3 Earth Commander¹

The next day in Kisangani，Kiah and Rilla waited quietly in an office in Gog's house．Suddenly， Commander Zadak came into the office and gave some letters to the man behind the table．He saw the two young people and stopped in front of them．

‘You again！’he said．‘What are you doing here？’

Kiah stood up．‘Good morning，Commander．We're here because we want to see Earth Commander．’

‘I saw Earth Commander some minutes ago and talked to him about rain，’Zadak said quietly．‘But he didn't listen．Your captain，Seru，was here earlier this morning and began to tell him about the holes in the AOL．But Gog doesn't want to hear about our planet．He's always talking about Mars．In the end，he's going to destroy Earth．’

‘Please help us！’Rilla cried．‘Come and see Gog with us！’

‘No．’Zadak looked at Kiah and then at Rilla with his blue eyes．‘I'm not talking to Gog again．And you—Gog isn't going to listen to you．Be careful—and good luck！’

Commander Zadak opened the door and left the office．

Rilla looked at Kiah．‘Earth Commander is a difficult man．I don't understand him．’

‘Everyone is afraid of him，’Kiah said．‘And Commander Zadak isn't going to help us．’

Kiah and Rilla waited．They waited and waited．At nearly twelve o'clock，a guard⁴ came into the office．

‘Come！’he said．

Kiah and Rilla went with the guard．The house was big and old，with big windows and many doors．The guard went downstairs and opened one of the doors．There was nobody in the room．

‘Wait here，'the guard said，and left．

Kiah and Rilla sat down on the expensive green and black chairs and looked at the expensive flowers on the tables．There were no windows in this room．Suddenly，the door opened and a tall，fat woman came in．Her name was Bel，and she was Gog's wife．She had a lot of long red hair and she wore an expensive blue dress．Bel liked expensive things．She carried a cat．The cat was black and white：half its face was black and half was white；half its body was black and half was white．

‘Why are you here？ Why do you want to see Earth Commander？’she asked．

Rilla stood up．‘How do you do？’she said．‘We want to talk to Earth Commander about the AOL．We have new numhers from the satellite．’

Bel's face was red．‘The AOL！Earth Commander knows about the AOL，and he is the best man—’

‘Excuse me，’Kiah said quietly．‘We want to help Earth Commander．’

Bel began to laugh．‘Help？You？’the cat jumped down and walked across the room．‘How can you help？Why can't you understand？ Listen．Earth Commander is working on the spaceship for Mars．It's difficult and expensive work．’the cat jumped on to Rilla's chair and looked at her with its yellow eyes．‘Two years ago，Adai wanted more money for the AOL—and Earth Commander sent him to the colony⁶ under the Moon．Now you're talking about the AoL．Do you want to go to the Moon，too？’

The door opened again and a different guard came in．‘Excuse me．Earth Commander is ready now．’

Bel stood up．‘You can see Earth Commander now，'she said coldly．‘But you're going to be sorry！’

The guard opened a different door，and Bel and the cat went into a beautiful room with expensive，very old tables and chairs．Rilla and Kiah went in behind them．There were no windows in the room，but a lot of pictures．There was Gog！The richest man on Earth；and the worst man on Earth．He was tall and fat，and without much hair．He sat behind a big table with a television，three computers and five telephones．He watched the television and didn't look at Kiah or Rilla．Two guards⁷ with guns stood behind him and two more guards stood near the door．

‘Here they are！’Bel said．‘They aren't friends，oh no！They want to talk about the AOL，of course．No one under-stands about Mars—’

‘That's all right，that's all right，’Gog said quickly．And then he looked up，first at Rilla and then at Kiah．His eyes were cold and green．‘I know about you two，’he said．‘Your captain told me about you．You're famous！Two children！You want to help planet² Earth，is that right？’He waited．The cat jumped on to his table and sat down in front of the television．

‘Yes，Commander，’Kiah began．‘The AOL is breaking up—’

‘When？Tonight？Tomorrow？’Gog said angrily．‘I heard this old story two years ago，from Adai．Everyone comes here and wants money-money for the AOL，money for rain，money for the Moon colony．But I am Earth Commander，and you are nobody！I know about the AOL and the AOL is good for a hundred years！’

‘But the satellite—’Kiah began again．

‘Be quiet！’Gog cried．‘I am Earth Commander！I'm not going to give money for the AOL！Or for rain！Or for the Moon！’Gog looked at the guards near the door．‘Take them —take them away．I don't want to hear them．’

The guards moved behind Kiah and Rilla，and Bel began to laugh．‘Goodbye！'she said．‘You're not going to the Moon，you're going to prison！You can talk about the holes in the AOL there！’

3 地球司令

第二天在基桑加尼，凯和瑞拉在高格住处的一间办公室里静静地等待着。突然，扎达克司令走进办公室，递给办公桌后面的那个人一些信件。他看见了两个年轻人，在他们面前站住了。

