5 Forest fires

Later that morning，four guards² took Rilla to Gog's of-fice．His face looked tired and his eyes were red．

‘Leave us，’he said to the guards．Then he looked at Rilla．‘Tell me about Kiah．When did you first meet him？Is Zadak his friend？What do they talk about？’

Rilla looked down at the floor and said nothing．

‘Come on，tell me！’Gog said angrily．He waited，but Rillasaid nothing．‘Tell me about Zadak，then．Your father and Commander³ Zadak were friends．Now， you're talking to Zadak about the AOL．I know that．What is Zadak saying？’

‘Why？Why do you want to know about Commander Zadak？’Rilla asked．

‘I'm asking the questions，not you，’Gog said．‘Did you see Zadak yesterday？’

‘The AOL is important，not Commander Zadak，’Rilla said．

Gog watched Rilla carefully．‘Zadak is dead．’

‘No！’Rilla cried．

‘He is dead，’Gog said again．‘You lost your friend，here in this building，early this morning．My guards shot⁴ him．’

Rilla's face went white．‘What happened？Tell me！’

‘I'm going to tell you one thing，’Gog said angrily．‘I'm going to destroy Australia．I'm going to burn Zadak's new forest there．You can tell all your friends！Zadak wanted to kill me，but I killed him．He wanted money for rain，money for the AOL，and now he's dead．You can tell all those prisoners⁶ in prison⁵ 888．They wanted to stop me，but they can't now．I'm going to Mars！Bel always wanted to go to Mars．’He began to hit the table with his hand．‘I'm going to leave this dead planet！Nobody can stop me！’

‘You're crazy，’Rilla said．‘You killed Zadak，but one day someone is going to kill you．’

Gog stood up．His face was tired and he looked ill．‘Be qui-et！’he said．‘Guards！Take her away．Back to 888．’

The guards came in and took Rilla out．

‘What happened？’she asked them．‘Commander Zadak is dead；why is Gog angry？’

The guards said nothing．But after they returned to the gate of 888，a guard¹ said to Rilla，very quietly：‘Bel is dead．Zadak didn't shoot Gog，but he shot Bel，before the guards shot him．’

A guard took Rilla into the prison， and soon she was with Kiah again．

‘What happened？’Kiah asked．‘Tell me．’

Rilla put her hands over her face and began to cry．‘Zadak is dead，’she began．‘He didn't kill Gog．He killed Bel before the guards shot him，and now Gog is going to destroy Australia．’

Kiah sat down on the floor next to Rilla．His face was sad．

‘Don't cry，’he said quietly．

Three or four prisoners came across the room．

‘What's the matter？’they asked．

‘Zadak is dead，’Kiah said．‘But Bel is dead，too．’

‘What's going to happen next？’someone asked．But nobody answered．

The next afternoon，Captain Seru's brother took Kiah and Rilla to a little room at the back of the prison．They sat down，and five minutes later Captain Seru arrived．Nobody smiled．

‘You were right，Captain，’Kiah said．‘Gog sent us to prison because we told him about the holes in the AOL．’

Seru smiled．‘You were right，Kiah，’she said．‘Those satellite⁹ numbers were very bad．I began to tell Gog，but he didn't listen to me．’

‘Would you like some coffee？And some sandwiches？’seru's brother asked．

‘Yes，please，’seru said．‘I'm hungry．’she looked at Kiah and Rilla．‘Things are very bad．’

‘What's happening？’Rilla asked．

‘You know about Zadak？And Bel？’

‘Yes．Gog told Rilla yesterday，’Kiah said．

Seru smiled，but her eyes were not happy．‘Gog talked to me this morning，'she said．Her brother came in with the coffee and sandwiches and Seru began to eat．‘Gog wants to know about Zadak，and about you，’she said．‘He's going to kill us all，I think，before he goes to Mars．’

Suddenly，Rilla felt ill．‘I can't eat now！’she cried．But she took some coffee and began to drink．‘Let's get out of here，’she said．‘Perhaps we can get a plane to Brazil and go to my family．’

‘Difficult，’seru said．‘Last night fires began in the new forest in Europe，and they're moving across Europe．The fires in Africa are burning fast．Gog began to destroy Zadak's forest in Australia yesterday．’

‘Did you phone Adai？’Kiah asked．

‘Adai！You never stop talking about Adai．What can he do？’Rilla said．She felt angry．

Seru looked at Rilla for a minute．‘Yes，I phoned Adai be-fore I came here．I told him about Zadak and Bel，and about the fires．He asked about you，Kiah．He can't come down at Kisangani airport because Gog is there with a lot of his guards．Ship MARS⁷ 4 is nearly ready and Gog is watching it．He wants to leave Earth tomorrow．’

‘How can Adai help us？’Rilla asked．‘He can't shoot all the guards here．’

Captain Seru finished the last sandwich．‘Let's leave that to Adai，’she said．‘We can do nothing．’

‘Are you going to stay here？’Kiah asked．

‘Yes，'seru answered．‘Adai is coming to the prison after he arrives on Earth．’

‘Oh yes？’Rilla said tiredly．‘But when？Gog can kill us before Adai comes．’‘No，he can't，’seru's brother said．‘You can stay here，in this room．Gog's guards are all afraid—afraid of the fires，afraid of the people．They aren't going to look for you here．’

5 森林大火

那天上午发生了这些事情之后，四个卫兵把瑞拉带到了高格的办公室。高格一脸疲惫，眼睛红红的。

“出去吧。”他吩咐卫兵。之后他转向瑞拉：“跟我说说凯。你第一次见到他是什么时候？扎达克是他的朋友吗？他们都谈些什么呢？”

