His voice was almost shouting, echoing in the cold wind. "Am I not right?" "wrong!" Jondy stooped to open the suitcase. "I can prove you wrong!" He flung open the box. "Check these radio equipment. Open your eyes and take a good look." He threw everything in the box to Byron's feet. Byron stared at the things. "What do those things prove?" Johnny stood up. "Not to prove anything. But now take a good look at this." He held a bomber gun in his hand, his knuckles white with tension.The original calmness was lost in the voice.He said, "I hate you, though. I don't have to hate you for long." Byron said calmly: "So you pre-stashed the bombardment gun in the radio equipment in the suitcase!" "You think I can't do it? You come here honestly, ready to push me off the cliff. Do you think I will do it myself like a docker or a coal miner? I am the monarch of Lingen Star!"— —his facial muscles twitched, and he waved his hand decisively on his chest—“I hate the Wildmoss ranchers and their hypocritical and ignorant idealism.” Then he said in a low voice: “Go, to the edge of the cliff Go up." He moved forward. Byron raised his hands, staring at the bombardment gun in the hands of the Lord Lingen Star, and stepped back. "Then it was you who killed my father." "I killed it!" said the king of Lin Genxing. "I'm telling you this, so that you can know in your last moments that the same man who managed to get your father blown to pieces in the lysis chamber will try to get you to follow in his footsteps—and then, put Hinriad The girl and everything she owns is her own. Think about it! I'll give you a few more minutes to think about it! But don't move your hands, or I'll kill you. People may ask some questions, but I Willing to take the risk." His mask of innocence was torn to pieces, and a passion exploded. "As I said, you tried to kill me before then." "Yes. Your speculation is not bad at all. But how can these help you now? Turn around!" "No," Byron said.He put his hands down and said, "If you're going to shoot, shoot!" Lord Lin Genxing said: "Do you think I dare not?" "Go ahead." "I'll hit it." The Ringen Star Sovereign carefully aimed at Byron's head, and at a distance of four feet, pressed the trigger button of the bombardment gun.