“又是你们！”他说，“你们在这儿干嘛？”

凯站了起来：“早晨好，司令。我们来这儿是为了见地球司令。”

“几分钟前我见到了地球司令，还跟他谈了雨水的事。”扎达克平静地说，“但是他不听。你们塞鲁船长今天早晨来过，并且告诉他人工臭氧层有了洞。可是高格不想听我们这颗星球的事。他总是谈论火星。最终他会毁了地球。”

“请您帮帮我们！”瑞拉喊着，“和我们一起去见见高格吧！”

“不，”扎达克用他蓝蓝的眼睛看了看凯，又看了看瑞拉，“我再也不去跟高格谈了。而你们——高格不会听你们的。小心点——祝你们好运！”

扎达克司令打开房门走出了办公室。

瑞拉看了看凯：“地球司令是个不好相处的人。我真不知道他是怎么想的。”

“大家都怕他，”凯说，“扎达克司令也不准备帮助我们。”

凯和瑞拉等待着。他们等啊等。快12点时，一个卫兵走进办公室。

“来吧。”他说。

凯和瑞拉跟在卫兵后面。这是座宽敞的旧房子，有许多大窗户，许多门。卫兵下了楼，打开了一扇门。房间里一个人也没有。

“在这儿等着。”卫兵说了一句就离开了。凯和瑞拉在昂贵的绿黑相间的椅子上坐了下来，观赏着桌子上那些名贵的鲜花。这个房间没有窗子。突然，门开了，一个身高体胖的女人走了进来。她叫贝尔，是高格的妻子。她有一头浓密的红色长发，穿着一件昂贵的蓝色裙子。贝尔喜欢昂贵的东西。她抱着一只猫。那是只黑白相间的猫：猫脸一半黑一半白；猫身也是一半黑一半白。

“你们来这儿干嘛？你们为什么要见地球司令？”她问，

瑞拉站起身。“你好，”她说，“我们要和地球司令谈谈人工臭氧层的事。我们从卫星上获得了新数据。”

贝尔的脸涨红了：“人工臭氧层。地球司令知道人工臭氧层的事。他是最——”

“对不起，”凯平静地说，“我们想帮助地球司令。”

贝尔笑了：“帮助？你们？”那只猫跳了下来走到房间的另一头。“你们怎么帮他？你们怎么不明白呢？听着，地球司令正忙着制造去火星的飞船。这可是既费力又费钱的工作。”那只猫跳到瑞拉的椅子上，黄色的眼睛看着她。“两年前，阿岱想为人工臭氧层要更多的钱——地球司令把他送到了月亮下面的部族。现在你们又在谈人工臭氧层，你们也想到月亮那儿去吗？”

门又开了，另一个卫兵走了进来：“对不起，地球司令可以接见了。”

贝尔站起身。“你们现在可以去见地球司令了，”她冷冰冰地说，“可你们会后悔的！”

卫兵打开另外一扇门，贝尔和那只猫走进一个摆满非常古老、昂贵的家具的房间。瑞拉和凯跟在他们后面。这间屋子也没有窗户，墙上挂满了图画。高格就在里面！这个世界上最富也最坏的人。他又高又胖，头发稀疏。他坐在一张大桌子后面，桌上放着一台电视，三台电脑，五部电话。只见他注视着电视屏幕，根本不看凯和瑞拉。两个持枪的卫兵站在他身后，还有两个站在门边。

“他们来了，”贝尔说，“他们不是朋友，噢，不是。当然，他们要谈谈人工臭氧层的事。没人懂得火星——”

“行了，行了，”高格不耐烦地打断她。之后他抬起头看看瑞拉又看看凯。那是一双冷漠的绿眼睛。“我知道你们俩，”他说，“你们船长跟我说起过你们。你们名气不小啊！两个孩子！你们想拯救地球，是不是？”他等着回答。那只猫跳上他的桌子坐在电视机前。

“是的，司令，”凯开口了，“人工臭氧层正在破裂——”

“什么时候？今天晚上？明天？”高格生气地说，“两年前我就听阿岱说过这个老掉牙的故事。每个人都到这儿来要钱——为人工臭氧层，为下雨的事，为月亮部族。但是我是地球司令，你们什么也不是！我知道人工臭氧层，它能坚持一百年！”

“可是卫星——”凯又开口了。

“少废话！”高格叫了起来，“我是地球司令！我不会为人工臭氧层花钱！也不为下雨的事花钱！也不为月亮！”高格看了一眼门口的卫兵，“把他们——把他们带走。我不想听他们讲话。”

卫兵们在凯和瑞拉身后行动起来，贝尔笑了：“再见了！”她说，“你们去不了月球，你们要去的地方是监狱！你们可以在那儿谈论人工臭氧层上的洞！”