瑞拉低头看着地板，一言不发。

“说呀，告诉我！”高格生气地喊。他等待着，瑞拉仍旧什么也没说。“那就说说扎达克吧。你爸爸和扎达克司令是朋友。现在你把人工臭氧层的事告诉了他。我知道这些。扎达克他怎么说？”

“为什么？为什么你想知道扎达克司令的事？”瑞拉问。

“是我在提问，不是你，”高格说，“昨天你见到扎达克了吗？”

“人工臭氧层才是重要的，不是扎达克司令。”瑞拉说。

高格凝视着瑞拉：“扎达克死了。”

“不！”瑞拉叫了起来。

“他死了，”高格重复了一遍，“你失去了你的朋友。就在这座楼里。今天清晨，我的卫兵开枪打死了他。”

瑞拉的脸白了：“出了什么事？告诉我！”

“有一件事我得告诉你，”高格恼怒地说，“我要毁掉澳大利亚。我要把扎达克新栽的树木烧毁，你可以告诉你所有的朋友。扎达克想杀死我，可我杀了他。他想为下雨的事，为人工臭氧层要钱。可现在他死了。你可以告诉888号监狱里所有的人。他们想阻止我，可现在他们不可能了。我要去火星。贝尔一直想去火星的。”他用手敲打着桌面，“我要离开这个死亡的星球！没人能阻拦我！”

“你疯了，”瑞拉说，“你杀了扎达克，但总有一天也会有人把你杀掉的。”

高格站起身。他面色疲惫，憔悴不堪。“住嘴！”他喊着，“卫兵！把她带走。带回888号监狱去。”

卫兵们把瑞拉带了出去。

“出了什么事？”她问他们，“扎达克司令死了，高格为什么那么生气？”

卫兵们什么也没说。可是到了888号监狱门口，一个卫兵小声告诉瑞拉：“贝尔死了。扎达克没打着高格，可他打死了贝尔，然后卫兵才朝扎达克开的枪。”

一个卫兵把瑞拉带进监狱，很快瑞拉就回到了凯身边。

“出了什么事？”凯问，“告诉我。”

瑞拉捂着脸哭了起来。“扎达克死了，”她说，“他没能杀死高格。他打死贝尔之后那些卫兵杀了他，现在高格要毁掉澳大利亚。”

凯在瑞拉身边坐了下来。“别哭了。”他轻轻对瑞拉说，脸上流露出悲伤的神情。

三四个犯人走了过来。“出了什么事？”他们问。

“扎达克死了，”凯说，“贝尔也死了。”

“以后还会出什么事呢？”一个人问。可是没人回答。

第二天下午，塞鲁船长的哥哥把凯和瑞拉带到监狱后面的一个小房间。他们坐了下来，5分钟后，塞鲁船长来了。大家都很严肃。

“船长，不出您所料，”凯说，“我们告诉高格人工臭氧层有洞的事，他就把我们送进了监狱。”

塞鲁笑了。“你说得对，凯，”她说，“那些卫星数据的确很糟糕。我试着跟高格说，可他根本不听我的。”

“要点咖啡吗？还有三明治？”塞鲁的哥哥问。

“好吧，要一点，”塞鲁说，“我饿了。”她看着凯和瑞拉：“情况非常糟糕。”

“出了什么事？”瑞拉问。

“你知道扎达克的事吗？还有贝尔？”

“瑞拉知道，高格昨天告诉她了。”凯说。

塞鲁笑了，可她的目光中却没有喜悦的神情。“高格今天早晨跟我谈过了。”她说。她哥哥拿着咖啡和三明治走了进来，塞鲁边吃边说：“高格想知道关于扎达克的情况，他也想知道关于你们的情况。”她说，“我想，他要把我们大家都杀掉，然后再去火星。”

突然，瑞拉感到很难受。“我现在吃不下去！”她喊着，一边倒了杯咖啡喝起来。“咱们出去吧，”她说，“也许我们能搭上去巴西的飞机回我家去。”

“很困难，”塞鲁说，“昨天夜里欧洲的新森林起了火，火势正向整个欧洲蔓延。非洲的大火越烧越猛。昨天高格开始摧毁扎达克在澳大利亚的森林。”

“你给阿岱打电话了吗？”凯问。

“阿岱！你怎么老是说起他，他能干什么呢？”瑞拉非常生气。

塞鲁注视了一阵瑞拉：“是的，我来之前给阿岱打过电话。我告诉了他扎达克和贝尔的事，还有火灾。他还问到你，凯。他不能降落在基桑加尼机场，因为高格在那儿，他还布置了许多士兵。火星4号宇宙飞船已经基本准备就绪，高格正密切关注着它的进展。他想明天离开地球。”

“阿岱怎么帮助我们呢？”瑞拉问，“他也不能把这儿所有的卫兵都打死。”

塞鲁船长吃完了最后一个三明治。“这个问题就留给阿岱吧，”她说，“我们什么也做不了。”

“您准备呆在这儿吗？”凯问。

“是的，”塞鲁说，“阿岱降落在地球上之后就会到这座监狱来的。”

“噢，真的吗？”瑞拉疲惫地说，“可是什么时候呢？阿岱来之前高格可能就把我们杀了。”

“不，他不会，”塞鲁的哥哥说，“你们可以呆在这儿，在这个房间里。高格的卫兵都害怕——怕那些火灾；怕那些人。他们不会到这儿来找你们的。”